Captive Princess Zebunissa, Daughter of Emperor Aurangzeb

by Krynicki, Annie Krieger; Hamid, Enjum

• ISBN13: 9780195798371
• ISBN10: 0195798376
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-02-09
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• More Book Details
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Summary

"The heroine of our book, Zebunissa has remained almost completely ignored by chroniclers and historians. In the prime of her life, her father, the Emperor Aurangzeb incarcerated her in the fortress prison of Salimgarh, where she languished for twenty years until her death. Yet before she fell from grace she had been his favourite daughter. Everything about her life seems shrouded in mystery, and historians have tried in vain to penetrate the obscurity of her life. Only her poems give us an indication of her character. She seems to have been a very humane person, with weaknesses, passions, and an indomitable pride, but dressed in the black veils for which she was noted. In the end, with all her learning and experience, she was incarcerated in Salimgarh, with only the high walls, the yellow sand blowing in the hot breeze, and the tepid waters of the Yamuna glistening in the blazing sun. Here, in isolation and anguish, she contemplated, and plumbed the depths of her heart till finally she confronted the infinity of the Creator."--BOOK JACKET.

Author Biography

Annie Krieger Krynicki is Docteur d'Etat in Public Law. After a career as barrister at law in Paris she also served as a professor at the University of Paris IX Dauphine and at Sorbonne-Nouvelle 3. She is a graduate in Urdu (Inalco, Paris) and has written numerous books and articles about the constitutional and political life in Pakistan. She has been awarded the Knight of Merite and the Sitara-e-Quaid-i-Azam for her studies on Pakistan.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	ix
Preface	xi
Prologue	xix
The Deccan Viceroy's Daughter	1	(24)
Childhood in Daulatabad	1	(3)
A Princely Education	4	(1)
A Secular Education	5	(1)
A Note on Astrology	6	(4)
Astrology and the Mughals	10	(4)
Superstition and the Practice of Magic	14	(1)
Astrology and the Symbolism of Colours in India	15	(3)
Fun and Games	18	(7)
Zebunissa at Shah Jehan's Court	25	(25)
The Imperial Family	25	(4)
The Ceremonials of the Court of Agra	29	(4)
The Organization of the Empire and the Role of the Omrahs	33	(4)
Powers and Devotions of the Ladies of the Court	37	(3)
The Other Side of Imperial Politics	40	(1)
The End and the Beginning (1648---1652)	41	(3)
The Red Fort of Delhi	44	(3)
Aurangzeb and the Siege of Qandahar	47	(3)
Zebunissa and the Poets and Sufis	50	(22)
Poetry in Shah Jehan s Court	50	(1)
The Religious Situation	51	(5)
Zebunissa and the Sufis	56	(1)
The Chishtis and the Mughal Dynasty	57	(1)
Zebunissa, Jahanara, and the Rose Prince	57	(7)
The Shattari Silsila and its Followers	64	(2)
The Naqshbandia	66	(6)
The Deccan: Lost and Found	72	(18)
Return to the Deccan	72	(5)
The Deccan Viceroy	77	(1)
Dara Shikoh s Scandalous Book	78	(3)
The Conquest of Golconda	81	(3)
The Rebel Princes	84	(3)
The War of Succession	87	(3)
Zebunissa, Princess Imperial	90	(52)
The Emperor Alamgir	90	(3)
Portrait of Zebunissa	93	(1)
The Family Tragedy	94	(1)
The Prisoners	95	(6)
Aurangzeb s Family Life	101	(2)
The Ladies of the Zenana	103	(1)
The Two Courts	104	(2)
The Imperial Treasure	106	(5)
The Persian Embassy and Zebunissa a Supposed Engagement	111	(3)
The Ambassadors of Balkh	114	(1)
Aurangzeb s Illness and the Plot	115	(2)
The Dutch Ambassadors	117	(1)
The Spell of Lahore	118	(4)
The Idyll of Lahore or The Princess and the Horseman	122	(3)
O Love, I am in Thy Thrall (Diwan XVI)	125	(3)
The Last Fires of the Imperial Court	128	(3)
Passing Time in the Zenana	131	(2)
The Red and Black Clouds of War and Mourning	133	(7)
No Torch s Flame for Me (Diwan XLI)	140	(2)
The Fall	142	(25)
Zebunissa, the Royal Patron	142	(3)
The Dissolution of the Family	145	(2)
The Evolution of the Court	147	(4)
A Troubled Empire	151	(3)
The Conquest of Jodhpur	154	(4)
The Year of the Comet	158	(9)
Sahmgarh, Island of the Living Dead	167	(16)
Akbar s Escape	167	(4)
Zebunissa s Mystic Poetry	171	(2)
The Grandeur and Vicissitudes of Imperial Arms	173	(3)
Akbar and the Persian Demon of the Forest	176	(7)
Epilogue	183	(6)
Notes	189	(16)
Dramatis Personae	205	(4)
Bibliography	209	(4)
Index	213