THE VAGABOND PRINCESS Gulbadan Begum

At the dawn of the Mughal Empire, a bold and brilliant Princess outlived three Emperors, and managed to create an adventurous, wildly unexpected life for herself during one of the most tumultuous eras in history. And luckily for the rest of us – she wrote it all down!

Award-winning historian and author Dr. Ruby Lal is back to introduce us to THE VAGABOND PRINCESS, Gulbadan Begum.

Imperial Princess Gulbadan Begum smoking a hookah

Ladies of the zenana (Imperial harem) on a roof terrace
by Ruknuddin Bikaner, 1675

A vintage cover of Annette Beveridge’s 1902 translation of Gulbadan’s Humayun-nama

Annette Beveridge with the students of Hindu Mahila Vidyalaya, the Girls’ School she founded in 1873. Hindu Mahila Vidyalaya was one of the first schools in India to offer a comprehensive education for girls.

Akbar’s “fairytale city” of Fatehpur Sikri
photo by A Savin

Olivia in the Throne Room at Fatehpur Sikri in 2012 – Emperor Akbar’s throne would have sat on a small platform on top of that central pillar
photo by Matthew Meikle

The harem complex at Fatehpur Sikri
photo by Mrigank Verma

The gardens of Fatehpur Sikri
photo by Adam Jones

The pavilions of Fatehpur Sikri
photo by Olivia Meikle

Portrait of Emperor Babur, Gulbadan’s father
from the Late Shah Jahan Album, c. 1640.
Smithsonian Collections

Portrait of Emperor Humayun, Gulbadan’s favorite brother and the central subject of her book, the Humayun-nama
from the Late Shah Jahan Album, c. 1640.
Smithsonian Collections

Portrait of Emperor Akbar, Gulbadan’s nephew
from the Late Shah Jahan Album, c. 1640.
Smithsonian Collections

Ruby Lal is Professor of South Asian Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. She holds a D.Phil. in Modern History from the University of Oxford, UK, and an M.Phil in History from the University of Delhi, India. She is the award-winning author of Vagabond Princess: The Great Adventures of Gulbadan (Yale University Press, 2024) Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan (Norton, 2018) and Domesticity and Power in the Early Mughal World (Cambridge University Press, 2005). Ruby’s remix of Empress for young adults, Tiger-Slayer is forthcoming in Spring 2025 (Norton).

Music featured in this episode included

North Indian Classical Music performed by Aashish Khan, Pranesh Khan, Shiraz Ali Khan

“The Mughals” by Farya Faraji

“Thunder Chant” by E’s Jammy Jams

“Arabian Nightfall” by Doug Maxwell

Your purchases help support the podcast!

Episode 157 Gulbadan
Episode 28 Nur Jahan

The cover of Empress, bearing a painting of Nur Jahan — Episode 157 Gulbadan
Episode 28 Nur Jahan

(Plus watch this space for updates on Ruby Lal’s forthcoming book A Lost Classic: How a Victorian Woman Animated a Princess’s Book, which will include her new biographical sketch of Annette Beveridge as well as the complete text of Beveridge’s original translation of Gulbadan Begum’s Humayun-nama.)

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