Vagabond Princess Audiobook By Ruby Lal cover art

Vagabond Princess

The Great Adventures of Gulbadan

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Vagabond Princess

By: Ruby Lal
Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley
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About this listen

Situated in the early decades of the magnificent Mughal Empire, this first ever biography of Princess Gulbadan offers an enthralling portrait of a charismatic adventurer and unique pictures of the multicultural society in which she lived. Following a migratory childhood that spanned Kabul and north India, Gulbadan spent her middle years in a walled harem established by her nephew Akbar to showcase his authority as the Great Emperor.

Gulbadan longed for the exuberant itinerant lifestyle she'd known. With Akbar's blessing, she led an unprecedented sailing and overland voyage and guided harem women on an extended pilgrimage in Arabia. Amid increasing political tensions, the women's "un-Islamic" behavior forced their return, lengthened by a dramatic shipwreck in the Red Sea.

Gulbadan wrote a book upon her return, the only extant work of prose by a woman of the age. A portion of it is missing, either lost to history or redacted by officials who did not want the princess to have her say.

Vagabond Princess contemplates the story of the missing pages and breathes new life into a daring historical figure. It offers a portal to a richly complex world, rife with movement and migration, where women's conviviality, adventure, and autonomies shine through.

©2024 Ruby Lal (P)2024 Tantor
16th Century Middle East Women Royalty Adventure Sailing
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The detailed picture of royal Mughal ladies

Loved the description of Gulbadan begum’s journey to and fro Mecca in the late 1500s.

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