For an accidental historian with a degree in natural sciences from Cambridge University, Ira Mukhoty has firmly established her credentials as an engaging and evocative narrator of history. Explaining her foray into historic nonfiction, she shares, “When my daughters were young, all the books available were Europe and America centric. There were no stories of heroic women in history who could serve as role models for young girls growing up in India.”
She adds, “In my quest, I also realised that women were manipulated through the centuries to fit a certain archetypal idea that was acceptable within a patriarchal society.” Her first book focused on eight courageous women - from Draupadi, Radha, Ambapali and Razia Sultan to Meerabai, Hazrat Mahal, Jahanara and Laxmibai.
“I was drawn to the feisty Draupadi as against a ‘virtuous’ Sita. Draupadi expresses anger and challenges her husbands’ ‘maryada’ or manhood. If you read the original texts, women's voices were stronger. Draupadi was also dark skinned and not fair as per the Brahmanical interpretation. Similarly, Radha, despite being married, leaves it all and acts out her desire to follow Krishna. There are claims that the 16th century Bhakti saint Mirabai was an elderly widow but in fact, she was young when she escaped her traditional, oppressive household in response to a divine call. She mingled with other mystics and in her songs, she delved on the evils of Indian society.” Mukhoty continues, what is fascinating is that society then found a way to accept these women but later these stories got manipulated to suit a conventional narrative and a narrow definition of womanhood.”
The success of her first book, and her extensive research on Jahanara Begum - Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal’s most loved daughter, led her to focus her second book, Daughters of the Sun, on the role women played in building the Mughal Empire and in the process challenged some of the vitriolic prevalent notions against the Mughals. She takes us back to the days of the zenana or ‘harem’ and debunks the typical notions of debauchery associated with it. Mukhoty dismissively states, “What we are taught is a very colonial interpretation: the British historians wrote with a certain view that suited their purpose as they made inroads into Hindustan. The zanana was a microcosm - an entourage of women - aunts, widowed relatives, single women. They all had a purpose and role and were paid for it. Of course there were courtesans too but all these women together made the zanana. It’s not like all these women were ‘available’ - that’s just a favourite trope and very little has been done to push back this lurid idea. In India, our colonial history taught us to believe that all Muslim rulers were oppressors, their women degraded and invisible.”
The book highlights the accomplishments of women in that era. Gulbadan Begum (Emperor Babur’s youngest daughter) wrote a biography detailing the history of the time from the zanana in the 16th century. Mukhoty laments, “Unfortunately, when a woman writes and documents history from that time, it’s not given much importance and was neglected. There’s also a book by a 19th century English woman who married a Muslim noble and lived in a zenana and yet these accounts were ignored.” In her book, there are many examples of the elite Mughal women being highly educated, independent and participants in decision making and brokering peace. Many of them were independently wealthy and made notable contributions. Not many of us know that Jahanara Begum was a poet, writer, architect and painter who was instrumental in the making of several architectural gems including the popular bazaar area of Chandni Chowk in New Delhi.
In her third and more recent book, Akbar - The Great Mughal, Mukhoty gives us a fresh perspective on one of the most recognisable monarchs. “Unlike what Hindu fundamentalists will like us to believe, in those times, interfaith unions were marriages of consent. Harkhabai (and not Jodhabai as is erroneously named by Bollywood) continued to practise her Hindu faith even after her marriage to the emperor. Akbar is known to have absorbed a lot from this religious sensitivity and was one of the early proponents of religious syncretism," she clarifies.
Talking about the need for women centric narratives, Mukhoty is emphatic about addressing this endemic discrimination. She shares, “In her book, Invisible Women, Caroline Creado Perez examines the construct of the world - its gadgets, tools and parts - and argues that these are designed almost exclusively for men. “If we don’t tell young girls about what women have achieved and how they were instrumental in shaping our world, how can young girls aspire for more?” she rightly questions.
Mukhoty is currently occupied with her fourth book: Women of the Mahabharata, to be released in May 2021. Ask her the importance of focusing on mythological characters as opposed to historic ones and she aptly responds, “In our country, mythological characters are revered and are used to control women even today. We need to call out this control.”
Rebutting popular myths and stressing the need for decolonisation of history, Mukhoty remarks, “Our culture was always so diverse and yet inclusive and the notion of the purity of Hinduism is a fallacy. There was space for queer people and even homosexuality was accepted. Post colonialism - the Victorian point of view rendered a narrower notion of what is ‘correct’.”
She poignantly adds, “Women in recorded history occupy a very narrow space. 99% of what you see around is men’s stories. This is not just an India problem but a global one. It is the way we record histories. We need to move away from toxic masculinity in viewing history through a women centric lens.”