Daughters of the Sun Quotes

“The honour of Mughal men was not as irretrievably bound to the sexual chastity of their women.”
― Ira Mukhoty, Daughters of the Sun: Empresses, Queens and Begums of the Mughal Empire

“They were pragmatic about women who ‘fell’ to an enemy, unlike their contemporaries, the Rajputs, who invested so heavily in their women’s sexual chastity that death, through sati, was preferred to ‘loss of honour’ to an enemy.”
― Ira Mukhoty, Daughters of the Sun: Empresses, Queens and Begums of the Mughal Empire

“But the journey to the building of the Taj Mahal is not straightforward. It involves monstrous egos, a flawless aesthetic vision, profligacy and also, fragile as the bulbul’s song, love.”
― Ira Mukhoty, Daughters of the Sun: Empresses, Queens and Begums of the Mughal Empire

“Indeed, the Mughal women will be better educated than most of their contemporaries anywhere in the world.”
― Ira Mukhoty, Daughters of the Sun: Empresses, Queens and Begums of the Mughal Empire

“Because the Mughals did not follow a system of primogeniture, any Mughal prince, sufficiently ambitious and talented, could hope to ascend the throne one day.”
― Ira Mukhoty, Daughters of the Sun: Empresses, Queens and Begums of the Mughal Empire

“Unlike his studious father, fascinated by the occult, Akbar can never be made to sit and study, preferring by far the company of his racing pigeons, dogs, horses and companions in arms. He never will learn to read and will remain effectively illiterate, the only Mughal padshah to be so, possibly due to his hyperactive nature exacerbated by extreme dyslexia.”
― Ira Mukhoty, Daughters of the Sun: Empresses, Queens and Begums of the Mughal Empire

“The Rahimi is one of the largest vessels of any kind to sail the Indian seas.”
― Ira Mukhoty, Daughters of the Sun: Empresses, Queens and Begums of the Mughal Empire

“It is through Gulbadan’s account, and only hers, that we can see Babur as a loving father, a tempestuous family man and a devoted husband. The fiery warrior or the marauding opportunist is for the other biographers.”
― Ira Mukhoty, Daughters of the Sun: Empresses, Queens and Begums of the Mughal Empire

“The only way to maintain the illusion of this increasing sanctity is to veil, to sequester and to hide the women behind the anonymity of the high walls of Fatehpur Sikri and the grandeur of their titles.”
― Ira Mukhoty, Daughters of the Sun: Empresses, Queens and Begums of the Mughal Empire

“Sher Shah the Lion King, no stranger to matters of gallantry himself, is so impressed by the valour of this one lone woman that he not only leaves the grave unmolested but sends an escort with Bibi Mubarika and has Babur’s remains transported to Kabul, where they lie today in the Bagh-e-Babur.”
― Ira Mukhoty, Daughters of the Sun: Empresses, Queens and Begums of the Mughal Empire