Jahanara - A Novel

Little is known about Shah Jahan’s daughter Jahanara, the most erudite of Mughal princesses. Even as an adolescent she advised her emperor father on state affairs and diplomacy. Fending off the machinations of Shah Jahan’s devious stepmother, Noor Mahal, who manipulated her husband Jahangir and later Aurangzeb like a puppeteer, Jahanara is known to have continually attempted to broker peace between Shah Jahan, Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb. Conversant in Persian, Sanskrit and several other languages, she had studied not only the Quran but also the Vedas and Puranas. She owned, at one point, the largest number of ships for sea trade in the Bay of Bengal.