© 2024 IJNRD | Volume 9, Issue 9 September 2024 | ISSN: 2456-4184 | IJNRD.

ORG

Zoom into MUGHAL HAREM as an active

imperial institution: Unsettling the Family
narratives and gender dynamics of Medieval India
1
KERA RAM
1
Research Scholar
1
Department of Social Work,
1
Sardar Patel University, Anand, India

Abstract: The Mughal history is a plurally located and constantly evolving Field in South Asian history.
But it was only about men in the early Historiography of medieval and Early Modern periods. Even Modern
historians also neglected agency of women except for very rare exceptions, even though Women were
actively dominated in the Muslim kingdom and their access was very wide due to the nexus.
So, our venture divides this reconstruction, by covering the role of royal ladies throwing sheds on harem and
delineating the conventional image of harem.
Keywords: Harem, Mughals, Royal ladies, household, Family History, Gender

1. Introducing theme
Between the mid sixteen and early nineteenth century, Mughals ruled as far as Bengal in East and Kabul in
the west, as high as Kashmir in the north, and Kaveri basin in the south. 1This Indo-Muslim empire was the
exemplar of the vibrant, culturally plural, multi-ethnic polity. But the inherently structural analysis of the
Mughal state limits all understandings related to women and their spaces.
To reestablishing the it was the same time, where Women in society were at the centre of familial nexus and
facilitated connection between lineages and kingdoms, and served bridges connecting disparate lineages and
affirming the alliances of powerful kingdoms. It means political relations can’t be exists without women.
But mostly they were restricted to the within the boundaries of house. To unravel it, we need to pepped into
the households and relationships, and of course need to grapple with the historical variability of gender,
beyond binary conceptualizations of gender.
So, the paper will revisiting existing historical trends on Harem, by examining new insights into the archival
documents of Mughals and their biographies i.e. Humayun-namah, and will connect the Mughal Harem to

1
Evolution of geography of Mughals can be understood through wide range of text, i.e. Habib, Irfan.An Atlas of the
Mughal Empire,1982. Gommans,Joss The silent frontier of South Asia 1100-1800,1998.
IJNRD2409087 International Journal Of Novel Research And Development (www.ijnrd.org) a769
c769
 © 2024 IJNRD | Volume 9, Issue 9 September 2024 | ISSN: 2456-4184 | IJNRD.ORG

wider South Asian histories of the family and seek to extend studies that have shown capacious histories of
relatedness. Further this paper will suggest that a proper study of Mughal Harem as autonomous institution
can result in huge canvas of influential women dominating throughout the Mughal Empire.

Harem : meaning and attributes

The term Harem is derived from the Arabic word h-r-m , which originally meant a sanctuary. It is a place
where the committing of sin is considered haram- that means forbidden, so conceptually at least it was a
place where restraint was the norm rather than excesses in sexual among other, filial relationship.2
Conventionally, Harem has been described as an ordered community with its own decorum and gentility. It
was seen as comprising a number of women living in it, solely with the purpose of providing pleasure to one
man, namely the Emperor, whose sexual appetite was insatiable.
In other word harem aroused images of an immense fortified playground for fulfilling a man ‘s sexual
fantasies, with hundreds of women at his disposal. But in actual it was not the case. It was just, the late
nineteenth century colonial project only that led into such picture and continued into later historical debates
as well.
What we find in harem, it was internally organized. Of course within the harem there were hierarchies. The
royal harem was supervised within by a regular hakim or governess. She belongs to a noble family, whose
office was considered to be one of great trust and responsibility. Mahaldar, a highest female servent who
controlled harem , was responsible for the welfare of the inmates of the Harem. She was also responsible for
inner and outer field as well. Being the superintendent of the Harem, she was honoured, respected, featured,
loved , admired and was relied upon by not only the chief queen or the ladies of the Harem but also by the
emperor. Syed Najmul Rizvi, traced that , “on different festive occasions such as lunars and solar, birthday of
the emperor, Nauroz, marriage of princes and princesses and other occasions, she was given rewards, gifts
and titles.” The Mahaldar of the harem was assisted by Daroghas (supervisors) who supervised the work of
sections, Mushrif, the Tahwildar (cash keeper), and the other petty officials. It is the fact that all such post
inside were given to women.

Historiographical shifts : Sexual pleasure to activate institution

Then first question arises how this Harem get the attribute of sexual pleasure thing. Now it is established fact
among scholarship that in the history of expansion of the British Empire, Europeans have often tried to
suppress the voices of Asians, thus attempting to assert a British oriental’s Cultural hegemony in public
discourse in both colony and metropolis. In Orientals influence, historical writing treated harem as erotic site
of pleasure. Following this aim, many British created contrasting images of British verses Asian Women, in
efforts to justify British and Christian superiority over Muslim, Hindu and other South Asian Cultures.
In the explanation of decline of Mughal Empire, again traditional portrait harem as backward or blame it, i.e.
William Irwin. They also portraits Emperors wasted time in Harem. Important thing to be notes here is,

2
Mukhia, Harbans. The Mughals of India, New Delhi: Rupa,2005.
IJNRD2409087 International Journal Of Novel Research And Development (www.ijnrd.org) a770
c770
 © 2024 IJNRD | Volume 9, Issue 9 September 2024 | ISSN: 2456-4184 | IJNRD.ORG

However in this process these historians recognised harem, although it was negative way. But in result of this
Harem became politically important in scholarly works. Although, these writing offers a view of political
culture of Mughal India by including women as well, that is without doubt an immensely significant
contribution to the field.
But if one look at historical trends since the 1950s, the historians of Mughal India have concentrated heavily
on political- administrative institutions of Mughal rule on the one hand, and questions of agrarian conditions,
economic change and class struggle, on other hand. Social history related to family and household has till
now, not received similar attention.
Since, the traditional historical trends, understand Harem as a place of pleasure and decident place. So, major
image emerged of harem as a fixed , sensual, lustful domain of sin and pleasure devoted to the comfort of
men.
That image is borrowed from English traveler and writer who were not allowed into harem. So, it was just the
market and popular opinion from selective people only whom they interacted. For example, as Manucci had
observed that “all Mughals are very fond of women, who are their principal relaxation and almost their only
pleasure.”3
Following this, we can say that traditional writings denied women role as important political player. So in
dominate historiography the articulation of harem as a political space is something, that was missing.
Although in colonial historical trends there were few instances dedicated to cultural history, where they
address ornaments, dress, love stories, fantasies etc. surrounded around the harem. As a separate study, K.S.
lal4 following the English portraits of women, argued existence of harem is serving to men. Closer to the
similar statement, John Richards has described the harem as “a respite, a retreat for the nobleman and his
closest male relatives- a retreat of grace, beauty, and order designed to refresh the males of the household.”5
The major scholarship shift occurred with work of Ruby lal.6 She challenges the conventional stereotyped
representation of the Harem, by conceptualizes the domestic life and activity of a world that was not fixed,
unchanging or unhistorical and analysis the nature and meaning of the family, household, marriage and the
role of women in courtly life in the sixteenth century, particularly during the reign of Babur and Humayun,
the peripatetic Emperors, however arguing for considerable changes that occurred in the domestic world of
Akbar, as the Mughal power consolidated .
Ruby lal analysis the nature of the family, household and role of women in Mughal Harem expand the arena
of Mughal family which includes mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, grandparents, auncles, aunts, queens,
kings, children, servants, maids and other people.7
Interestingly, in family servants and maids were also dominate voices that they get documentation in
Emperors autobiography, i.e. Abd-ul- Karim, Abd-ul-Vahhab shaghval, Abu-al-Hashim.8
3
William, Irvine, (trans.) Storia do Mogor by Niccolao Manucci,vol.1, London,1907
4
Lal,K.S. The Mughal Harem, New Delhi: Aaditya Prakashan,1998.
5
Richards, John. The Mughal Empire, The New Cambridge History of India,bol.1.5,1993, p.62.
6
Lal,Ruby . “The Domestic world of peripatetic Kings: Babur and Humayun, c.1494-1556” , The Medieval History
Journal, Vol.4, no. 1, January-June 2001, pp.43-82. Lal, Ruby. Domesticity and power in the Early Mughal World,
Cambridge: Cambridge University press,2005.
7
Ibid.2001, p.47.
IJNRD2409087 International Journal Of Novel Research And Development (www.ijnrd.org) a771
c771
 © 2024 IJNRD | Volume 9, Issue 9 September 2024 | ISSN: 2456-4184 | IJNRD.ORG

Ruby lal further studies the dynamics of the non – public structures, like how the member of the royal family,
their servants, maids and others interacted with one another, the tensions in these familial relationships and
the role of politics within the so called private world.
One more aspect is the household of a ruler, which was an important centre of politics, where women played
a crucial role in the institution and maintenance of the political alliances. Women’s active contributions in
different spheres indicate that the private domain (harem) can’t be segregated from public court. The private
was never exclusively residential. Many activities took place in the public-private sphere, several of which
were of immense political significance.
Marking the difference and transition she further elaborate that throughout the reign of Babur and his son,
Humayun, there have been no distinction between the public and private, in the sense of physical separation
of court and harem. Ruby lal argued that “even if women eventually became pardeh-giyan and we’re
confined to the seclusion of the Harem, they did not lose their status or identity but remained crucial in the
establishment and concretization of Imperial traditions and imperial grandeur, which were indispensable and
acute in the creation of an illustrious monarchy.”9
During the reign of Akbar, there were rigid distinctions in physical spaces. Akbar as argued by Rosalind,
appeared in fazal’s history, not only as father- ruler of the kingdom, but also as an active and vigilant
householder. She draws our attention to the essential gender dimension in the investigation of imperial
politics and identity, by examining Akbar’s self projection as a universal monarch and careful construction of
Imperial masculinity. 10
Similar remarkable contribution marked by great Medieval scholar Harbans Mukhia.
Harbans try to explore the overarching norms in the Mughal family, the modes of subversion, the tensions in
the interpersonal relations and the relatively smooth functioning of the vast space inhabited by women of
very diverse backgrounds, statuses and temperaments, at the centre of which stood a very small number of
select men, the Emperor in particular.11

Reflection on Royal ladies : Contributions and connection

After delineating conventional image, we need to show how royal women actively dominated the difference
spheres. For that we need to explain harem as active institution, with special focus on – How the royal ladies
Interactive in complexe and unpredictable ways and shaped poltics and what were forms and consequences
of the same. Similarly their contribution to socio- economies and religious world is also traced in this section.
We further established that participation in political sphere has entangled relationship with the court, as a
mutual symbolic relationship.
It is the established fact that, the Royal women in medieval society were at the centre of familial nexus and
facilitated connection between different Lineages and kingdom. In the turko- Mongol traditions of kingship,

8
Beveridge, Babarnama, pp.40,718-721.
9
Ruby Lal. Domesticity and power in the Early Mughal World, Cambridge: Cambridge University press,2005, pp.21-
22.
10
Ibid.
11
Mukhia, Harbans. The Mughals of India, New Delhi: Rupa,2005.
IJNRD2409087 International Journal Of Novel Research And Development (www.ijnrd.org) a772
c772
 © 2024 IJNRD | Volume 9, Issue 9 September 2024 | ISSN: 2456-4184 | IJNRD.ORG

women seen as crucial political actors. It is important to note here as well, that in Timurid women co-shared
sovereignty.
One another example is, Abul Fazal tells us that being respectful Emperor’s mother, who’s pre-eminence in
the harem was universally acknowledged and respected. Paying obeisance to one’s mother was a Chingiz
tradition.
English traveller Thomas Coryat writes about Akbar’s devotion to his mother, “When his mother was carried
once in a palankeen betwixt Lahor and Agra , he , travelling with her , took the palankeen upon his own
shoulders, commanding his greatest nobles to doe the like , and so carried her over the river from one side to
the other.”
Another instance can be traced When Akbar shaved off his head and moustaches in mourning for death twice
only- when his favourite foster mother Jiji Anaga died and then again when Mariam Makani herself passed
away.

Political Significance and Royal Ladies

It is generally stated that Islamic Injunction does not allow any Muslim lady to participate in public life. But
Royal Women of Mughals were not passive objects of transactions; rather they actively manipulated and
controlled information alliance networks based and secret service systems during Conquests as well, by
extending outwards , from the family or household and negotiations
Further they also engaged in the distribution and management of the power within the dynastic family, as
well their roles as public exemplars of the dynasty’s legitimacy, munificent, and piety , tell us a active agency
of Mughal Harem.
One can notice the features of Empires of Medieval, where matrimonial alliance were the instrument for
expansion of Empire ranging from Timurid to ottoman and Mughals as well. So the women coming into
harem have network of powerful relations . So they were therefore powerful enough to exercise political
power and simultaneously coming from elite society, they were very versed in literature and other things.
Following above we need to more specific to understand Harem as political space, for that we need look state
in active, where state depends on network of alliance – that were managed and reproduced through harem.
Some of these alliance were formal in nature, but few were informal as well, which also crucial for
consolidation for empire.
Let we consider the example of Gift exchange, which was managed by harem. Here one has to note
that economy of gift exchange was also important, that associated with construction and reproduction of
network. Levi-Strauss described woman as supreme gift.12
Another layer is active role played by Senior mother. Thirdly authority can be seen from favorite wife of
Emperor throughout the Mughals.
Fourth, We can trace political significance from edicts of harem as well, those were issued by a queen or a
princess. Some edicts of Jahan Ara can be mentioned here to evident our argument. Her edicts to Najabat

12
Levi-Strauss, Claude. The Elementary Structure of Kingship,Boston,1969, p.69.
IJNRD2409087 International Journal Of Novel Research And Development (www.ijnrd.org) a773
c773
 © 2024 IJNRD | Volume 9, Issue 9 September 2024 | ISSN: 2456-4184 | IJNRD.ORG

Khan (2nd October,1632), Mirza Raja Jai Singh (30th October 1651), Raja Budh Prakash (31st October 1670,
February 1672 & 25th July 1674) and Faizullah Khan (21st January 1673) shows that she had freedom in the
royal harem which inculcated in her greater sense of dignity and honour with the result that she exercised
considerable authority. 13
One fact can be noted that, Tavernier in 1640 gave present to Jahan Ara with Emperor as well. She also
received gift from ambassador of Rum (Turkey) Zulfiqar Khan as well. These both evidence are sufficient
that how important women were in court politics as well.
Nur Jahan built tomb of her father in Agra and a sarai in Jalandhar as well. Jahan Ara provided many notable
buildings like the Jama masjid in Agra, one mosque in Kashmir for her spiritual guide, Mulla Shah
Badakhshi. Besides these she laid out some new gardens and renovated some gardens, which were situated in
Delhi, Agra, Kabul, Kashmir, Ambala and Surat. Being a first lady of the realm , she received Panipat and
Surat estates in gifts from her father.14
Another arena is education of royal ladies. Now it’s fully established fact that, during the Mughals,
Education of women showed a steady progress under the patronage and guidance of the Emperors and other
well to do person. This can be proved from numerous instances of well educated and accomplished and
highly cultural ladies, those possessed good taste and interest in literature activities, i.e. Gulbadan Begam’s
Humayun-Namah. Few Other can be mentioned as well for example Salima Sultana, Nur Jahan, Mumtaz
Mahal, Jahan Ara and Zeb-un-Nisha.
Let we take example of Aurangzeb’s daughter, Zeb-un-Nisha Begum. She had mastery over arabic, persian
literature, simultaneously very proficient in mathematics, astronomy and other sciences as well.

Trade, Economy and Royal Ladies

The contributions to political apart, Mughal imperial women were equally involved in determining the
different types of trade items to be used in the court. It was under Akbar and then Jahangir that royal women
became actively engaged in domestic and international trade.
Jahangir’s mother Maryam-uz-Zamani owned ships that operatd on international shipping lines which carried
a variety of goods, largely cotton and indigo dyes. These trading ships often carried pilgrims to and from
Mocha, 650 miles south of the holi city of Mecca. Women such as Maryam may have undertaken trading
accessible due to the financial nonchalance of the the Emperors like Jahangir but also perhaps because of the
enormous wealth that the royal women possessed and the liberal and syncretistc religious norms of the
contemporary Mughal court.
Findly suggests that “ women such as Maryam were not minimally involved but immensely significant in
organising commercial contacts, consolidating trading contracts and pioneering normative patterns in trade
that contained to influence and be emulated even subsequently. 15

13
Jaffery, Nausheen,Ara Begum, Delhi: IAD Oriental,2011, pp.69-70.
14
Ibid,89.
15
Findly, Ellison. “The Capture of Maryam-uz-Zamani’s Ship: Mughal Women and European Traders”, Journal of the American
Oriental Society,vol.108, no. 2,1998, pp.227-238..
IJNRD2409087 International Journal Of Novel Research And Development (www.ijnrd.org) a774
c774
 © 2024 IJNRD | Volume 9, Issue 9 September 2024 | ISSN: 2456-4184 | IJNRD.ORG

Maryam owned substantial wealth, was one of only four members of the Court, the only Woman to have
enjoyed the rank of 12000 sawar and who received a jewel annually on the occasion of New year festivities
from every mansabdar according to potentiality of their jagir.
Like few other royal women she possessed the right to issue Farmans- a previlege usually that the emperor,
and like Nur Jahan she expended her wealth and influence for the public utility, for instance constructing
gardens, wells and mosques around the countryside.
Using money from gifts and revenue from lands, women like Nur Jahan traded in domestic items and also
controlled mercantile routes by extracting taxes for the movement of varieties of commodities.Nur Jahan’s
activities are most documented. Findlay trace the data of trade contract between Nur Jahan and first English
embassy which had “approached the Mughal Court to set up official trading contracts in indigo and cloth.” 16
Writer of Ikbal-nama-I Jahangiri reflecting on Nur Jahan writes- “Day by day her influence and dignity
increased…No grant of lands was conferred upon any woman except under her seal. Sometimes she would
sit in the balcony of her palace, while the nobles would present themselves, and listen to her dictates. Coin
was struck in her name and on all farmans also receiving the imperial signature, the name of Nur jana – the
Queen Begum, was jointly attached. “
The tradition of trading was later continue by Jahan Ara, the accomplished and favourite daughter of Shah
Jahan. As D. Pant noticed “because of her position at court, Jahan Ara was able to trade voluminously on her
own account,”17 running a large number of ships herself and entering into enormously successful trading
relations with the Dutch and the English.

Conclusion
Though, the recent studies shows that Women have played a dynamic role in every field of life. These trends
in Mughals historiography, that include not simply the treatment of the Harem, or the femininity but also
18
studies of masculinity in relation both to the elite at large and the royal figure himself. In result of that the
traditional belief about their static and inactiveness as a agency is rejected. Newly emerged Historiographical
trends shows that we have suffice evidence of their contribution and active involvement to politics, society,
religion, culture and economy as well.
In sum up the paper advocate harem to be studied as a political sphere, instead of erotic site only. There is
need to outlined changing notions of harem and power politics assented by royal ladies, that will definitely
open up new ways of thinking of political realm and at the same time ask to rethink about the spatial limits
that historian have imposed on their imaginations while interpretation the past.
As Jf Richard rightly noted, “Muslim expansion into South Asia is one of the most important and prolonged
instances of cultural encounter to be found in world history” 19 , which was under the patronage of talented

16
Ibid, 26-58.
17
Pant, D. The commercial policy of the Moguls,p.211.
18
Alam, Muzaffar and Subrahmanyam, Sanjay.(ed.) 2012, p.31.
19
Richards, J.F. The Islamic Frontier in the East: Expansion into South Asia, South Asia 4, 1974, p.91.
IJNRD2409087 International Journal Of Novel Research And Development (www.ijnrd.org) a775
c775
 © 2024 IJNRD | Volume 9, Issue 9 September 2024 | ISSN: 2456-4184 | IJNRD.ORG

men and women of this dynasty diverse cultures were blended with incomparable refinement to produce one
of the most artistically creative eras of the world history.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Ellison Findly. Nur Jahan: Empress of Mughal India, New York: Oxford University press,1993.
2. Ellison Findly. “The Capture of Maryam-uz-Zamani’s Ship: Mughal Women and European
Traders”, Journal of the American Oriental Society,vol.108, no. 2,1998, pp.227-238.
3. Harbans Mukhia. The Mughals of India, New Delhi: Rupa,2005.
4. Irfan Habib. The family of Nur Jahan during Jahangir’s reign: a political study in Medieval India- A
miscellany, vol.1, Aligarh,1969.
5. K.S. Lal. The Mughal Harem, New Delhi: Aaditya Prakashan,1998.
6. Lisa Balabanlilar. Imperial Identity in the Mughal Empire, New York:L.B.Tauris,2012.
7. Muzaffar Alam and Sanjay Subrahmanyam,.(ed.) Writing the Mughal World,New York: Columbia
University press,2012.
8. Nausheen Jaffery. Jahan Ara Begum, Delhi: IAD Oriental,2011.
9. Ruby lal . “The Domestic world of peripatetic Kings: Babur and Humayun, c.1494-1556” , The
Medieval History Journal, Vol.4, no. 1, January-June 2001, pp.43-82.
10. Ruby Lal. Domesticity and power in the Early Mughal World, Cambridge: Cambridge University
press,2005.
11. Rosalind O Hanlon. “Kingdom, Household and Body History, Gender and imperial service under
Akbar”, Modern Asian Studies,Vol.41,no.5,2007,pp.889-923.

IJNRD2409087 International Journal Of Novel Research And Development (www.ijnrd.org) a776

c776