ROLE OF WOMEN

IN SHAPING
CULTURE
R A Z I A S U LTA N A N D N O O R J A H A N
 CONTENTS

• Razia Sultan
• Noor Jahan
RAZIYA
SULTAN
Razia Begum was born in
1205 to Sultan Iltutmish
and his favourite wife,
Qutub Begum.
She has the distinction of
being the first and last
woman to be a Muslim
ruler in the Delhi
Sultanate in her own
right
• Raziya’s childhood was unlike that of other royal princesses. She
was not a part of the royal harem and instead grew up learning
politics and military strategy at her father’s knee.
• In fact Iltutmish is said to have favoured her over his sons. She was
a skilled horse rider and hunter and preferred more traditionally
masculine activities to feminine ones.
• After the death of her brother who was supposed to succeed the
throne, Iltutmish declared her as heir apparent; something which
had never been done in history.
• After the death of Iltutmish, her half brother Ruknuddin Firuz was
put up as a pretender king but she swiftly deposed him with the
support of the Turkish nobles and ascended the throne with the
name Jalalat-ud-Din Raziya in 1236.
• Raziya defied all gender norms of the
time. She insisted on being addressed
as Sultan, wore male clothes, gave up
her purdah, had coins minted in her
name and was an authority in the
court.
• She was also a brave warrior and
fearlessly captured new territory to
strengthen her kingdom and also
subdued rebellions.
• She scandalized the religious leaders
and the orthodox leaders but had the
support of the army and the public.
• Raziya had a brief but eventful reign from 1236 to 1240. She
established several educational institutions and libraries. She quelled
rebellions by nobles who disliked being ruled by a woman.
• She favoured Yaqut, an Abyssinian slave and raised him to a high
office even after disapproval from the nobles.
• However, her downfall came when she went to quell the rebellion
of Altunia the governor of Bhatinda and was defeated and forced to
marry him.
• During this time, Bahram Shah, her brother usurped the throne and
when she marched with her new husband to take back her throne,
she was defeated and subsequently murdered. This was in 1240.
RAZIYA’S IMPACT

• However in spite of her short rule, Raziya played a huge role in influencing and
shaping culture.
• She broke Gender stereotypes in a time when women were severely oppressed
• She was the first and last female ruler of India in her own right in either Islam or
Hinduism. Her example was unprecedented and unfollowed.
• She took direct control of state affairs and through her tact and military acumen
proved that gender was not important and that she was as capable as any man.
NUR
JAHAN
Nur Jahan was one of the most
influential women of her day. As
favorite wife of the powerful
Mughal emperor Jahangir, she
found herself uniquely positioned
to brilliantly utilize her skills in
administration, politics, economics,
and culture.

Nur Jahan was born into an

aristocratic Persian family who had
immigrated to India. She was
married at age seventeen to a
Persian soldier who had a much
admired military career. She was
also widowed soon after and then
caught the eye of the then
emperor Jahangir
• All reports say that she was a remarkable beauty and it perhaps is not surprising that
Jahangir married her within two months. He first gave her the title Nur Mahal which
he changed in 1616 to Nur Jahan, or "Light of the World.“
• within nine years of marriage Nur Jahan acquired all the rights of sovereignty and
government normally due the emperor, becoming virtually in charge of the whole
empire until the emperor died in 1627.
• Since women were not suppose to appear face to face with men in court, Nur Jahan
ruled through trusted males. But it was she who approved all orders and grants of
appointment in Jahangir's name, and controlled all promotions and demotions within
the royal government.
• She took special interest in the affairs of women, giving them land and dowries for
orphan girls. She had coins struck in her name, collected duties on goods from
merchants who passed though the empire's lands, and traded with Europeans who
brought luxury goods from the continent. Given her ability to obstruct or facilitate
the opening up of both foreign and domestic trade, her patronage was eagerly sought,
and paid for. She herself owned ships which took pilgrims as well as cargo to Mecca.
Her business connections and wealth grew. Her officers were everywhere. The
cosmopolitan city of Agra, the Mughal capital, grew as a crossroad of commerce.
Both Jahangir and Nur Jahan were devotees of the
elegant and sophisticated Mughal artistic style, the Taj
Mughal being one example. The emperor owned an
admirable collection of exquisite miniature paintings, and
together with Nur constructed beautiful gardens, notably
in the court's summer retreat in Kashmir. Nur used
some gardens for official functions; others were opened
up for the populous in general to use. Architecture, too,
was an important imperial activity; some of the mosques,
caravasaries and tombs Nur Jahan had built are visible
today.
Nur Jahal enjoyed the height of her power when she was
surrounded by loyal men which included members of her
own family. Struggles between Jahangir's sons for power,
however, slowly chipped away at her reign.
Nur's cleverness could not save her, and upon Shah Jahan's succession to the crown, he had her
confined. Her imprisonment ended her influence at court, and she spent the last years of her life
in exile in Lahore. Here she spent a quiet time living with her daughter until her own death in
1645. Her tomb lies in Lahore next to Jahangir's. Both she had erected along with the gardens
that surround them.
NUR JAHAN’S IMPACT

• Nur Jahan emerged as the most powerful figure in contemporary history on account of her
personality and influence on Jahangir.
• Nur Jahan was the only queen in the entire history of medieval India who exercised such a
tremendous influence on an emperor Jahangir, her husband and consequently on the affairs of
the state.
• Nur Jahan patronized art and literature. She brought about a revolutionary change in dresses
and designs of ornaments.
• A kind and compassionate lady, she greatly helped the poor, the orphan and the widows.