The Domestic World of Peripatetic Kings, Essay Example

Ruby Lal’s book, The Domestic World of Peripatetic Kings, provides a detailed account of genealogy of rulers and assesses the effects of colonial caricatures. With reference to the emperor-centric accounts of early travellers, the author also assesses the domestic role of women in Mughals India. The travellers tried to understand the oriental society and culture in the colonial period. This resulted in information concoction, which Lal refers to as Self-contradictory and Fluid Travellers’ Account. Lal is also keen to point out the notions of gender segregations, which indicate restricted and limited involvement of women. The decisions and policies of the Mughal State were dictated by the complexities in politics of royal households.

This book provides women-specific information. Themes such as motherhood, wifehood, and marriage dominate where Lal finds the harem in the wandering world of Mughals. Royal women had important roles in the formation of a monarch. Apart from acting as the carriers of a new dynasty, women also acted as social agents to the new members. This was a good opportunity for creating women’s agency in the circulation and production of power. The intersection of men’s and women’s interests undermined the conceptions of independent and separate domestic spheres. Amidst intimate and multifaceted community that encompassed the Mughals’ domestic world, Lal relives several stories and episodes that reveal the emotional and hierarchical relationship in the harem. These relationships were respected by kings since women played key roles such as brokering peace. Lal considers deliberations over marriages (Humayun-Hemideh Banus) and bases her narrative on the formulation of political norms, protocols, traditions, and women’s agency with regard to their own marriage. The domestic responsibility of women, which includes marriage and childbearing, is considered crucial in managing a monarch. This is why royal women were accorded respect by the kings because of their inborn responsibilities. Unlike other domains in the region that were segregated and dictatorial, the harem of Mughals was open to challenges and negotiations from within.

The author has also mapped the agency and desires of imperial women. The portrayal of woman in the book has helped to accentuate the point that women remained invisible. Additionally, most of women characters resided in isolated places. Reasonably, hajji can undeniably be taken as a spiritual journey when argued on a woman’s perspective. This journey fosters a Muslim image in the empire. This is the reason why it was wholly supported by the consolidated and settled government of Akbar. This was an exceptional enterprise for royal women who led a secluded life. Consequently, it slammed doors on the concept of domestic worlds of the Mughals. On basis of the Muslim religion, women were highly segregated especially in the places of worship. Their responsibility was limited to household chores and childbearing. On the other hand, royal women were highly accorded respect since they took part in political decisions as well as formulation of protocols for the monarch.

This book provides a lively responsibility of women in the construction of an empire’s grandeur and traditions. This has made the Mughal’s domestic and social worlds as parts of historical discourse in Asia. The hajji episode emphasizes the autonomy and agency of the women who took part in the journey. Apart from the mere agency of women in this episode, it acted as a new dawn for the politics in the country since women performed their delineated roles. These observations show that this book is a mixture of trading, culture, and politics in traditional Asia.