This new book on Nur Jahan for children celebrates her unique life

An illustration of Nur Jahan on an elephant hunting tigers. Illustrations Courtesy/Molly Crabapple; Penguin India; author pic Courtesy/Myron mcghee; rubylal.com

Why will Tiger Slayer resonate with today's readers? What is it that you wish to tell especially young readers about Nur Jahan's legacy?
Designed for young adults, Tiger Slayer (Penguin India) is a remix of my previous biography, Empress, The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan, in which I launched Nur Jahan, for the first time, as a Mughal co-sovereign. A remarkable history of a figure, who grew to be powerful over time. Nur Jahan was not from the royal family and did not inherit the right to rule.

A widowed mother, she married the fourth Mughal Emperor at 31, his 20th and last wife - who went on to become a co-sovereign with him. The one woman we can count among the Great Mughal (male) rulers of India. Nur designed marvellous buildings and gardens, championed social justice, especially in the name of the poor and women, hunted killer tigers to protect her subjects, even went to war to rescue her husband from captivity.

A panel depicting Nur Jahan with a young Jahangir

Yet, her reign had got locked up in a legend of irrational love for a bewitching woman by her besotted (and drunken) husband. We know her, and yet we know nothing about her, nothing about the plural and dynamic world she lived in, nothing about her qualities of head and heart, her political acumen, her wisdom, her ambition, love…. This is the story of an exceptional luminary woman leader that should interest readers widely.

What lessons did Nur learn while accompanying Jahangir during his campaigns in the Deccan?
Jahangir admired the wandering lifestyle of the first Mughal emperor, Babur, and emulated it. He believed a sovereign should be constantly on the move throughout his realm - observing, interacting, making notes, and taking stock - and Nur travelled with him on most of his journeys between 1611 and 1627. Jahangir's penchant for the itinerant life meant more liberties for Nur and other women of the Mughal household.

Ruby Lal

They emerged from the walled quarters to which they'd been relegated by Akbar and into open country, where the tented harems of the royal encampments afforded them more freedom of mind and body. While on the road, Nur became increasingly responsible for governing. That released the emperor from state duties and freed him to pursue his interest in nature, geography, art, and philosophy, though he remained the de jure ruler.

What qualities helped Nur create her identity in a male-dominated royal ecosystem? Where did she learn about strategy and how to navigate the vicious world of palace politics?
Brilliant female strategists, peacemakers, experts on law and the politics of marriage lived in the Mughal world before Nur. Mughal women continually upheld majesty and grandeur. They ensured that sovereign mores remained in place in the ongoing social-political adjustments. It is on the heels of such power that Nur Jahan articulates her own authority and style. The personalities and circumstances of the people close to Nur helped shape her unprecedented rise.

Nur's parents were enlightened nobles who took great pains with their daughter's education, which continued in Jahangir's harem, where elder women mentored Nur. And yes, because of Jahangir's strengths and weaknesses - and his capacious and abiding affection and admiration for his wife. Nur and Jahangir earned their love story. But she became the ruler she was because of her own personhood.

The important thing to remember is that Nur Jahan was not from the royal family and did not inherit the right to rule. As I said above, the one woman we can count among the Great Mughal (male) rulers of India. That's a stunning achievement and Empress and Tiger Slayer both chart the story of her leadership.

Molly Crabapple's art is rich and detailed; how did you and Molly ensure the text synergised with the images?
Tiger Slayer sits on serious archival work that includes Persian court chronicles, the rich iconography of art and architecture, poetry - and stories in the public imagination. Molly drew as I wrote the pages, both of us working side by side, if you will. Apart from art to be viewed simply as beautiful inserts in a book, our main drive was to have words and images in conversation. I guided Molly continuously on Mughal art sources, and she went from there to create new succulent images, based on Mughal traditions, but a great deal of recreation while retaining the Mughal style. She also made pictures for those scenes and figures that don't exist in the painterly archive, such as Nur shooting the killer tiger. As Molly had to pay attention to Mughal art traditions, I was looking at Mughal art anew by way of questions she was asking me. Many of my episodes were guided by the force of Molly's creation.

How can Nur's leadership qualities hold well for individuals, especially women in roles of power?
Nur's rise to an unparalleled leadership is a lovely provocation with an enduring message about women and history. In my words: That women's and people's power - past and present - is to be seen in unexpected places, in unexpected times, and in surprising ways. So: Look where you don't habitually look!

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