Literary Contribution of Mughal Court Lady Gulbadan Begum
Abstract
Abstract Views: 865The development of education and educational institution in Medieval India has attracted considerable attention of scholar, but there is no substantial work done to examine the role of women as recipient of dislearning . In this article, I have examined the role of a court lady, particularly Gulbadan Begum, the daughter of Babur in the field of education and learning. She was the first literary Gem of the Mughal period wrote ‘Humāyūn-Nāma’ in Persian which was based on her personal experiences and knowledge. It was virtually a Biography of emperor Humayun, proving her profound scholarly bearing and creativity.Gulbadan Begum’s well-known work ‘Humāyūn-Nāma' is divided into two sections one contain the history of Babur and other the history of Humayun. It also supplies the necessary data for a background of Akbar’s reign .she has recorded the political event, and military expedition of significant battles. Besides these, Gulbadan narrated vividly the court customs, marriage ceremonies, and the social gathering in which she participated .The silent features of her work described the harem, its Begums, their lives and character etc. Thus it can say that , Gulbadan’s Humāyūn-Nāma is a literary cum political history as it gives details about the domestic life rather than literary information .Being a woman, her interest focussed essentially on things feminine and she wrote about the lives of haremfolk with candour. However, Gulbadan’s work raised the status of Mughal womanhood to the pinnacle of excellance at the time when education was restricted for ladies.
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