Title: Tiger Slayer: The Extraordinary Story of Nur Jahan, Empress of India
Author: Ruby Lal
Major Themes: Nur Jahan, India, Royalty
Synopsis: After being born as her family traveled from Persia to India in the 1500s, Nur Jahan rose to become an empress for a short time.
I love finding stories about people or events that I haven’t learned about before. One of my recent finds was Tiger Slayer. A story about a woman who became empress of India 500 years ago? Yes, that sounded interesting!
Publisher’s description:
More than four centuries ago in India, a Muslim woman ruled a magnificent empire: Nur Jahan, whose name means “light of the world.” Nur led troops into battle atop an elephant, hunted tigers, designed public buildings, and issued coinage and royal decrees in her own name. In a world dominated by men, her astute handling of court politics and affairs of state propelled her to the position of co-sovereign of the vast Mughal empire―and made her mighty enemies who would plot to bring about her downfall.
Tiger Slayer combines the gifts of historian Ruby Lal and artist Molly Crabapple to uncover the vibrant and diverse culture of Mughal India and tell the compelling story of a daring, brilliant woman who achieved unequaled power and fame.
My thoughts:
I started to read Tiger Slayer aloud to my children. Sadly, they found it boring and asked me to stop—so I read the rest of it to myself! I found it quite interesting, a glimpse into a time and place I haven’t read much about. It was very interesting to learn about court life among the Mughals and how Nur Jahan handled all the challenges of her life as a woman in a society dominated by men. The intrigues of court politics and the rival factions made for a fascinating story.
I also liked the sidebars that gave more information. Nur Jahan lived during quite a colorful time in history. She, along with everyone around her, maneuvered for power and position, both for herself and for her children. She was quite a strong character, and that made for an interesting story, even though it was not written in fictionalized form but straight non-fiction biography.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley, and these are my honest thoughts about it.
WARNING: There are mentions throughout the book of people being killed, or tigers being killed (as the title indicates), but nothing graphic.
Age levels:
Listening Level—Ages 12 – 15
Reading Independently—Ages 15 and Above, Adults
Links to buy this book:
Amazon: Kindle | Hardcover | Audible Audiobook (unabridged)
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
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