The Twentieth Wife

354 Pages·2003·2.22 MB·English

by  Indu Sundaresan

Acclaim for Indu Sundaresan’s The Twentieth Wife
◆ ◆
“Sundaresan [is] a bright addition to the new generation of women writers from
India.”
—The Seattle Times
“If all history lessons were spun outwards from a legendary love affair and
enlivened with sensuous details of an exotic time and place, fewer kids would
sleep through class.”
—The Sunday Oregonian
“In Mehrunnisa, Sundaresan has found a fascinating subject. . . . The Twentieth
Wife offers a rich and intimate view into palace life during the late 16th and
early 17th centuries—and an incisive look at gender roles of that period.”
—USA Today
“This epic tale is . . . informative, convincing, and madly entertaining. The
reader comes away with an unexpected vision of the power behind the veil.”
—Marilyn Yalom, author of A History of the Wife and A History of the Breast
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For my parents, Group Captain R. Sundaresan and Madhuram Sundaresan
For all of who I am
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My deepest thanks:
To my “writing buddies,” for kind praise and unstinted critique, and because
they love to write as much as I do: Janet Lee Carey, Julie Jindal, Vicki
D’Annunzio, Nancy Maltby Henkel, Angie Yusuf, Joyce O’Keefe, Beverly
Cope, Louise Christensen Zak, Gabriel Herner, Sheri Maynard, Michael
Hawkins, and Laura Hartman.
To my agent, Sandra Dijkstra (who is an unexpected gift and blessing), and
others in her agency, for their knowledge and experience and for their passionate
belief in my writing.
To my editor at Pocket Books, Tracy Sherrod, for her vision and for astute
and generous insights on the manuscript.
To my publisher at Pocket Books, Judith Curr, for her confidence and trust in
me and my work.
To my husband, Uday, who has always supported my writing habit and who
read the novel in its very first avatar and liked it beyond the call of duty.
To my sister Anu, who stayed up nights reading the story while taking care of
my two-week-old niece (and despite the excitement of a new baby was still
thrilled by it).
To my sister Jaya, whose unbounded love and vivacity spills into every aspect
of my life, and who is fired with the utmost faith in her little sister.
To the excellent libraries of the King County Library System and the
University of Washington Suzzallo and Allen Libraries, for giving me a place to
rest my thoughts, and because my research would have been hugely incomplete
without their collections.

PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS
(In Alphabetical Order)
Abdur Rahim The Khan-i-khanan, Commander-in-chief of the
imperial army
Abul Hasan Mehrunnisa’s brother
Akbar Third Emperor of Mughal India
Ali Quli Khan Istajlu Mehrunnisa’s first husband
Asmat Mehrunnisa’s mother, Ghias Beg’s wife
Ghias Beg Mehrunnisa’s father
Hoshiyar Khan Chief eunuch of Salim’s harem
Jagat Gosini Salim’s second wife
Jahangir Salim’s title upon becoming the fourth emperor
of Mughal India
Khurram Salim’s third son, born of Jagat Gosini
Khusrau Salim’s first son, born of Man Bai
Ladli Mehrunnisa’s daughter by Ali Quli
Mahabat Khan Salim’s childhood cohort
Mehrunnisa Ghias’s daughter, later titled Nur Jahan
Mirza Aziz Koka Khusrau’s father-in-law
Muhammad Sharif Salim’s childhood cohort, later made Grand
Vizier of the Empire
Muhammad Sharif Mehrunnisa’s eldest brother (not the same as
the Grand Vizier)
Qutubuddin Khan Koka Salim’s childhood cohort, later Governor of
Bengal
Raja Man Singh Khusrau’s uncle
Ruqayya Sultan Begam Akbar’s chief queen, or Padshah Begam
Salim Akbar’s first son, later Emperor Jahangir