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{{Short description|1988 book by K. S. Lal}}
{{About|a book|the institution|Mughal Harem}}
{{italic title}}
'''''The Mughal Harem''''' is a book by historian [[K.S. Lal]] published in 1988 about the [[Mughal Harem]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite thesis|last=Carotenuto|first=Gianna M.|title=Domesticating the harem: Reconsidering the ''zenana'' and representations of elite Indian women in colonial painting and photography of India, 1830–1920|date=2009|publisher=University of California, Los Angeles|page=59, 61-62}}</ref>

== Contents ==
Based on contemporary sources, Lal studies queens, princesses, dancing girls, and slaves who belonged to Mughal harem from 15th to 18th century.<ref name="Aftab2008">{{cite book|author=Tahera Aftab|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HIISikCITAgC&pg=PA45|title=Inscribing South Asian Muslim Women: An Annotated Bibliography & Research Guide|publisher=BRILL|year=2008|isbn=90-04-15849-9|page=45}}</ref> The political roles of [[Nur Jahan]], [[Jahanara Begum|Jahanara]] and [[Roshanara Begum|Roshanara]] are described in detail.<ref name="Aftab2008" />

== Reception ==
A. Jan Qaiser of Aligarh Muslim University (Indian Historical Review, New Delhi, 1991) was very dismissive of the book.{{efn|K. S. Lal responded by pointing out that Professor M. Athar Ali of Aligarh university had arrived at the same conclusions separately.<ref>K.S. Lal. In "Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India" (1999) {{ISBN|81-86471-72-3}} </ref>}} [[Ruby Lal]] noted Lal's work to be one of the few academic accounts on the topic but laden with oriental tropes of sexuality and seclusion.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lal|first=Ruby|date=2004|title=Historicizing the Harem: The Challenge of a Princess's Memoir|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20458986|journal=Feminist Studies|volume=30|issue=3|pages=592|doi=10.2307/20458986|issn=0046-3663}}</ref> Karuna Sharma shares Ruby Lal's concerns; K. S. Lal's was the first comprehensive study of the subject but it exoticized the Harem and failed to account for members, who did not have any sexual role.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sharma|first=Karuna|date=2009-07-10|title=A Visit to the Mughal Harem: Lives of Royal Women|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00856400903049457|journal=South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies|language=en|pages=156|doi=10.1080/00856400903049457}}</ref> Gianna Carotenuto noted the work to be laced with "salacious tales and the sexy exploits of mythic heroes and heroines".<ref name=":0" /> Lal's approach was intended to reinforce the oriental reputation of harem as a haven of sexual extremes and intrigues, and his laments about the evils of Harem being siphoned onto the society were reflective of personal and political agendas.<ref name=":0" />

[[Indrani Chatterjee]] remarks that Lal treats Muslims as a "hermetically sealed" category, leading to a [[Communalism (South Asia)|communalised]] historiography that serves a political purpose.<ref>{{Cite thesis|last=Chatterjee|first=Indrani|title=Slavery and the household in Bengal, 1770-1880|date=1996|publisher=School of Oriental and African Studies|page=24}}</ref> [[Harbans Mukhia]] finds Lal's account descriptive but stereotypical.<ref>{{Citation|last=Harbans|first=Mukhia|title=Select Bibliography|date=2004|work=The Mughals of India|pages=188|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd|language=en|doi=10.1002/9780470758304.biblio|isbn=978-0-470-75830-4|doi-access=free}}</ref> In a review for the [[Bulletin of the School of Oriental & African Studies]], A. A. Powell noted Lal's ''The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India (1992)'' to be "crude propaganda" disguised as academic history; he went on to note that its conclusion of the Mughals being responsible for religious persecution and socioeconomic exploitation of Hindus were in tune with Lal's recent publications including ''The Mughal Harem''.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Powell|first=A. A.|date=June 1995|title=K. S. Lal: The legacy of Muslim rule in India, vi, 406 pp. New Delhi, Aditya Prakashan, 1992.|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/abs/k-s-lal-the-legacy-of-muslim-rule-in-india-vi-406-pp-new-delhi-aditya-prakashan-1992/FE8F799CDFCF2985FEECB50B7A30A57B|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies|language=en|volume=58|issue=2|pages=397–398|doi=10.1017/S0041977X0001123X|issn=1474-0699}}</ref> Irfan Habib concurs with the assessment of Chatterjee and Powell.

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mughal Harem, The}}
[[Category:Mughal Harem]]
[[Category:1988 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Books by K. S. Lal]]

The Mughal Harem - Revision history

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