History is written by men. About men. Indian history, more so.
The contribution of women in Indian history is relatively unknown. With exceptions such as Rani Lakshmibai, our history books in school were mostly about male kings and emperors. Where women are barely anything more than wives, mothers, and consorts. Mainstream Indian history is often from a male lens.
As we celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8th and Women’s History Month all through March, I share with you books to read on incredible women Indian history forgot. Warriors, queens, freedom fighters, social reformers, thinkers, and doctors. The history of women beyond the male gaze.
Women Warriors In Indian History
by Yugal Joshi
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Quick question. List some warrior queens of India. The first and probably the only name that comes to mind is Rani Lakshmibai. What about the Gondwana queen, Rani Durgavati who refused to surrender to the enemy? The Maratha queen, Maharani Tarabai who brought Aurangzeb to his knees?
Women Warriors in Indian History explores the lives of ten women warriors. Women who faced social and political opposition not for their capabilities but simply for the fact that they were a woman. Each life story is narrated by a contemporary historical character. Marco Polo, Emperor Jahangir, and Tantya Tope are just a few. Do pick up the book.
The Women Who Ruled India: Leaders. Warriors. Icons.
by Archana Garodia Gupta
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“People say that I am a quarrelsome woman…”
The quote by the Maratha queen, Maharani Tarabai perfectly defines The Women Who Ruled India: Leaders. Warriors. Icons. A collection of stories of 20 powerful women rulers from the archives. Women known for their valor, leadership and diplomacy. Women who built roads, instituted laws, and were generous patrons of the arts and sciences. Women who shaped Indian history but are all but forgotten.
Velu Nachiyar, the Queen of Sivaganga and one of the first female freedom fighters. The Rani Abbakkas of Ullal who took on Portuguese colonizers. Karnavati of Garhwal who decisively defeated the Mughal army. Begum Samru, a courtesan who went on to head a mercenary army and ruler of Sardhana. Didda of Kashmir with keen political instinct and brutality that spared no one. Rani Mangammal of Madurai, an administrator who built alliances in times of war. The Begums of Bhopal, four women rulers in succession for more than a century.
Do pick up this inspiring read.
Her-Stories — Indian Women Down the Ages: Thinkers, Workers, Rebels, Queens by Deepti Priya Mehrotra
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Warriors, activists, reformers, poets, writers, saints, historians, and astronomers. Women relegated to the margins. Vilified women. But women who have been thinkers, doers, subverting hierarchies and fighting patriarchy.
Her-Stories — Indian Women Down the Ages: Thinkers, Workers, Rebels, Queens sheds light on 57 amazing women across three millennia. From the second millennium BCE to the mid-19th century. Philosopher Sulabha, philanthropist Vishakha, fearless Uppalavanna, wandering bard Auvaiyar, mountain queen Didda, radical poet Akkamahadevi, Dalit rebel Nangeli, dancer-diplomat Mahlaqa Bai Chanda, Nawab Begum Qudsia, sharpshooter Uda, guerrillera Hazrat Begum and feminist writer Tarabai Shinde. And many more such extraordinary women.
Not just history but her-story. A lesser-known book that deserves more love.
The Last Queen
by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
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The daughter of the royal kennel keeper who went on to become Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s youngest and last queen. The Last Queen is the tale of Rani Jindan Kaur, Mother of the Khalsa. The fierce queen history forgot.
A regent queen to her son, she defied tradition to step out of the zenana, and conduct the royal business in public. The sharp-eyed and passionate queen who led the Khalsa troops to war. A rebel queen who did not let go even after being robbed of her only child.
Daughters of the Sun: Empresses, Queens and Begums of the Mughal Empire by Ira Mukhoty
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We have all read Mughal history in detail. But it has been a male-centric one. Where women were relegated to the zenana or simply wives, mothers, and consorts of the emperors. Women apparently without agency.
Daughters of the Sun: Empresses, Queens and Begums of the Mughal Empire explores the women of the dynasty. Brave daughters, eccentric sisters, fiery milk mothers and powerful wives. Working behind the scenes and from within the zenana. Some who rode into the battlefield. Who built stunning monuments, engaged in diplomacy, traded with foreigners and minted coins in their own names.
Jiji Anaga and Maham Anaga, Akbar’s milk mothers who protected and guided the teenage emperor until he came of age. Gulbadan Begum, Babur’s daughter whose memoir Humayunnama is so much more than a chronicle of her brother’s life. Jahanara, Shah Jahan’s favorite child who wielded major political influence. Just to name a few.
Lioness of Punjab
by Anita Jari Kharbanda
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“I would not accept my fate as a woman, left behind in the villages to mourn. I was going to fight.”
Under siege and isolation, the exhausted forty soldiers of Guru Gobind Singh Ji decided to head home. They were met by a fiery Sikh teenager who lead them back to their guru.
Lioness of Punjab is the story of Mai Bhago or Mata Bhag Kaur. A coming-of-age young adult novel about a teenager who refused to be relegated to household chores. A warrior woman who lead an army of Sikh soldiers against the Mughals.
One of favorite reads of 2022 and a book I cannot recommend enough.
Lady Doctors: The Untold Stories of India’s First Women in Medicine
by Kavitha Rao
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We cannot imagine a world today without women doctors. But there was a time when Indian women were not allowed to study medicine. In fact, women could not receive timely medical care since male doctors were not allowed to treat female patients.
Lady Doctors unearths the stories of six extraordinary radical women who defied the social norms and patriarchy. Anandibai Joshi, who sailed alone from Calcutta to New York with the goal of becoming a doctor. Haimabati Sen, a child widow who overcame poverty and hardship. Kadambini Ganguly, a champion of women’s rights and education who faced immense criticism and backlash from her community.
A book that is as much about the pioneers as it is about the socio-cultural politics of 19th and 20th centuries. This book is a must-read.
These are just a few books to get you started on the journey to discover incredible women Indian history forgot. Have you read the books above or have recommendations for me? Do share about them in the comments below.
This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Mads’ Cookhouse.
This blog post is part of the Women’s Day Blog Hop, themed on She: A Tribute to Her, hosted by Swarnali Nath.
This post is part of Blogchatter’s CauseAChatter
This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a very small percentage of the sale at no cost to you.
Photo credit: Canva.com
March 7, 2023 @ 9:43 pm
Hi Ritu
I am so impressed with this list of yours. I’ve read only The Last Queen. Daughters of the Sun looks intriguing. I’m adding it right away to my list.
March 7, 2023 @ 10:34 pm
I haven’t read any of these books and like you rightly pointed out, history in schools was male-centric. When I read your blogpost, I understood that there were some brave women who may not have fought wars but protected the heir to the kingdom with their lives. While during those days, the role of women was to enable men, i am glad that we have come a long way. I have bookmarked this post in hopes of reading some of these books.
March 8, 2023 @ 2:50 pm
Great to see the Indian women who were heroes. I have read books like Daughters of Arabia and all that but I think I should try one of these soon!
March 11, 2023 @ 9:26 pm
I can’t help admiring the range of books you read and recommend Ritu… I know I would love this months lot cuz I have the fighter streak in me and I anyway love to read novels on history. Sometimes I feel I may have been some warrior princess or queen in my past life… hahaha..
March 9, 2023 @ 9:21 am
Though the word history itself is a misogyny, it can never be enriched without her story. Thanks for suggesting the books. I will definitely check them out. More and more need to be written about these fighters
March 9, 2023 @ 1:54 pm
The first book and Daughters of the Fire are waiting in my TBR list for many years yet I couldn’t read them. This list of books is intriguing and I believe the more this kind of books are written, the more we will know about our unsung sheroes. Thanks for joining the blog hop. Means a lot. Much gratitude 🙂
March 9, 2023 @ 10:35 pm
I haven’t read any of the above mentioned books. But I would like to check them out. I have breifly read about Tarabai.and Rani Durgavati. Currently, I am watching Ahilyabai Holkar show and learning a lot about her. Women from our history were the true inspiration. It wasn’t easy to show their courage in a male dominating society but they showed their inner strength.
March 10, 2023 @ 11:18 am
I always feel that History has focused more on HIS-story.
High time HER-story is also included.
Most historians have been men and have glorified fellow men.
So happy to see so many books about women trailblazers, Ritu.
People need to be informed to be aware.
March 10, 2023 @ 2:31 pm
That’s a good list. I have The Last Queen on my list, now added some more from your recommendations, especially about the doctors..
March 10, 2023 @ 7:37 pm
How many unsung heroines we have and we hardly hear them mentioned? I don’t understand why filmmakers don’t make movies of such prominent women. It’s a man’s world and only hero-centric movies rule the roost even today. I admired the Last Queen. What a woman! A kennel keeper’s daughter, who rules over her kingdom. I happened to read the book..one of the rare I read. 🙂
March 10, 2023 @ 8:18 pm
Wow! All the descriptions look really interesting. I haven’t read any till now. Would love to read a few
March 10, 2023 @ 10:28 pm
Really story books were only on a male warrior or emperor or some kind of information’s into the past. Never ever read a long chapter on female warrior or empress who rules and always set the marks high in their period. This list you provided will really to enlighten readers and let them know about books that we really need to read being a woman and make others too read it.
March 11, 2023 @ 2:26 pm
I feel so ashamedd to not only admit that I haven’t read/heard about any of these books, but I didn’t know about the inspiring women these books talk about either. You’re so right when you say that our textbooks never mentioned any of these women and the only one I could recall was Rani Laxmibai.
Definitely saving this list for reference for my next book haul.
Thanks a lot, Ritu.
May we have many such books that celebrate women, their achievements, and their contributions in making the nation and the world a better place.
March 11, 2023 @ 5:23 pm
From the above list I read the book The Last Queen by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and it was a experience which is difficult for me to express in words. Being a women I feel proud I belong from a nation which gifted such historic women who enriched the history of India. I will love to pick a few more from the list to know more about the historic incredible Indian women. My mother remained a teacher of history as so you can call me lucky in this regard as she is a beautiful narrator who narrated many stories of women from the pages of history not only to her students but also to me and my sister with absolute perfection and in an interesting way to rememeber.
March 11, 2023 @ 7:43 pm
First off – where do you dig around to find gems, Ritu? An amazing list of books. The least we can do is buy/review such books to promote the authors and the women themselves.
For the women doctor’s book you listed I am interested in “Haimabati Sen, a child widow who overcame poverty and hardship” – To go from poverty and become a doctor back in the days when women did not have a right to schooling – must have been phenomenal. Being born into educated families or royal families – provides opportunities, and from these, there are a few strong-minded women who have the courage to become a warrior, But being born poor without such opportunities and then forging your own path – that is inspirational indeed.
Thanks for sharing the list, and adding these to TBR. Thanks for suggesting that I join this group for Women’s day bloghop – I am in awe of so much inspiration in this group!!
March 11, 2023 @ 9:47 pm
.worrior queens of history who were braver than kings and ruled and faced the battle feild such an impressive list of books.
March 12, 2023 @ 9:50 am
I polished my history with this post of yours. This is an incredible tribute to our women warriors. I feel they should be given equal importance as the male ones.
March 14, 2023 @ 4:28 pm
Such amazing books you have mentioned here. While I knew of Mai Bhago the rest i need to explore. Thanks for this exhaustive list. History hasn’t been kind to women but it’s wonderful to see so many writers are researching and bringing their stories to the fore
March 12, 2023 @ 10:40 am
I bookmarked this post hoping to read some of these books with my daughter. This is an excellent tribute to our female warrior. I believe they should be given the same weight as men.
March 12, 2023 @ 10:41 am
I bookmarked this post hoping to read some of these books with my daughter. This is an excellent tribute to our female warrior. I believe they should be given the same weight as men.
March 12, 2023 @ 11:56 am
This is a much appreciated post on women’s day we only know the ones who are penned on our history books these hidden heros were the ones who are also to be brought to light to feel proud that women then and know have always tried to come our righteous.
March 12, 2023 @ 12:25 pm
This is a much appreciated post on women’s day we only know the ones who are penned on our history books these hidden heros were the ones who are also to be brought to light to feel proud that women then and know have always tried to come out righteous.
March 12, 2023 @ 1:19 pm
Your lists are amazing! It is so nice you have listed these books. Female warriors are often forgotten and we mostly remember two or three warriors in whom the movies are made. Will be reading these books.
March 12, 2023 @ 2:36 pm
Your blogs are a double deal for me, really! They make me realize how much I need to scale up as a reader and a blogger, and they also guide me how I can do that. Yet again, I am overjoyed at having discovered your blog 😀
March 12, 2023 @ 2:50 pm
What an impressive list, Ritu. I’m sure each book and the women in them are extremely motivating. Thank you for this wonderful review. I haven’t read any yet.
March 12, 2023 @ 3:06 pm
Such an amazing list Ritu. I always admire your reading range. And glad that I came across your website. My reading horizon is increase. Bookmarking this post. I haven’t read any of this. Even I don’t know about these warriors. Thank you for such wonderful post.
March 12, 2023 @ 3:49 pm
Thank you so much for curating and sharing this list, Ritu. I’m bookmarking the post so I can pick up some of these books later. This list is much needed and must be shared widely among all Indians.
March 12, 2023 @ 5:02 pm
Thanks to social media, I’ve read about most of the amazing warrior queens and leaders of India. There’s a lot more to know though and this great list of yours is definitely a good starting point!
March 12, 2023 @ 5:05 pm
What a well compiled list- I loved knowing so many powerful Indian women existed to pave the way for us- they are all inspiring and I hope to be able to read more on each of them
March 12, 2023 @ 5:48 pm
I have read two books from this list and they were really good. You have been telling me about the queens. It is really sad we never get to read about them, Great to see authors are writing about them.
March 12, 2023 @ 11:23 pm
Wow what a brilliant list. I was actually researching on women for my upcoming projects and read this post. Saving it right away as I need these books for more digging about these ladies especially Rani Tarabai and Durgabati.
March 13, 2023 @ 12:26 am
I have read The Last Queen & liked it. I haven’t read the others….I liked the first recommendation. I love history & historical fiction very much and iam sure I will enjoy it.
March 13, 2023 @ 6:01 am
Appreciate you making this article and sharing the incredible women from your country. It’s such an eye opener for me and love how I learned a lot from just reading one post! I’d surely read some of the recommendations you’ve given.
March 13, 2023 @ 4:41 pm
I missed reading your book lists Ritu, these days, and that’s another reason why my bucket list for reading has become very stale. 😂 Fun apart, all the books are really good, and I read Daughters of the SUN. Amazing one I would say.
March 13, 2023 @ 7:18 pm
An extremely beautiful list of books. Will surely give them a read. I did start ‘The Last Queen’ By Chitra, but somehow wasn’t able to complete it, Will reread it once again.
March 13, 2023 @ 11:45 pm
Glad you listed these books. These women belong to that era when social media was not popular. Nowadays it’s easy to get famous through SM. Thanks to these books and writers who choose to write about these women.
March 15, 2023 @ 10:00 am
Wow such a perfect post for womensday blog hop. you have shared an incredible collection of indian women history books and all seems like a great read. I would love to read Lady Doctors: The Untold Stories of India’s First Women in Medicine by Kavitha Rao for sure. being a medicos, this one sounds most relatable to me. thanks a lot for sharing amazing recommendation.
March 15, 2023 @ 5:20 pm
These are great collection of books that definetly one should read to know about our women warriors and their achievements. Thank you for introducing such power packed books.
March 15, 2023 @ 8:22 pm
Ritu, I had saved your post to read at the end because I knew it would be a post that would really rock me. Your list, usual, is exhaustive. I have read a few of them ( The Last Queen is my fav) but adding a few more to my TBR.
March 16, 2023 @ 8:36 pm
Always great to read about women who are a part of history. The empress and books of bravery are always a source of strength and bravery to us readers.
March 16, 2023 @ 10:49 pm
What an incredible list Ritu! I have bookmarked this blog and I am adding all these books to my TBR. And what you said is so right that ‘History is written by men. About men. Indian history, more so.’ We need to know the past struggles of women and only then we will understand the value of freedom that we enjoy today! A very informative post and thanks for sharing this with us 🙂
March 17, 2023 @ 8:12 am
I shamefacedly admit I haven’t read any of these books even though some are by very popular authors and one is even based on my medical profession.
That’s on me. But thanks to this post, I atleast know where to start from now. Thank you.
March 17, 2023 @ 7:25 pm
Books are love. And you have collated such a beautiful collection of relevant books for the occasion. I had only the Last Queen in my TBR now hoping to read them all..
March 17, 2023 @ 10:32 pm
Seriously, we need more authors to talk about woman warriors who brought change to Indian History.
March 18, 2023 @ 10:10 pm
This is such a mind-blowing blog. And I only knew about The Last Queen, will check out the other recommendations.
March 18, 2023 @ 10:13 pm
I loved the book recommendations and how amazing the question at the beginning is! Will definitely make sure I read more on this topic.
March 18, 2023 @ 10:14 pm
I loved the book recommendations and how amazing the question at the beginning is! Will definitely make sure I read more on this topic. Thank you for such a beautiful blog.
March 19, 2023 @ 4:16 pm
To my dismay, I haven’t read any of these books. Thank you for sharing the blurbs of these books with powerful women stories, I would love to read a few and also share with my little girl.
March 20, 2023 @ 9:48 am
Women have been a great part of the History, at the same time this is equally true that their spot is narrow in comparison of men in the books of History. I have not read any book mentioned above but definitely going to add “Daughters Of The Sun by Ira. M on my TBR.
March 21, 2023 @ 7:19 am
Thankyou Titu for putting this list together and bringing to us books of joy and empowerment from history! My tbr will include daughters of the sun- it looks promising and intriguing!
March 21, 2023 @ 7:21 am
Thankyou Ritu for putting this list together and bringing to us books of joy and empowerment from history! My tbr will include daughters of the sun- it looks promising and intriguing!
March 21, 2023 @ 5:06 pm
Wow, Ritu.. what a wonderful compilation of books based on these powerful, inspirational yet forgotten women. Adding these books to my TBR list right away. I completely agree not only our history is distorted but it completely omits the contribution by the women – queen, warrior, or homemaker. Each one faced their hurdles head on and motivated the next set of generations. Unfortunately, not many of us know these stories. But thanks to these brilliant authors who have taken the efforts to reclaim the honor and memories of these incredible women!
April 28, 2023 @ 10:29 am
I really enjoyed reading this post! Deepti (who has written Her-Story) is a dear family friend and part of my writer’s group. I also recently interacted with Archana Garodia (the author of Women Who Ruled India) as she was invited to speak to my women’s club. She was a fascinating storyteller!