HEROINES OF HISTORY STORIES OF INDIA’S PRINCESSES

by Nikita Puri

  • Category Non-Fiction
  • Format Paperback
  • Imprint Rupa
  • Price 295
  1. ISBN: 978-93-5702-481-5
  2. Pages: 256 pages
  3. Date: 5th September 2023

ABOUT THIS BOOK

The women in these stories didn’t just inhabit the world; they helped shape it.
In a world dominated by stories of great kings and incomparable heroes, the tales of women who
have lived equally challenging lives have largely faded away. Heroines of History aims to be a portal,
a passage through time, to rediscover those stories across time and geography.
Women of noble blood, these princesses turned into heroines and braved the storms of their life
and the times they lived in. Noor, a descendant of Tipu Sultan, couldn’t bear to tell a lie and yet
circumstances demanded she become a spy during the Second World War. Sophia, the daughter of
the last Maharaja of Punjab, became a firebrand activist. Kashmir’s Didda shaped a dynasty, while
Shehzaadi Gulbadan documented stories from Mughal India in ways no one ever did. In the south,
Velu Nachiyar won her kingdom back from the British.
The women we meet in this book did incredible things. As poets, writers, skilled administrators and warriors, each managed to change the world, rewriting the rules for all who followed. These
are their stories—of courage, resistance and persistence.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK

Nikita Puri is an award-winning journalist who has spent over 12 years writing about people and
places, science and environment, and arts and culture. She has worked with the India Today Group,
The Indian Express, Business Standard and Tech in Asia.
Her understanding of India is shaped by a childhood marked by constant change, moving from
city to city and discovering the country through local food, customs and languages. When she is
not writing on the tech ecosystem spanning India and Southeast Asia, she is piecing together her
next book, a work of fiction.
She currently lives in the city of magnificent rain trees, Bangalore. Small acts of kindness give her
hope. They strengthen her belief that this world could be as fantastical as the one dreamed up by
writers. This is her first book non-fiction.