About Us: http://www.the-criterion.

com/about/
Archive: http://www.the-criterion.com/archive/
Contact Us: http://www.the-criterion.com/contact/
Editorial Board: http://www.the-criterion.com/editorial-board/
Submission: http://www.the-criterion.com/submission/
FAQ: http://www.the-criterion.com/fa/

ISSN 2278-9529

Galaxy: International Multidisciplinary Research Journal

www.galaxyimrj.com

www.the-criterion.comThe Criterion: An International Journal in English

ISSN: 0976-8165

Historical Fiction, Crossing Boundaries: Indu Sunderesans Twentieth Wife

Vriti Sharma
P.G.T English
Laxmipat Singhania School
Historical Fiction has emerged as a completely new genre of writing, widely
appreciated by the readers and the critics equally. The term Historical Fiction has been
given different dynamics by different interpreters. However the dictionary definition of the
term goes the genre of literature, film, etc., Comprising narratives that take place in the past
and are characterized chiefly by an imaginative reconstruction of historical events and
personages. what happened in the past is essential to determine what can happen in the
future. However to what extent is a question that historians and scholars have not been able to
determine? The definition is very wide and the connect between the two individual words is
also looked at. The novel by Indu Sunderesan has the Mughal empresses at the centre. The
novel is based on the life of a simple girl, before she became, the mighty Nur Jahan, who
posterity would remember.
Introduction
I think there is always an interest in the past, and, if presented well, in the
form of a good story with a strong plot and structure and well-developed
characters, history comes alive. Otherwise, it is academic and dry, much like
my history classes were when I was a child. It was only when I read novels
where the characters began to live that my interest in history was kindled. This
is what I hope to achieve with my books. (Sunderesan)
The words Historical Fiction as used for the work that has been done by the author has been
given different dynamics by different interpreters. However the dictionary definition of the
term goes the genre of literature, film, etc. comprising narratives that take place in the past
and are characterized chiefly by an imaginative reconstruction of historical events and
personages. Which can by turn be interpreted as presenting a kid with some information
which he wont remember until and unless told in an interesting and memorable way, easiest
of all in the form of a story.
The settler makes history; his life is an epoch, an Odyssey.
(Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth)
History (from Greek , historia, meaning "inquiry, knowledge acquired by
investigation") (Santayana) is the study of the past, specifically how it relates to humans
(Brian Joseph). It is an umbrella term that relates to past events as well as the discovery,
collection, organization, and presentation of information about these events. The term
includes cosmic, geologic, and organic history, but is often generically implied to
mean human history. Herodotus, a 5th-century BC Greek historian is considered within the
Western tradition to be the "father of history", and, along with his contemporary Thucydides,
helped form the foundations for the modern study of human history. Their work continues to
be read today and the divide between the culture-focused Herodotus and the military-focused
Thucydides remains a point of contention or approach in modern historical writing.

Vol. 6, Issue. V

132

October 2015

www.the-criterion.comThe Criterion: An International Journal in English

ISSN: 0976-8165

The most often asked question regarding history is that why should one burden her/his self by
burdening the knowledge of the past? Who cares about the Aristotle, Cleopetra, and
Napolean? Why be burdened by the worry of the past? Is not there enough going on in the
present world that one should be bothered about what that hardly matters now? Historians
from all over have tried to answer this question, that what is the study of history good for and
what it does not do.
Historical knowledge is no more and no less than carefully and critically constructed
collective memory. (McNeill)
Without individual memory, an individual can lose his or her identity, and would not know
how to act in various situations with others. But ignorance of history-that is, absent or
defective collective memory-does deprive us of the best available guide for public action,
especially in encounters with outsiders, whether the outsiders are another nation, another
civilization, or some special group within national borders.
If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't
know it is part of a tree
Michael Crichton

Fiction
We live in a world ruled by fictions of every kind - mass merchandising,
advertising, politics conducted as a branch of advertising, the instant
translation of science and technology into popular imagery, the increasing
blurring and intermingling of identities within the realm of consumer goods,
the pre-empting of any free or original imaginative response to experience by
the television screen. We live inside an enormous novel. For the writer in
particular it is less and less necessary for him to invent the fictional content of
his novel. The fiction is already there. The writer's task is to invent the reality.
(Ballard)
The definition of fiction by Ballard is quite true, particularly the part of everybody living in a
huge novel, as everything today can be likened to fiction. Fiction has been the backdrop of all
kinds of writing by writers all over the world. Even when writing the reality of biography,
there is a hint as to some of the events have been fictionalised. Thus the term evolved
Realistic Fiction.
Realistic Fiction- the term or the nomenclature itself creates a doubt in the readers mind as
to how can fiction be realistic, as the something can either be realistic or can be fictional, but
though being unbelievable it is true, Realistic fiction, although untrue, could actually happen.
Some events, people, and places may even be real. It may be possible that, in the future,
imagined events could physically happen. For example, Jules Verne's novel From the Earth
to the Moon was proven possible in 1969, when Neil Armstrong landed on the Moon. Science
fiction often predicts technologies that later become a reality. In similar fashion there is one
another sub-genre termed Historical- Fiction.
In the middle ages the books came across with the hint of fictional writing. And it has been
seen and proved to the extent that even the historians made things up. Not all written in the
history books or the scriptures is factual. Some incidents have been fictionalised.

Vol. 6, Issue. V

133

October 2015

www.the-criterion.comThe Criterion: An International Journal in English

ISSN: 0976-8165

The first straightforward work of fiction was written in the 1170s by the Frenchman Chrtien
de Troyes. The book, a story about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, became
immensely popular.
Interdisciplinary approach Interdisciplinarity means combining of two or more academic
disciplines into one activity. It is about blending two streams into each other and coming out
with something new by crossing boundaries, and thinking beyond them. It is a unit that
crosses traditional boundaries between academic disciplines and schools of thought, as now
new needs and professions have emerged with the changing times.
The beginning of learning any subject is with the fact that no subject can be studied or
mastered in isolation and there can absolutely no water tight compartments. For perfection
one needs to go astray or venture in the nearby areas also. Interdisciplinary programs are
founded in order to facilitate the study of subjects which have some coherence, and which
cannot be completely understood from a single perspective.
Indu Sundaresan, the writer concerned, was born and brought up in India, on Air Force bases
around the country. Her father, a fighter pilot with the Indian Air Force, was also an avid
storytelleras was his father, Indus grandfather. She grew up on their stories on various
themesHindu mythology and fictional tales of an elephant and a horse living in the
wilderness.
She came to the U.S. for graduate school at the University of Delaware and has two degrees;
an M.S. in operations research and an M.A. in economics. But, the storytelling gene beckoned
and she began writing soon after graduate school. (biography) Her historical novels portray
the Mughal times and the women that impacted it. She also won the Washington State Book
Award in 2003 for The Twentieth Wife.
The Twentieth Wife (2002), based on the life of Mehrunnisa, Empress Nur Jahan, is the tale of
one of Indias most powerful women. This was her first published novel, but the third one she
wrotethe first two still languish on the hard drive of some forgotten old computer and are
never to be revived; they were practice runs and taught her how to write a novel.
She is the author of six books so far.
The Twentieth Wife
Indu Sunderesan has written a fascinating novel about a fascinating time, and
has brought it alive with characters that are at once human and legendary, that
move with grace and panache across the brilliant stage that she has
reconstructed for them.
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.
These lines very aptly describe the novels written by Indu Sunderesan. On being questioned
by one interviewer as to why did she choose to write in this particular genre and how difficult
was it she gave a prompt reply:
Reading the accounts of the Mughal emperors and the empresses, Indu Sunderesan found the
urge in her to write in more detail about the generations of the Muslim rulers and let
everybody be bedazzled by the glamour of their generations. She was not aware as to what
momentum this book of her would create. Leaving the reader yearning for more, and the

Vol. 6, Issue. V

134

October 2015

www.the-criterion.comThe Criterion: An International Journal in English

ISSN: 0976-8165

writer digging up more to write. It however led to the publication of the trilogy of Indu
Sunderesan, for the benefit of the readers
Indu Sundaresan's debut novel, The Twentieth Wife, soars through time with historical
detail, political tension and, throughout, a nearly unrequited love story. Political
power, social customs and court life in the Mughal Empire are rendered with the sense
of the poet and the eye of the researcher. Not only is the reader treated to lyrical
descriptions of sight, smell, texture, and sounds of the time, but also to authentic
historical and social details. Lush landscapes, brilliant silk and muslin clothing, the
scents of an evening grilled meal, and floral trees blowing in the breeze all bring the
dusty and nearly forgotten story of a woman - without whom there may be no Taj
Mahal - to life.
The Twentieth Wife, Indu Sundaresan's story of Mehrunnisa, the Persian refugee, who became
Empress of India during the Mughal Empire, is above all a tale of ambition. Mehrunnisa spies
Prince Salim, the prince who will one day be Emperor, when she is eight years old. Despite
her age, she determines to marry him one day; she's ambitious even before she understands
what she wants.
What bliss to be in the emperors harem, to be at the court? How she wished she could
have been born a princess. Then she would marry a prince perhaps even Salim.
(Sunderesan, The Twentieth Wife)
These lines exactly predict the condition of a girl who is completely bedazzled by the
glamour of the court of the Mughal prince. At a tender age of eight when she is informed of
the wedlock about to take place between the prince and a beautiful princess, she insists to
accompany her parents to the event. Ghias and Asmat couldnt refrain and allow their
daughter to come along with them. The little girl, unlike any other young girl of the same
age, does not think of any festivities, delicacies she would get to eat but immediately thinks
about the power associated with the position. EMPRESS OF HINDUSTAN a title which
has glamour and power attached to it, appeals to her.
Bapa came home with stories about his day, little titbits about Emperor Akbars
rulings, about the zenana women hidden behind a screen as they watched the court
proceedings, sometimes in silence and sometimes calling out a joke or a comment in a
musical voice. The Emperor always listened to them, always turned his head to the
screen to hear what they had to say. (Sunderesan, The Twentieth Wife)
The importance given to the empresses by the almighty emperor fascinated Mehrunnisa the
most. Right form childhood she wanted to be in the centre of all activity. And thus the mind
imagining what fun it would be to be a princess and marry a prince or for that matter prince
Salim himself. The time the idea crops up in her brain, she herself is not aware of the
implications. The daughter of a petty employee of the emperor, a man who was at mercy of
king Akbar, there was hardly any chance of any kind of faceoff between these two leave aside
the marriage happening. The reader cannot estimate that a young child, who was just there to
witness the union between the prince and the princess, would stand any chance with the
prince. The little girl was so hell bent and determined to see the prince at that tender age that
she even went to the heights of breaking the existing rule of standing behind the concubines,
and ventures right at the front to be bedazzled by the aura and the glamour of the coat,
however she is reprimanded for the same and is spared the horror only by the intervention of
the Padshah begum of the harem. She gets scared but also determined about what position she
will be looking for in the future.

Vol. 6, Issue. V

135

October 2015

www.the-criterion.comThe Criterion: An International Journal in English

ISSN: 0976-8165

As they were leaving, Ruqayya said, without looking in their direction, the child
amuses me. Bring her to wait upon Mehrunnisa soon.a few days later,
Ruqayya sent an imperial summons commanding Mehrunnisas presence at the royal
zenana. (Sunderesan, The Twentieth Wife)
This was how knowingly or unknowingly a timid little girl stepped into the world of her
dreams, or the world where her dreams were to take form and also to materialize. She now
became a permanent member of the royal harem, a prime witness to the games and politics
being played there on a day to day basis, how the concubines and the begums were always at
loggerheads with each other to be the primary focus of the emperor Akbar. She saw all the
skirmishes live and thus knew how to deal with them later on. She was a headstrong,
mischievous girl, who did not refrain from entering into the area restricted for the girls. She
even went into the nahsakhana with her brother who later blackmails her to get his work
done. She is very determined and readily answers back. By this time her desire to be the
queen of queens was very audaciously visible, so much so that even her not so grown up
brother cold also feel it. However this was all to be hauled as the emperor had some other
designs for her father in mind. Ghias was sent to Kabul with family to take care of the trade
going on there. He was sent away from court and was called back later when the emperor
himself was very pleased and satisfied by his services. By the time there had been an
inconsolable tussle between the father and the son that is prince Salim and Akbar. Salim
resented the long and healthy life his father was leading because this was hindering his
progress towards the throne, he was a grown up man and had sons now, but Akbar was not in
the slightest way bending towards passing on the throne to his immediate heir. The family of
Ghias had also grown in the last four years. The girls had continued with their education, the
boys were well trained now in all sorts of things and weaponry, and Mehrunnisa who was
now 16 years old, looked beautiful.
Soon after they arrived in the capital Asmat and Mehrunnisa were called upon by the empress
to wait upon her, and so Mehrunnisa got back to the place she wanted to be most at. In the
last four years things had changed drastically at the court also. The drift between the emperor
and his son had widened, so much so that the emperor had ordered the son of Prince Salim
and Princess Jagat Gossini to be placed in the custody of Ruqayya Begum, so strict were the
rules that the mother and the father could visit only once a week. Once in the harem
Mehrunnisa got aware of the tiny toddler, who addressed Ruqayya as mother. This kid was
responsible for the full throttle encounter between Mehrunnisa and Prince Salim. A new
character is also introduced in the chapter named Ali Quli Khan who was the emperor of
Istajlu. He was also of Persian decent like Ghias Beg, he was a brave commander and had
distinguished himself in various battles, Akbar had designs for him and wanted to tie him and
provide a stable ground for him so thought of looking for a suitable marriage proposal and
thats how Mehrunnisa found her first life partner the crude and the brute Ali Quli. Asmat the
mother of Mehrunnisa was not open and agreed to this decisionBut a common soldier, Ghias, Asmat protested. What would he know of the classics
and poetry and music? Would he be the right choice for a daughter we have so
carefully reared, one who is so proficient in the literary arts, so well educated and
so.delicate?...Listen to yourself, Ghias. Is this what we wanted for
Mehrunnisa? Is this what we have talked about? Are you so blind to your daughters
needs that you cannot see this will not be a good alliance? It is your responsibility to
make sure she is happy? (Sunderesan, The Twentieth Wife)

Vol. 6, Issue. V

136

October 2015

www.the-criterion.comThe Criterion: An International Journal in English

ISSN: 0976-8165

As she continued to visit the harem, it was here that the fateful instance happened, as prince
Salim for the first time caught a glance of Mehrunnisa. The writer has very well portrayed the
whole incident. The narration makes it come alive in front of us.
He caught the flutter of white muslin through the corner of his eye and stopped
short, lifting his head for a better look.
Ya Allah! Was he in Paradise? Words from the holy book came unbidden to
his mind: the believers shall find themselves reclining upon couches lined with
brocade, the fruits of the garden night to gather; and will therein maidens
restraining their glances, untouched before them by any man or Jinn, lovely as
rubies, beautiful as coral.
She was all that and more. He stared at her, his gaze riveted, everything else
fading around her. (Sunderesan, The Twentieth Wife)
The picturesque language used by the novelist helps us imagine the scene; it feels as though
the scene is happening right in front of us. The beauty of Mehrunnisa has been given new
dimensions in the above paragraph. No where earlier has the beauty been described with this
propensity in the novel. It is the first encounter between the Prince and Mehrunnisa.
The marriage between Ali Quli and Mehrunnisa happens despite best efforts of the prince and
after that both the main characters get busy in their own personal fights. Mehrunnisa has to
fight the husband, his infidelity, his doubts and also all her miscarriages. On the other hand
Jahangir had to fight his own son to accede to the throne which was formally his on the
account of none of his brothers being alive to stake their claims. But the refreshing memories
of their brief and fruitful encounter are quite alive in their minds. Mehrunnisas husband
saves the life of the price and takes a fatal blow on himself. He is rewarded and appreciated
but he returns from the campaign and changes his mind and decides to support Khusrau
against his father. He is killed in this act of rebellion. And Mehrunnisa comes back to the
zennana.
Akbar was not ready for his empire to be plagued down by this rivalry between his son and
grandson. And so he passed on his decision and his sceptre to his only son alive and his
rightful heir Salim. Salim was with his father during his last time, he felt the void that his
father left in his life. The Padshah begum was Jagat Gossini, who was the closest to the
emperor now. Ruquyya begum however sent Mehrunnisa to the prince so that he would take
note of the girl once again, it was in the meena bazaar that the emperor saw her and with due
permission of the mother he took her around the bazaar. The visits continued not in the harem
but at the house of Mirza Ghias Beg. When the emperor asked Mehrunnisa to come to harem
she refused to come there as his concubine, and then Jahangir (the self given title) decided
that it was high time that she came down to the zenana as the wife of the emperor. Despite of
all the efforts put in by the empress and Hoshiyar Khan, she comes into the zennana and that
also as the most beloved and sought after queen of Jahangir. The day of the marriage she was
also given a title:
I have an announcement to make. He glanced down at her. From today, my
beloved Empress shall be given the title Nur Jahan. (Sunderesan, The
Twentieth Wife)

Vol. 6, Issue. V

137

October 2015

www.the-criterion.comThe Criterion: An International Journal in English

ISSN: 0976-8165

Nur Jahan meaning light of the world, a brilliant title for the woman he loved. Mehrunnisa
was overwhelmed with pride, the emperor had already given her so much, a separate
courtyard, a bathtub and now this beautiful title, and it was far more than what she deserved.
Together, Jahangir and she would make the Mughal Empire the brightest and most brilliant in
the world. She wanted to do this for the man she loved so deeply, because this was what he
wanted. And Nur Jahan thought-already at ease with her new title-she wanted to be the force
to reckon with behind the throne.
She wanted to be the power behind the veil. (Sunderesan, The Twentieth Wife)
As the name suggests the novel ends with Mehrunnisa becoming the twentieth wife of
Jahangir. The first to the last encounter to the last one has been discussed in the greatest of the
detail. The birth of the girl and the boy, their lives and the happenings, have been dealt with
simultaneously. The novel has twenty chapters and keeps the interest alive till the end and
when complete leaves you yearning for more.
The novel ends with Mehrunnisa getting the place she wanted in the harem. The novel is
written in keeping the empress at the centre of the activity and also emphasising the womens
point of view. There are various things in the novel which draw immediate attention. The
writer being an Indian has beautifully described the pieces of architecture that fall within the
purview, the description is very picturesque helps the reader to get the feel of brings actually
in a fort or fortress. The battle scenes have been dealt in minutest detail and give a view of
strategies used by the king of the times. The law of accession followed by the Mughal has
been spelt very clearly
The author has spared no efforts in spelling out the grandeur and luxury of the then India and
the rulers, the rubies, emeralds pearls, diamonds, olds satin, silks , robes, courtrooms have
been described beautifully and in a very descriptive language , which helps the reader relate
to the ancient times
The book is simple and easy to read, unlike the thick jargonic history books which are dread
among readers. Historical fiction has made reading and memorising of history convenient as
compared to earlier times. The genre and the writers have given new dimensions to the
subject. So much so that these books are fast disappearing from the book stores and ending up
in homes of common man.
Historical fiction comes alive in front of our eyes through this book as the Mughal Empire
turns lively with the words of Indu Sunderesan and the aspects of history which we dreaded
to read also become spell binding. The rulers and the emperors who were known only by
names come live in front of the human eyes. The life style and the grandeur of the Mughals is
discussed at length and many references can be cited from the novel for the same. Their
movements, the dresses, the food, the war tents, the servants, the attendants all give the
reader a glimpse of the times. The imagination and representation of the same is unparalleled
amongst the contemporaries of the writer.
Works Cited:
Annessi, Thomas. "England's Future/Poland's Past: History and National Identity In
Thaddeus of Warsaw. (n.d.).
Ballard, J.G. introduction. crash (1974): 8-9.

Vol. 6, Issue. V

138

October 2015

www.the-criterion.comThe Criterion: An International Journal in English

ISSN: 0976-8165

Biography:
Brian Joseph, Richard Janda. The Handbook of Historical Linguistics. Blackwell, 2004.
Looser, Devoney. Women Writers and Old Age in Great Britain. (1850): 157.
Mclean, Thomas. nobody's argument: Jane Porter and historical novel. Journal for Early
Modern Cultural Studies (2007): 88-103.
McNeill, William H. Why Study History? (1985). 1985.
Newton P. Stallknecht, and Horest Frenz,. Comparative Literature: Method and Perspective.
Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press,, 1961.
Santayana, George. George Santayana. The Life of Reason 82.
Sunderesan, Indu. "All Love Stories Strike A Chord" HINA OOMER-AHMED. july-august
2005.
. The Feast of Roses. New Delhi: HarperCollins publisher, 2003.
. The Mountain Of light. New Delhi: Harper Collins Publication, 2013.
. The Twentieth Wife . New Delhi: HarperCollins publisher, 2002.
Moore, Thomas. Lallah Rookh. n.d.
Prasad, Beni. History of Jahangir. n.d.
Sunderesan, Indu. Interview. Nirmala Garimella. 16 july 2003.
Sunderesan, Indu. Dreaming of India, a local author discovers a royal romance Judy
LIghtfoot. 21 February 2002.
. Feast of Roses. Harper Collins, 2003.
. The Twentieth Wife. united states of America: Harper Collins, 2002.

Vol. 6, Issue. V

139

October 2015