Part 3 : The Shadow Princess

The Shadow Princess By Indu Sundaresan 

The shadow princess is the continuation of previous two books written by Indu Sundaresan under The Taj Mahal trilogy. The Twentieth wife was the first book which left its impact on reader’s mind as it was the story of Mehrunnisa letter known as Nur Jahan ( The light of the world) and Salim's  ( Jahangir) struggle for love and union. The second book of The Taj Mahal trilogy is The feast of Roses in which Indu Sundaresan has portrayed Nur Jahan as a courageous, intelligent, loyal and ambitious woman among all the wives and concubines of the harem. Mehrunnisa was banished after the death of Jahangir. The second book is filled with conspiracies, hatred and jealousy for Mehrunnisa by all many friends of Jahangir and his wives, mainly Jagat Gossini.

The third and the last book of The Taj Mahal trilogy is “The shadow princess”. It is the story of an unknown princess Jahanara who was the eldest daughter of Emperor Shah Jahan and Mumtaz mahal. This enigmatic woman is somewhere not known by all the readers. Indu Sundaresan with her third book tries to give rise to feminine power and knowledge. If you are a strong woman who believes in self-dependence then The shadow princess is the right choice to read.

The story begins in 1631 where Mumtaz Mahal dies giving birth to her fourteenth child. She was in Burhanpura and could not bear the labour pain. The death of Mumtaz becomes the saddest memory of Shah Jahan which led to giving up his throne in just four years of rule. Jahanara, the eldest daughter of Shah Jahan becomes the strength of her father and stabilise him with consolation but the damage was already done. The information of Shah Jahan's abdication of throne reached to his two sons and it gave rise to siblings rivalry.

Prince Dara Shikoh and price Aurangzeb both wanted to claim the throne. On the other hand, the two sisters Jahanara and Roshanara became rivals as Jahanara was given the post of the head lady in her harem which was usually given to the chief Queen of the emperor. Roshanara was determined to do anything to gain power.

The princess Jahanara was an amazing lady of her time with a brilliant skill of architecture. She happens to design the most popular Chandi Chowk in old Delhi.  The rivalry between two brothers started for claiming a throne whereas rivalry between two sisters started for a single man who they both fell in love with but a matter of fact they were not allowed to marry. Both sisters stood in support of one brother whom they wish to take over the throne. Jahanara supported Dara Shikoh, the oldest son of Shah Jahan and Roshanara supported Aurangzeb to become an heir.

Over the years, the emperor Shah Jahan built a tomb in the memory of his wife. The tomb was known as the rauza-i-munavvara the luminous Tomb which is known as Taj Mahal. The Tomb has a poem written in white marble and scenery of that place with fountain, fruit trees, lush green garden and the busy market is fascinating. The shadow princess narrates the story of one of the monuments The Taj Mahal. It is also a story of a princess Jahanara who after her mother became a ray of hope for Shah Jahan to survive. She did not succeed in making his brother the emperor of the throne and had to get imprisoned for many years with her father. The shadow princess is the story of an influential woman who stayed as a shadow to the Tomb her father had built for her mother.