• SEEMA JANGIR
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The Status of women in a country and civilization and culture represents fairly the social spirit of the age. The Women of the Mughal rule have not been paid enough attention they deserved. In the present paper a humble attempt has been made to depict the cultural contribution – Chiefly of Royal and elite class women of Mughal Period. In a society where women live in strict seclusion, public references are avoided as far as possible. The various aspects of the life of the Royal Mughal ladies are described here. Although confined within the four walls of the palace / harem their lives were not at all dull and dreary – as is supposed. On the basis of information obtained from the various sources, it may be concluded that this work is a significant contribution to the social history of medieval India. Many of the Royal Mughal Ladies were quite educated like ... Hamida Banu Begum, Maham Anga, Salima Sultan Begum, Noorjahan, Mumtaz Mahal, Zeb-Un-Nisa etc. They spent much of their personal allowances in imparting active support to the spread of education, establishing educational institutions patronising men of learning, maintaining their own libraries and collecting rare and valuable books. They also contributed much in the realms of various arts and architecture. Many of them took an active interest and even spent a lot of their private allowances in constructing beautiful monuments, sarais, tombs, mosques, market places, step-wells and exotic gardens, many of which survive even today, for themselves and also for their husbands or fathers. Their beautiful gardens were laid amidst beautiful location of Kashmir, Kabul, Lahore, Agra and Delhi. These elite class women also took keen interest in other forms of art and culture like music, painting, cooking, designing and art of decoration. Some extremely talented ones like Empress Nurjahan even went for textile, dress and Jewellery designing. They also knew the art of perfumery. These ladies often entertained themselves by musical and dance performances inside the harem. The lavish life style of the Royal Mughal Ladies includes the wearing of gorgeous dresses and exquisite ornaments. Their dresses were made of the finest silks, brocades, satins or malmals and the cloth was brought from far and wide. They decorated themselves with ornaments from head to toe. A lot of cosmetics (tradition of “Solah Shringar”) were also used by these women to enhance their beauty. Their aesthetic sense and creativity is revealed to a great degree in their contribution in the realms of various art and culture. But all their cultural activities were restricted behind the veil “Purdah”. Despite of prevailing social evils like polygamy, purdah, seclusion, discouragement of women’s education and low standard of women, then, this cultural contribution of Royal Mughal ladies in various fields is really praiseworthy.

Royal, Mughal, Ladies, Culture, Contribution

"Cultural Contribution of Royal Mughal Ladies (1526-1707 A.D.)", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no.160-173, June 2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1906O25.pdf

"Cultural Contribution of Royal Mughal Ladies (1526-1707 A.D.)", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no. pp160-173, June 2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1906O25.pdf