Examines the political worldview of courtly and royal women in India during the late colonial and post-Independence period. This book offers a history of the zenana, which served as the 'women's courts' or 'female quarters of the palace', where women lived behind pardah in seclusion.
Reviews
'Angma Dey Jhala's welcome study ... will appeal to those scholars interested not just in women, gender and the princely states, but also race, sexuality and colonial law.' Gender, Place and Culture 'a groundbreaking work of history' Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 'Jhala['s] ... work make[s] an unquestionable contribution to what is perhaps the most understudied arena in princely historiography - a gendered analysis that takes into account women's agency' The Indian Economic and Social History Review
