The story of Razia, one of the most colorful characters in Indian history and the only queen who ever sat on the throne of Delhi, has never before been told. This chronicle, based on recently uncovered sources, is singularly fascinating, both for its insight on India's history and for its compelling story.

A cross-cultural and ethno-historical perspective exploring the lives and legacies of several Muslim women rulers from medieval to modern times.

Intelligent, brave, competent and just, Razia was chosen by her father, Sultan Iltutmish, to succeed him to the throne of Delhi. The people loved her and trusted her but the Amirs or nobles found it difficult to swear loyalty to a woman. Sultana Razia ruled for only three and a half years but she proved her father right by being a wise and just ruler who protected and nurtured her subjects. She led her armies and was a brave soldier. Her only enemy were the times that did not accept a woman as a leader.

This work explores how colonial India imagined human and divine figures to battle the nature and locus of sovereignty.

The idea of heroism in women is not easily defined. In men the notion is often associated with physical strength and extravagant bravery. Women's heroism has tended to be of a very different nature, less easily categorized. All the women portrayed-Draupadi, Radha, Ambapali, Raziya Sultan, Meerabai, Jahanara, Laxmibai and Hazrat Mahal-share an unassailable belief in a cause, for which they are willing to fightto the death if need be. In every case this belief leads them to confrontation with a horrified patriarchy. In the book we meet lotus-eyed, dark-skinned Draupadi, dharma queen, whose story emerges almost three millennia ago; the goddess Radha who sacrificed societal respectability for a love that transgressed convention; Ambapali, a courtesan, who stepped out of the luxurious trappings of Vaishali to follow the Buddha and wrote a single, haunting poem on the evanescence of beauty and youth. Raziya, the battle-scarred warrior, who proudly claimed the title of Sultan, refusing its fragile feminine counterpart, Sultana; the courageous Meerabai who repudiated her patriarchal destiny as cloistered daughter-in-law of a Rajput clan; the gentle Mughal princess Jahanara: who claims the blessings of both Allah and the Prophet Muhammad and wishes 'never to be forgotten'; Laxmibai, widow, patriot and martyr, who rides into legend and immortality fighting for her adopted son's birthright; and Hazrat Mahal, courtesan, begum and rebel queen, resolute till the very end in defying British attempts to seize her ex-husband's kingdom.In these engrossing portraits, mythological characters from thousands of years ago walk companionably besides historical figures from more recent times. They rise to reclaim their rightful place in history. Daughters, wives, courtesans, mothers, queens, goddesses, warriors-heroines.

Mernissi recounts the extraordinary stories of fifteen queen s and reflects on the implications for the ways in which politics is practiced in Islam today, a world in which women are largely excluded form the political domain.