Length8h 40m
About this audiobook
History rarely shines a light on the formidable Mughal begums who boldly navigated the imperial courts, brokered powerful deals, reshaped Delhi's skyline, created private spaces for women, fought battles and resisted patriarchy - all from their place behind the purdah.
In Badass Begums, Anoushka Jain introduces you to ten such Mughal-era women whose lives rippled with ambition, romance, intrigue and fierce resilience. Jahanara Begum, Shah Jahan's favourite daughter who designed Chandni Chowk and her sister, the firebrand Roshanara Begum, who schemed with Aurangzeb to take over her father's empire; the invincible Begum Samru, a tawaif-turned-ruler, who led her own army into battles; Maham Anga and Mubarak Begum, whose counsel rivalled that of chief ministers, and the resolute Qudsia Begum who built riverfront gardens only to see them battered by rebellions - these and other stories come alive in a riveting narrative and walking tour maps of the places they lived in or curated.
Based on rigorous research and written with warmth, Badass Begums is an eye-opening journey through the breathtaking legacies still hidden in the by-lanes of Delhi.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★★ 4.5 (37)
Includes Goodreads
GenreHistory
Length8 hrs 40 mins
Narrated byShivani Vakil Savant
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateDec 26, 2025
LanguageEnglish
A Brief History of IntelligenceMax S. Bennett12h 18m4.6 (6.6K)$29 · $0.00
Ghosts of HiroshimaCharles Pellegrino8h 59m4.5 (877)$23
The Gulag Archipelago Volume 3Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn21h 56m4.7 (8.9K)$46 · $0.00
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m4.6 (178K)$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m4.7 (2.5K)$40 · $0.00
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m4.7 (351)$20 · $0.00
RevolutionariesSanjeev Sanyal11h 23m4.6 (2.6K)$29 · $0.00
We Crossed a Bridge and It TrembledWendy Pearlman6h4.6 (5.2K)$24 · $0.00
Unbroken Bonds of BattleJohnny Joey Jones8h 31m4.6 (2.6K)$8 · $0.00
The Daughter of AuschwitzTova Friedman, Malcolm Brabant7h 54m4.6 (16.7K)$26 · $0.00
Lily's PromiseLily Ebert, Dov Forman8h 54m4.6 (16.1K)$29 · $0.00
On Democracies and Death CultsDouglas Murray10h 38m4.6 (6.5K)$29 · $0.00
Across the RiverKent Babb11h 40m4.6 (927)$29 · $0.00
Balcony Over Jerusalem: A Middle East Memoir - Israel, Palestine and BeyondJohn Lyons12h 37m4.6 (1.4K)$33 · $0.00
BeyondStephen Walker15h 39m4.6 (3.2K)$33 · $0.00
Kings and PawnsHoward Bryant10h 9m4.6 (678)$29 · $0.00
No EscapeNury Turkel9h 30m4.6 (809)$28 · $0.00
Jubal Stone: U.S. Marshal: Blood Trail To Hell: A Western Adventure NovelCasey Nash3h 42m4.6 (3.2K)$18 · $0.00
Fall and RiseMitchell Zuckoff17h 23m4.6 (9.8K)$40 · $0.00
The SurvivorJosef Lewkowicz, Michael Calvin9h 22m4.6 (2.5K)$29 · $0.00
You may also like
Hawaii's StoryLiliʻuokalani11h 38m3.9 (2.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Conquering Family (Annotated)Thomas Bertram Costain18h 19m4.2 (6.3K)$2 · $0.00
The Life of Sir Thomas MoreWilliam Roper, Henri Brémond9h 20m4.1 (1.6K)$2 · $0.00
Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's QueenLiliʻuokalani11h 46m4.3 (3.7K)$1.99 · $0.00
TudorsPeter Ackroyd19h 6m4.3 (5.8K)$25
Peter the GreatRobert K. Massie, John E. Dowling43h 39m4.3 (33.5K)$30
The Annals & The HistoriesTacitus28h 25m4.4 (2.5K)$1.99 · $0.00
Memoirs of the Empress Catherine IIEmpress of Russia Catherine Ii8h 52m4.0 (2.8K)$2 · $0.00
The Grey Friars in OxfordA. G. Little18h 5m$2 · $0.00
The Life of Marie de Medicis (Vol. 1-3) (Annotated)Miss Pardoe31h 55m4.4 (21)$1.99 · $0.00
Breaking with the Past; Or, Catholic Principles Abandoned at the ReformationFrancis Aidan Gasquet2h 7m3.5 (21)$1 · $0.00
Royals at WarDylan Howard12h 16m3.7 (792)$23 · $0.00
Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent (Annotated)Alfred von Reumont37h 10m$2 · $0.00
My Memoirs of the Reign of King George the ThirdHorace Walpole50h 7m4.0 (28)$2 · $0.00
Ireland under the TudorsRichard Bagwell53h 45m$3 · $0.00
King John (The Unabridged Play) + The Classic Biography: The Life of William Shakespeare (Annotated)William Shakespeare, Sidney Lee16h 37m$2 · $0.00
History of the United States of America, Volume IIGeorge Bancroft23h 55m$30
The Constitutional History of EnglandHenry Hallam65h 35m4.0 (100)$2 · $0.00
Vanity Fair: August 2014 IssueVanity Fair3h 23m$7
The American Revolution & The French RevolutionCharles Downer Hazen, John Fiske28h 24m$2 · $0.00