Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Marks She Made: The Art and Architecture of Begum Samru

Marks She Made: The Art and Architecture of Begum Samru

Rajagopalan, Mrinalini

Hardcover

Series: Rethinking Art's Histories

Art HistoryGeneral World HistoryIndian & South Asian Art

ISBN10: 1526187116
ISBN13: 9781526187116
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Published: Mar 31 2026
Pages: 328
Weight: 1.76
Height: 1.06 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.21
Language: English
Begum Samru (c.1750-1836) was a remarkable north Indian ruler who used art and architecture to consolidate her social, political, and financial power in early modern India. Rising from the courtesan households of Mughal Delhi, she became commander of her own mercenary army and later the sovereign of Sardhana, an independent territory near Delhi. A trusted ally of both the Mughal emperor and the English East India Company, she corresponded with two popes and with King Louis Philippe of France, exchanging portraits, letters, and architectural plans. Art and architecture were central to shaping her identity--as a powerful yet non-threatening ruler, a Catholic patron, and head of a cosmopolitan court. Her story illuminates how women outside hereditary privilege forged paths to recognition, authority, and even global visibility in nineteenth-century India.

Also in

Art History

View All