A Princess's Pilgrimage

Politics, colonialism, and empire in Indiaa Muslim rulers journey to Mecca and back

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In 1863, the Nawab Sikandar Begum, a Muslim woman and hereditary ruler of the princely state of Bhopal in colonial India, traveled to Mecca with a retinue of a thousand people. On returning, she wrote this witty, acerbic account of her journey. In it, we glimpse a process by which notions of the self could be redefined against a Muslim "other" in the colonial environment. Sikandar Begum emerges as a genuinely complex individual, crafting an image of herself as an effective administrator, a loyal subject, and a good Muslim. Siobhan Lambert-Hurley's critical introduction and afterword make this edition a comprehensive resource on travel writing by South Asian Muslim women, colonialism, and world history.