Marks She Made - (Rethinking Art's Histories) by Mrinalini Rajagopalan (Hardcover)

About the Book

This book explores the remarkable life of Begum Samru (c. 1750-1836), a North Indian ruler who rose from courtesan to sovereign, using art and architecture to navigate power in early modern India. A key ally of the Mughal emperor and the East India Company, she engaged with global leaders, patronized Catholic institutions, and forged a unique political identity. Through her story, the book reveals how women defied gender norms to shape public and political spheres in innovative ways.

Book Synopsis

Begum Samru (b. circa 1750-d. 1836) was a north Indian woman ruler who used art and architecture to facilitate her social, political, and financial station in early modern India. Rising from the ranks of courtesans in Mughal Delhi to become the commander of her own mercenary army, she later became the ruler of an independent territory of Sardhana (60 km northwest of Delhi). The begum (Urdu/ Hindustani title for noblewoman) was a trusted ally to the Mughal emperor and the English East India Company, two of the dominant political powers in north India at the time. As a sovereign ruler, she corresponded with two popes and King Louis Philippe of France, exchanging portraits, architectural drawings, and letters with these powerful men in addition to her Mughal counterparts in India. Art and architecture played a key role in establishing Begum Samru as a powerful but non-threatening ruler; as an upholder and patron of the Catholic faith in India; as a political ally to several European and Indian factions that were vying for power; and as ruling matriarch of a cosmopolitan household, court, and army. In narrating the story of a single woman in nineteenth-century India, this book offers a path to think of the creative ways in which women participated in public and political spheres. It also illustrates how women without pedigree, women who did not bear biological children or produce male heirs, and women who lived in contravention of gendered norms found alternative methods of recognition, dignity, power, and sometimes, as in the case of Begum Samru, global visibility.

From the Back Cover

Marks she made explores the remarkable life of Begum Samru, a North Indian ruler, who rose from courtesan to sovereign in eighteenth-century Delhi, using art and architecture to navigate power in early modern India.

Samru commanded her own army, hosted a cosmopolitan court, and maintained political alliances with the Mughal emperor, the English East India Company, and European powers. The book traces how she used visual and material culture--including religious patronage of the Catholic Church--to position herself as both powerful and non-threatening. It examines her correspondence and gift exchanges with popes, monarchs, and emperors, and reveals how she navigated local and global expectations of sovereignty, gender, and religion. By focusing on the material and visual strategies that underpinned her authority, the book offers a new perspective on how women operated in the public and political sphere in early modern South Asia.

This is a significant study of gender, power, and self-fashioning in a world shaped by empire, religion, and image.

About the Author

Mrinalini Rajagopalan is Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of History of Art and Architecture at the University of Pittsburgh