Valiant, beautiful and just, these women were trailblazers through the ages.
Please read Part I: 8 Brave Indian Queens
The queen of Gondwana, centred around present-day Maharashtra, MP, Chhattisgarh, she defeated but ultimately died during a battle against the Mughal army of Emperor Akbar.
Did she escape through underground tunnels? Was she killed by her own people? Did she commit jauhar? Nobody knows, but the queen-regent of Bijapur and Ahmednagar famously defended her kingdom against the Mughal forces of Emperor Akbar led by his son, Daniyal Mirza, defeating him the first time.
The Mughal queen was a feminist icon and the 20th wife of Emperor Jehangir. She was said to be the power behind the throne; minted coins in her own name, was a philanthropist and supported the weddings of orphan girls.
The last queen of Jaipur, she holds the Guinness World Record for winning a parliamentary seat by the largest majority ever recorded in an election. She was jailed by PM Indira Gandhi during the Emergency. Also a fashion icon, Vogue’s ‘most beautiful woman in the world’, an equestrian, able administrator, philanthropist.
Taking over and expanding her husband’s business in Bengal, unheard of in those times, she supported trailblazers like Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar against polygamy, child marriage and sati; built the Dakshineswar temple, and protected her subjects from the brutalism of the East India Company.
The Maharani of Kapurthala was awarded the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal for her work in raising funds for Indian soldiers in WWII. Known as the Rose of India, she was the muse for photographers, including the famous Cecil Beaton and Man Ray, and was named ‘one of the most beautiful women in the world’ by Vogue.
The grandmother of Maharana Pratap, she ruled Mewar after the death of her illustrious husband Rana Sanga, on behalf of her minor son. She defended Chittor with a small band of soldiers until it fell to Bahadur Shah of Gujarat. Refusing to flee, she performed jauhar.
Was the queen-regent of the Deccan Satavahana dynasty, who ruled on behalf of her minor son and was one of the few women to have ruled in ancient India. Her achievements are etched on the Nanaghat cave inscription in Maharashtra.