‘Domesticity and Power in the Early Mughal World’: Ruby Lal challenges the fantasies about the harem

Contrary to public perceptions of veiled women who had no influence on imperial decisions, she examines their complex role in political affairs.

Rana Safvi

· Nov 06, 2022 · 12:30 pm

‘Temple Lamp’: Mirza Ghalib’s poem on Banaras is an ode to the ancient city’s cosmopolitan heritage

Originally titled ‘Chirag-e-Dair’, this long poem written by Mirza Ghalib has been translated from the Persian into English in its entirety for the first time.

Rana Safvi

· Sep 18, 2022 · 08:30 am

What stories do Mughal art tell us? A sumptuous collection of illustrated essays reveals the secrets

Edited by Roda Ahluwalia, ‘Reflections on Mughal Art and Culture’ also explores its conversations with Hindu art and culture.

Rana Safvi

· Jun 27, 2021 · 08:30 am

The real story of how qorma became the king of Indian curries

Plus an heirloom recipe for Awadhi Murgh Qorma.

Tarana Husain Khan

 & 

Rana Safvi

· Nov 07, 2020 · 11:30 am

How are mourners reading and listening to the poetry of Muharram during the pandemic?

Instead of going back home with her family, Rana Safvi had to make do with online video meetings.

Rana Safvi

· Aug 30, 2020 · 05:30 pm

India’s culinary heritage has been impoverished by modernity

I still remember the days of my childhood when everyone wasn’t pressed for time, when the breakfast table was bountiful.

Rana Safvi

· Jul 11, 2020 · 11:30 am

Who really wrote the lines ‘If there is Paradise on earth, it is this, it is this, it is this’?

An excerpt from ‘Shahjahanabad’, Rana Safvi’s book on the living city of old Delhi.

Rana Safvi

· Nov 01, 2019 · 07:30 am

How Bahadur Shah Zafar’s daughter had to flee from Delhi after he lost his empire

A translation of one of the many stories collected by Khwaja Hasan Nizami about the survivors of the Mughal emperor’s family.

Khwaja Hasan Nizami

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Rana Safvi

· Nov 01, 2018 · 08:30 am

Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s 19th-century books on the pre-1857 monuments of Delhi are now in English

In the two volumes of ‘Asar-us-Sanadid’, Sir Sayyid combined anecdotes with rigorous measurements and descriptions.

Sayyid Ahmad Khan

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Rana Safvi

· Aug 31, 2018 · 08:30 am

Why I cried while watching ‘Mulk’: I finally know what it means to be a Muslim in India

Anubhav Sinha’s drama explores the Islamaphobia experienced by a family following a terrorist attack.

Rana Safvi

· Aug 04, 2018 · 07:30 pm

Inside the Delhi Golf Club is a wealth of monuments that is anything but par for the course

Historian Rana Safvi takes readers on the guide to the forgotten old cities of Delhi through remaining monuments from the past.

Rana Safvi

· Jun 14, 2018 · 08:30 am

Opinion: Hindutva groups’ assault on AMU was never about Jinnah. It had a more sinister motive

It was intended to demonise a particular community and interfere in educational institutions that support free speech and liberal values.

Rana Safvi

· May 11, 2018 · 03:30 pm