নূর মহল

by Harold Lamb, Ibrahim Khan (Translator)

যে ইরানী সুন্দরী তিনশো বছর আগে তাঁর অসংযত-চিত্ত স্বামী পাশে বসে একটা বিপুল সাম্রাজ্য শাসন করে গেছেন, তাঁর জীবনের ঘটনাবলী তত বিস্ময়কর নয়- যেমন বিস্ময়কর তাঁর অদ্ভুত ব্যক্তিত্ব। তিনি নূর মহল, নূর জাহান।
অছিদ্র পর্দার আড়ালে যাঁরা জীবনের অভিনয় করে গেছেন, সেই নীরব-পুরীর অধিবাসীদের একজন কৃতী নারীর কাহিনী এ পুস্তকে বলতে চেষ্টা করেছি। - হ্যারল্ড ল্যাম্ব

Genres: History, Biography

306 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1932

About the author

Harold Albert Lamb was an American historian, screenwriter, short story writer, and novelist.

Born in Alpine, New Jersey, he attended Columbia University, where his interest in the peoples and history of Asia began. Lamb built a career with his writing from an early age. He got his start in the pulp magazines, quickly moving to the prestigious Adventure magazine, his primary fiction outlet for nineteen years. In 1927 he wrote a biography of Genghis Khan, and following on its success turned more and more to the writing of non-fiction, penning numerous biographies and popular history books until his death in 1962. The success of Lamb's two volume history of the Crusades led to his discovery by Cecil B. DeMille, who employed Lamb as a technical advisor on a related movie, The Crusades, and used him as a screenwriter on many other DeMille movies thereafter. Lamb spoke French, Latin, Persian, and Arabic, and, by his own account, a smattering of Manchu-Tartar.

From Wikipedia

Reviews

[Tahsina Syeda · Rating 4 out of 5]

প্রিন্সিপাল ইব্রাহীম খাঁ অনূদিত ১৯৫৯ সালে ছাপা এই রত্ন বলতে গেলে ছাই উড়িয়েই খুঁজে পেয়েছিলাম :) ।
মুঘল সম্রাজ্ঞী নূরজাহানের জীবন কেন্দ্র করে রচিত এই উপন্যাস। হ্যারল্ড ল্যাম্ব নূরজাহানকে ফুটিয়ে তুলেছেন বহুমাত্রিক বৈচিত্র্যময় একজন মানুষ হিসেবে। আর মুঘল সাম্রাজ্যে প্রাসাদ ষড়যন্ত্র, সিংহাসনকে ঘিরে কুটিল খেলা, এসব দিক দারুণভাবে এসেছে।

[Nilo0 · Rating 2 out of 5]

ترجمه کتاب به فارسی واقعا بد بود. من قبلا کتاب عروس بیستم رو که درباره مهرالنسا بود رو خونده بودم و واسم خیلی شیرین و زیبا بود اما این کتاب که در زمان اوج قدرت و ملکه بودن مهرالنسا بود، با ترجمه خیلی بد، برام خسته کننده بود و خیلی سخت تمومش کردم. بعضی جاها واقعا نمی فهمدیم چی نوشته و منظورش چیه؟ جملات و کلمات ثقیلی داشت. اگه می دونستم ترجمه اینقدر بده اصلا نمی خوندم. فقط چون به این موضوع علاقه داشتم تا ته خوندم و توضیحات انتهایی نویسنده خیلی خوب بود

[Zohre Kamrani · Rating 1 out of 5]

ناتموم رهاش کردم...

[Relstuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps one of the greatest women of history. Alas, mostly forgotten. Her story would make a great movie. She married the emperor and in time was able to run much of the empire under his command at the height of its power. This is her story.

She was a very minor personage that the emperor met at a young age. Persian in a land surrounded by Indians and the ruling Mongol class. She was married off to anther man and did not marry the emperor till after she had been widowed and he had other wives in his harem. She became his favorite.

The author writes it as well as can be known. Fortunately he read ancient Persian so besides relying on translated sources he was able to do some research himself on some of the sources preserved from her contemporaries and her husband the emperor also mentioned her quite a bit during the last years of his reign in his journal.

[Wordaholic · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was very informative and interesting, as the origin of the tale and subject is timeless.

[Nazanin Sherafati · Rating 5 out of 5]

زیبا بود. لذت بردم

[ناصر سليم · Rating 3 out of 5]

عروس ایران در رابطه با یک زن بسیار زیبای ایرانی به نام «مهرالنسا» است که ملقب به «نورجهان» شد و به همسری میرسلیم با نام پادشاهی «جهانگیر» در اومد.
جهانگیر از امپراتوری گورگانی در هند بود و گفته می‌شه «نورجهان» با اغواگری و جمالِ خدادایش، جهانگیر رو هم تحت نفوذ خودش در میاره و احکام دولتی رو اون صادر می‌کنه اما به نام همسرش. ولی در آخر کار و بعداز مرگ همسرش که به شدت شراب‌خوار و افیونی بوده، از قدرت عزل می‌شه و از عرش به فرش می‌رسه.
ترجمه کتاب خیلی بد بود و گاهی می‌خواستم کتاب رو نیمه‌تمام رها کنم

[Zohreh · Rating 5 out of 5]

گونه ای رمان تاریخی بود که ارتباط ایران و هند قدیم ومناسبات ان زمان را در این کتاب همراه با رمان در میابیم.کتاب زیبایی بود

[Richard Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 1930s historical novel set in Mughal India, this book focuses on a Persian princess who became the power behind the throne. I enjoyed it and found it an exciting read. The author does a good job, especially for the time, of presenting a south Asian society in all its complexity, with leaders and populations from all over (present-day) India and Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Persia, along with the ruling Turco-Mongol descendants of Timur and his people.

Following Nur Mahal (or Noor Jahan, as she is also known), the Padishah's wife, we experience the events of the story mostly from the perspective of the harem. Normally, this would be very limiting, but she is special in the novel as well as real life. The princess pushed the boundaries to participate in the wider world. She was a rider and hunter, famously able to take down tigers, and she managed to emerge from the harem, contrary to custom, to assist her husband, advise him, and even take over much of the governing. This exposed her (and him) to censure on the one hand but grudging respect all the same, making her an early example of the kind of strong female character that has been much sought after in recent years in publishing.

In the novel, we see her as able and courageous, willing to take risks to promote her husband's interests and the interests of the empire, attracting and retaining able generals, putting down rebellions, and winning the hearts of the people. (One scene, where her husband has been taken prisoner while traveling with the court and she leads a charge across a river on her battle elephant is wonderful and entirely believable.) Her husband, though curious, intelligent, and physically able except for asthma, is still not an able leader, neither creative nor energetic, and she realizes she could have done so much more with someone like Mahabat Khan or another of those who active and forceful men who eventually rebelled against him. His enemies recognize that he held the throne for as long as he did mainly through her efforts--all of which is, apparently, historical fact, though mostly suppressed in the histories of the time.

Harold Lamb is a surprising writer, coming as he does out of the early part of the 20th Century, in the way he demonstrates a vast understanding of the history of Central Asia and the way he (almost always) deals with the various religions and cultures in a sensitive and respectful way. There are a few sour notes, but the overall feeling is one of appreciation and respect.

So, 90 years after its publication, I'd say Nur Mahal (both book and princess) holds up. She makes an interesting and rather modern protagonist, impressive both for her will and her ability. And between the court intrigue and various wars, the action is fast-paced and entertaining. Just as important, the historical accuracy and the vibrant depiction of a multi-ethnic state is impressive, and for me an education. (According to Wikipedia, writers like Robert E. Howard, Gardner Fox, Ben Bova, and others were influenced by his writing. That makes perfect sense.)

Recommended for readers of historical fiction.

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb work of historical fiction by Harold Lamb, who writes with the skill of a novelist while embedding the reality of the story in solid historical work. At the end, in fact, Lamb writes an afterward that would stand up as a good historical essay on Nur Mahal and the Mughal court intrigue of the seventeenth century. Lamb was fluent in Persian and Arabic, in addition to Latin and French and Tartar. And for this book he completed some of the first Persian to English translations of Mughal primary sources. All to build a dramatic tale around Nur Mahal, better known as Nur Jahan, the empress in fact over her weak and ill husband, Jahangir.

Something quite interesting in Lamb's technique in elevating language, which I saw him use even more thoroughly in a previous book, The House of the Falcon. He employs the cadence, rhythm, and even vocabulary of the King James version of the Bible (KJV). This isn't an innovation of his, as American writers throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries did the same, often later incorporating Whitman into their prose and dialog, too. For example, Pearl Buck did so. And twenty years after this work by Lamb, Buck's own historical fiction novel appeared, Imperial Woman, depicting another Inner Palace/harem whose impoverished inhabitant rose to be the power behind the throne and eventually the dowager empress, Cixi, in China. In elevating language, however, both Lamb and Buck also mean for that elevation to raise American readers out of their particular time, place, and cultural setting. Elevation does not necessarily signify the language of a superior social class. In addition to the narrative voice, Lamb and Buck use the KJV and Whitman for the dialog of peasants, farmers, soldiers, as well as monarchs, warlords, and priests. By the way, it also became the convention for television and filmmaking as well. Epic stories were told in this voice.

So interesting was this story that I spent most of yesterday tracking down the history of Nur Mahal and her family. It turns out that Lamb is highly accurate in his characterizations and the specific history of the time in Mughal India. Another development worth noting is that the tombs of Nur Mahal and her daughter and a separate tomb of the brother, Asif Khan, who betrayed her were described as magnificent and ornate, examples of the best of Moghul architecture. Alas the buildings were desecrated, looted, and stripped of their construction materials during the Sikh empire's conquest of Lahore (another parallel with Cixi's tomb in China which was also looted by a warlord after the fall of the Qing dynasty). The sparse remains seen today are but the skeletons of the original structures. Other Mughal sites in Agra, of course, survived, including the Taj Mahal, built by Nur Mahal's arch enemy, Shah Jahan, as the tomb for Nur Mahal's niece, Mumtaz Mahal. The more read of this material, the more fascinating it gets. I was easily derailed into the blog collection belonging to the Chughtai Museum, which leads you into even more intriguing speculations about Nur Mahal, her family, and her enemies.

[SK · Rating 4 out of 5]

sets a high bar that every white guy obsessed with asian cultures has never been able to match, unfortunately. while new age weebs stumble through simple introductions, Lamb was In The Archives, translating classical persian so his insults were accurate.

Props to Lamb for making a cohesive and plausible narrative out of the literal spiderwebs that is accurate material about Nur Jahan, who not only lived in purdah but had her contributions erased by her opps. pretty progressive for 1932? Almost 100 years later and it holds up + is supported by current scholarship.

[Tannaz Anvari · Rating 5 out of 5]

The translation of the book was awful though the original one was so sweet and interesting. If someone likes romance but at the same time historical books, this book is highly recommended.

[Zahrratta · Rating 5 out of 5]

به شدت دوستش داشتم. با اینکه یکم خوندنش سخت بود اما همین باعث می شد حال و هوای اصیل و خوبی داشته باشه. اول اینکه یه داستان تاریخی بود باعث جذابیتش بود و بعد هم شاخ و برگی که به داستان داده بود. شاید یه جاهاییش اشتباه داشت مثل تاج محل که برای ارجمند بیگم ساخته شده نه برای مهرالنسا اما به نظرم قابل اغماض بود. از اون کتاباهایی بود که همیشه داستانش یادم میمونه.