#Indian queen

[forgotten-bharat]

Maharani Durgavati

Durgavati was the daughter of King of Bundelkhand, married to Raja dalpad of Gondwana, in Madhaya Pradesh.

Soon, tragically Raja died and Queen Durgavati with her 5 year old toddler stepped up to the throne. She managed the whole kingdom exceptionally well, as recorded by Akbar’s historian. The kingdom did not suffer any major setback even after their king died.

Gondwana was a rich kingdom, with a beautiful queen which became the target of the Mughals. They didn't wanted to simply take the kingdom under their control, the commander Asaf Khan also “wanted to touch the beauty of Gondwana”.

In 1564, Asaf Khan marched with 10,000 cavalries towards Gondwana, Rani Durgavati marched with 5,000 men to the battlefield.

She led the army well and killed about 500 enemies, she came out victorious by the end of the day, later she purposed to “surprise attack” the enemies or “Gorilla Attack” but none of the council members agreed to that.

By the next morning, Asaf Khan’s army was in a much better place and the fighting continued for 3 exhausting days. By that time only 200 of her men were left but the thought of giving up never once crossed her mind. Her bravery and courage never wavered.

During the battle, one arrow pierced her temple and another pierced her neck, causing her to lose consciousness. When she opened her eyes, the inevitable defeat was clear.

Instead of falling in the hands of men that had nothing but lust for her and would eventually throw her in Harem with other women, that previously were queens of conquered kingdoms that Mughals kept as sex slaves, she took our her dagger and killed herself to save her honor and prevent invaders from doing heinous things to her body, her martyrdom day (24 June 1564) is commemorated as “Balidan Diwas”.

The Mughal army then marched to the fort to loot it's treasure. They found staggering amount of gold pots full of gold, jewels, expensive stones etc.

When they opened a room, it was full of burnt bodies of women that commited Jauhar upon hearing the news of Rani’s defeat. These women committed Jauhar to save their honor and to prevent the Mughals from taking them as sex slaves, unfortunately 2 women were still alive, stuck behind a large wooden block that saved their lives. These two women were then taken to Akbar's court and predictably put into Harem.

[travsd]

On Dryden's "Indian" Plays

November is Native American History Month; next year (2025) will mark the 350th anniversary of King Phillip’s War, the beginning of the end for the native people as the dominant polity on this continent. I’m marking the occasion with a series of daily posts related to the history of the Native Americans and their interactions with encroaching Europeans. Some will have to do with pop culture;…

[xtinethewriter]

Read the Story of How Queen Yagowanea and the Erie Indians Were Annihilated: Christine's Chronicles

By Christine Lorraine Morgan, January 9, 2024 Indigenous People who lived in this region now known as Erie County, PA, were under the jurisdiction of a queen named Yagowanea, also called Gegosasa by the Senecas and French. She was said to be a “second Zenobia.” During the year 1626, the Eries were visited by New France in an attempt to civilize them. That’s when their most celebrated trait was…

[grendel-menz]

the folk of the air series but south and south east asian

[ilreleonewikiart]

"Mother of dragons, Daenerys thought. Mother of monsters. What have I unleashed upon the world? A queen I am, but my throne is made of burned bones, and it rests on quicksand. Without dragons, how could she hope to hold Meereen, much less win back Westeros? I am the blood of the dragon, she thought. If they are monsters, so am I."

Thank you @Nataa_draws for having hosted this amazing challenge! It was very fun to join it and I can't wait to make more art of our beloved Khaleesi 🤧❤️☝️

[artmill-danaan]

What choices ?

[emaadsidiki]

The Water Lily Pond ⚘༉ ࿐ྀུ ❀ꦿ֗

One instant, one aspect of nature contains it all. ~Claude Monet

[devdas5z]

Queen Trish

[city-of-ladies]

An unprecedented female monarch in her dynasty, Rudrama Devi (r.1262-1289) presided over an age of prosperity. A successful warrior queen, she triumphed over both internal and external threats.

Her father’s heir

Rudrama Devi was the daughter of King Ganapati Deva (r.1199-1262) of the Kakatiya dynasty, who ruled over parts of present-day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in Southern India. Their capital was located at Orugallu (Warangal). 

Ganapati Deva was a successful monarch. His kingdom was famed for its’ diamonds and beautiful fabrics. He had no son to succeed him and his older daughter was already married. He thus decided to make his younger daughter Rudrama Devi his heir and gave her the requisite training.

A female monarch would nonetheless be a in vulnerable position and see her legitimacy questioned. To make female rule more acceptable, he arranged a Putrikayagna ceremony for his daughter. This religious rite allowed a sonless man to declare his daughter or his daughter’s son as his son. After that, Rudrama Devi was also known by the masculine name of Rudra Deva. She also attended all public meetings in masculine attire. 

Her story is similar in that regard to that of her near-contemporary, Raziya Sultan of Delhi.

A warrior among warriors

In 1259, Rudrama Devi became her father’s co-ruler and assumed sole rule in 1262. She married the Chalukya prince Virabdhadra, who played no part in her administration, and with whom she had three daughters. 

Rudrama Devi faced many threats at once. Her neighbors saw an opportunity to conquer her kingdom and her feudatory noblemen couldn’t stand being ruled by a woman.

She stood her ground and prevailed, proving her might as a warrior queen. Many of her nobles rebelled, but she successfully defeated them. The Seuna Yadava king, Mahadeva, invaded her territories and reached her capital. Rudrama Devi chased him after 15 days of fighting and forced them to pay a heavy tribute in money and horses. 

To commemorate her victory, she styled herself “Rayagajakesari” or “the lion who rules over the elephant kings”. In the pavilion she built, she was depicted as a warrior mounted on a lion, holding a sword and a shield, with an elephant trunk holding up a lotus to her in sign of submission. 

In 1262, another of her neighbors occupied the Vengi region. She was able to recover it after 12 years of fighting. She was nonetheless unsuccessful in fending off the attacks of her southern rival Ambadeva.

Meritocratic policies

Rudrama Devi completed the construction of the nearly impregnable Warangal Fort. She bought large tracts of land under cultivation, increasing her kingdom’s revenue. She also recruited non-aristocratic warriors from diverse castes. Only 17 percent of her subordinates were of noble background. Prominent commanders could receive lands and become feudatory nobles. She thus established a new warrior class. Since the nobility had rejected her rule, this meritocratic policy allowed her to surround herself with loyal retainers.

Marco Polo, who mistook her for a widow of the previous king, wrote about her very flattering terms, calling her a “lady of much discretion” and a “lover of justice, of equity and of peace”. 

A warrior to the end

At the end of her reign, she chose her grandson, Prataparudra, as her heir. 

Rudrama Devi likely died in 1289 (though some sources date her death from 1295) according to an inscription made by a member of her army commemorating her recent death and that of her army chief. The cause and location of her death are unknown. She likely died facing Ambadeva's armies, leading her troops as she had always done.

Further reading

Gupta Archana Garodia, The women who ruled India, leaders, warriors, icons

Janchariman M., Perspectives in Indian History From the Origins to AD 1857

Talbot Cynthia, "Rudrama‐devi, Queen of Kakatiya dynasty (r. 1262–1289)", In: The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History. 

Talbot Cynthia, Precolonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra

[beauty---amazing28]

Beautiful 🫦💋

[gmaybe666]

page from an old sketchbook when I used to draw traditionally….19 year old me was built different

[nidhi-writes]

The Tawaifs - QUEENS

— them being the Queens of Lahore | heeramandi, 2024, dir. sanjay leela bhansali.

[itwasanangryinch]

You know... with how we know how carefully the writer's room is built each season, we can already surmise that Akasha won't be a huge feature in S3.

[illustratus]

Columbus at the Court of Barcelona by Victor A. Searles

[anushkashettyfanclub]

Apsara 😍✨️ Anushka Shetty in and as Arundhati 👑

[schumi-nadal]

Iga Świątek & Maria Sakkari - Indian Wells 2024 🇺🇸

Nineteenth title for Iga and a great tournament from Maria 🤗🏆🏅🥈