The Amazing Queen Didda
Till Ashish Kaul’s Didda : The Warrior Queen Of Kashmir landed on the desk, one did not know much about this wonderful character from Indian history, and that’s a shame. When great Indian heroines are mentioned, only the Rani Of Jhansi comes immediately to mind. The contribution of women, is mostly ignored, maybe because history is written by men. The women who make it to stories, written or oral, are the ones romantically linked to a king—Padmavati, Mastani, Mrignayanee, Mumtaz Mahal, Noorjehan (even though this queen ruled in place of the dissolute Emperor Jehangir). There are some names that vaguely pop up—Razia Sultan, Begum Hazrat Mahal and Chand Bibi, but there must have been dozens of others who have been forgotten. Even when it comes to contemporary history, there are a few accounts of the women involved with the freedom movement, but it’s only now the stories of women who contributed to the Indian Constitution, science, literature...