Ruby Lal

Ruby Lal is an award-winning historian of India and professor of South Asian history at Emory University. Her works restore erased female figures and their histories, particularly from the Mughal Empire. She is the author of four critically acclaimed books and numerous essays and literary pieces in the USA and India. Her most recent book, Vagabond Princess: The Great Adventures of Gulbadan, has been lauded by the BBC, The Hindu, Vogue India, The Wall Street Journal, and American Kahani, among others. Her previous book Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in 2019. In Spring 2025, she will publish Tiger-Slayer, an illustrated remix of Empress for young adults. Lal is the recipient of numerous fellowships, among them from the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Studies (SCAS), Uppsala, Sweden, and as Public Humanities Fellow at the Jackman Humanities Institute at the University of Toronto. Learn more at www.rubylal.com