New Delhi: Tracing her life through folk tales and songs, Nandini Sengupta’s latest book explores the rich and fascinating life of one of India’s formidable yet forgotten queens, Rani Veerangana Durgawati, the warrior queen of the Gond kingdom of Garha Mandla in Madhya Pradesh.
Published by Penguin India, ‘Rani Durgawati’ by Nandini Sengupta will be released on 9 December on Softcover, ThePrint’s online venue to launch non-fiction books.
Through her book, ‘Rani Durgawati’, Sengupta takes the reader through the life of Durgawati who continues to be a symbol of hope even after 460 years for the tribal Gonds who were her people. A formidable queen willing to stand up for her rights, Rani Durgawati is one of India’s most underrated monarchs.
Sengupta, Puducherry-based journalist and author of historical fiction and narrative history, became fascinated with the country’s history after visiting the UNESCO World Heritage Site Ajanta Ellora caves in Maharashtra. For the next decade, she took inspiration from history for her books.
She has written several bestselling books including The Blue Horse And Other Amazing Animals from Indian History (Hachette, 2020), the Gupta Empire Trilogy-The King Within, The Poisoned Heart and The Ocean’s Own (HarperCollins India, 2017, 2019 and 2021 respectively) and The Story of Kalidas: The Gem Among Poets (Eicher Goodearth Publications, 2019). Rani Durgawati is her first narrative non-fiction biography.
In its roughly 250 pages, Sengupta explores the legacy of Rani Durgawati, a Rajput by birth, who as a warrior used the terrain to counter excellent manpower and artillery strength while being a devoted mother and an ideal monarch who looked after her citizens until her last breath. The author now uses folk tales and songs to create a meticulously researched and accessible biography of one of the nation’s forgotten female heroes.
Sanjeev Sanyal, bestselling author of The Ocean of Churn: How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History and an economist said, “This is the inspiring true story of a daring warrior queen defending her people from an aggressive empire. Nandini has truly brought her alive in this fast-paced narrative that is sure to thrill readers.”
Bibek Debroy, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister said, “Sengupta turns to narrative non-fiction and gives us an engaging book on the life and times of Rani Durgawati. There are selection biases in history, written and taught. In countering that bias, this is a valuable book, explaining why Rani Durgawati’s story has lived on, in folk tales and songs, so far, only in parts of India”.
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