Book Review: ‘Chand Bibi’ by Sarah Waheed

Book Title: Chand Bibi: The Lives and Legends of a Warrior Queen
Author: Sarah Waheed
Publisher: Vintage Books
Number of Pages: 480
ISBN: 9377305004
Date Published: Jun. 30, 2026
Price: INR 649

Book Review

“Chand Bibi: The Lives and Legends of a Warrior Queen” by Sarah Waheed is a history book that brings back the life of Chand Bibi, a 16th-century queen from the Deccan region of India. The book tells the story of her role in defending her kingdom against the Mughal Empire.

Instead of only focusing on battles, it also shows her as a smart ruler who used strategy, diplomacy, and leadership to manage a difficult and unstable time.

The book is based on careful research from old records, poems, paintings, shrines, and oral stories. The author also shares her own travel experiences while searching for Chand Bibi’s history. This mix of research and personal journey helps make the book more engaging. It also shows how different versions of Chand Bibi’s life exist, and how stories about her changed over time through memory and legend.

Overall, the book gives a wider view of women’s power in history, especially in the Deccan Sultanates, where women often played important political roles. It also explains the difficulties historians face when records are incomplete or biased. The book highlights that strength is not only about winning wars, but also about endurance, wise decisions, and holding things together in hard times.

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