Ruby Lal’s new biography of the Mughal Princess Gulbadan brings to life the princess’s remarkable seven-year pilgrimage, from her home in the harem of her nephew Emperor Akbar in India to the holy city of Mecca. Surviving shipwrecks and expulsion orders from the Ottoman Sultan, Gulbadan eventually returned to India where she would go on to write groundbreaking works. 

Lal joins New Lines’ Rasha Elass on The Lede to discuss her book “Vagabond Princess: The Great Adventures of Gulbadan,” which is based on Gulbadan’s own long-forgotten writings.

Produced by Finbar Anderson