Prof Ruby Lal in conversation with Lipika Pelham: Vagabond Princess The Great Adventures of Gulbadan

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 three critically acclaimed books and numerous essays. 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. Prior to Emory, she taught at the Johns Hopkins University. Learn more at www.rubylal.com

Lipika Pelham is a historian, journalist, filmmaker and the author of “Passing: An Alternative History of Identity” (2021), “Jerusalem on the Amstel: The Quest for Zion in the Dutch Republic” (2019), “Conversations Across Place” (2021), and “The Unlikely Settler” (2014).
She works as a producer/reporter/regional editor in the BBC Newsroom, frequently appearing on air commenting on South Asian and Arab-Israeli affairs. She also makes long-form documentaries for the BBC, including for the flagship programmes: Assignment and Heart & Soul.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Lipika reported for the BBC from the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and made several award-winning documentary films, including “Deadly Honour”, about honour killing in Israel.
Her essays and reports have appeared in The New York Times, BBC Online, The Guardian, Daily Beast, Tikkun magazine, Haaretz, The Times of Israel.
Lipika is currently a postgraduate researcher at The University of Westminster, London, completing a commentary on her book, “Jerusalem on the Amstel: The Quest for Zion in the Dutch Republic”, which has been selected for a History PhD by Published Work.