"Through literary and art-historical analysis, Pauwels brings to life the vibrant cultural production center of Kishangarh in the eighteenth century. Reconstructing how Bani-thani came to be acclaimed as "India's Mona Lisa," she conveys new insights in the history of Hindi literature, devotion, palace women, and social mobility of the enslaved"--
Heidi Pauwels is Professor at the University of Washington, Seattle.
Introduction; 1. The making of the 'Indian Mona Lisa'; 2. The queen and the slave girl; 3. Becoming the prince's concubine; 4. Synergy of the literary couple; 5. Legacy: Self-fashioning and its limits; Conclusions.