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Dr. Sehar Khwaja is an Assistant Professor at the School of Law, Mahindra University, specializing in the history of imperial women and Mughal court culture, with a Ph.D. in History from the University of Delhi on women’s agency in North India c.1690–1840. She previously completed an M.Phil. on the role and representation of imperial women in Mughal court culture c.1605–1707, has published on topics such as fosterage and motherhood in the Mughal harem and widowed Mughal household headship, and has been with Mahindra University since August 2021.
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Sehar Khwaja
Assistant Professor
Sehar Khwaja is an Assistant Professor at the School of Law, Mahindra University. She has completed her Ph.D. in History from the University of Delhi, India (2012- 2020). Her thesis was on ‘Imperial Women and Mughal Court Culture: Exploring Women’s Agency in Northern India C.1690-1840.’ Her M.Phil. was from the Department of History, the University of Delhi, India (2008-11) and her thesis was on ‘Role and Representation of Imperial Women in Mughal Court Culture c. 1605-1707.
Some of her publications are ‘Fosterage and Motherhood in the Mughal Harem: Intimate Relations and Political System in the eighteenth Century India’, Social Scientist Journal, vol.46, no 5-6, May-June 2018, (ISSN 0970-0293) ‘Headship of a Widowed Mughal Household: The Politics of Control and Domestic Division of the Household of Late Prince Jawan Bukht Jahandar Shah in Benares, 1788-1819, Proceedings of Indian History Congress (ISSN 2449-1937)
- Ph.D., Department of History, University of Delhi, India (2012- 2020)
- M.Phil. History, Department of History, University of Delhi, India (2008-11)
- M.A. History, Lady Sri Ram, University of Delhi, India (2006-08)
- B.A. (Hons) History, Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi, India (2003- 2006)
‘Fosterage and Motherhood in the Mughal Harem: Intimate Relations and Political System in the eighteenth Century India’, Social Scientist Journal, vol.46, no 5-6, May-June 2018, (ISSN 0970-0293)
Headship of a Widowed Mughal Household: The Politics of Control and Domestic Division of the Household of Late Prince Jawan Bukht Jahandar Shah in Benares, 1788-1819, Proceedings of Indian History Congress (ISSN 2449-1937)
Paper Presentations / Conferences Attended
Presented Paper, entitled ‘Rearticulating Mughal Household as a Political Space: Exploring the Agency of Queen Mothers in 18th century India’ in a virtual lecture series called ‘Recovering Women’s Agency in Early Modern Households’ organised by Aligarh Society of History and Archaeology on 8th March 2021.
Presented paper, entitled ‘Embodying Motherhood: An Understanding of Collective versus Individual Construction of Mughal Motherhood’ in a virtual conference on ‘Rethinking South Asia Alternative Paradigms, Practices and Discourses’, First Annual Conference of the Indian Association for South Asian Studies (IASAS), organised by Centre for Alternative Studies in Social Sciences (CASSS) on 7-9th November 2020.
Presented a paper entitled ‘Vulnerability or Resilience: Rethinking Vulnerability of Imperial Mothers in the 18th Century Colonial Awadh Context’ in a conference on ‘Binaries and Beyond: Gender Discourses in the Long Eighteenth Century’ organised by India International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (IISECS) on 26th-27th February 2020
Presented a paper entitled ‘Whom I call a Mother: A Historical Reading of a Narrative Versus Performative Construction of the Identity of a Mother and Motherhood in the Mughal Culture’ at a conference called ‘The 8th Forum of Critical Studies: Asking Big Questions Again’, held at Venice, Italy on 24th -25th January 2020
Presented a paper entitled, ‘Headship of a Widowed Mughal Household: The Politics of Control and Domestic Division of the Household of Late Prince Jawan Bukht Jahandar Shah in Benares, 1788-1819’ in Section II: Medieval India at the 80th session of Indian History Congress held at Kannur University, Kerala, on 28th-30th December 2019
Presented a paper entitled, ‘Public Affairs of Private Spaces: Resituating Women in Mughal History’ in a workshop on ‘Re-Writing Mughal History: Challenges of Language and Literary Practices’ held at Nehru Memorial Museum Library, New Delhi on 16th August 2013
Presented a paper entitled, ‘Representation of an Imperial Princess: Jahanara in Literary Sources and Bazar Gossips’ in a seminar organised by ICHR (Indian Council of Historical Research) on 26th April 2011in the Department of History, Delhi University
Presented a paper entitled, ‘Representation of an Imperial Princess: Jahanara in Literary Sources and Bazar Gossips’ in Section II: Medieval India at the 71st session of Indian History Congress held at Gaur-Banga University, Malda, West Bengal, on 13th February 2011
Assistant Professor School of Law MU (Aug 2021 -Present )
