Women in Mughal India,” written by Rekha Mishra, is a book devoted to women in the Mughal period, as she believes that the women of that period have not been paid the sufficient attention they deserved. In this work, she has made a humble attempt to depict the position of women—chiefly of the aristocratic class—of the Mughal period. She identifies a major research gap in how archives and court chronicles did not speak much about women. Mrs. Mishra explains how difficult it was to read a vast body of primary literature yet obtain only very minor information about this group. This text is a pivotal piece of this archive, since the Mughal harem consisted of courtesans and women passionate about the arts. This book is not just a text to be read to learn about the voices of women, but should also be treated as an intervention for us. 

This article traces the history of prostitution as labor in India from ancient devadasi traditions through Mughal, colonial, and post-independence periods, examining religious, social, legal, and economic influences while highlighting persistent marginalization and the need for rights-based policies for sex workers.