Biographical note

Ruby Lal is an award-winning historian of India and professor of South Asian history at Emory University whose writing has appeared in Time, BBC History, and Literary Hub. She is the author of Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan, which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Her most recent book, Vagabond Princess: The Great Adventures of Gulbadan, was longlisted for the prestigious Cundill History Prize and received praise from the BBC, Wall Street Journal, and Times Literary Supplement, among others. She divides her time between Atlanta, Georgia, and Delhi, India. Molly Crabapple is an artist and writer whose articles and art have appeared in the New York Times, New York Review of Books, Paris Review, Rolling Stone, and The New Yorker. Her work has been nominated for three Emmys, has been longlisted for the National Book Award, and is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. She lives in New York City.