History is focussed on territorial warfare: Rana Safvi

At the Women Writer's Fest, acclaimed Rana Safvi, historian, author, and blogger of Hazrat-e-Delhi said that history is focussed on territorial warfare and power. As part of the opening session on 'Heroines, History and Us', she said that there is so much more than women have done but only a single dimension is being portrayed be it Sita or Draupadi. There are so many women in the Mughal era who have been dynamic and strong leaders and personalities like Khanzada Begum and Sultan Razia. Women have always been portrayed as those doing a sati or jauhar. Unfortunately, a strong woman, in fact, is seen as scheming."

When asked why doesn't history tell us the other side, she said, "Because historians are not focussing on women. History is focussed on territorial warfare and power. And not just here, look at other spaces too. I visited a mosque in Ahmedabad and the first thing I was told was to not enter. If we can go to the house of God in Mecca Madina, why cannot we go to mosques? We need to claim such spaces."

There is also a need to tell stories of structures built by women. There are many mosques built by women but no one knows about those structures. History has been distorted. TV serials have ruined the history as their research is very poor, she said.

Another author Ira Mukhoty pointed out that women had a lot of say the way the empire shaped. "Women have contributed a lot in the legacy be it art or architecture, they were very influential in all aspects. For example, whatever Rani Lakshmibai did was for her own self but she is shown as a Goddess. So this side of the story is never told."