Emory University historian and author Dr. Ruby Lal has been named the 2027 Kluge Chair in Countries and Cultures of the South at the Library of Congress, recognizing her contributions to the study of Indian history, particularly the Mughal Empire and the lives of women whose stories have often been overlooked in traditional historical accounts.
Announced September 17, 2026, the appointment will take Lal to Washington, D.C., for a four-month residency beginning in January 2027. She will join the John W. Kluge Center, which brings distinguished scholars and researchers to the Library of Congress to pursue research using its extensive collections.
The chair is one of five established in the Kluge Center’s founding documents. It recognizes accomplished scholars for their intellectual contributions.
Lal, a professor of Middle Eastern and South Asian studies in Emory College of Arts and Sciences, will use the residency to research and write her seventh book, The Genius of Mughals, A Magisterial History of the Taj Mahal.
The forthcoming book will explore the human history of the Taj Mahal, moving beyond its familiar association with Emperor Shah Jahan and his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, to examine the many individuals, communities and landscapes involved in its creation.
Lal plans to bring into focus the architects, calligraphers, masons, stonecutters and others whose work made the monument possible, while examining the historical and environmental setting in which it was built.
Her scholarship has consistently challenged conventional narratives of Mughal history by examining power, gender, identity and the experiences of women within imperial society.
Her acclaimed book Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan explores the extraordinary political influence of Nur Jahan, who became one of the most powerful women in the Mughal Empire during the reign of Emperor Jahangir. The biography received the Georgia Author of the Year Award in Biography and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in 2018.
Lal’s more recent book, Vagabond Princess: The Great Adventures of Gulbadan, recounts the remarkable life of Gulbadan Begum, daughter of Emperor Babur and a pioneering writer and traveler whose experiences offer a distinctive perspective on Mughal history. The book was shortlisted for the James Tait Prize and was a finalist for the Georgia Author of the Year Award.
In 2025, Lal published Tiger-Slayer, an illustrated adaptation of her work on Nur Jahan for young adult readers. The book was among the New York Public Library’s top two nonfiction selections for young adults in 2025, became a finalist for the Atta Galatta Bangalore Literature Prize and received a Georgia Author of the Year Award nomination.
Her forthcoming research on the Taj Mahal continues her efforts to bring overlooked historical figures and their contributions into the larger narrative of India’s past.