
Three Begums
The Women Who Shaped My Life
Ziauddin Sardar(Editor)
C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd
Published on 27. March 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
276 pages
978-1-80526-333-3 (ISBN)
Description
Three Begums revolves around the lives of three ordinary women-Hamida, Merryl and Saliha- who lived extraordinary, interwoven lives of fabulous joy, fierce pain, and untold trauma. Like many who came before them, they loved and dreamed. Although born in different times and places, they were united through their dedication to bettering the lives of all around them. Each fell victim to disease and premature death, without fulfilling their desires; but, like all desires, these continue beyond their lifetimes.
Flowing seamlessly between the biographical and autobiographical, Ziauddin Sardar captures the complexities of everyday living, human relationships and raw emotion, weaving lives and ambitions together. The great story of human societies unfolds through the eyes of an individual, with each chapter struggling to fulfil the aspirations of the last. Sardar shows how his own life was shaped by these women, and how their collective life undulated, sea-like, to the rhythms of Urdu poetry. This genre-defying book takes readers on a journey that is inimitably personal, yet reverberates universally.
Powerful and unforgettable, Three Begums is a profound reminder that, in a good life, the only thing that matters is virtue- particularly the virtue of compassion, and working for something greater than oneself.
Flowing seamlessly between the biographical and autobiographical, Ziauddin Sardar captures the complexities of everyday living, human relationships and raw emotion, weaving lives and ambitions together. The great story of human societies unfolds through the eyes of an individual, with each chapter struggling to fulfil the aspirations of the last. Sardar shows how his own life was shaped by these women, and how their collective life undulated, sea-like, to the rhythms of Urdu poetry. This genre-defying book takes readers on a journey that is inimitably personal, yet reverberates universally.
Powerful and unforgettable, Three Begums is a profound reminder that, in a good life, the only thing that matters is virtue- particularly the virtue of compassion, and working for something greater than oneself.
Reviews / Votes
'Written in a self-reflective style and full of anecdotes and stories about the three women, their connections and their impacts, the book is significant at several levels.' * <b><I>Asian Affairs</I></b> * 'Outstanding. To say it is a fine piece of writing is to sell it short. It is a wonderful tribute to three women that captures their lives, passions and relationships in a way that is very rarely achieved.' -- <b>Colin Tudge, author of <I>The Secret Life of Trees</I> and <I>The Great Rethink: A 21st Century Renaissance</I></b>More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
20 Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 183 mm
Width: 122 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
318 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80526-333-3 (9781805263333)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
04/2025
1st Edition
Hurst Publishers
from
€24.99
Available for download
Person
Ziauddin Sardar is an award-winning, internationally renowned writer, futurist and cultural critic. His books include Desperately Seeking Paradise: Journeys of a Sceptical Muslim; Reading the Qur'an; and Mecca: The Sacred City. A former New Statesman columnist and equality and human rights commissioner, he is Editor of influential quarterly Critical Muslim.