THE HALF SMILE 129Tomb of Bibi Jawindi. (Photo © Manan Ahmed Asif.)The material history and practices surrounding Bibi Jawindi and her
tomb highlight the erasure of women from histories in contemporary
Uch. What kind of histories could be written if we were to see women
as integral actors in· the most powerful state in medieval northern
India? Within the conquest framework, Chachnama is only a story
about two male conquerors-Chach and Qasim. But there is another
radically difrerent reading possible when we look at the role women
play in this political landscape. What happens to Chachnama if we see
past its ostensible structure of male protagonists to other interpreta-
tive frames? Said differently, what if Chachnama is recast as a story
about political power that necessarily includes women? In the conquest