Shah Begum (wife of Jahangir)

Shah Begum
Rajkumari of Kingdom of Amber
French Engraving of Shah Begum at Victoria Memorial, Kolkata
BornManbhawati Bai
c. 1570
Amber, Amber Kingdom, Mughal Empire
(modern-day Rajasthan, India)
Died5 May 1605(1605-05-05) (aged 34–35)
Allahabad, Awadh Subah, Mughal Empire
(modern-day Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India)
Burial
Khusrau Bagh, Allahabad
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1585)​
Issue
HouseKacchwaha (by birth)
Timurid (by marriage)
FatherRaja Bhagwant Das
ReligionHinduism

Shah Begum (lit. 'royal lady'; c. 1570 – 5 May 1605) was the first wife and chief consort of Prince Salim (later Emperor Jahangir). She was known as Zan-i-Kalan being the first wife of Salim. She was a Hindu princess by birth and committed suicide shortly before the succession of her husband to the royal throne.[1][2] She was the mother of the eldest daughter and son of Prince Salim, Sultan-un-Nissa Begum and Khusrau Mirza.[3]

Family

Manbhawati Bai,[4][5][6][7] known popularly as Man Bai,[8] was the daughter of Raja Bhagwant Das, the ruler of Amer.[9] She was a sister of Raja Madho Das and daughter-in-law of Mariam-uz-Zamani.[10]

When she was young, Man Bai's was betrothed to her 15-year-old first cousin Prince Selim, a match arranged by his mother Mariam-uz-Zamani, consort of Emperor Akbar and her father, Mariam's brother Rajah Bhagwan Das Kacchwaha.[11][12] Man Bai was considered a desirable bride, endowed with beauty, grace, and high ideals as well as royal lineage.[13]

The marriage settlement was fixed at twenty million tankas.[14] As the Imperial procession travelled along roads covered with rare and choice cloth, the Emperor scattered gold and jewels over the bridal litter. To honour her household, Akbar and Salim themselves carried the bride's palanquin on their own shoulders for some distance.[15] Mariam Zamani presented the couple with gifts valued at ₹12,000,000.[16]

The couple had two children, Sultan-un-Nissa Begum (25 April 1586 and died on 5 September 1646)[17] and a son, Khusrau Mirza (16 August 1587 – 26 January 1622). On the birth of her son, birth, Man Bai was bestowed the prestigious title of Shah Begum meaning "royal lady".[18][19]

With her fidelity and sincere devotion to Jahangir, she won a special place in his heart. Jahangir was extremely fond of her and had her designated as his chief consort, and he wrote of his attachment and affection for her in his memoirs.[20]

Death

By 1605, Shah Begum's son Khusrau Mirza was in open rebellion against his father, Akbar's rule, as was her own brother, Madho Singh. Shah Begum, who suffered from periodic from bouts of madness tried to encourage Khusrau's loyalty to his father. In the end, she was unable to cope with the conflict. She took a fatal overdose of opium on 5 May, 1605.[21][22]

Jahangir was devastated by her death.[23] He ordered the construction of her tomb by Aqa Reza, the principal artist at Allahabad court. The tomb, located in Khusrau Bagh, Allahabad, was completed in 1606-07.[24]

Issue

With Jahangir, Shah Begum had at least two children:

  • Sultan-un-Nissa (25 April 1586, Mughal Empire – 5 September 1646, Mughal Empire, buried in Tomb of Akbar, Sikandar, Agra)
  • Khusrau Mirza (16 August 1587, Lahore, Mughal Empire – 26 January 1622, Deccan, Mughal Empire, buried in Mausoleum of Khusrau Mirza, Khusro Bagh, Allahabad)

See also

References

  1. ^ ranasafvi (14 May 2020). "Shah Begum's Cenotaph in Khusrau Bagh, Allahabad". Rana Safvi. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  2. ^ Sarin, Hemant (19 March 2019). "Shah Begum's Tomb in Allahabad | #TheseMughalWomen". The Heritage Lab. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  3. ^ "An impressive empress". The Hindu. 25 May 2013. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  4. ^ Others, Muzaffar H. Syed & (20 February 2022). History of Indian Nation : Medieval India. K. K. Publications. p. 138.
  5. ^ Shams, Iftekhar Ahmed (7 February 2023). The Kingdom of the Moghuls: the rulers, who created history. Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Shams. pp. 66, 133–134. ISBN 979-8-4494-7693-7.
  6. ^ Fisher, Michael (1 October 2015). A Short History of the Mughal Empire. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 87, 145–147. ISBN 978-0-85772-777-0.
  7. ^ Dhir, Krishna S. (1 January 2022). The Wonder That Is Urdu [87, 90, 93]. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-4301-1.
  8. ^ Prasad, Ishwari (1974). The Mughal Empire. Chugh Publications. p. 294.
  9. ^ The Proceedings of the Indian History Congress - Volume 64. Indian History Congress. 2004. p. 598.
  10. ^ Flores, Jorge (20 November 2015). The Mughal Padshah: A Jesuit Treatise on Emperor Jahangir's Court and Household. Brill. pp. 91 n. 23. ISBN 978-9-004-30753-7.
  11. ^ Mehta, Jaswant Lal (1984). Advance Study in the history of Medieval India:Mughal Empire. Vol. II. Sterling Publisher Private Limited. p. 411. ISBN 978-81-207-1015-3.
  12. ^ Lal, Muni (1988). Mughal Glory. Konark Publishers, Delhi. p. 87. ISBN 8122000762.
  13. ^ Beveridge, H. (1907). The Akbarnama Of Abul Fazl Vol. 3. p. 678. At this time it was represented to H.M. that Rajah Bhagwan Das Kacwaha, who held high office, and who had lofty lineage and abilities, had a daughter whose purity adorned her high extraction, and was endowed with beauty and graces ; and that it was the wish of her family that she should be united to the prince.
  14. ^ Ojha, P. N (1975). North Indian social life during Mughal period. Oriental Publishers & Distributors. p. 131.
  15. ^ Prasad 1930, p. 29-30.
  16. ^ Lal, Muni (1988). Mughal Glory. Konark Publishers Pvt Ltd. p. 87.
  17. ^ Jahangir, Emperor; Thackston, Wheeler McIntosh (1999). The Jahangirnama: memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India. Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 7 n. 20, 29 n. 36. ISBN 978-0-19-512718-8.
  18. ^ Sharma, S. R. (1999). Mughal Empire In India: A Systematic Study Including Source Material, Volume 2. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. p. 310. ISBN 978-8-171-56818-5.
  19. ^ Nicoll, Fergus (2009). Shah Jahan: The Rise and Fall of the Mughal Emperor. Penguin Books India. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-670-08303-9.
  20. ^ Rogers, Alexander; Beveridge, Henry, eds. (1909). The Tūzuk-i-Jahāngīrī or Memoirs of Jahāngīr, Volume 2. Royal Asiatic Society, London. p. 13.
  21. ^ Jahangir, Emperor; Thackston, Wheeler McIntosh (1999). The Jahangirnama: memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India. Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 51. ISBN 978-0-19-512718-8.
  22. ^ Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Cambridge University Press for the Royal Asiatic Society. 1907. p. 604.
  23. ^ Dutt, Guru. Ganga ki Dhara. p. 79. ISBN 9386336065.
  24. ^ Asher, Catherine B. (24 September 1992). Architecture of Mughal India, Part 1, Volume 4. Cambridge University Press. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-521-26728-1.

Bibliography

  • Prasad, Beni (1930). History of Jahangir. The Indian Press, LTD, Allahabad.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.