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Aisan Daulat Begum (died June, 1505, other spellings ''Ehsan Daulat, Isan Daulat, Ësan Dawlat'') was the first wife and chief consort of Yunus Khan of Moghulistan. She was the mother of
Qutlugh Nigar Khanum Qutlugh Nigar Khanum (''also spelled Kutlak Nigar Khanum''; d. 1505) was the first wife and chief consort of Umar Shaikh Mirza II, the ruler of Ferghana Valley. She was a princess of Moghulistan by birth and was a daughter of Yunus Khan, the Great ...
, and hence the grandmother of the first Mughal emperor,
Babur Babur ( fa, , lit= tiger, translit= Bābur; ; 14 February 148326 December 1530), born Mīrzā Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad, was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his ...
. During the reign of her grandson, she functioned as his de facto regent and advisor, from 1494 to 1505.


Family

Aisan Daulat Begum was the daughter of the Sagharichi Tuman Begs, a subdivision of the Kunchi Mughals. Her father was a powerful tribal chief, Mir Sher Ali Haji Kunji (Qunchin) Beg. She had many brothers, of whom three, Shiram Beg, Mazid Beg, and Ali Dost Beg, took leading parts in Babur's affairs.


Marriage

In 1456 Abu Sa'id Mirza, who had become the ruler of Transoxiana, sent for Yunus Khan. Abu Sa'id had become annoyed with the frequent raids that the
Moghul Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...
s under Esen Buqa made into his territory. He raised Yunus to the khanship and sent him with an army to Moghulistan to oppose his brother. Yunus Khan quickly gained the support of several amirs and married Aisan Daulat Begum. Aisan Daulat Begum played an important part in contemporary politics right from her young days, when she was to be married. The ''
Baburnama The ''Bāburnāma'' ( chg, ; literally: ''"History of Babur"'' or ''"Letters of Babur"''; alternatively known as ''Tuzk-e Babri'') is the memoirs of Ẓahīr-ud-Dīn Muhammad Bābur (1483–1530), founder of the Mughal Empire and a great-great- ...
'' says that by marrying Aisan Daulat Begum, Yunus Khan along with Aisan Daulat were seated on a white felt. According to the Tureh or ancient Institutions of the Mughals, he was ordered and raised to khanship by the Sagharichi Tuman Begs who had attacked Moghulistan. Born in the desert and herself used to the rigors of the wild country, Aisan Daulat Begum was certainly the one to inculcate tenacity, self-reliance, courage to face hardships and a die hard attitude in her grandson Babur, which together became the integral feature of Babur's character and later the key to his success. Aisan Daulat Begum shared the many hardships for her husband's life for thirty years. Several times she fell into the hands of the enemy, but always came back from their clutches safely. By Aisan Daulat Begum, Yunus Khan had three daughters:
Mihr Nigar Khanum Mihr Nigar Khanum was the first wife of Sultan Ahmed Mirza, the King of Samarkand and Bukhara. She was a princess of Moghulistan by birth and was the eldest daughter of Yunus Khan, the Great Khan of Moghulistan and his chief consort Aisan Daulat B ...
,
Qutlugh Nigar Khanum Qutlugh Nigar Khanum (''also spelled Kutlak Nigar Khanum''; d. 1505) was the first wife and chief consort of Umar Shaikh Mirza II, the ruler of Ferghana Valley. She was a princess of Moghulistan by birth and was a daughter of Yunus Khan, the Great ...
, and Khub Nigar Khanum. Her eldest daughter Mihr Nigar Khanum, whom Sultan Abu said Mirza took for his eldest son Sultan Ahmed Mirza. By Mirza She had neither a son nor a daughter. Her second daughter Quthlugh Nigar Khanum was married to Umar Shaikh Mirza II, the King of
Ferghana Valley The Fergana Valley (; ; ) in Central Asia lies mainly in eastern Uzbekistan, but also extends into southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan. Divided into three republics of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse and in the ...
. She was the mother of Emperor
Babur Babur ( fa, , lit= tiger, translit= Bābur; ; 14 February 148326 December 1530), born Mīrzā Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad, was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his ...
, the founder of the Mughal Empire of India as well as its first Emperor. Her third daughter was Khub Nigar Khanum, who was married to Muhammad Hussain Korkan Doghlet. He had by her one son and one daughter. In Kashghar, in 1455-56, when her daughter Mihr Nigar Khanum was an infant at the breast, Aisan Daulat Begum was captured, but was returned in safety to her husband. In
Tashkand Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...
in 1472-73, when Yunus Khan had gone to buy barley at a time of dearth in Moghalistan, Aisan Daulat Begum was again captured, but returned with honour to her husband. Aisan Daulat Begum shared the vicissitudes of her remarkable husband's remarkable career for some thirty years; nursed him through two years of paralytic helplessness til his death in 1487 at the age of seventy four, and survived him about eighteen years.


Regent to Babur

Aisan Daulat Begum contributed a lot to the making of Babur a disciplined and preserving man. She was virtually his counselor through his early struggle to hold Farghana. In 1494, when Umar Shaikh Mirza II died, Babur was an insecure boy of about of eleven years old. He found himself surrounded by enemies from his own families, who were keen on ousting him from his father's principality of Farghana. Right from that time, Aisan Daulat Begum was constantly by her grandson's side, guiding him and helping him overcome many a political crisis. In her hands lay the real administrative power and control of the state affairs and Babur always took her advice in these matters. Old officers were reshuffled and new officers were put in charge of the administration of many areas like Andijan, Aush, Akhsi and Marghinan. Towards the end of 1494 Babur faced a political crisis when Hasan-i-Yaqub planned to dethrone Babur and raise his younger brother
Jahangir Mirza Jahangir Mirza (c. 1472 – c. 1515)Muhammad Haidar says (p. 329) that he is 42 years old in 1514, but he is notoriously unreliable with dates. was a Dughlat prince and briefly the ruler of Yarkand (1514). He was the eldest son of Mirza Abu Bakr D ...
to the throne. Apart from the support of his father Yaqub, Hasan also had the support of some disaffected nobles like Muhammad Baqir Beg, Sultan Muhammad Duldai, etc. But his plans were soon discovered and nobles loyal to Babur like Khwaja-i-Qazi, Qasim Quchin, and Ali Dost Taghai hastened to meet Aisan Daulat Begum to inform her about these developments. Immediately Aisan Daulat Begum took action against the conspirators. Babur was sent with some trusted people from the gate house of the outer fort towards the citadel to seize Hasan-i-Yaqub and his supporters. On reaching the place they got to know that Hasan was out on a hawking excursion. Babur's men fell upon Hasan's supporters and made them captives. When Hasan learned about this, he fled to Samarkand to get the help of Sultan Mahmud Mirza. But, he changed his mind after reaching Kand-i-Badam, and decided to deliver a surprise attack on Akshi and convert it into a base for further attack on Andijan, where he could wait for the arrival for his ally
Sultan Mahmud Mirza Sultan Mahmud Mirza ( 1453 – January 1495) was a prince of Timurid branch of Transoxiana, son of Abu Sa'id Mirza. Biography His father gave him the government of Hisar and Termez in 1459 (according to Babur Astarabad), but lost to Sultan Husa ...
. Aisan Daulat Begum got to know of this plan too and once again she took the necessary plans to deal with it. An army was sent to deal with Hasan-i-Yaqub. Hasan-i-Yaqub came forward to meet it, but in the dark of the night a chance arrow from his own soldiers killed him. Thus, Babur was saved from the evil designs of Hasan-i-Yaqub, who had failed to understand the capabilities of Aisan Daulat Begum, the lady who was the real power behind Babur. In Andijan in 1497-98, when the town was taken from her grandson Babur by his kinsfolk. She was sent after him in safety to
Khojand Khujand ( tg, Хуҷанд, Khujand; Uzbek: Хўжанд, romanized: Хo'jand; fa, خجند‌, Khojand), sometimes spelled Khodjent and known as Leninabad (russian: Ленинабад, Leninabad; tg, Ленинобод, Leninobod; fa, لنی ...
, and from there went on to the protection of her third daughter's home in Kashghar. At
Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...
in 1500-1, when the town was taken by Shaibam. She remained behind when Babur left the place, and rejoined him in a few months with his "family, heavy baggage, and a few lean and hungry followers."


Later life

Aisan Daulat Begum continued to guide and support her grandson in his days as a wanderer. It was she who had related to him stories of the military exploits of Timur and Genghis Khan, and these served as his preliminary lesson in the art of warfare. About his grandmother Aisan Daulat Begum, Babur in his own words said: :"Few among women will have been my grandmother's equal for judgement and counsel; she was very wise and farsighted and most affairs of mine were carried through under her advise." News of her death reached Babur in Kabul early in June, 1505 during the forty days mourning for his mother.


References


Bibliography

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External links


East is Everywhere-Africa/Asia week is over! Time for some Mongolia/India cultural contact! "Babur seeks his grandmother's advice"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aisan Daulat Begum Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown 16th-century women rulers 15th-century women rulers 1505 deaths 15th-century women