Bakshi Banu Begum ( fa, بخشی بانو بیگم; born September 1540) was a Mughal princess and was the second daughter of Emperor

Humayun Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ( fa, ) (; 6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), better known by his regnal name, Humāyūn; (), was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northe ...

and his consort Gunwar Bibi. Bakshi Banu was thus the older

half-sister A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised sepa ...

of the Mughal Emperor Akbar.

Early life

Bakshi Banu Begum was born in September 1540 in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

. Her mother was Bibi Gunwar. Gulbadan Begum noted in 'Humayunama' that during Gunwar's pregnancy everyone said, 'a son will be born'. In 1543, she was part of the large group of Humayun loyalists who fell into the hands of Askari Mirza, Humayun's half-brother; her infant half-brother Akbar (born in 1542) was also part of the party. In the depth of the winter of 1545, she was sent with Akbar from Qandahar to

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

by the orders of her uncle, Askari Mirza; the two children were escorted by their attendants and foster mothers.

Betrothal to Ibrahim Mirza

In 1550, at the age of ten, Bakshi Banu was betrothed by her father to Ibrahim Mirza, eldest son of Sulaiman Shah Mirza,

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Badakshan Badakhshan is a historical region comprising parts of modern-day north-eastern Afghanistan, eastern Tajikistan, and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in China. Badakhshan Province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Much of historic Ba ...

, and his wife Haram Begum, the daughter of Sultan Wais Kulabi Qibchaq Mughal. The family of Sulaiman Mirza, though their paternal ancestress

Shah Begum Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

, claimed descent from

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

. Ibrahim Mirza, who was six years older than Bakshi Banu, was killed in 1560 at 26. She was twenty years of age.

Marriage to Sharif-ud-din Husain

In the same year as the death of Ibrahim Mirza, she was given in marriage by Akbar to Mirza Sharif-ud-din Hussain Ahrari, the viceroy of Mewat upon his victory over the Kingdom of

Amer Amer may refer to: Places * Amer (river), a river in the Dutch province of North Brabant * Amer, Girona, a municipality in the province of Girona in Catalonia, Spain * Amber, India (also known as Amer, India), former city of Rajasthan state ** Am ...

. His father was Khawaja Moin Ala-ud-din, one of the leaders of Khawal. His mother was Kichak Begum, the daughter of Mir Ala-ul-Mulk Termizi and Fakhr Jahan Begum, the daughter of Sultan

Abu Sa'id Mirza Abu Sa'id Mirza ( Chagatay/ fa, ابو سعید میرزا; 14248 February 1469) was the ruler of the Timurid Empire during the mid-fifteenth century. Born a minor prince of the Timurid dynasty, Abu Sa'id quickly established himself as the most ...

. After his marriage to Bakshi Banu, Akbar appointed him the

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

Ajmer Ajmer is one of the major and oldest cities in the Indian state of Rajasthan and the centre of the eponymous Ajmer District. It is located at the centre of Rajasthan. It is also known as heart of Rajasthan. The city was established as "' ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Begum, Bakshi Banu Mughal princesses 1540 births Year of death missing Timurid dynasty 16th-century Indian women 16th-century Indian people Daughters of emperors