Pari Bibi (meaning Fairy Lady; died 1678) was the daughter of

Shaista Khan Mirza Abu Talib (22 November 1600 – 1694), better known as Shaista Khan, was a general and the subahdar of Mughal Bengal. A maternal uncle to the emperor Aurangzeb, he acted as a key figure during his reign. Shaista Khan initially governed ...

, who was the son of

Asaf Khan IV Abu'l-Hasan ( 1569 - 12 June 1641) entitled by the Mughal emperor Jahangir as Asaf Khan, was the '' Grand Vizier'' (Prime minister) of the fifth Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. He previously served as the ''vakil'' (the highest Mughal administrative ...

and brother of

Mumtaz Mahal Mumtaz Mahal (/'/; ), born Arjumand Banu Begum (27 April 1593 – 17 June 1631) was the empress consort of the Mughal Empire from 19 January 1628 to 17 June 1631 as the chief consort of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. The Taj Mahal in Agra, oft ...

. At the time of her death, she was betrothed to Prince Azam, who became the future

Mughal Emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...

Muhammad Azam Shah Qutb-ud-Din Muhammad Azam (28 June 1653 – 20 June 1707), commonly known as Azam Shah, was briefly the Mughal emperor who reigned from 14 March 1707 to 20 June 1707. He was the third son of the sixth Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and his chief cons ...

. She was the grandniece of

Nur Jahan Nur Jahan, born Mehr-un-Nissa P ersian: نورجهان (; – 18 December 1645) was the wife and chief consort of the Mughal emperor Jahangir from 1620 until his death in 1627. Nur Jahan was born Mehr-un-Nissa, as the daughter of a Mirza Ghi ...

, the main consort of the Mughal Emperor

Jahangir Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim (30 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until he died in 1627. He was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti. Ear ...

Biography

Pari Bibi was the daughter of Shaista Khan and was also known as Iran Dukht Rahmat Banu. She was engaged to Muhammad Azam, the son of Mughal Emperor

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

, on 3 May 1668. She lived in Dhaka,

Bengal Subah The Bengal Subah ( bn, সুবাহ বাংলা; fa, ), also referred to as Mughal Bengal ( bn, মোগল বাংলা), was the largest subdivision of the Mughal Empire (and later an independent state under the Nawabs of Ben ...

(province), her father was the governor of the province. Mughal records of that era showed that she played an influential role in the governor household and the politics of the province.

Death and tomb

In 1678, Pari Bibi died a premature death and left her father heartbroken. Shaista Khan was constructing the

Lalbagh Fort Lalbagh Fort ( bn, লালবাগ কেল্লা) is a fort in the old city of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Its name is derived from its neighborhood Lalbagh, which means Red Garden. The term Lalbagh refers to reddish and pinkish architecture from ...

in Dhaka, the construction of the fort had started under her fiancé Prince Muhhammad Azam. Shaista Khan now viewed the fort as inauspicious and stopped construction of the fort. He built the tomb of his daughter with the compound of the fort. Other sources have reported that the tomb was constructed by Prince Azam himself. The Tomb of Pari Bibi is considered an important architectural site in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Since 1974 the Tomb of Pari Bibi and Lalbagh Fort has been managed by the Department of Archaeology.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pari, Bibi 1678 deaths Women of the Mughal Empire Mughal dynasty 17th-century Indian Muslims Indian female royalty 17th-century Indian women

Biography

Death and tomb

See also

References