Hazrat Begum ( fa, حضرت بیگم; ps, حضرت بېګم; born 1740), also known as Hazrat Mahal and Sahiba Begum, was a Mughal princess, as the daughter of Mughal Emperor

Muhammad Shah Mirza Nasir-ud-Din Muḥammad Shah (born Roshan Akhtar; 7 August 1702 – 26 April 1748) was the 13th Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1719 to 1748. He was son of Khujista Akhtar, the fourth son of Bahadur Shah I. After being chosen by the ...

. She was a wife of

Ahmad Shah Durrani Ahmad Shāh Durrānī ( ps, احمد شاه دراني; prs, احمد شاه درانی), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (), was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is regarded as the founder of the modern Afghanistan. In July 1747, Ahm ...

, the first emir of the

Durrani Empire The Durrani Empire ( ps, د درانيانو ټولواکمني; fa, امپراتوری درانیان) or the Afghan Empire ( ps, د افغانان ټولواکمني, label=none; fa, امپراتوری افغان, label=none), also know ...

Life

Hazrat Begum was born a Mughal princess and was the daughter of Mughal emperor

and his wife

Sahiba Mahal Sahiba Mahal ( 1795) was Empress consort of the Mughal Empire, as the second wife of Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah. Early years Sahiba Mahal was the daughter of Sayid Salabat Khan (died 1753), the son of Sadat Khan, a Mughal noble of Turkish o ...

. In April 1748, her father died, and her brother,

Ahmad Shah Bahadur Ahmad Shah Bahadur , also known as Mirza Ahmad Shah or Mujahid-ud-Din Ahmad Shah Ghazi (23 December 1725 – 1775 AD), was the fourteenth Mughal Emperor, born to Emperor Muhammad Shah. He succeeded his father to the throne in 1748, at the age ...

, ascended the throne. His mother,

Qudsia Begum Qudsia Begum, born Udham Bai ( 1768) was a wife of Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah and mother of emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur. She was an administrator and served as de facto regent of India from 1748 to 1754. Early years A Hindu by origin, Udham Bai ...

, gave pension to the Begums and the children of the late emperor not only from the government's purse but also from her own funds. On 26 May 1754, Ahmad Shah was attacked on a journey by a band of Marathas under Malhar Rao Holkar. While running away from Sikandrabad, he took along with him Hazrat Begum, his mother

, his son

Mahmud Shah Bahadur Mahmud Shah Bahadur, also known as Shah Jahan IV was the Mughal Emperor for a brief period in 1788 after Shah Alam II was deposed by Ghulam Kadir, Mahmud Shah Bahadur was the son of a former Mughal Emperor, Ahmad Shah Bahadur. He himself beca ...

, and his favourite wife Inayetpuri Bai, leaving all other empresses and princesses at the mercy of the enemies. At the age of sixteen in February 1756, she became so famous for her matchless beauty that the Mughal emperor

Alamgir II Aziz-ud-Din Muhammad (6 June 1699 – 29 November 1759), better known as Alamgir II, was the fifteenth Mughal Emperor of India, who reigned from 3 June 1754 to 29 November 1759. He was the son of Jahandar Shah. Born Aziz-ud-Din, the second s ...

, who was then about sixty, used pressure and threats to force Sahiba Mahal and the princess' guardian and step-mother,

Badshah Begum Badshah Begum ( 1703 – 14 December 1789) was Empress consort of the Mughal Empire from 8 December 1721 to 6 April 1748 as the first wife and chief consort of the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah. She is popularly known by her title Malika-uz-Z ...

, to give him Hazrat Begum's hand in marriage. The princess preferred death over marrying an old wreck of sixty and Alamgir II did not succeed in marrying her. In April 1757, after sacking the imperial capital of Delhi, the Durrani king Ahmed Shah Abdali desired to marry the deceased Emperor Muhammad Shah's 16-year-old daughter. As she was only 16 years old, Badshah Begum again resisted handing over her tender charge to an Afghan king 35 years old, but Shah forcibly wedded her on 5 April 1757 in Delhi. After the wedding celebrations, Ahmad Shah took his young wife back to his native place of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. The weeping bride was accompanied by Badshah Begum, Sahiba Mahal and a few ladies of note from the imperial Mughal harem.

Ancestry

References

{{Reflist, 2 Mughal princesses Timurid princesses 1740 births People of the Durrani Empire Afghan royal consorts Daughters of emperors

Life

Ancestry

See also

References