Mahaldars in the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

were the chief officers of the imperial

harem Harem ( Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A har ...

. Chosen from the ranks of the

darogha Darogas (also spelled darogha or daroghah) were police officials in the Mughal Empire and the British Raj. In the Mughal Empire, a daroga was superintendent of the "slaves" of a Mughal monarch. Duties performed by daroga The darogas served in the ...

administrators of the

zenana Zenana ( fa, زنانه, ur, , bn, জেনানা, hi, ज़नाना) literally meaning "of the women" or "pertaining to women", in Persian language contextually refers to the part of a house belonging to a Muslim, Sikh, or Hindu f ...

, the mahaldar was responsible for maintaining order in this large community of women.

Niccolao Manucci Niccolao Manucci (19 April 1638 – 1717) was a Venetian writer, a self-taught physician, and traveller, who wrote accounts of the Mughal Empire supposedly first-hand but with many details now considered doubtful. He also documented folk beliefs ...

writes that "the way in which these kings are waited on deserves mention. For just as the king has his officers outside, he has the same among the fair sex within the Mahal".

Duties

Already having been honored by selection for duties within the women's quarters, a mahaldar was exalted above the others for her special services to the emperor. These special services included the management of the other ranking administrators, and reporting conflicts and intrigues from the zenana directly to the Emperor. In that way, she served as a kind of spy on behalf of the Emperor. She was also given the task of reading out daily reports from the public and secret news court writers to the emperor.

The emperor's spy

Often, princes in the royal entourage would avoid the mahaldar, or have ongoing conflicts with her, fearing her reports. One example of this is Hamida Banu, mahaldar in the mahal of Mohammad Muazzam, who complained to the Emperor, Aurangzeb that his son was undermining her authority by confiscating her pen-case and memorandum-book, when he retired to his room with his women. Court custom dictated that she and her deputy could not follow him into the room to retrieve her items during this business. This kept her from documenting whatever he was doing, and prevented her from reporting to the Emperor. Aurangzeb ordered her to keep her pen-case away from the reach of the prince at all times. In another instance, Nur-un-Nisa, mahaldar to the prince Muhammad Azam, was prohibited from joining the prince on his visits to the garden at Ahmedabad. In response, she sent a letter to his Nazir, forbidding the prince from leaving. Muhammad Azam retaliated by banishing her from his presence. The chief eunuch then alerted the emperor to the situation, and Aurangzeb supported the mahaldar and nazir. His son was forced to beg for forgiveness, and paid a fine of 50,000 Rupees.

Notable Mahaldars

During Jahangir's reign this post was held by a certain lady named Dilaram, who had nursed Empress

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 Gh ...

in her childhood. Previously this post was held by Haji Koka. In Shah Jahan's reign, this post was held by Sati-un-Nisa Khanum.

References

Mughal Harem Positions of subnational authority Historical management occupations {{Mughal-stub