Nadira Banu Begum (14 March 1618 – 6 June 1659) was a
Mughal princess and the wife of the Crown prince,
Dara Shikoh
Dara Shikoh ( fa, ), also known as Dara Shukoh, (20 March 1615 – 30 August 1659) was the eldest son and heir-apparent of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Dara was designated with the title ''Padshahzada-i-Buzurg Martaba'' ("Prince of High Rank" ...
, the eldest son and
heir-apparent
An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
of the Mughal emperor
Shah Jahan
Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugha ...
. After
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 ...
's rise to power, Dara Shikoh's immediate family and supporters were in grave danger. Nadira died in 1659, a few months before her husband's execution, and was survived by two sons and a daughter.
Family and lineage
Nadira Banu Begum was born a Mughal princess and was the daughter of
Sultan Parvez Mirza, the second son of 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 ...
from his wife,
Sahib-i-Jamal Begum
Sahib Jamal ( fa, صاحب جمال; died 25 June 1599) was the wife of Prince Salim, the future Mughal emperor Jahangir and the mother of his second son, Prince Parviz.
Family
Sahib Jamal was of Turkish origin and was the daughter of a re ...
. Her mother, Jahan Banu Begum, was also a Mughal princess, being the daughter of
Sultan Murad Mirza
Shahzada Murad Mirza (15 June 1570 – 12 May 1599) was a Mughal prince as the second surviving son of Mughal Emperor Akbar. He was the maternal grandfather of Nadira Banu Begum, wife of Prince Dara Shikoh (eldest son of the emperor Shah Jahan).
...
, the second son of Emperor
Akbar
Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...
. Nadira was a half-cousin of her future husband, Dara Shikoh, as her father, Sultan Parvez Mirza, was the older half-brother of Dara's father,
Shah Jahan
Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugha ...
.
Marriage
Dara Shikoh's mother, Empress
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 ...
died in 1631 while giving birth to her fourteenth child,
Gauharara Begum
Gauhar Ara Begum (; 17 June 1631 – 1706) was a Mughal Empire, Mughal princess and the fourteenth and youngest child of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal.
Her mother died giving birth to her in 1631. Gauhar Ara, however ...
. After the Empress' death, the arrangements for the wedding between Dara Shikoh and Nadira Begum were halted as 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 ...
plunged into mourning and Shah Jahan was consumed in his grief. After much coaxing by many, including his favorite daughter
Jahanara Begum
Jahanara Begum (23 March 1614 – 16 September 1681) was a Mughal princess and later the Padshah Begum of the Mughal Empire from 1631 to 1658 and again from 1668 until her death. She was the second and the eldest surviving child of Emperor Shah ...
, Shah Jahan resumed life as normal and let her oversee the remaining aspects of the wedding.
Nadira married her half-cousin, Dara Shikoh on 11 February 1633 at
Agra
Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...
amidst celebrations, pomp and grandeur. The ''
nikah
In Islam, nikah is a contract between two people. Both the groom and the bride are to consent to the marriage of their own free wills. A formal, binding contract – verbal or on paper – is considered integral to a religiously valid Islami ...
'' ceremony was performed after midnight. By all accounts, Nadira and Dara were both devoted to each other, and Dara is sometimes seen as even more devoted to Nadira than Shah Jahan was to Mumtaz Mahal — for unlike his father, Dara never contracted any other marriage.
[ although had many concubines.
Nadira bore eight children, with two sons, ]Sulaiman Shikoh
Sulaiman Shikoh ( ur, ) was a Mughal prince and the eldest son of Crown prince Dara Shikoh. He was executed in May 1662 at Gwalior Fort on the orders of his paternal uncle, Emperor Aurangzeb.
Early life
Shazada Muhammad Sulaiman Shikoh Bahadu ...
, Sipihr Shikoh
Sipihr Shikoh (13 October 1644 – 2 or 3 July 1708) also known as Sipihr Shukoh, was a Mughal prince as the fourth son of Crown Prince Dara Shikoh and his consort Nadira Banu Begum.
Life
He was also the grandson of the fifth Mughal Emperor S ...
and a daughter Jahanzeb Banu Begum, surviving to play important roles in future events. Within two years of their marriage, in 1635, the handsome Sulaiman Shikoh was born; while another son Sipihr Shikoh would follow in 1644. A daughter Jahanzeb, affectionately known as Jani Begum, was born sometime afterwards.
Nadira Begum wielded great influence in her husband's 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 hare ...
and was granted the right to issue ''farmans'' and ''nishans''. This privilege was allowed only to those who held the highest rank in the imperial harem. The only other woman who had this right apart from Nadira was her cousin and sister-in-law, Jahanara Begum.
Nadira and Jahanara were said to have gotten on well; a fact which probably sprung from Jahanara’s involvement in her wedding and her closeness to her brother. Jahanara had consciously decided to support Dara, the most beloved to her of all of her siblings, over 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 ...
, and she made outward demonstrations of this decision by decelerating her love for her eldest brother Dara Shikoh. According to legend, when Aurangzeb had fallen sick sometime during his teen years, he called Jahanara to ask her if she would support him in his bid for the crown. She refused. Despite how unpopular this made her in his sight, she went on to become the head of the harem in Aurangzeb’s court.
Dara Shikoh, a patron of the arts, was said to be a fine painter, and many of his works, were considered to be almost of a professional standard. Some of his works were collected and gifted to Nadira Banu, his "dearest and intimate friend" and it was a token of his affection for her that she cherished until her death, after which it went on display at a museum. The album has now become famous as the "Dara Shikoh Album".
Death
Nadira Begum died on 6 June 1659 of dysentery
Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...
while she was accompanying her husband and family in Bolan Pass
Bolān Pass ( ur, ) is a valley and a natural gateway, through the Toba Kakar range in Balochistan province of Pakistan, south of the Afghanistan border. The pass is an stretch of the Bolan river valley from Rindli in the south to Darwāza ...
, Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. She had been faithful and devoted to her husband during the hardships in his life. Her death drew Dara into such a frantic state of grief that his own fate appeared as a matter of indifference to him.
Nadira's last wish was to be buried in India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, and without considering the consequences of her request, Dara sent his deceased wife's corpse to Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
in charge of his soldiers to be buried there. The princess' tomb was built next to Mian Mir
Baba Sain Mir Mohammed Sahib (c. 1550 – 22 August 1635), popularly known as Mian Mir or Miyan Mir, was a famous Sindhi Sufi Muslim saint who resided in Lahore, specifically in the town of ''Dharampura'' (in present-day Pakistan). He was a di ...
's tomb in Lahore, Pakistan, who had been the spiritual instructor of Dara Shikoh.
Ancestry
In popular culture
*Nadira Banu Begum is a principal character in Indu Sundaresan
Indu Sundaresan is an Indian-American author of historical fiction.
Personal life
She was born and raised in India as the daughter of an Indian Air Force pilot, Group Captain R. Sundaresan, who died in a crash while on duty. Her mother's name is ...
's historical novel ''Shadow Princess'' (2010).
*Nadira Banu Begum is a character in Ruchir Gupta's historical novel ''Mistress of the Throne'' (2014).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Begum, Nadira Banu
Mughal princesses
Indian female royalty
1659 deaths
Mughal nobility
Women of the Mughal Empire
Year of birth unknown
17th-century Indian women
17th-century Indian people
1618 births