Nur-un-Nissa Begum ( fa, نورالنساء بیگم; born 1570) meaning 'Light among Women', was a Timurid princess, the daughter of Ibrahim Husain Mirza and the wife of fourth

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 ...

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 ...

Early life

Born a Timurid princess, Nur-un-Nissa Begum was the daughter of Prince Ibrahim Husain Mirza, a descendant of Prince Umar Shaikh Mirza, second son of Amir

Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...

. Her mother was Princess Gulrukh Begum, the daughter of Prince

Kamran Mirza Kamran Mirza ( fa, ) (1512 – 5 October 1557) was the second son of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal Emperor. Kamran Mirza was born in Kabul to Babur's wife Gulrukh Begum. He was half-brother to Babur's eldest ...

, son of the first Mughal emperor

Babur Babur ( fa, , lit= tiger, translit= Bābur; ; 14 February 148326 December 1530), born Mīrzā Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad, was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his ...

, and brother of the next 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, Northern ...

. She had a brother named Prince Muzaffar Husain Mirza, married to

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 ...

's eldest daughter Khanum Sultan Begum. In 1572, Gulrukh Begum lost contact with her husband Ibrahim Husain Mirza as he was forced to vacate

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

. She fled to the

Deccan The large Deccan Plateau in South India, southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bou ...

with her children. Ibrahim Husain Mirza, who ultimately fled towards

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the List ...

, was captured by the royal officers. In 1573, he died while still in prison. On their way to Deccan, the ruler of Khandesh attempted to arrest Gulrukh Begum and her children when they passed through the country, but did not succeed in doing so. However, Nur-un-Nissa, who was two years old at that time, fell into his hands. When Akbar heard of this, he ordered to bring the ruler of Khandesh and Nur-un-Nissa Begum to court. After their arrival at the court, she was taken under Akbar's protection, and handed over to the guardians of the imperial harem. In 1577, Gulrukh Begum and her son Muzaffar Husain came back to Gujarat and renewed their rebellion. However, after some initial successes, Muzaffar Husain was captured by royal officers and was imprisoned. Following the imprisonment of her son, Gulrukh joined her daughter at Agra.

Marriage

In spring of 1593, Gulrukh Begum petitioned a request of her daughter's marriage with Akbar's eldest son Prince Salim Mirza. Akbar agreeded to her request, and this led to their betrothal. The marriage took place on the eve of 26 February 1593 at the house of Akbar's mother Empress

Hamida Banu Begum Hamida Banu Begum ( 1527 – 29 August 1604), was the queen consort of the second Mughal emperor Humayun and the mother of his successor, the third Mughal emperor Akbar.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 "''Aj ...

visited her mother Gulrukh Begum, who was ill at that time. During this time, Shaikh Farid Bhakkari, the author of "Dhakhirat-ul-Khawanin" was serving as a diwan of establishment to her.

Diwan-i-Kamran

Nur-un-Nissa Begum was the owner of "Diwan-i-Kamran", which consisted of poems written by her grandfather Kamran Mirza. Nur-un-Nissa purchased it for three Mohurs.

Ancestry

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nur-un-Nissa Begum Wives of Jahangir 16th-century Indian women 16th-century Indian people 17th-century Indian women Timurid princesses 17th-century Indian Muslims