Shahar Banu Begum (1663 – ?) was

Empress consort of the Mughal Empire This is a list of Mughal empresses. Most of these empresses were either from branches of the Timurid dynasty or from the royal houses of the Rajputs. Alongside Mughal emperors, these empresses played a role in the building up and rule of the Mugha ...

from 14 March 1707 to 8 June 1707 as the third (and last) wife of Emperor

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 is popularly known by the titles Padishah Bibi and ''

Padshah Begum Padshah Begum was a superlative imperial title conferred upon the empress consort or 'First Lady' of the Mughal Empire and was considered to be the most important title in the Mughal harem or ''zenana''. This title can be equivalent with "empress" ...

''. By birth, Shahar Banu was a princess of the

Adil Shahi dynasty The Adil Shahi or Adilshahi, was a Shia,Salma Ahmed Farooqui, ''A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century'', (Dorling Kindersley Pvt Ltd., 2011), 174. and later Sunni Muslim,Muhammad Qasim Firishta's ...

of Bijapur and was the daughter of

Ali Adil Shah II On the death of Mohammed Adil Shah, Sultan of Bijapur on 4 November 1656, Ali Adil Shah II, a youth of eighteen, succeeded to the throne of Bijapur through the efforts of the Prime Minister Khan Muhammad and the Queen, Badi Sahiba, sister o ...

and his consort Khurshida Khanum. She was also the sister of

Sikandar Adil Shah Sikandar Adil Shah was the last Sultan of Bijapur, who reigned between 1672 and 1686. Placed on the throne at five years of age, his reign was marked by the collapse of the Bijapur Sultanate. His reign ended when the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb a ...

, her father's successor and the last ruler of Bijapur (before it was annexed by the 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 ...

). After she married Aurangzeb's son, she sent a letter to Bijapur Muslim chiefs to loot and plunder Hindus and other non Muslim's wealth at the behest of Aurangzeb.

Family and lineage

Shahar Banu Begum was born a princess of the

of Bijapur and was the daughter of Ali Adil Shah II and his consort Khurshida Khanum. Shahar's paternal grandparents were Mohammed Adil Shah, her father's predecessor and his Queen consort Taj Jahan Begum. Shahar's siblings included her two brothers, the princes Hussain and Sikandar, the latter of whom succeeded her father as King in 1672 at the age of four. By all accounts, Shahar was greatly loved by the people of Bijapur as well as by her family. She was very beautiful as well as intelligent. To see the princess was a comfort and inspiration to the people of her father's kingdom. She was very graceful, charming, and her smile was reportedly, bewitching. The princess was courageous and devoted to her kingdom for she herself played a great part in her state's defense in 1679 when she was forcibly married for a political alliance.

Marriage

Ali Adil Shah died on 24 November 1672, and with him departed the glory of the Kingdom of Bijapur. He was succeeded by his infant son, the four-year-old

, a period of anarchy ensued which ended only with the extinction of the dynasty and the independence of the Kingdom in 1686. The weakness and humiliation of Bijapur during this period is illustrated by the defection of 10,000 Bijapuris to the rival Mughal camp and the compulsory submission of Sikandar's sister, Shahar, to the Mughal harem. The promise to hand over the princess to the Mughals was made by Sikandar's

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

, Khawas Khan, who was later assassinated for his treachery by his successor Abdul Karim. A peace treaty between Bijapur and the Mughals was signed by the terms of which Princess Shahar was to be wed to the imperial prince,

, 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 reigning Mughal emperor

and his consort

Dilras Banu Begum Dilras Banu Begum (; 1622 – 8 October 1657) was the first wife and chief consort of Emperor Aurangzeb, the sixth Mughal emperor. She is also known by her posthumous title, Rabia-ud-Daurani ("Rabia of the Age"). The Bibi Ka Maqbara in Aurangabad ...

. The idol of her family and the people of Bijapur, the princess left the city of her birth on 1 July 1679, amidst the wailings of her family and her dear ones to enter her future husband's hated seraglio for it was her willing sacrifice for the welfare of the Bijapuri state. She arrived at the Emperor's court on 4 March 1680 and was married to Muhammad Azam on 26 July 1681. The emperor tied the '' sehra'' and Qazi Sheikh-ul-lslam celebrated the marriage in the

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

of Khas & Am (

Jama Masjid A congregational mosque or Friday mosque (, ''masjid jāmi‘'', or simply: , ''jāmi‘''; ), or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque (, ''jāmi‘ kabir''; ), is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as ''jumu'ah''.* * * * * * * ...

). In accordance with the example of the Prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

(at his marriage with

Khadija Khadija, Khadeeja or Khadijah ( ar, خديجة, Khadīja) is an Arabic feminine given name, the name of Khadija bint Khuwaylid, first wife of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In 1995, it was one of the three most popular Arabic feminine names in t ...

), the '' mehr'' was fixed at 500 ''

dirhams The dirham, dirhem or dirhm ( ar, درهم) is a silver unit of currency historically and currently used by several Arab and Arab influenced states. The term has also been used as a related unit of mass. Unit of mass The dirham was a un ...

''.

Role in Mughal-Bijapur relations

Shortly after her marriage, Shahar was induced by her father-in-law, Aurangzeb, to help pacify the relations between the Mughals and Bijapur by addressing a letter to Sharza Khan, the new regent of her brother so as to dissuade him from throwing his weight in favour of an alliance with the

Maratha The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

s and to join the Mughals with the common objective of crushing them. The princess, recently married to Prince Azam, complied and sent a personal appeal to Sharza Khan on 18 July, saying, "Help the imperialists loyally for the good of the Bijapuri state. Conquer the infidels possessions." But, no reply came. The Bijapuri grandees had entered into a secret alignment with the Maratha king

Sambhaji Sambhaji Bhosale (14 May 1657 – 11 March 1689) was the second Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire, ruling from 1681 to 1689. He was the eldest son of Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire. Sambhaji's rule was largely shaped by the ongoing ...

and had strengthened him by a secret alliance.

References

*Jadunath Sarkar Translation, Maāsir-i-ʻĀlamgiri : a history of the emperor Aurangzib-ʻl̀amgir (reign 1658-1707 A.D.) by Muḥammad Sāqī Mustaʻidd Khān {{DEFAULTSORT:Shahar Banu Begum 1663 births Adil Shahi dynasty People from Bijapur, Karnataka 17th-century Indian Muslims Year of death unknown 17th-century Indian women Wives of Muhammad Azam Shah

Family and lineage

Marriage

Role in Mughal-Bijapur relations

See also

References