Udaipuri Mahal (died July 1707) was a

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

of 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 ...

Life

Described as 'the darling of Aurangzeb's old age', Udaipuri Mahal had been a slave girl in the harem of 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" ...

, and before entering his harem, she had been a dancing girl. She was either from Kashmir, or from nearby Udaipur, or a Christian from Georgia, or Armenia, or Circassia. Ever since from the reign 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 ...

, it had been ordained that the names of the women of the imperial harem should not be mentioned in public, they should be designated by some epithet, derived either from the place of their birth or the city or country where they had entered the imperial harem. She was a lovely woman with magnificent red hair. She truly captivated Aurangzeb, and loved him deeply. This made Aurangzeb's other wives jealous of her. She gave birth to their son Prince

Muhammad Kam Bakhsh Muhammad Kam Bakhsh ( fa, محمد کامبخش; 7 March 1667 – 14 January 1709) was the youngest son of Emperor Aurangzeb, born to his wife Udaipuri Mahal. Early life Kam Bakhsh was born on 7 March 1667 at Delhi. He was the fifth son of six ...

on 24 February 1667. She was an alcoholic. In 1678, she accompanied Aurangzeb to a war against the Rana of Chittor and the Raja of Marwar. In 1686, she was in Aurangabad or Ahmadnagar with Aurangzeb in his camp. Udaipuri Mahal was an influential woman. She continued to influence Aurangzeb till his death and it was the result of her influence that he pardoned many faults of his son Kam Bakhsh. Following the transfer of most of Aurangzeb's sons and grandsons, she continued to cultivate ties to Khidmatgar Khan, his successor Khwaja Ambar (who was also titled Khidmatgar Khan after 1704), and other imperial eunuchs. In a letter written by Aurangzeb in 1707 on his death-bed to Kam Bakhsh, he says "Udaipuri, your mother, who has been with me during my illness, wishes to accompany e in death" When Aurangzeb died, she grieved deeply, and died within four months at

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

, in July 1707.

Bahadur Shah I Bahadur Shah I (14 October 1643 – 27 February 1712), also known as Muhammad Mu'azzam and Shah Alam I. was the eighth Mughal Emperor who ruled from 1707 until his death in 1712. In his youth, he conspired to overthrow his father Aurangzeb, t ...

carried out her dying wishes with regard to her household and forwarded her remains for burial in a grave close to the shrine of Qutb-al Aqtab, Delhi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Udaipuri Mahal Year of birth unknown 1707 deaths Indian people of Georgian descent Wives of Aurangzeb 18th-century Indian women 18th-century Indian people Indian slaves Slave concubines People from Udaipur 18th-century slaves 17th-century slaves