Zeb-un-Nissa ( fa, زیب النساء ) (15 February 1638 – 26 May 1702) was a Mughal princess and the eldest child of Emperor Aurangzeb and his chief 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 Auranga ...

. She was also a poet, who wrote under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

of "Makhfi" (, "Hidden, Disguised, Concealed One"). Imprisoned by her father in the last 20 years of her life at

Salimgarh Fort Salimgarh Fort (Salim’s Fort) was built in 1546 AD, in Delhi, in a former island of the Yamuna River, by Salim Shah Suri, son of Sher Shah Suri. There was a pause in Mughal rule when in 1540 AD Sher Shah Suri defeated the Mughal Emperor Humay ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

, Princess Zeb-un-Nissa is remembered as a poet, and her writings were collected posthumously as ''Diwan-i-Makhfi'' (

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: ديوانِ مخفى) ''- "Complete (Poetical) Works of Makhfi"''.

Early years

Birth

Zeb-un-Nissa ("Ornament/ Beauty of Womankind"), the eldest child of Prince Muhi-ud-Din (later, Emperor Aurangzeb), was born on 15 February 1638 in Daulatabad,

Deccan The large Deccan Plateau in 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 bounded by the ...

, exactly nine months after the marriage of her parents. Her mother,

, was Aurangzeb's first wife and chief consort, and was a princess of the prominent Safavid dynasty; the ruling dynasty of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

(Persia). Zeb-un-Nissa was her father's favourite daughter, and it was because of this that she could compel him to pardon people who had offended him.

Education and accomplishments

Aurangzeb charged Hafiza Mariam, one of the women of the court, with the education of Zeb-un-Nissa. She seems to have inherited her father's keenness of intellect and literary tastes, because Zeb-un-Nissa memorized the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

in three years and became a '' Hafiza'' at the age of seven. This occasion was celebrated by her father with a great feast and the declaration of a public holiday. The princess was also given a reward of 30,000 gold pieces by her delighted father. Aurangzeb paid the princely sum of 30,000 gold pieces to the ''ustani'' (another name for "

ustad Ustād or ostād (abbreviated as Ust., Ut. or Ud.; from Persian ) is an honorific title used in West Asia, North Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is used in various languages such as Persian, , Azerbaijani, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Marat ...

") for having taught his cherished daughter well. Zeb-un-Nissa then learned the sciences of the time with Mohammad Saeed Ashraf Mazandarani, who was also a great Persian poet. She learned philosophy, mathematics, astronomy,WISE: Muslim Women: Past and Present – Zebunnisa
/ref> literature, and was a mistress of

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' calligraphy as well. Her library surpassed all other private collections, and she employed many scholars on liberal salaries to produce literary works at her bidding or to copy manuscripts for her. Her library also provided literary works on each subject, such as law, literature, history and theology. Zeb-un-Nissa was a kind-hearted person and always helped people in need. She helped widows and orphans. Not only did she help people per se, but also sent '' Hajj'' pilgrims to

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...

and

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...

every year. She also took an interest in music and it was said that she was the best singer among the women of her time.

Aurangzeb's accession

When Aurangzeb became the emperor after Shah Jahan, Zeb-un-Nissa was 21 years old. Aurangzeb learnt of the talent and capacity of his daughter and began to discuss the political affairs of his Empire with her, listening to her opinions. It has been mentioned in some books that Aurangzeb sent all the royal princes for the reception of Zeb-un-Nisa each time she entered the court. Zeb-un-Nissa had four other younger sisters:

Zeenat-un-Nissa Zinat-un-Nissa Begum ( fa, زینت النساء بیگم 5 October 1643 – 7 May 1721) was a Mughal princess and the second daughter of Emperor Aurangzeb and his chief consort, Dilras Banu Begum. Her father had conferred upon her the honorabl ...

Zubdat-un-Nissa Zubdat-un-Nissa Begum (; 2 September 1651 – 17 February 1707) was a Mughal princess, the third daughter of Emperor Aurangzeb and his wife Dilras Banu Begum. Life Zubdat-un-Nissa Begum was born on 2 September 1651 in Multan. Her father was Aur ...

Badr-un-Nissa Badr-un-Nissa Begum ( fa, بدرالنساء بیگم; 17 November 1647 – 9 April 1670) was a Mughal princess, the only daughter of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, and his secondary wife Nawab Bai. ''Badr-un-Nissa'' is itself an Arabic phrase mea ...

and

Mehr-un-Nissa Mihr-un-Nissa Begum (Persian: مهرالنسا بیگم; 28 September 1661 – 2 April 1706), meaning "Sun among women", was a Mughal princess, the fifth daughter of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and his consort Aurangabadi Mahal. Birth Mihr-un-Nis ...

. Regarding her looks, "... she is described as being tall and slim, her face round and fair in colour, with two moles, or beauty-spots, on her left cheek. Her eyes and abundant hair were very black, and she had thin lips and small teeth. In Lahore Museum is a contemporary portrait, which corresponds to this description... In dress she was simple and austere; in later life she always wore white, and her only ornament was a string of pearls round her neck." Also with the way she dressed comes about her making an invention. " Zeb-un-Nissa invented a woman garment known as ''Angya Kurti''. This was a modified form of the dress of the women of

Turkestan Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan ( fa, ترکستان, Torkestân, lit=Land of the Turks), is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and Xinjiang. Overview Known as Turan to the Persians, western Turk ...

. The modification was done to suit Indian conditions". Zeb-un-Nissa lived in a period when many "great" poets were at the peak of their reputation; e.g. Mawlana Abdul Qader Bedil, Kalim Kashani, Saa'eb Tabrizi and Ghani Kashmiri. There is a noticeable influence of

Hafez Khwāje Shams-od-Dīn Moḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shīrāzī ( fa, خواجه شمس‌‌الدین محمّد حافظ شیرازی), known by his pen name Hafez (, ''Ḥāfeẓ'', 'the memorizer; the (safe) keeper'; 1325–1390) and as "Hafiz", ...

Sherazi's style on the poetry of Zeb-un-Nissa. However, she is considered as one of the poets of the Indian School of Poetry in

. "Zebunnisa was trained in the serious study of religious doctrine and in matters in faith, and she was known as an excellent scholar in several academic areas and as a literary figure and patron of some renown. She sang well and composed songs and planted many of the gardens of her day." Zeb-un-Nissa selected "''Makhfi''" (which means "''Hidden One''" in Persian) as her pen-name in her poetry. In addition to her poetic book or collection of poems, called '' Diwan'', which contains approximately 5,000 verses, she also wrote the following books: ''Monis 'ul-Roh'', ''Zeb 'ul-Monsha’at'' (زیب‌ المنشآت / زيب المنشئات, "Literary Compositions of Zeb") and ''Zeb 'ul-Tafāsir'' (زيب التفاسير, "

Tafsir Tafsir ( ar, تفسير, tafsīr ) refers to exegesis, usually of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' ( ar, مُفسّر; plural: ar, مفسّرون, mufassirūn). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, in ...

s of Zeb"), the first and only tafsir written by a woman. In ''Makhzan 'ul-Ghaib'' (مخزن الغيب), the author writes that the poetic book of Zeb-un-Nissa contained 15,000 verses. Zeb-un-Nissa encouraged compilations and translations of various works also.

Later years, imprisonment and death

There are multiple conflicting accounts offering explanations for the circumstances which ultimately led to her imprisonment at

, Delhi, at the edge of

Shahjahanabad Old Delhi or Purani Dilli is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan (the Mughal emperor at the time) decided to shift the Mughal capital from Agra. T ...

(present

Old Delhi Old Delhi or Purani Dilli is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan (the Mughal emperor at the time) decided to shift the Mughal capital from Agra. T ...

). In 1662, when Aurangzeb was taken ill and his physicians prescribed a change in the environment, he took his family and court with him to Lahore. At that time Akil Khan Razi, the son of his Vizier, was Governor of that city. In the following period, Akil Khan and Zeb-un-Nissa allegedly had a brief yet failed affair, after which Aurangzeb began to distrust her and later imprisoned her. Other theories suggest that she was imprisoned for being a poetess and a musician (both anathema to Aurangzeb's austere, more orthodox and fundamental way of life and thinking). Yet another explanation points to her correspondence with her younger brother, Muhammad Akbar. She supported the young prince in the inevitable ongoing conflict of succession, and was discovered to have written to him during the rebellion in 1681 AD (over the course of which, he had publicly accused Aurangzeb of transgressions against Islamic law). Her punishment was to have her accumulated wealth confiscated, her annual pension of 4 lakhs nullified, and that she was to be held prisoner at Salimgarh until her death. It was here, after 20 years of imprisonment, Zeb-un-Nissa died after seven days of illness, still captive in Shahjahanabad while Aurangzeb was on a trip to the

. Conflicting sources state the date of her death alternately as 1701 AD and 1702 AD. Her tomb was in the garden of "Thirty thousand trees" ( Tees Hazari), outside of the Kashmiri Darwaza, the north gate of the city. But when the railway line was laid out by the British at

, her tomb with its inscribed tombstone was shifted to Akbar's mausoleum at

Sikandra, Agra Akbar's tomb is the tomb of the Mughal emperor Akbar. It was built in 1605–1613 by his son, Jahangir and is situated on 119 acres of grounds in Sikandra, a sub of Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. Location It is located at Sikandra, in the subu ...

. There is also a tomb in Nawankot,

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 ...

, Pakistan, but its authenticity is doubtful. Haroon Khalid infers that the apocryphal association of Zeb-un-Nisa with the tomb in Lahore came about after the defeat of rebel prince Dara Shikoh in the Mughal war of succession (1657–1661), with the supporters of Shikoh (who had spent time in Lahore) transferring their aspirations to the rebellious princess by connecting her with the tomb even though she remained buried in Delhi and later at Agra. In 1724, years after her death, her scattered and extant writings were collected under the name ''Diwan-i-Makhfi'', literally, the Book of the Hidden One. It contained four hundred and twenty-one ghazals and several ruba'is. Subsequently, in 1730 other ghazals were added to the manuscript, which was also illuminated.

Personal life

Zeb-un-Nissa did not get married and remained single her whole life, despite the fact that she had many suitors. This also came with the rise of speculative gossip about secret lovers and palace trysts. Zeb al-Nisa had four other younger sisters: Zeenat un-Nissa,

and Mihr-un-Nissa. Her grandfather, Emperor Shah Jahan, had

betrothed An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

her to her

first cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...

, Prince

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 ...

, the eldest son of her paternal uncle, Crown Prince, Dara Shikoh. Shah Jahan had intended for her to become a future Mughal empress as Sulaiman was the heir to Dara Shikoh, who was next in line for succession to the Mughal throne after Shah Jahan. The marriage would've been a perfect match but did not, however, take place, due to Aurangzeb's reluctance; who despised his older brother. The King of

Shah Abbas II Abbas II (; born Soltan Mohammad Mirza; 30 August 1632 – 26 October 1666) was the seventh Shah of Safavid Iran, ruling from 1642 to 1666. As the eldest son of Safi and his Circassian wife, Anna Khanum, he inherited the throne when he was ni ...

's son Mirza Farukh also wanted to marry her. Many other proposals also came to her, but she demanded that before the fixation of marriage, she would see the princes. Zeb-un-Nissa spent all her life on literary works and poetry, as she herself said: In some books it has been written that there was a secret love affair between Zeb-un-Nissa and Aqil Khan Razi, a poet and the Governor of

. However, others disagree with the prior theory. For example, in her poetic book (''Diwan''), some would argue that one cannot find a single Ghazal which supports this point, and that all of her poems are based on the Sufi concept of the ''Love of God''. According to certain sources, "dehumanizing" scandals (created and/or written by some foreigners) regarding the lives of Mughal ladies were not uncommon (during the post-

Renaissance era The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

). For example, a claim of: "A sordid episode of eb-un-Nissa'scarnal romance with Aqil Khan Razi and his death inside a hot cauldron with burning fire under it, gained wider currency and was eagerly picked up by the... populace." However, other sources state that Razi lived long (as a government official) and died naturally.

Legacy

Her poetic book was printed in

in 1929 and in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

in 2001. Its manuscripts are in the National Library of Paris, the library of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...

library in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and in the Mota library 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 ...

. The garden which she laid out in Lahore itself and which was called the Chauburji, or four-towered, can still be traced by portions of the walls and gates remaining.

Ancestry

Sample translation

Her Ghazal tells ''the story of love'': :: ''You with the dark curly hair and the breathtaking eyes,'' :: ''your inquiring glance that leaves me undone.'' :: ''Eyes that pierce and then withdraw like a blood-stained sword,'' :: ''eyes with dagger lashes!'' :: ''Zealots, you are mistaken – this is heaven.'' :: ''Never mind those making promises of the afterlife:'' :: ''join us now, righteous friends, in this intoxication.'' :: ''Never mind the path to the Kaabah: sanctity resides in the heart.'' :: ''Squander your life, suffer! God is right here.'' :: ''Oh excruciating face! Continual light!'' :: ''This is where I am thrilled, here, right here.'' :: ''There is no book anywhere on the matter.'' :: ''Only as soon as I see you do I understand.'' :: ''If you wish to offer your beauty to God, give Zebunnisa'' :: ''a taste. Awaiting the tiniest morsel, she is right here.'' Translated by Sally Lee Stewart, Elena Bell and Maksuda Joraeva.

Atlanta Review ''Atlanta Review'' is an international poetry journal based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded by Daniel Veach in 1994 and is published twice a year. Karen Head of the Georgia Institute of Technology became editor in 2016. The jou ...

; Spring/Summer2002, Vol. VIII Issue 2, p 68.

Works

* *

References

Bibliography

* * Chopra, R. M., "Eminent Poetesses of Persian", 2010, Iran Society, Kolkata. * * *

External links

"The first fifty Ghazals of Diwan-e Makhfi" printed in London, 1913"The Tears of Zebunnissa" printed in London, 1913"Palace of Zeb-un-Nissa""Diwan e Makhfi -scanned poems collection of Zebunnisa in original PersianThe Friday Times: The poet princess – Sohaib Arshad discovers the diwan of ZebunnissaStory of Aurangzeb's daughter Zeb-un-Nissa at Navbharat Gold
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zeb-Un-Nisa 1638 births 1702 deaths Mughal princesses Mughal nobility Indian princesses Indian Sufis Sufi poets 17th-century Indian women writers 17th-century Indian writers 17th-century Indian poets Persian-language women poets Persian-language poets Indian women poets Indian people of Iranian descent People from Agra Women of the Mughal Empire Timurid dynasty Indian female royalty Poets from Uttar Pradesh Daughters of emperors