Badshah Begum ( 1703 – 14 December 1789) was Empress consort of the Mughal Empire from 8 December 1721 to 6 April 1748 as the first wife and chief consort of the Mughal emperor

Muhammad Shah Mirza Nasir-ud-Din Muḥammad Shah (born Roshan Akhtar; 7 August 1702 – 26 April 1748) was the 13th Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1719 to 1748. He was son of Khujista Akhtar, the fourth son of Bahadur Shah I. After being chosen by the ...

. She is popularly known by her title Malika-uz-Zamani ("Queen of the Age") which was conferred upon her by her husband, immediately after their marriage. Badshah Begum was a

second-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, ...

of her husband and was a Mughal princess by birth. She was the daughter of Mughal emperor

Farrukhsiyar Farrukhsiyar or Farrukh Siyar () (20 August 16839 April 1719) was the tenth emperor of the Mughal Empire from 1713 to 1719. He rose to the throne after assassinating his uncle, Emperor Jahandar Shah. Reportedly a handsome man who was easily ...

and his first wife, Gauhar-un-Nissa Begum. She wielded major political influence in the Mughal court during her husband's reign and was his most influential wife. It was through her efforts that her step-son,

Ahmad Shah Bahadur Ahmad Shah Bahadur , also known as Mirza Ahmad Shah or Mujahid-ud-Din Ahmad Shah Ghazi (23 December 1725 – 1775 AD), was the fourteenth Mughal Emperor, born to Emperor Muhammad Shah. He succeeded his father to the throne in 1748, at the age ...

, was able to ascend the Mughal throne.

Family and lineage

Badshah Begum was born c.1703, during the reign of her great-great-grandfather

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 ...

. She was the daughter of the later Mughal emperor

and his first wife, Gauhar-un-Nissa Begum. Farrukhsiyar was the second son of Prince

Azim-ush-Shan Azim-ush-Shan ( fa, ; 15 December 1664 – 18 March 1712) was the second son of Mughal emperor Shah Alam I, by his second wife, Amrita Bai, Princess of Kishangarh. He was the grandson of Emperor Aurangzeb, during whose reign, he was the ''suba ...

born to his wife Sahiba Niswan Begum. Azim-ush-Shan was himself the second son of the seventh Mughal emperor

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 ...

. Badshah Begum's mother, Gauhar-un-Nissa Begum (also known as Fakhr-un-Nissa Begum), was the daughter of Sadat Khan, a Mughal noble of Turkish origin, who had been ''Mir Atish'' (head of

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during si ...

) under Farrukhsiyar. Being a Mughal princess, Badshah Begum was well educated, intelligent and had been instructed in the nuances of ruling and diplomacy.

Marriage

Muhammad Shah acceded to throne in 1719 and was a son of Prince Jahan Shah, the youngest son of Emperor

and the younger half-brother of Emperor Farrukhsiyar's father, Prince Azim-ush-Shan. Badshah Begum was therefore, a second-cousin of her husband through her father's side. She married Muhammad Shah on 8 December 1721 in

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 w ...

. The marriage was celebrated with great splendour. Accordingly, many of the officers presented

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For e ...

s of rupees and everyone received a dress of honour and jewels and increase of pay. Upon her marriage, Badshah Begum was given the title of Malika-uz-Zamani ("Queen of the Age") by which she is popularly known and further, the exalted title of ''

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 "empre ...

''. Badshah Begum bore her husband his first son, Shahriyar Shah Bahadur, who died in his childhood. After that, she remained childless.

Empress

Badshah Begum took an interest in several aspects of the state and governance and an active part in matters of importance. Being the Emperor's chief wife, she was the most influential among all of his wives and exercised her opinions on him. Muhammad Shah later developed a passion for a dancing girl,

Udham Bai Qudsia Begum, born Udham Bai ( 1768) was a wife of Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah and mother of emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur. She was an administrator and served as de facto regent of India from 1748 to 1754. Early years A Hindu by origin, Udham Bai ...

, a woman of no refinement, and made her a wife of his though Badshah Begum remained his favourite. This marriage resulted in the birth of a son,

. This son was brought up by the Empress as though he were her own son. She loved him greatly, and he grew up to ascend the throne due to her efforts. Later, Badshah Begum also brought up Ahmad Shah's daughter, Muhtaram-un-Nisa. Badshah Begum commissioned elegant mansions in

Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of ...

and in typical Mughal style, laid the foundations of pleasure gardens on the banks of the

Tawi River Tawi is a river that flows through the city of Jammu. The Tawi is a major left bank tributary of the river Chenab. Tawi river is considered sacred and holy, as is the case with most rivers in India. * The source of Tawi is the Kailash Kund Sp ...

Dowager empress

In April 1748, Muhammad Shah died. Badshah Begum, concealing the news of his death, sent messages to her step-son Ahmad, who was in camp with Safdar Jang near

Panipat Panipat () is a historic city in Haryana, India. It is 95 km north of Delhi and 169 km south of Chandigarh on NH-1. The three major battles fought in 1526, 1556 and 1761 took place near the city. The city is famous in India as the ...

to return to

and claim the throne. On Safdar Jang's advice, he was enthroned at Panipat and returned to Delhi a few days later. Badshah Begum was greatly respected by the court and the people as a Dowager empress, even after the Emperor's death. In February 1756, Badshah Begum's 16-year-old step-daughter, Princess

Hazrat Begum Hazrat Begum ( fa, حضرت بیگم; ps, حضرت بېګم; born 1740), also known as Hazrat Mahal and Sahiba Begum, was a Mughal princess, as the daughter of Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah. She was a wife of Ahmad Shah Durrani, the first emir o ...

, became so famous for her matchless beauty that the Mughal emperor

Alamgir II Aziz-ud-Din Muhammad (6 June 1699 – 29 November 1759), better known as Alamgir II, was the fifteenth Mughal Emperor of India, who reigned from 3 June 1754 to 29 November 1759. He was the son of Jahandar Shah. Born Aziz-ud-Din, the second ...

, who was then about sixty, used undue pressures and threats to force Sahiba Mahal and the princess' guardian Badshah Begum, to give him Hazrat Begum's hand in marriage. The princess preferred death over marrying an old wreck of sixty and Alamgir II failed to pursue her.

Role in Afghan invasion of Delhi

In April 1757, the Durrani king

Ahmed Shah Abdali Ahmad Shāh Durrānī ( ps, احمد شاه دراني; prs, احمد شاه درانی), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (), was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is regarded as the founder of the modern Afghanistan. In July 1747, Ahm ...

, after sacking the imperial capital of

, desired to marry Badshah Begum's 16-year-old step-daughter, Princess

. Badshah Begum again resisted handing over her tender charge to a fierce Afghan of grandfatherly age but Ahmad Shah forcibly wedded Hazrat Begum on 5 April 1757 in Delhi. After their wedding celebrations, Ahmad Shah took his young wife back to his native place of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

. The weeping bride was accompanied by Badshah Begum, her mother Sahiba Mahal, and a few other ladies of note from the imperial harem. During the Afghan occupation of Delhi, which lasted for two months and a half from 18 July to 2 October 1788, hell was let loose on

Shah Alam II Shah Alam II (; 25 June 1728 – 19 November 1806), also known by his birth name Ali Gohar (or Ali Gauhar), was the seventeenth Mughal Emperor and the son of Alamgir II. Shah Alam II became the emperor of a crumbling Mughal empire. His po ...

and the imperial family. He was deposed on 30 July 1788 and blinded ten days later.

Ghulam Qadir Ghulam Kadir, fully Ghulam Abd al Qadir Ahmed Khan ( ur, غلام عبد القادر احمد خان, unknown – 3March 1789), was a leader of the Afghan Rohilla during the late 18th century in the time of the Mughal Empire. He is particularly ...

took out Prince Bidar Bakht, son of Ahmad Shah, the ex-emperor from the imperial prison and made him the new puppet emperor with the title of Jahan Shah; he is said to have received 12

s of rupees from Badshah Begum to wreak her vengeance against Shah Alam II, whose father

had secured the throne by deposing and blinding Ahmad Shah. 4 months later however, the Mughal royal family were freed from captivity by the Maratha armies led by

Mahadji Shinde Mahadaji Shinde (b. 23 December 1730 – 12 February 1794), later known as Mahadji Scindia or Madhava Rao Sindhia, was a Maratha statesman and ruler of Ujjain in Central India. He was the fifth and the youngest son of Ranoji Rao Scindia, the f ...

which had just captured

from Ghulam Qadir and his army.

Death

Badshah Begum died in 1789 in

and was buried in the Tis Hazari Bagh (Garden of Thirty Thousand) there. The garden had been commissioned by 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 ...

during his reign. Emperor

's daughter, Princess

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 ...

, was also buried in the Tis Hazari Bagh upon her death in 1721.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Begum, Badshah Mughal empresses Mughal princesses Timurid princesses 1703 births 1789 deaths Daughters of emperors