Ruqaiya Sultan Begum: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
→‎Marriage to Akbar: Fixing grammatical mistakes
Adding info and references
Line 35: Line 35:
==Marriage to Akbar==
==Marriage to Akbar==


In 1551, at the age of nine, Ruqaiya was betrothed to her first-cousin, Akbar, in [[Kabul]], [[Afghanistan]], shortly after his first appointment as a [[viceroy]] in the province of [[Ghazni Province|Ghazni]].<ref name=Eraly/> The marriage was arranged by Akbar's father, Humayun, and took place soon after the untimely death of Ruqaiya's father, Hindal Mirza.<ref name=Ferishta>{{cite book|last=Ferishta|first=Mahomed Kasim|title=History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India, Till the Year AD 1612|year=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781108055550|page=169}}</ref> Humayun conferred on the young couple, all the wealth, army and adherents of his deceased younger brother, Hindal, and Ghazni, which was one of Hindal's ''[[jagir]]'', was given to his nephew and now son-in-law, Akbar.<ref name=Ferishta/><ref>{{cite book|last=Erskine|first=William|title=A History of India Under the Two First Sovereigns of the House of Taimur, Báber and Humáyun, Volume 2|year=1854|publisher=Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans|isbn=9781108046206|page=404}}</ref>
In 1551, at the age of nine, Ruqaiya was betrothed to her first-cousin, Akbar, in [[Kabul]], [[Afghanistan]], shortly after his first appointment as a [[viceroy]] in the province of [[Ghazni Province|Ghazni]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mehta|first1=Jaswant Lal|title=Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India|date=1986|publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd|page=189|isbn=8120710150}}</ref> Their betrothal was arranged by Akbar's father, Humayun, and took place soon after the untimely death of Ruqaiya's father, Hindal Mirza.<ref name=Ferishta>{{cite book|last=Ferishta|first=Mahomed Kasim|title=History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India, Till the Year AD 1612|year=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781108055550|page=169}}</ref> Humayun conferred on the young couple, all the wealth, army and adherents of his deceased younger brother, Hindal, and Ghazni, which was one of Hindal's ''[[jagir]]'', was given to his nephew and now son-in-law, Akbar, who was appointed as it's viceroy.<ref name=Ferishta/><ref>{{cite book|last=Erskine|first=William|title=A History of India Under the Two First Sovereigns of the House of Taimur, Báber and Humáyun, Volume 2|year=1854|publisher=Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans|isbn=9781108046206|page=404}}</ref>

In 1557, Ruqaiya arrived from Kabul to [[India]] and joined Akbar in [[Punjab]], shortly after [[Sikandar Shah]] had submitted to the Mughals. She was accompanied by her mother-in-law, [[Hamida Banu Begum]], her aunt, Gulbadan Begum, and other members of the imperial family. Ruqaiya's marriage with Akbar was solemnized in [[Jalandhar]], Punjab, when both of them were 14 years-old. About the same time, Ruqaiya's first-cousin, [[Salima Sultan Begum]], married Akbar's considerably older regent, [[Bairam Khan]].<ref name=Eraly/> After resting for some four months in Punjab, the imperial family set out for [[Delhi]]. The Mughals were at last ready to settle down in India.<ref name=Eraly/>


==Empress==
==Empress==

Revision as of 12:21, 10 March 2017

Ruqaiya Sultan Begum
رقیه سلطان بیگم
Shahzadi of the Mughal Empire
File:HwyWm61.png
Empress consort of the Mughal Empire
Tenure11 February 1556 – 27 October 1605
PredecessorBega Begum
SuccessorSaliha Banu Begum
Bornc. 1542
Died19 January 1626 (aged 84)[1]
Agra, India
Burial
Gardens of Babur, Kabul
SpouseAkbar
HouseHouse of Timur (by birth)
FatherHindal Mirza
MotherSultanam Begum
ReligionIslam

Ruqaiya Sultan Begum (Persian: رقیه سلطان بیگم; alternative spelling: Ruqayya) (c. 1542 – 19 January 1626) was Empress of the Mughal Empire from 11 February 1556 to 27 October 1605 as the first wife[2] and chief consort[3][4][5] of the third Mughal emperor Akbar. She was also the longest serving Mughal empress, having a tenure of almost fifty years.[6]

Ruqaiya was a first cousin of her husband, and was a Mughal princess by birth. Her father, Hindal Mirza, was the youngest brother of Akbar's father Humayun.[3] She was only nine years old when, immediately after the death of her father, she was betrothed to Akbar. The couple were to remain very closely bonded all their lives, but the marriage remained childless. In later life, Ruqaiya raised (virtually adopted) Akbar's favorite grandson Khurram (the future emperor Shah Jahan).

As Akbar's chief consort, Ruqaiya wielded considerable influence over him and played a crucial role in negotiating a settlement between her husband and her stepson, Jahangir, when the father-son's relationship had turned sour in the early 1600s, eventually helping to pave the way for Jahangir's accession to the Mughal throne.[7] She died just a year before her foster-son, Shah Jahan, acceded to the throne after a fratricidal struggle.

Family and lineage

Ruqaiya's father, Hindal Mirza, sits before her uncle, Humayun

Ruqaiya Sultan Begum was born into the Timurid dynasty as a Mughal princess, and was the only daughter of Mughal prince Hindal Mirza, the youngest son of the first Mughal emperor Babur from his wife Dildar Begum.[8] Ruqaiya's mother, Sultanam Begum, was the daughter of Muhammad Musa Khwaja and the younger sister of Mahdi Khwaja, who was the brother-in-law of Emperor Babur, being the husband of his sister, Khanzada Begum.[9] Ruqaiya's oldest paternal uncle was the second Mughal emperor Humayun, who later became her father-in-law as well; while her most notable paternal aunt was the imperial princess, Gulbadan Begum, the author of Humayun-nama ("Book of Humayun").

Being the paternal granddaughter of Emperor Babur, Ruqaiya was of Miran Shahi birth (just like her husband Akbar), and was a descendant of the lines of the highest Central Asian aristocracy: Timur or Tamerlane the Great through his son Miran Shah, and Genghis Khan through his son Chagatai Khan.

Marriage to Akbar

In 1551, at the age of nine, Ruqaiya was betrothed to her first-cousin, Akbar, in Kabul, Afghanistan, shortly after his first appointment as a viceroy in the province of Ghazni.[10] Their betrothal was arranged by Akbar's father, Humayun, and took place soon after the untimely death of Ruqaiya's father, Hindal Mirza.[11] Humayun conferred on the young couple, all the wealth, army and adherents of his deceased younger brother, Hindal, and Ghazni, which was one of Hindal's jagir, was given to his nephew and now son-in-law, Akbar, who was appointed as it's viceroy.[11][12]

In 1557, Ruqaiya arrived from Kabul to India and joined Akbar in Punjab, shortly after Sikandar Shah had submitted to the Mughals. She was accompanied by her mother-in-law, Hamida Banu Begum, her aunt, Gulbadan Begum, and other members of the imperial family. Ruqaiya's marriage with Akbar was solemnized in Jalandhar, Punjab, when both of them were 14 years-old. About the same time, Ruqaiya's first-cousin, Salima Sultan Begum, married Akbar's considerably older regent, Bairam Khan.[13] After resting for some four months in Punjab, the imperial family set out for Delhi. The Mughals were at last ready to settle down in India.[13]

Empress

Hujra-I-Anup Talao or the Turkish Sultana House, a pleasure pavilion attached to a pond, was used by Empress Ruqaiya

Ruqaiya became Empress of the Mughal Empire at the age of fourteen years following her husband's accession to the throne in 1556. She remained childless throughout her marriage but assumed the primary responsibility for the upbringing of Akbar's favourite grandson, Prince Khurram (the future Emperor Shah Jahan).[14] Ruqaiya's adoption of Prince Khurram signified her rank and power in the imperial harem as one of the special privileges of women of rank (in the Mughal Empire) was to care for ranking children not their own.[15]

Just prior to Khurram's birth, a soothsayer had reportedly predicted to Ruqaiya Sultan Begum that the still unborn child was destined for imperial greatness. So, when Khurram was born in 1592 and was only six days old; Akbar ordered that the prince be taken away from his mother (Jagat Gosaini) and handed him over to Ruqaiya so that he could grow up under her care and Akbar could fulfill his aging wife's wish, to raise a Mughal emperor.[16]

Ruqaiya even oversaw Khurram's education, for she, unlike her husband, was well educated.[17] The two shared a close relationship with each other, much like the relationship that Akbar had shared with Khurram. Ruqaiya's step-son, Jahangir (Khurram's father), noted in his memoirs that she had loved his son, "a thousand times more than if he had been her own [son]."[4] Khurram remained with her, until he had turned 13. After Akbar's death in 1605, the young prince was then, finally, allowed to return to his father's household, and thus, be closer to his biological mother.[16] Later, Ruqaiya also brought up Khurram's first child, a daughter, Parhez Banu Begum,[18] who was born to his first wife, the Safavid princess Kandahari Begum.[19]

Despite the fact that she did not bear him any children, she was always kept in high regard by her husband. This was evidenced by the fact that she remained his sole chief consort from the time of his accession in 1556 until his death in 1605. Ruqaiya was thus, the most senior woman in the imperial harem[20] and at court during her husband's reign as well as in his successor's (Jahangir) reign.[21] This was primarily due to the fact that she was Mirza Hindal's daughter, a Mughal princess as well as Akbar's first and chief wife.[20]

The Empress also took an active part in court politics and wielded considerable influence over Akbar. She played a crucial role (along with her cousin Salima Sultan Begum) in negotiating a settlement between her husband and her step-son, Jahangir, when the father-son's relationship had turned sour in the early 1600s, eventually helping to pave the way for Jahangir's accession to the Mughal throne.[7] During Jahangir's reign, Ruqaiya and Salima Sultan Begum again played a crucial role in successfully securing pardon for the powerful Khan-i-Azam, Mirza Aziz Koka, who had been sentenced to death by Jahangir. Apart from her own palace at Fatehpur Sikri, Ruqaiya owned palaces outside the fort in Agra, near the Jamuna river, a privilege given to Mughal princesses only and sometimes to empresses who were kept in high esteem. Ruqaiya was both.[22][23]

Dowager empress

In 1607, Ruqaiya, for the first time, visited the mausoleum of her father Hindal Mirza as the imperial harem and Jahangir were on a hunting trip to Kabul.[24] In the same year, Sher Afghan Khan, the jagirdar of Burdwan died and his widowed wife, Mehrunnissa (later Empress Nur Jahan) was summoned to Agra by Jahangir to act as lady-in-waiting to his step-mother, the Dowager empress Ruqaiya.[25][13] Given the precarious political connections of Sher Afghan before his death, his family was in great danger and therefore for her own protection, Mehrunnissa needed to be at the Mughal court in Agra. Ruqaiya, having been the late Emperor Akbar's principal wife and being the most senior woman in the harem, was by stature and ability, the most capable of providing the protection that Mehrunnissa needed at the Mughal court.[20]

Nur Jahan and her daughter, Ladli Begum, served as ladies-in-waiting to the Empress for four years while earnestly endeavoring to please their imperial mistress.[25] The relationship that grew up between Ruqaiya and Mehrunnissa appears to have been an extremely tender one which remained so until Ruqaiya's death in 1626. The Dutch merchant, Pieter van den Broecke said: "This Begum [Ruqaiya] conceived a great affection for Mehr-un-Nissa; she loved her more than others and always kept her in her company."[20]

Death

Inside the Gardens of Babur, located in Kabul, Afghanistan

Ruqaiya died in 1626 in Agra, at the age of eighty-four, having outlived her husband by more than twenty years. She was buried on the fifteenth level in the Gardens of Babur (Bagh-e-Babur) in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Gardens of Babur is the final resting place of her grandfather, Emperor Babur, as well as that of her father, Hindal Mirza. Her tomb was built by the orders of her foster-son, the fifth Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.[26]

While recording her death in his autobiography, Jahangir, whose son she brought up, makes note of her honorable status as Akbar's chief wife.[3]

In popular culture

References

  1. ^ Gulbadan Begum, Annette Susannah Beveridge (1902). Humayun Nama. Sang-e-Meel Publications. p. 274.
  2. ^ Burke, S. M. (1989). Akbar, the greatest Mogul. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. p. 142.
  3. ^ a b c Jahangir, Emperor of Hindustan (1999). The Jahangirnama: Memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India. Translated by Thackston, Wheeler M. Oxford University Press. p. 437. ISBN 978-0-19-512718-8. Ruqayya-Sultan Begam, the daughter of Mirza Hindal and wife of [Akbar], had passed away in Akbarabad. She was [his] chief wife. Since she did not have children, when Shahjahan was born [Akbar] entrusted [him] to the begam's care ... She departed this life at the age of eighty-four.
  4. ^ a b Jahangir (1968). Henry Beveridge (ed.). The Tūzuk-i-Jahāngīrī: or, Memoirs of Jāhāngīr, Volumes 1-2. Munshiram Manoharlal. p. 48.
  5. ^ Lal, Ruby (2005). Domesticity and power in the early Mughal world. Cambridge University Press. p. 205. ISBN 9780521850223.
  6. ^ Her tenure, from 11 February 1556 to 27 October 1605, was 49 years and 259 days
  7. ^ a b Faruqui, Munis D. Princes of the Mughal Empire, 1504-1719. Cambridge University Press. p. 148. ISBN 9781107022171.
  8. ^ Balabanlilar, Lisa. Imperial identity in the Mughal Empire : Memory and Dynastic politics in Early Modern South and Central Asia. London: I.B. Tauris. p. 112. ISBN 978-1-84885-726-1.
  9. ^ Faruqui, Munis D. (2012). The Princes of the Mughal Empire, 1504-1719. Cambridge University Press. p. 251. ISBN 1107022177.
  10. ^ Mehta, Jaswant Lal (1986). Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. 189. ISBN 8120710150.
  11. ^ a b Ferishta, Mahomed Kasim (2013). History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India, Till the Year AD 1612. Cambridge University Press. p. 169. ISBN 9781108055550.
  12. ^ Erskine, William (1854). A History of India Under the Two First Sovereigns of the House of Taimur, Báber and Humáyun, Volume 2. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. p. 404. ISBN 9781108046206.
  13. ^ a b c Eraly, Abraham (2000). Emperors of the Peacock Throne : the saga of the great Mughals. Penguin books. pp. 123, 272. ISBN 9780141001432.
  14. ^ Robinson, Annemarie Schimmel (2005). The Empire of the Great Mughals : history, art and culture (Revised ed.). Sang-E-Meel Pub. p. 149. ISBN 9781861891853.
  15. ^ Findly, p. 97
  16. ^ a b Faruqui, Munis D. Princes of the Mughal Empire, 1504-1719. Cambridge University Press. p. 71. ISBN 9781107022171.
  17. ^ Rahman, Tariq (2002). Language, ideology and power : language learning among the Muslims of Pakistan and North India. Oxford University Press. p. 483. ISBN 9780195796445.
  18. ^ Sarker, Kobita (2007). Shah Jahan and his paradise on earth : the story of Shah Jahan's creations in Agra and Shahjahanabad in the golden days of the Mughals (1. publ. ed.). Kolkata: K.P. Bagchi & Co. p. 187. ISBN 9788170743002.
  19. ^ Findly, p. 98
  20. ^ a b c d Findly, p. 32
  21. ^ Nath, Renuka (1957). Notable Mughal and Hindu Women in the 16th and 17th Centuries A. D. Inter- India publications. p. 58.
  22. ^ Lal, K.S. (1988). The Mughal Harem. Aditya Prakashan. p. 45. ISBN 9788185179032.
  23. ^ Misra, Rekha (1967). Women in Mughal India, 1526-1748 A.D. Munshiram Manoharlal. p. 76.
  24. ^ Jahangir, Emperor of Hindustan (1999). The Jahangirnama: Memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India. Translated by Thackston, Wheeler M. Oxford University Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-19-512718-8. I toured the Safed Sang glen ... with some of the ladies of the harem ... Until now Ruqayya Sultan Begam, Mirza Hindal's daughter, had not visited her father's grave, but on this day she did.
  25. ^ a b Mohammad Shujauddin, Razia Shujauddin (1967). The Life and Times of Noor Jahan. Caravan Book House. p. 25.
  26. ^ Ruggles, Fairchild (2011). Islamic Gardens and Landscapes. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 194. ISBN 9780812207286.
  27. ^ Kaur, Balwinder (April 15, 2012). "The power behind the throne". The Tribune. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  28. ^ Podder, Tanushree (2005). Nur Jahan's daughter. New Delhi: Rupa & Co. ISBN 8129107228.
  29. ^ Lamb, Harold (1935). Nur Mahal. Doubleday, Doran & Co. ISBN 978-1299983229.
  30. ^ Chaya Unnikrishnan (2013-06-26). "So far, so good". dnaindia.com. Retrieved 2013-12-04.
  31. ^ "Characters". epicchannel.com.
  32. ^ Unnikrishnan, Chaya (14 April 2016). "SRK is as enthusiastic and fun-loving as he was: Deepika Deshpande Amin". dnaindia.com. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  33. ^ Tiwari, Vijaya (14 October 2014). "Maharana Pratap: Krip Suri and Falak Naaz as grown-up Akbar-Rukaiya in the show". The Times of India. Retrieved 30 July 2016.

Bibliography

  • Findly, Ellison Banks (1993). Nur Jahan: Empress of Mughal India. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195360608.

External links

Regnal titles
Preceded by Padshah Begum of the Mughal Empire
1556–1605 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ruqaiya_Sultan_Begum&oldid=769581506"