Ruqaiya Sultan Begum

Ruqaiya Sultan Begum
رقیه سلطان بیگم
Shahzadi of the Mughal Empire

Painting of Ruqaiya Sultan Begum
Empress consort of the Mughal Empire
Tenure 11 February 1556 – 27 October 1605
Born 1542
Died 19 January 1626 (aged 84)[1]
Agra, India
Burial Gardens of Babur, Kabul
Spouse Akbar
House House of Timur (by birth)
Father Hindal Mirza
Mother Sultanam Begum
Religion Islam

Ruqaiya Sultan Begum (Persian: رقیه سلطان بیگم‎‎; also spelled as Ruqayya) (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 half a century.[6]

Ruqaiya was born a Mughal princess (Shahzadi) and was the only daughter of Mughal prince Hindal Mirza, who was Akbar's youngest paternal uncle.[3] She was also the granddaughter of Emperor Babur (the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor) as well as the niece of the second, Humayun.

Ruqaiya played a crucial role in negotiating a settlement between her husband and her stepson, Jahangir, when the father-son's relationship turned sour in the early 17th century, eventually helping to pave the way for Jahangir's accession to the Mughal throne.[7]

Family and lineage

Shahzadi (Princess) 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. 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.[8] Ruqaiya's oldest paternal uncle was the 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 granddaughter of Emperor Babur and a Timurid princess, Ruqaiya (just like her first-cousin Akbar), 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.

As it was customary for a Mughal princess, Ruqaiya was well educated and knew many languages such as Chagatai, Persian, Arabic and Urdu.[9]

Marriage to Akbar

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

At the age of nine, Ruqqaya married her first cousin, Akbar, in November 1551 at Kabul, Afghanistan, shortly after his first appointment as a viceroy in the province of Ghazni.[10] The marriage was performed as per the wishes of Akbar's father, Emperor Humayun, and took place soon after the untimely death of Ruqaiya's father, Hindal Mirza, who had died in a battle.[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.[11][12]

Empress

Ruqaiya became Empress of the Mughal Empire at the age of fourteen years following her husband's accession to the throne in 1556. As Empress, she bore the exalted title of "Padshah Begum", a title reserved for the first lady of the Empire and the Emperor's principal consort.

Ruqaiya remained childless throughout her marriage but assumed the primary responsibility for the upbringing of her step-grandson, prince Khurram (the future Emperor Shah Jahan).[13] Ruqaiya's adoption of Prince Khurram signified her undisputed 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.[14]

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 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.[15] Khurram remained with her,[4] until he had turned 13. The young prince was then, finally, allowed to return to his father's household, and thus, be closer to his biological mother.[15] Ruqaiya oversaw Khurram's education as well for she, unlike her husband, was well educated.[16] Ruqaiya and Khurram, therefore, shared a close relationship much like the relationship that Akbar had shared with Khurram (the prince had been a favourite of his grandfather). Khurram's father and Ruqaiya's step-son, Jahangir, noted that Ruqaiya had loved Khurram "a thousand times more than if he had been her own son".[4]

Despite the fact that she did not bear him any children, she was always kept in high regard by her husband, as he held great respect and affection for her. Ruqaiya was thus, the most senior figure in the imperial harem[17] and at court during her husband's reign as well as in his successor's (Jahangir) reign.[18] 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.[17]

The Empress also took an active part in court politics and played a crucial role (along with Salima Sultan Begum) in negotiating a settlement between Akbar and her step-son, Jahangir, (when their relationship had turned sour), eventually helping to pave the way for Jahangir's accession to the 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.[19][20]

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.[21] Ali Quli, 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 the Empress Ruqaiya.[10] Given the precarious political connections of Ali Quli before his death, his family was in great danger and therefore for her own protection, Mehrunnissa needed to be at the court in Agra. Ruqaiya, having been the late Emperor Akbar's principal wife and being the most senior woman in the harem, was by both stature and ability, the most capable of providing the protection that Mehrunnissa needed at the Mughal court.[17]

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.[22] 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."[17]

Death

Gardens of Babur at Kabul, Afghanistan

Ruqaiya died in 1626, at the age of 84 having outlived her husband by 20 years. She was buried on the fifteenth level in the Gardens of Babur (Bagh-e-Babur) in Kabul, which is also the resting place of her grandfather, Emperor Babur and her father, Hindal Mirza. Her tomb was built by her step-grandson, Emperor Shah Jahan.[23]

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

Bibliography

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. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 Faruqui, Munis D. Princes of the Mughal Empire, 1504-1719. Cambridge University Press. p. 148. ISBN 9781107022171.
  8. ↑ Faruqui, Munis D. (2012). The Princes of the Mughal Empire, 1504-1719. Cambridge University Press. p. 251. ISBN 1107022177.
  9. ↑ Prasad, Ishwari (1974). The Mughal Empire. Chugh Publications. p. 543.
  10. 1 2 Eraly, Abraham (2000). Emperors of the Peacock Throne : the saga of the great Mughals. Penguin books. pp. 123, 272. ISBN 9780141001432.
  11. 1 2 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. ↑ Robinson, Annemarie Schimmel (2005). The Empire of the Great Mughals : history, art and culture (Revised ed.). Sang-E-Meel Pub. p. 149. ISBN 9781861891853.
  14. ↑ Findly, p. 97
  15. 1 2 Faruqui, Munis D. Princes of the Mughal Empire, 1504-1719. Cambridge University Press. p. 71. ISBN 9781107022171.
  16. ↑ Rahman, Tariq (2002). Language, ideology and power : language learning among the Muslims of Pakistan and North India. Oxford University Press. p. 483. ISBN 9780195796445.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Findly, p. 32
  18. ↑ Nath, Renuka (1957). Notable Mughal and Hindu Women in the 16th and 17th Centuries A. D. Inter- India publications. p. 58.
  19. ↑ Lal, K.S. (1988). The Mughal Harem. Aditya Prakashan. p. 45. ISBN 9788185179032.
  20. ↑ Misra, Rekha (1967). Women in Mughal India, 1526-1748 A.D. Munshiram Manoharlal. p. 76.
  21. ↑ 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.
  22. ↑ Mohammad Shujauddin, Razia Shujauddin (1967). The Life and Times of Noor Jahan. Caravan Book House. p. 25.
  23. ↑ Ruggles, Fairchild (2011). Islamic Gardens and Landscapes. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 194. ISBN 9780812207286.
  24. ↑ Kaur, Balwinder (April 15, 2012). "The power behind the throne". The Tribune. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  25. ↑ Chaya Unnikrishnan (2013-06-26). "So far, so good". dnaindia.com. Retrieved 2013-12-04.
  26. ↑ "Characters". epicchannel.com.
  27. ↑ Unnikrishnan, Chaya (14 April 2016). "SRK is as enthusiastic and fun-loving as he was: Deepika Deshpande Amin". dnaindia.com. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  28. ↑ 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.
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