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Updated article with clearer structure

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2021-06-30T08:27:59Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2018}}
{{Short description|First wife of Mughal Emperor Jahangir}}
{{Infobox royalty
|name = Shah Begum
|title = [[Princess|Rajkumari]] of [[Amer, India|Amer]] <br/> Zan-i-Kalan
| image = Allahabad, Khusru bagh, Shah Begum tomb 2015-11-12.jpg
|succession =
|predecessor =
|successor =
|caption = Tomb of Shah Begum
|birth_name = Manbhawati Bai
|birth_date = {{circa}} 1570
|birth_place = [[Amer, India|Amer kingdom]]
|death_date = {{death date and age|1604|5|16|1570|df=yes}}
|death_place = [[Allahabad]], [[Mughal Empire]]
|consort = yes
|spouse = [[Jahangir]]
|issue = Sultan-un-Nissa Begum<br>[[Khusrau Mirza]]
|house = [[Kachhwaha]] (by birth)<br />[[Timurid dynasty|Timurid]] (by marriage)
|father = [[Raja Bhagwant Das]]
|mother =
| image_size = 200px
|place of burial = [[Khusro Bagh|Khusrau Bagh]], [[Allahabad]]
|religion = [[Hinduism]]
}}

'''Shah Begum''' ({{lang-fa|شاہ بیگم}}; {{circa}} 1570 - 16 May 1604), meaning 'the royal lady', was a Rajput princess and the first wife and chief consort of Prince Salim, i.e. future Emperor [[Jahangir]].

==Family==
'''Manbhawati Bai''', known popularly as '''Man Bai''',<ref>{{cite book|first=Ishwari|last=Prasad|title=The Mughal Empire|publisher=Chugh Publications|year=1974|pages=294}}</ref> was the daughter of [[Raja Bhagwant Das]], the ruler of [[Amer, India|Amer]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Proceedings of the Indian History Congress - Volume 64|publisher=Indian History Congress|year=2004|pages=598}}</ref> She was the granddaughter of Raja [[Bharmal]], whose daughter [[Mariam-uz-Zamani]] was married to [[Akbar]] in 1562, and by him, was the mother of Salim, who later became the emperor [[Jahangir]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Jorge|last=Flores|title=The Mughal Padshah: A Jesuit Treatise on Emperor Jahangir's Court and Household |publisher=BRILL|date=20 November 2015|pages=91 n. 23|isbn=978-9-004-30753-7}}</ref>

==Marriage==
At the age of fifteen, Salim was betrothed to his cousin, Man Bai. The marriage settlement was fixed at two crore tankas. [[Akbar]] himself, accompanied by all his nobles, went to the Raja's mansion, and on 13 February 1585, celebrated the wedding in the presence of Muslim qazis, but with certain characteristic Hindu ceremonies.{{sfn|Prasad|1930|p=29}}

The dowry bestowed by Bhagwant Das included a hundred elephants, several strings of horses, jewels, numerous and diverse golden vessels set with precious stones, utensils of gold and silver, and all sorts of riches, the quantity of which is beyond all computation. The imperial nobles were presented with Persian, Turkish, and Arabian horses, with golden saddles. Along with the bride, were given a number of male and female slaves, of Indian, Abyssinian and Circassian origin.<ref>{{cite book|first=P. N|last=Ojha|title=North Indian social life during Mughal period|publisher=Oriental Publishers & Distributors|year=1975|pages=131}}</ref> As the Imperial procession returned along highways covered with rare and choice cloth, the Emperor scattered over the bridal litter, gold and jewels in careless profusion.{{sfn|Prasad|1930|p=29-30}}

The couple's first child was a daughter named Sultan-un-Nissa Begum, who was born on 25 April 1586 and died on 5 September 1646.<ref>{{cite book|first=Emperor |last=Jahangir|first2=Wheeler McIntosh|last2=Thackston|title=The Jahangirnama : memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India|url=https://archive.org/details/jahangirnamamemo00jaha |publisher=Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; New York: Oxford University Press|year=1999|pages=[https://archive.org/details/jahangirnamamemo00jaha/page/7 7] n. 20, 29 n. 36}}</ref> She lived for sixty years, but played no part in history. The couple's second child was a son named [[Khusrau Mirza]], who was born on 16 August 1587. On his birth, Man Bai was given the title of "Shah Begum" meaning "The royal lady".<ref>{{cite book|first=S. R.|last=Sharma|title=Mughal Empire In India: A Systematic Study Including Source Material, Volume 2|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist|year=1999|pages=310|isbn=978-8-171-56818-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Nicoll, Fergus|author-link=Fergus Nicoll|title=Shah Jahan: The Rise and Fall of the Mughal Emperor|publisher=Penguin Books India|year=2009|pages=26|isbn=978-0-670-08303-9}}</ref>

She was described to be a very beautiful woman. With her fidelity and sincere devotion to Jahangir, she won a special place in his heart.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} She was a neurotic woman, quick to take offence over imagined insults, for which there was plenty of scope for the Rajput princess in Jahangir's polygamous and predominantly Muslim household. "The lady [Shah Begum] was ever ambitious of an ascendancy over the other inmates of the harem, and grew violent at the slightest opposition of her will" said Inayatullah. "From time to time her mind wandered, and her father and brothers all agreed in telling me she was insane," writes Jahangir.<ref>{{cite book|last=Eraly|first=Abraham|title=Emperors of the Peacock Throne : the saga of the great Mughals|url=https://archive.org/details/emperorspeacockt00eral|url-access=limited|year=2000|publisher=Penguin books|isbn=9780141001432|pages=[https://archive.org/details/emperorspeacockt00eral/page/n275 273]}}</ref>

Shah Begum constantly advised Khusrau to be loyal to his father. When she saw that it was of no use, she decided to take her own life which was an integral part of Rajput nature.<ref>{{cite book|first=Emperor |last=Jahangir|first2=Wheeler McIntosh|last2=Thackston|title=The Jahangirnama : memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India|url=https://archive.org/details/jahangirnamamemo00jaha |publisher=Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; New York: Oxford University Press|year=1999|pages=[https://archive.org/details/jahangirnamamemo00jaha/page/51 51]}}</ref>

==Death==
Shah Begum died on 16 May 1604.<ref>{{cite book|title=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of the Great Britain and Ireland|publisher=Cambridge University Press for the Royal Asiatic Society|year=1907|pages=604}}</ref> With her mind in a state of imbalance, she consumed a lot of opium and died thereafter. She was incapable of tolerating the misconduct of her son and brother toward Jahangir, which despaired her life in a circumstantial trauma.<ref>{{cite book|first=Emperor|last=Jahangir|first2=Alexander|last2=Rogers|first3=Henry|last3=Beveridge|title=The Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri; or, Memoirs of Jahangir. Translated by Alexander Rogers. Edited by Henry Beveridge|url=https://archive.org/details/b29352423_0001|publisher=London Royal Asiatic Society|year=1909|pages=[https://archive.org/details/b29352423_0001/page/56 56]}}</ref>

Shah Begum's tomb is located in [[Khusro Bagh|Khusrau Bagh]], Allahabad. Aqa Reza, the principal artist at Allahabad court was charged with the responsibility for constructing her tomb. It was completed in 1606-07.<ref>{{cite book|first=Catherine B.|last=Asher|title=Architecture of Mughal India, Part 1, Volume 4|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=24 September 1992|pages=104|isbn=978-0-521-26728-1}}</ref>

== Issue ==
With Jahangir, Shah Begum had at least two children:
*Sultan-un-Nissa (25 April 1586, Mughal Empire – 5 September 1646, Mughal Empire, buried in Tomb of Akbar, Sikandar, Agra)
*[[Khusrau Mirza]] (16 August 1587, Lahore, Mughal Empire – 26 January 1622, Deccan, Mughal Empire, buried in Mausoleum of Khusrau Mirza, Khusro Bagh, Allahabad)
==In popular culture==
*[[Krutika Desai Khan]] essayed her role in the Indian television series [[Noorjahan (TV series)|''Noorjahan'']], on [[Doordarshan]].
*[[Neetha Shetty]] portrayed Shah Begum in [[EPIC (TV channel)|EPIC]] channel's critically acclaimed historical drama ''[[Siyaasat]]'' (based on the ''Twentieth Wife'').
*Heli Daruwala portrayed her role in [[Colors TV|Colors]] Channel's [[Dastaan-E-Mohabbat Salim Anarkali]]
*[[Jyotsna Chandola]] portrayed her role in [[Jodha Akbar]] on [[Zee TV]].

==See also==
*[[Kingdom of Amber]]
*[[Jahangir]]
*[[Khusrau Mirza]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book|first=Beni|last=Prasad|title=History of Jahangir|publisher=The Indian Press, LTD, Allahbad|year=1930}}

==External links==
*{{cite web|url=http://www.boloji.com/history/012.htm |title=History of Islam in India The World Conqueror: Jahangir (1569-1627) by Dr. Neria H. Hebbar |website=Boloji.com |date=2002-06-12 |access-date=2017-05-18}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Begum, Shah}}
[[Category:1570s births]]
[[Category:1604 deaths]]
[[Category:Mughal nobility]]
[[Category:People from Agra]]
[[Category:Indian Hindus]]
[[Category:People from Jaipur]]
[[Category:Indian queen consorts]]
[[Category:16th-century Indian women]]
[[Category:16th-century Indian people]]
[[Category:Wives of Jahangir]]
[[Category:Indian princesses]]
[[Category:Rajput Princesses]]

Shah Begum (wife of Jahangir) - Revision history

IolaWatriama22: Updated article with clearer structure

>Manavati: /* Family */Sounds better now.