Shah Shuja (Mughal prince): Difference between revisions

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{{marriage|Bilqis Banu Begum|1633|1634|end={{Abbr|d.|death}}}}

|Piari Banu Begum

|issue = {{unbulletedlist|Dilpazir Banu Begum|Zain-ud-Din Mirza|Zain-ul-Abidin Mirza|Buland Akhtar Mirza|Gulrukh Banu Begum|Roshan Ara Begum|Amina Banu Begum|}}

Shah Shuja was born on 23 June 1616, in Ajmer. He was the second son and fourth child of the Mughal emperor [[Shah Jahan]] and his queen [[Mumtaz Mahal]]. Shah Jahan's step-mother, empress [[Nur Jahan]] adopted Prince Shah Shuja upon his birth. This new responsibility was given to her due to her high rank, political clout and Jahangir's affection for her. It was also an honour for the empress as Shuja was a special favourite of his grandfather, emperor [[Jahangir]].<ref>{{harvnb|Banks Findly|1993|p=98}}</ref>

 

Shuja's siblings were the eldest sister [[Jahanara Begum]], [[Dara Shikoh]], [[Roshanara Begum]], [[Aurangzeb]], [[Murad Baksh]], [[Gauhara Begum]] and others. He had three sons - Sultan Zain-ul-Din (Bon Sultan or Sultan Bang), Buland Akhtar and Zainul Abidin; and four daughters - Gulrukh Banu, Roshanara Begum and Amina Begum.<ref>Stanley Lane-Pool, 1971, Aurangzeb, vol.1.</ref>{{check source|reason=only three are listed here|date=August 2013}}

On the death of his first wife, he married Piari Banu Begum,<ref>{{cite book|first=Nagendra|last=Kr Singh|title=Encyclopaedia of women biography: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Volume 3|publisher=A.P.H. Pub. Corp.|year=2001|pages=51|isbn=978-8-176-48264-6}}</ref> daughter of [[Azam Khan (Subahdar)|Azam Khan]], the second governor of [[Bengal]] during Shah Jahan's reign.<ref>{{cite book|title=Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society - Volumes 1-2|publisher=Pakistan Historical Society|year=1953|pages=338}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Abdul Karim|title=History of Bengal: The Reigns of Shah Jahan and Aurangzib|publisher=Institute of Bangladesh Studies, University of Rajshahi, 1995 - Bengal (India)|year=1993|pages=363}}</ref> She was the mother of two sons and three daughters,<ref>{{cite book|first=Nagendra Kr|last=Singh|title=Encyclopaedia of Muslim Biography: Muh-R|publisher=A.P.H. Pub. Corp.|year=2001|pages=402|isbn=978-8-176-48234-9}}</ref> namely, Prince Zain-ud-din Mirza, born on 28 October 1639; Prince Zain-ul-Abidin Mirza, born on 20 December 1645; Gulrukh Banu Begum (wife of Prince [[Muhammad Sultan (Mughal prince)|Muhammad Sultan]]), Raushan Ara Begum and Amina Banu Begum.<ref>{{cite book|first=Sunīti Bhūshaṇa|last=Kānunago|title=A History of Chittagong: From ancient times down to 1761|publisher=Dipankar Qanungo|year=1988|pages=304}}</ref> In 1660, she fled to Arakan with her husband, sons and  daughters. Shuja was murdered in 1661. His sons were put to death. Piari Banu Begum and two of her daughters committed suicide. The remaining daughter, Amina Banu Begum, was brought to the palace, where, from grief, she died an early death.<ref>{{cite book|first=Arthur P.|last=Phayre|title=History of Burma:&nbsp;From the Earliest Time to the End of the First War with British India|publisher=Routledge|date=June 17, 2013|pages=178–9|isbn=978-1-136-39841-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Pakistan|publisher=Asiatic Society of Pakistan|year=1967|pages=251}}</ref> According to another source, one of Shuja's daughters was married to King [[Sanda Thudhamma]]. A year later, he scented a plot and starved all of them to death, while his wife was in an advanced stage of pregnancy by himself.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Edward James|last1=Rap|first2=Sir Wolseley|last2=Heg|first3=Sir Richard|last3=Burn|title=The Cambridge History of India, Volume 3|publisher=CUP Archive|year=1928|pages=481}}</ref>

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