Created by LouisAragon
Last edited July 17, 2025
>LouisAragon
 
expanded intro also and fixed typos to improve readability
 
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{{Infobox royalty
{{Infobox royalty
| name        = Hazrat Begum
| name        = Hazrat Begum
| title        = [[Shahzadi]] of the [[Mughal Empire]]
| title        = [[Princess|Shahdukht]] of the [[Mughal Empire]]
| image        =  
| image        =  
| caption      =  
| caption      =  
| succession  = [[Empress consort]] of the [[Durrani Empire]]
| succession  =  
| reign        = 5 April 1757 – 4 June 1772
| reign        =  
| predecessor  =  
| predecessor  =  
| successor    =
| successor    =  
| birth_date  = {{birth-date|4 November 1741}}
| birth_date  = {{circa}} 1740
| birth_place  = [[Delhi]], [[India]]
| birth_place  = [[Delhi]], [[Delhi Subah]], [[Mughal Empire]] (modern day [[India]])
| death_date  = {{circa}} {{death year and age|1774|1741}}
| death_date  =  
| death_place  = [[Afghanistan]]
| death_place  =  
| burial_place = Mausoleum of Muhammad Shah, Nizamuddin Awliya, Delhi
| burial_place =  
| consort      = yes
| consort      = yes
| spouse      = [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]]
| spouse      = {{marriage|[[Ahmad Shah Durrani]]|1757|1772|end= {{Abbr|d.|death}}}}
| house        = [[Timurid dynasty|Timurid]] ''(by birth)''<br>[[Durrani]] ''(by marriage)''
| house        = [[Timurid dynasty|Timurid]] (by birth)<br>[[Durrani]] (by marriage)
| father      = [[Muhammad Shah]]
| father      = [[Muhammad Shah]]
| mother      = [[Sahiba Mahal]]
| mother      = [[Sahiba Mahal]]
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}}
}}


'''Hazrat [[Begum]]''' (4 November 1741 – {{circa}} 1774) ({{lang-ps|حضرت بېګم}}) was [[empress consort]] of the [[Durrani Empire]] from 5 April 1757 to 4 June 1772 as the wife of [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]], the first emperor of the [[Durrani Empire]]. She was a [[Mughal Empire|Mughal princess]] by birth as the daughter of Mughal emperor [[Muhammad Shah]].
'''Hazrat Begum''' ({{langx|fa|حضرت بیگم}}; {{langx|ps|حضرت بېګم}}; born {{circa}} 1740), also known as '''Hazrat Mahal'''<ref name="Sarkar1964">{{cite book | author = Sir Jadunath Sarkar | date = 1964 | title = 1771-1788. 3d ed. 1964 | publisher = Orient Longman | pages = 307}}</ref><ref name="Saha1997">{{cite book | author = Dr. B. P. Saha | date = 1997 | title = Begams, Concubines, and Memsahibs | publisher = Vikas Publishing House | pages = 29 | isbn = 9788125902850 }}</ref> and '''Sahiba Begum''',<ref name="Sarkar">{{cite web | author = Sarkar, Jadunath| title=Fall Of The Mughal Empire, Volume 1 | website=Internet Archive | date=1964 | page = 334| url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.43007 | access-date=2021-11-01}}</ref> was a [[Mughal Empire|Mughal princess]], as the daughter of Mughal Emperor [[Muhammad Shah]]. She was a wife of [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]], the first emir of the [[Durrani Empire]].


==Family and lineage==
==Life==
Hazrat Begum was born a Mughal princess and was the daughter of Mughal emperor [[Muhammad Shah]] and his wife [[Sahiba Mahal]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sarkar|first1=Jadunath|title=Fall of the Mughal Empire.|date=1999|publisher=Orient Longman|location=Hyderabad|isbn=9788125017615|page=268|edition=4th}}</ref> At the age of sixteen in February 1756, she became so famous for her matchless beauty that the Mughal emperor [[Alamgir II]], who was then about sixty, used pressure and threats to force Sahiba Mahal and the princess' guardian and step-mother, [[Badshah Begum]], to give him Hazrat Begum's hand in marriage.<ref name=Islamic >{{cite book|last1=Aḥmad|first1=ʻAzīz|last2=Israel|first2=Milton|title=Islamic society and culture: essays in honour of Professor Aziz Ahmad|date=1983|publisher=Manohar|page=146|language=en}}</ref> The princess preferred death over marrying an old wreck of sixty and Alamgir II did not succeed in marrying her.<ref name="Islamic" />
Hazrat Begum was born a Mughal princess and was the daughter of Mughal emperor [[Muhammad Shah]] and his wife [[Sahiba Mahal]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sarkar|first1=Jadunath|title=Fall of the Mughal Empire.|date=1999|publisher=Orient Longman|location=Hyderabad|isbn=9788125017615|page=268|edition=4th}}</ref> In April 1748, her father died, and her brother, [[Ahmad Shah Bahadur]], ascended the throne.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Edwards|first1=Michael|title=The Orchid House: Splendours and Miseries of the Kingdom of Oudh, 1827-1857|date=1960|publisher=Cassell|page=7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lZUeAAAAMAAJ&q=chief+queen|language=en}}</ref> His mother, [[Qudsia Begum]], gave pension to the Begums and the children of the late emperor not only from the government's purse but also from her own funds.<ref>{{cite book|first=Savita|last=Kumari|title=Udham Bai: A Glimpse into the Aplendid Life of a Later Mughal Queen|page=51}}</ref>


==Marriage==
On 26 May 1754,<ref name="Sarkar"/> Ahmad Shah was attacked on a journey by a band of Marathas under Malhar Rao Holkar.<ref>{{cite book | author = Bilkees I. Latif | date = 2010 | title = Forgotten | publisher = Penguin Books India | pages = 50 | isbn = 978-0-14-306454-1}}</ref> While running away from Sikandrabad, he took along with him Hazrat Begum, his mother [[Qudsia Begum]], his son [[Mahmud Shah Bahadur]], and his favourite wife Inayetpuri Bai, leaving all other empresses and princesses at the mercy of the enemies.<ref>{{cite book | author = Sudha Sharma | title = The Status of Muslim Women in Medieval India | publisher = SAGE Publications India | isbn = 9789351505679 | date = March 21, 2016|page=66}}</ref>
In April 1757, after sacking the imperial capital of [[Delhi]], the Durrani king Ahmed Shah Abdali desired to marry the deceased Emperor Muhammad Shah's 16-year-old daughter.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Comprehensive History of India: 1712-1772|date=1978|publisher=Orient Longmans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ggduAAAAMAAJ&q=Hazrat+sahiba+mahal|language=en}}</ref> As she was only 16 years old, Badshah Begum again resisted handing over her tender charge to an Afghan king 35 years old, but Shah forcibly wedded her on 5 April 1757 in Delhi.<ref name=Sarkar71>{{cite book|last1=Sarkar|first1=Sir Jadunath|title=1754-1771 (Panipat). 3d ed. 1966, 1971 printing|date=1971|publisher=Orient Longman|page=89|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RtU5AQAAIAAJ&q=Hazrat+sahiba+mahal|language=en}}</ref> After the wedding celebrations, Ahmad Shah took his young wife back to his native place of [[Afghanistan]]. The weeping bride was accompanied by Badshah Begum, Sahiba Mahal and a few ladies of note from the imperial Mughal harem.<ref name="Sarkar71" />
 
At the age of sixteen in February 1756, she became so famous for her matchless beauty that the Mughal emperor [[Alamgir II]], who was then about sixty, used pressure and threats to force Sahiba Mahal and the princess' guardian and step-mother, [[Badshah Begum]], to give him Hazrat Begum's hand in marriage.<ref name=Islamic >{{cite book|last1=Aḥmad|first1=ʻAzīz|last2=Israel|first2=Milton|title=Islamic society and culture: essays in honour of Professor Aziz Ahmad|date=1983|publisher=Manohar|page=146|language=en}}</ref> The princess preferred death over marrying an old wreck of sixty and Alamgir II did not succeed in marrying her.<ref name="Islamic" />
 
In April 1757, after [[Sack of Delhi (1757)|sacking the imperial capital of Delhi]], the Durrani king Ahmed Shah Abdali desired to marry the deceased Emperor Muhammad Shah's 16-year-old daughter.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Comprehensive History of India: 1712-1772|date=1978|publisher=Orient Longmans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ggduAAAAMAAJ&q=Hazrat+sahiba+mahal|language=en}}</ref> As she was only 16 years old, Badshah Begum again resisted handing over her tender charge to an Afghan king 35 years old, but Shah forcibly wedded her on 5 April 1757 in Delhi.<ref name=Sarkar71>{{cite book|last1=Sarkar|first1=Sir Jadunath|title=1754-1771 (Panipat). 3d ed. 1966, 1971 printing|date=1971|publisher=Orient Longman|page=89|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RtU5AQAAIAAJ&q=Hazrat+sahiba+mahal|language=en}}</ref> After the wedding celebrations, Ahmad Shah took his young wife back to his native place of [[Afghanistan]]. The weeping bride was accompanied by Badshah Begum, Sahiba Mahal and a few ladies of note from the imperial Mughal harem.<ref name="Sarkar71" />
 
==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc; |boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
|1= 1. '''Hazrat Begum'''
|2= 2. [[Muhammad Shah|Muhammad Shah, Mughal Emperor]]
|3= 3. [[Sahiba Mahal]]<ref name="Mehta2005">{{cite book | author = Jaswant Lal Mehta | date = 1 January 2005 | title = Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707-1813 | publisher = Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd | pages = 137 | isbn = 978-1-932705-54-6}}</ref>
|4= 4. [[Shahzada (title)|Shahzada]] [[Jahan Shah (Mughal prince)|Jahan Shah]]
|5= 5. Fakhr-un-nissa Begum<ref name="malik">{{cite book|last1=Malik|first1=Zahir Uddin|title=The reign of Muhammad Shah, 1719-1748|date=1977|publisher=Asia Pub. House|location=London|isbn=9780210405987|page=407}}</ref>
|6= 6. Sayid Salabat Khan<ref name="Singh2001">{{cite book | editor = Nagendra Kr Singh | date = 2001 | title = Encyclopaedia of Muslim Biography: S-Z | publisher = A.P.H. Publishing Corporation | isbn = 9788176482356 | page = 10}}</ref>
|7= 7. Safa Begum<ref name="Archives1970">{{cite book | author = Maharashtra (India). Dept. of Archives | date = 1970 | title = Maharashtra Archives, Volume 5 | publisher = Director, Government Print. and Stationery, Maharashtra State. | page = 13}}</ref>
|8= 8. [[Bahadur Shah I|Qutb-ud-din Muhammad Bahadur Shah I, Mughal Emperor]]
|9= 9. Dilruba<ref>Muni Lal, ''Mini Mughals'' (1989), p. 29</ref>
|10=
|11=
|12= 12. Nawab Sa'adat Khan Zulfiqar Jang<ref>{{cite book|last1=University|first1=Centre of Advanced Study, Department of History, Aligarh Muslim|title=Medieval India : a miscellany|date=1972|publisher=Asia Pub. House.|location=London|isbn=9780210223932|pages=252}}</ref>
|13=
|14=
|15=
|16= 16. [[Aurangzeb|Muhi-ud-din Muhammad Aurangzeb, Mughal Emperor]]
|17= 17. Nawab Bai of [[Rajauri]]
|18=
|19=
|20=
|21=
|22=
|23=
|24= 24. Sayyid Hussain Marashi
|25=
|26=
|27=
|28=
|29= }}


==See also==
==See also==
*[[Muhammad Shah]]
*[[Mughal Empire]]
*[[Mughal Empire]]


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist|2}}
 
{{Royal consorts of Afghanistan|state=collapsed}}


[[Category:Women of the Mughal Empire]]
[[Category:Mughal princesses]]
[[Category:Mughal princesses]]
[[Category:Timurid princesses]]
[[Category:1740s births]]
[[Category:1741 births]]
[[Category:People from the Durrani Empire]]
[[Category:Mughal nobility]]
[[Category:Afghan royal consorts]]
[[Category:1774 deaths]]
[[Category:Daughters of emperors]]
[[Category:People of the Durrani Empire]]
[[Category:18th-century Mughal Empire people]]

Latest revision as of 13:17, 17 July 2025

Hazrat Begum
Shahdukht of the Mughal Empire
Bornc. 1740
Delhi, Delhi Subah, Mughal Empire (modern day India)
Spouse
(
m. 1757;
d. 
1772)
HouseTimurid (by birth)
Durrani (by marriage)
FatherMuhammad Shah
MotherSahiba Mahal
ReligionIslam

Hazrat Begum (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.; Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.; born c. 1740), also known as Hazrat Mahal[1][2] and Sahiba Begum,[3] was a Mughal princess, as the daughter of Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah. She was a wife of Ahmad Shah Durrani, the first emir of the Durrani Empire.

Life[edit | edit source]

Hazrat Begum was born a Mughal princess and was the daughter of Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah and his wife Sahiba Mahal.[4] In April 1748, her father died, and her brother, Ahmad Shah Bahadur, ascended the throne.[5] His mother, Qudsia Begum, gave pension to the Begums and the children of the late emperor not only from the government's purse but also from her own funds.[6]

On 26 May 1754,[3] Ahmad Shah was attacked on a journey by a band of Marathas under Malhar Rao Holkar.[7] While running away from Sikandrabad, he took along with him Hazrat Begum, his mother Qudsia Begum, his son Mahmud Shah Bahadur, and his favourite wife Inayetpuri Bai, leaving all other empresses and princesses at the mercy of the enemies.[8]

At the age of sixteen in February 1756, she became so famous for her matchless beauty that the Mughal emperor Alamgir II, who was then about sixty, used pressure and threats to force Sahiba Mahal and the princess' guardian and step-mother, Badshah Begum, to give him Hazrat Begum's hand in marriage.[9] The princess preferred death over marrying an old wreck of sixty and Alamgir II did not succeed in marrying her.[9]

In April 1757, after sacking the imperial capital of Delhi, the Durrani king Ahmed Shah Abdali desired to marry the deceased Emperor Muhammad Shah's 16-year-old daughter.[10] As she was only 16 years old, Badshah Begum again resisted handing over her tender charge to an Afghan king 35 years old, but Shah forcibly wedded her on 5 April 1757 in Delhi.[11] After the wedding celebrations, Ahmad Shah took his young wife back to his native place of Afghanistan. The weeping bride was accompanied by Badshah Begum, Sahiba Mahal and a few ladies of note from the imperial Mughal harem.[11]

Ancestry[edit | edit source]

Ancestors of Hazrat Begum
16. Muhi-ud-din Muhammad Aurangzeb, Mughal Emperor
8. Qutb-ud-din Muhammad Bahadur Shah I, Mughal Emperor
17. Nawab Bai of Rajauri
4. Shahzada Jahan Shah
9. Dilruba[16]
2. Muhammad Shah, Mughal Emperor
5. Fakhr-un-nissa Begum[13]
1. Hazrat Begum
24. Sayyid Hussain Marashi
12. Nawab Sa'adat Khan Zulfiqar Jang[17]
6. Sayid Salabat Khan[14]
3. Sahiba Mahal[12]
7. Safa Begum[15]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Sir Jadunath Sarkar (1964). 1771-1788. 3d ed. 1964. Orient Longman. p. 307.
  2. Dr. B. P. Saha (1997). Begams, Concubines, and Memsahibs. Vikas Publishing House. p. 29. ISBN 9788125902850.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Sarkar, Jadunath (1964). "Fall Of The Mughal Empire, Volume 1". Internet Archive. p. 334. Retrieved 2021-11-01.
  4. Sarkar, Jadunath (1999). Fall of the Mughal Empire (4th ed.). Hyderabad: Orient Longman. p. 268. ISBN 9788125017615.
  5. Edwards, Michael (1960). The Orchid House: Splendours and Miseries of the Kingdom of Oudh, 1827-1857. Cassell. p. 7.
  6. Kumari, Savita. Udham Bai: A Glimpse into the Aplendid Life of a Later Mughal Queen. p. 51.
  7. Bilkees I. Latif (2010). Forgotten. Penguin Books India. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-14-306454-1.
  8. Sudha Sharma (March 21, 2016). The Status of Muslim Women in Medieval India. SAGE Publications India. p. 66. ISBN 9789351505679.
  9. 9.0 9.1 Aḥmad, ʻAzīz; Israel, Milton (1983). Islamic society and culture: essays in honour of Professor Aziz Ahmad. Manohar. p. 146.
  10. A Comprehensive History of India: 1712-1772. Orient Longmans. 1978.
  11. 11.0 11.1 Sarkar, Sir Jadunath (1971). 1754-1771 (Panipat). 3d ed. 1966, 1971 printing. Orient Longman. p. 89.
  12. Jaswant Lal Mehta (1 January 2005). Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707-1813. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. 137. ISBN 978-1-932705-54-6.
  13. Malik, Zahir Uddin (1977). The reign of Muhammad Shah, 1719-1748. London: Asia Pub. House. p. 407. ISBN 9780210405987.
  14. Nagendra Kr Singh, ed. (2001). Encyclopaedia of Muslim Biography: S-Z. A.P.H. Publishing Corporation. p. 10. ISBN 9788176482356.
  15. Maharashtra (India). Dept. of Archives (1970). Maharashtra Archives, Volume 5. Director, Government Print. and Stationery, Maharashtra State. p. 13.
  16. Muni Lal, Mini Mughals (1989), p. 29
  17. University, Centre of Advanced Study, Department of History, Aligarh Muslim (1972). Medieval India : a miscellany. London: Asia Pub. House. p. 252. ISBN 9780210223932.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Template:Royal consorts of Afghanistan