Jahanara Begum

This article is about the Mughal princess. For other uses, see Jahanara Begum (disambiguation).
Jahanara Begum
Shahzadi of the Mughal Empire
Begum aged 18, painting dated 1632
Padshah Begum
1st reign17 June 1631 – 31 June 1658
PredecessorMumtaz Mahal
SuccessorRoshanara Begum
2nd reign1669 – 16 September 1681
PredecessorRoshanara Begum
SuccessorZinat-un-Nissa
Born23 March 1614[1]
Ajmer, Mughal Empire
Died16 September 1681(1681-09-16) (aged 67)
Delhi, Mughal Empire
Burial
Nizamuddin Dargah, Delhi
Posthumous name
Sahibat-uz-Zamani
HouseTimurid
FatherShah Jahan
MotherMumtaz Mahal
ReligionSunni Islam

Jahanara Begum (23 March 1614 – 16 September 1681) was a princess of the Mughal Empire. She was the second and the eldest surviving child of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal.

After Mumtaz Mahal's untimely death in 1631, the 17-year-old Jahanara was entrusted with the charge of the royal seal and conferred the title of Padshah Begum (First lady) of the Mughal Empire, despite the fact that her father had three surviving wives. She was Shah Jahan's favorite daughter and she wielded major political influence during her father's reign, and has been described as "the most powerful woman in the empire" at the time.[2]

Jahanara was an ardent partisan of her brother, Dara Shikoh, and supported him as her father's chosen successor. During the war of succession which took place after Shah Jahan's illness in 1657, Jahanara sided with the heir-apparent Dara and joined her father in Agra Fort, where he had been placed under house arrest by Aurangzeb. A devoted daughter, she took care of Shah Jahan till his death in 1666. Later, Jahanara reconciled with Aurangzeb who gave her the title 'Empress of Princesses' and replaced her younger sister, Princess Roshanara Begum, as the First Lady.[3] Jahanara died during Aurangzeb's reign. She is known for her written works as well, which continues to be a primary way in which her presence in Sufism survives into today. She is well known for a biography of Sheikh Mu’in ad’-Din Chishti, ‘Munis al arwah’ whom she believed to have been the highest of the Sufi saints in India and her spiritual master, despite having lived four centuries before her.[4]

  1. ^ Lal, K.S. (1988). The Mughal harem. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan. p. 90. ISBN 9788185179032.
  2. ^ ASHER, CATHERINE; Asher, Catherine Ella Blanshard; Asher, Catherine Blanshard; Asher, Catherine B. (1992). Architecture of Mughal India. Cambridge University Press. p. 265. ISBN 9780521267281.
  3. ^ Preston, page 285.
  4. ^ Lambert-Hurley, Siobhan (2022). Three Centuries of Travel Writing By Muslim Women. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.