Dilras Banu Begum

Dilras Banu Begum
Safavid Princess
Consort of the Mughal Empire
Zan-i-Kalan
Bornc. 1622[1]
Died8 October 1657(1657-10-08) (aged 34–35)
Aurangabad, India
Burial
Bibi Ka Maqbara, Aurangabad
Spouse
(m. 1637)
Issue
HouseSafavid (by birth)
Mughal (by marriage)
FatherShah Nawaz Khan Safavi
MotherNauras Banu Begum
ReligionShia Islam

Dilras Banu Begum (Urdu pronunciation: [dɪlrəs ˈbaːnuː ˈbeːgəm]; c. 1622 – 8 October 1657) was the first wife and chief consort of Emperor Aurangzeb,[2][3][4][5] the sixth Mughal emperor.[6] She is also known by her posthumous title, Rabia-ud-Durrani ("Rabia of the Age"). The Bibi Ka Maqbara in Aurangabad, which bears a striking resemblance to the Taj Mahal (the mausoleum of Aurangzeb's mother Mumtaz Mahal), was commissioned by her husband to act as her final resting place.[7]

Dilras was a member of the Safavid dynasty of Persia and was the daughter of Mirza Badi-uz-Zaman Safavi (titled Shahnawaz Khan), a descendant of Shah Ismail I, who served as the viceroy of Gujarat. She married Prince Muhi-ud-din (later known as 'Aurangzeb' upon his accession) in 1637 and bore him five children, including: Muhammad Azam Shah (the heir apparent anointed by Aurangzeb),[8] who temporarily succeeded his father as Mughal emperor, the gifted poet Princess Zeb-un-Nissa (Aurangzeb's favourite daughter),[9] Princess Zinat-un-Nissa (titled Padshah Begum), and Sultan Muhammad Akbar, the Emperor's best-loved son.[10]

Dilras died possibly of puerperal fever in 1657, a month after giving birth to her fifth child, Muhammad Akbar,[11] and just a year before her husband ascended the throne after a fratricidal war of succession.

  1. ^ Paranjape, Makarand R. (2016). Cultural Politics in Modern India: Postcolonial Prospects, Colourful Cosmopolitanism, Global Proximities. Routledge. p. 32. ISBN 9781317352167.
  2. ^ Eraly, Abraham (2007). The Mughal World: Life in India's Last Golden Age. Penguin Books India. p. 147. ISBN 9780143102625.
  3. ^ Chandra, Satish (2002). Parties and politics at the Mughal Court, 1707-1740. Oxford University Press. p. 50.
  4. ^ Koch, Ebba (1997). King of the world: the Padshahnama. Azimuth Ed. p. 104.
  5. ^ Nath, Renuka (1990). Notable Mughal and Hindu women in the 16th and 17th centuries A.D. New Delhi: Inter-India Publ. p. 148.
  6. ^ "Aurangzeb". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  7. ^ Eraly, Abraham (2008). The Mughal world: India's tainted paradise. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 376.
  8. ^ Sir Jadunath Sarkar (1925). Anecdotes of Aurangzib. M.C. Sarkar & Sons. p. 21.
  9. ^ Krynicki, p. 73
  10. ^ Sir Jadunath Sarkar (1919). Studies in Mughal India. W. Heffer and Sons. p. 91.
  11. ^ Krynicki, p. 3