Zeenat-un-Nissa

Zeenat-un-Nissa
Padshah Begum of Mughal
Tenure 16 September 1681 - 7 May 1721
Predecessor Jahanara Begum
Successor Badshah Begum
Born 5 October 1643
Aurangabad, India
Died 7 May 1721 (aged 77)
Delhi, India
Burial Zinat-ul-Masjid
Dynasty Timurid
Father Aurangzeb
Mother Dilras Banu Begum
Religion Islam

Zeenat-un-Nissa (5 October 1643 – 7 May 1721) was an Imperial princess of the Mughal Empire as the second daughter of Emperor Aurangzeb and his chief consort Dilras Banu Begum. During her lifetime, she had the honorific title of Padshah Begum[1] conferred upon her. The previous holders of this honorific and exclusive title were her paternal aunts, Jahanara Begum and Roshanara Begum.

Princess Zeenat-un-Nissa is known by historians for her piety and extensive charity.[2]:14,318

Biography

Zeenat-un-Nissa ("Jewel among Women") was probably born at Aurangabad to Dilras Banu Begum, her father's first wife and chief consort. Her mother was a member of the Safavid dynasty, the then ruling dynasty of Iran. Her maternal grandfather was Mirza Badi-uz-Zaman Safavi,[3] while her paternal grandfather being Emperor Shah Jahan during whose reign she was born.

She had in-depth knowledge of the doctrines of Islam, just like her elder sister, Princess Zeb-un-Nisa and her younger sister, Princess Zubdat-un-Nissa.[4] She was educated by private tutors and scholars, and refused to marry, choosing to remain single her entire life.

She was a partisan of her step-brother, Kam Baksh, for whom she gained pardon from her father on several occasions.[5] Though her real brother, Azam, had a strong disliking for him.

She was her father's sole companion during the later part of his reign, along with his concubine Udaipuri Mahal. She was the superintendent of her father's household in the Deccan for a quarter of a century till his death in 1707. She survived him many years, enjoying the respect of his successors as the living memorial of a great age.[2]:282

She had the Zeenat-ul-Masjid ("Ornament of Mosques") constructed at her expense in c.1700 by the riverside wall of the Red Fort in Delhi, where she was buried.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Sir Jadunath Sarkar (1973). Volumes 1-2 of History of Aurangzib: Mainly Based on Original Sources. Orient Longman. p. 38.
  2. 1 2 Sir Jadunath Sarkar (1979). A short history of Aurangzib, 1618-1707.
  3. ↑ Annie Krieger-Krynicki (2005). Captive princess: Zebunissa, daughter of Emperor Aurangzeb. Oxford University Press. p. 1.
  4. ↑ Schimmel, Annemarie (1980). Islam in the Indian Subcontinent, Volume 2, Issue 4, Part 3. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 9789004061170.
  5. ↑ Richards, J.F. (1995). Mughal empire (Transferred to digital print. ed.). Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521566032.
  6. ↑ Annemarie Schimmel, Burzine K. Waghmar (2004). The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture. Reaktion Books. p. 154.
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