Badshah Begum

Badshah Begum ( 1703 – 14 December 1789) was the first wife and chief consort of the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah. She is popularly known by her title Malika-uz-Zamani ("Queen of the Age") which was conferred upon her by her husband, immediately after their marriage.

Badshah Begum was a second-cousin of her husband and was a Mughal princess by birth. She was the daughter of Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar and his first wife, Gauhar-un-Nissa Begum. She wielded major political influence in the Mughal court during her husband's reign and was his most influential wife. It was through her efforts that her step-son, Ahmad Shah Bahadur, was able to ascend the Mughal throne.

Family and lineage Badshah Begum was born c.1703, during the reign of her great-great-grandfather Aurangzeb. She was the daughter of the later Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar and his first wife, Gauhar-un-Nissa Begum. Farrukhsiyar was the second son of Prince Azim-ush-Shan born to his wife Sahiba Niswan Begum. Azim-ush-Shan was himself the second son of the seventh Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah I.

Badshah Begum's mother, Gauhar-un-Nissa Begum (also known as Fakhr-un-Nissa Begum), was the daughter of Sadat Khan, a Mughal noble of Turkish origin, who had been Mir Atish (head of artillery) under Farrukhsiyar. and the younger half-brother of Emperor Farrukhsiyar's father, Prince Azim-ush-Shan. Badshah Begum was therefore a second cousin of her husband through her father. She married Muhammad Shah on 8 December 1721 in Delhi. The marriage was celebrated with great splendour. Accordingly, many of the officers presented lakhs of rupees, and everyone received a dress of honour, jewels, and an increase in pay. Upon her marriage, Badshah Begum was given the title of Malika-uz-Zamani ("Queen of the Age") by which she is popularly known, and further, the exalted title of Padshah Begum. Badshah Begum bore her husband his first son, Shahriyar Shah Bahadur, who died in his childhood. After that, she remained childless. Later, Badshah Begum also brought up Ahmad Shah's daughter, Muhtaram-un-Nisa.

Badshah Begum commissioned elegant mansions in Jammu and, in typical Mughal style, laid the foundations of pleasure gardens on the banks of the Tawi River.

Dowager In April 1748, Muhammad Shah died. Badshah Begum, concealing the news of his death, sent messages to her step-son Ahmad Shah Bahadur, who was in camp with Safdar Jang near Panipat to return to Delhi and claim the throne. On Safdar Jang's advice, he was enthroned at Panipat and returned to Delhi a few days later. Badshah Begum was greatly respected by the court and the people as a Dowager, even after the Emperor's death. The princess made it clear that she preferred death to marrying an old man, and Alamgir II ultimately failed to win her. Badshah Begum again resisted handing over her tender charge to a fierce Afghan of "grandfatherly age", but Ahmad Shah forcibly wedded Hazrat Begum on 5 April 1757 in Delhi. After their wedding celebrations, Ahmad Shah took his young wife back to his native country of Afghanistan. The weeping bride was accompanied by her mother, Sahiba Mahal, and by her step-mother, Badshah Begum, along with a few other ladies of note from the imperial harem. On 16 October 1788, the now blind Shah Alam II was reinstated as Mughal emperor under Maratha suzerainty and on 17 October 1788 khutbah was read in his name. His formal coronation happened on 7 February 1789.

Death Badshah Begum died in 1789 in Delhi and was buried in the Tis Hazari Bagh (Garden of Thirty Thousand). The garden had been commissioned by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan during his reign. Emperor Aurangzeb's daughter, Princess Zeenat-un-Nissa, had also been buried in the Tis Hazari Bagh upon her death in 1721.

Ancestry