Skip to main content

Ladli Begum

Mihr-un-nissa Begum, better known as Ladli Begum, was the daughter of Mughal empress Nur Jahan and her first husband, Ali Quli Khan Istajlu, more famously known as Sher Afgan Khan, who was killed fighting Kutubuddin, the governor of Bengal, in 1607. Nur Jahan had become the 20th wife of Mughal emperor Jahangir in 1611.  

In 1621 Ladli Begum married Shaharyar, son of Jahangir. Naturally enough, Nur Jahan pushed Shaharyar's claim to the Mughal throne after the death of Jahangir on 27th October, 1627. This was resented by Nur Jahan's brother Asaf Khan who wanted his son-in-law Shah Jehan (another son of Jahangir) to be the next emperor.  

Hence all the competitors to the throne including Shaharyar were executed by Asaf Khan, father of Mumtaz Mahal (Shah Jahan’s wife in whose memory world renowned monument Taj Mahal in Agra was built). Nur Jehan and her daughter Ladli Begum were imprisoned for life. Shah Jahan ascended the throne on 19 January 1628. 

Nur Jahan died in 1645 and was buried in a tomb at Shahdara in Lahore, which she herself got built during her lifetime. Her mausoleum is close to her husband Jahangir’s mausoleum. Ladli Begum was also buried beside her mother.  Asaf Khan's mausoleum is adjacent to that of Jahangir.    

Bengali writer Narayan Sanyal  had written a historical novel Ladli Begum in 1986, which won him a literary award. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Muhammad Shah Rangila

Aurangzeb, the last great Mughal emperor, died in 1707. Muhammad Shah became Mughal emperor in 1719. During the interregnum, Bahadur Shah I , Jahandar Shah, Farrukhsiyar, Rafi-ud-Darajat and Rafi-ud-Daula ascended the Mughal throne. Jahandar Shah was murdered on the orders of Farrukhsiyar who had the support of the two powerful Mughal nobles Sayyid Abdullah and his brother Sayyid Husain Ali at that time. They are famous in history as Sayyid brothers, the King-makers. In 1719, Farrukhsiyar were murdered in utter disregard of a Mughal emperor by Sayyid brothers. Rafi-ud-Darajat died of consumption in a few months. Rafi-ud-Daula was addicted to opium and died in 4 months. Sayyid brothers now chose Raushan Akhtar, a son of Jahan Shah (the fourth son of Bahadur Shah I), to be the emperor. Raushan Akhtar ascended the throne under the title of Muhamamd Shah in September 1719. In the beginning Muhammad Shah was a puppet in the hands of Sayyid brothers who soon began to lose their gri...
1 comment
Read more

Muzaffarid dynasty of Gujarat

          Champaner’s Jama Masjid, built by Mahmud Begada/Wikimedia Commons Muzaffarid dynasty of Gujarat was founded by Zafar Khan, who was appointed governor of Gujarat in 1391 by the ruler of Delhi Sultanate, with the title Muzaffar Khan. Zafar Khan was son of Sadharan, a Jat convert to Islam. Firuz Shah Tughluq was married to Sadharan’s sister. Muzaffar Khan remained loyal to Delhi sultanate and was able to suppress the rebellions of Muslim and Hindu chieftains. Though deposed by his son Tatar Khan in 1403-4, he was restored to the throne by his uncle, Shams Khan Dandani, who poisoned Tatar Khan. Muzaffar proclaimed his independence as Muzaffer Shah in 1407. After his death in 1411 the throne passed on to Shihabuddin Ahmad Shah who ruled for thirty-one years. During his reign, Ahmad Shah (1411-42), who was son of the dead Tatar Khan, was engaged in continuous warfare and consolidated the Gujarat Sultanate. In 1411 he founded a new walled city which...
Post a Comment
Read more

Turkan-i-Chahalgani, the Group of Forty

Amir-i-Chahalgani, known variously as Turkan-i-Chahalgani and Chalisa (The Forty), was a group of 40 faithful slaves which came into existence with the task of protecting Shamsuddin Iltutmish , the third Slave Sultan of Delhi Sultanate. The idea to form the group was taken by him when he came to realize that Turkish nobles cannot be trusted and could be a threat to his rule. With the passage of time the group went on to become very influential and powerful. Though Iltutmish succeeded in keeping the group under control, after his rule they became notorious and intrigued against nearly all his successors.  The Forty acquired domination on the affairs of the state so much so that no ruler could defy them. Without their support it was utterly out of questions for the rulers to win the battle for succession. The members of this Turkish nobility used to appropriate all the offices of the state to themselves. Some of the rulers of the Slave dynasty after Iltutmish were murdered by these s...
Post a Comment
Read more