Nadira Banu Begum

Nadira Banu Begum (14 March 1618 – 6 June 1659) was a Mughal princess and the wife of the Crown prince, Dara Shikoh, the eldest son and heir-apparent of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. After Aurangzeb's rise to power, Dara Shikoh's immediate family and supporters were in grave danger. Nadira died in 1659, a few months before her husband's execution, and was survived by two sons and a daughter.

Family and lineage

Nadira Banu Begum was born a Mughal princess and was the daughter of Sultan Parvez Mirza, the second son of Emperor Jahangir from his wife, Sahib-i-Jamal Begum. Her mother, Jahan Banu Begum, was also a Mughal princess, being the daughter of Sultan Murad Mirza, the second son of Emperor Akbar. Nadira was a half-cousin of her future husband, Dara Shikoh, as her father, Sultan Parvez Mirza, was the older half-brother of Dara's father, Shah Jahan.

Marriage

Dara Shikoh's mother, Empress Mumtaz Mahal died in 1631 while giving birth to her fourteenth child, Gauharara Begum. After the Empress' death, the arrangements for the wedding between Dara Shikoh and Nadira Begum were halted as the Mughal Empire plunged into mourning and Shah Jahan was consumed in his grief. After much coaxing by many, including his favorite daughter Jahanara Begum, Shah Jahan resumed life as normal and let her oversee the remaining aspects of the wedding.

Nadira married her half-cousin, Dara Shikoh on 11 February 1633 at Agraamidst celebrations, pomp and grandeur. The ''nikah'' ceremony was performed after midnight. By all accounts, Nadira and Dara were both devoted to each other, and Dara is sometimes seen as even more devoted to Nadira than Shah Jahan was to Mumtaz Mahal — for unlike his father, Dara never contracted any other marriage. although had many concubines.

Nadira bore eight children, with two sons, Sulaiman Shikoh, Sipihr Shikoh and a daughter Jahanzeb Banu Begum, surviving to play important roles in future events. Within two years of their marriage, in 1635, the handsome Sulaiman Shikoh was born; while another son Sipihr Shikoh would follow in 1644. A daughter Jahanzeb, affectionately known as Jani Begum, was born sometime afterwards.

Nadira Begum wielded great influence in her husband's harem and was granted the right to issue ''farmans'' and ''nishans''. This privilege was allowed only to those who held the highest rank in the imperial harem. The only other woman who had this right apart from Nadira was her cousin and sister-in-law, Jahanara Begum.

Nadira and Jahanara were said to have gotten on well; a fact which probably sprung from Jahanara’s involvement in her wedding and her closeness to her brother. Jahanara had consciously decided to support Dara, the most beloved to her of all of her siblings, over Aurangzeb, and she made outward demonstrations of this decision by decelerating her love for her eldest brother Dara Shikoh. According to legend, when Aurangzeb had fallen sick sometime during his teen years, he called Jahanara to ask her if she would support him in his bid for the crown. She refused. Despite how unpopular this made her in his sight, she went on to become the head of the harem in Aurangzeb’s court.

Dara Shikoh, a patron of the arts, was said to be a fine painter, and many of his works, were considered to be almost of a professional standard. Some of his works were collected and gifted to Nadira Banu, his "dearest and intimate friend" and it was a token of his affection for her that she cherished until her death, after which it went on display at a museum. The album has now become famous as the "Dara Shikoh Album".

Death

Nadira Begum died on 6 June 1659 of dysentery while she was accompanying her husband and family in Bolan Pass, Pakistan. She had been faithful and devoted to her husband during the hardships in his life. Her death drew Dara into such a frantic state of grief that his own fate appeared as a matter of indifference to him.

Nadira's last wish was to be buried in India, and without considering the consequences of her request, Dara sent his deceased wife's corpse to Lahore in charge of his soldiers to be buried there. The princess' tomb was built next to Mian Mir's tomb in Lahore, Pakistan, who had been the spiritual instructor of Dara Shikoh.

Ancestry

In popular culture

*Nadira Banu Begum is a principal character in Indu Sundaresan's historical novel ''Shadow Princess'' (2010).
*Nadira Banu Begum is a character in Ruchir Gupta's historical novel ''Mistress of the Throne'' (2014).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Begum, Nadira Banu
Mughal princesses
Indian female royalty
1659 deaths
Mughal nobility
Women of the Mughal Empire
Year of birth unknown
17th-century Indian women
17th-century Indian people
1618 births