Zeenat Mahal; (1823 – 17 July 1886) was the only wife and

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...

regent of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

on behalf of her husband, the Mughal emperor

Bahadur Shah Zafar Bahadur Shah II, usually referred to by his poetic title Bahadur Shah ''Zafar'' (; ''Zafar'' Victory) was born Mirza Abu Zafar Siraj-ud-din Muhammad (24 October 1775 – 7 November 1862) and was the twentieth and last Mughal Emperor as well a ...

Biography

Zeenat Mahal married

Bahadur Shah II Bahadur Shah II, usually referred to by his poetic title Bahadur Shah ''Zafar'' (; ''Zafar'' Victory) was born Mirza Abu Zafar Siraj-ud-din Muhammad (24 October 1775 – 7 November 1862) and was the twentieth and last Mughal Emperor as well a ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

on 19 November 1840 and had a son with him, Mirza Jawan Bakht. She greatly influenced the emperor and, after the death of crown prince

Mirza Dara Bakht Mirza Dara Bakht Miran Shah Bahadur (1790 - 8 February 1849) was the eldest son of Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar Bahadur Shah II, usually referred to by his poetic title Bahadur Shah ''Zafar'' (; ''Zafar'' Victory) was born Mirza Abu Zafar Si ...

, she began promoting her son Mirza Jawan Bakht as heir to the throne over the Emperor's remaining eldest son

Mirza Fath-ul-Mulk Bahadur Shahzada Mirza Fath-ul-Mulk Bahadur also known as Mirza Fakhru ( 1816 or 1818 – 10 July 1856) was the last Crown Prince of the Mughal Empire. Biography A senior Prince of the Mughal Royal Family, he was the son of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the las ...

. But due to the

primogeniture Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...

policy of the British, this was not accepted. She was suspected of poisoning the British Resident in Delhi, Thomas Metcalfe, in 1853 for meddling too much in palace affairs. Zeenat%20Mahal%20at%20Lal%20Kuan%20in%20Old%20Delhi

Zeenat%20Mahal%20at%20Lal%20Kuan%20in%20Old%20Delhi

She resided at her own ''

haveli A ''haveli'' is a traditional townhouse, mansion, manor house, in the Indian subcontinent, usually one with historical and architectural significance, and located in a town or city. The word ''haveli'' is derived from Arabic ''hawali'', m ...

, Zeenat Mahal,'' in Lal Kuan,

old Delhi Old Delhi or Purani Dilli is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan (the Mughal emperor at the time) decided to shift the Mughal capital from Agra. T ...

1857 rebellion

During the

Indian rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the for ...

, she kept her son out of contact with the rebels in an attempt to secure the throne for him. With the British victory, the emperor's two other sons were shot for supporting the rebels; however, her son did not become heir. In 1858, her husband was deposed by the British, bringing the Mughal empire to an end, and she was exiled to

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

with her husband. After her husband's death in 1862, the British banned anyone from claiming the title of Emperor in an attempt to dissolve the monarchy.

Death

She died on 17 July 1886. Another source says that she "died more than 20 years after her husband." She was buried in her husband's tomb in

Yangon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

Dagon Township Dagon Township ( my, ဒဂုံ မြို့နယ် ) is located immediately north of downtown Yangon. The township comprises five wards, and shares borders with Bahan Township in the north, Ahlon Township in the west, Mingala Taungnyunt ...

near the Shwedagon Pagoda. The site later became known as

Dargah. The grandchild of her and Bahadur Shah II is also buried alongside the couple. After remaining lost for many decades, the tomb was discovered during a restoration exercise in 1991.

Gallery

File:Marriage certificate of the last Mughal ruler, Bahadur Shah II (r. 1837-57) to Zinat Mahal Begam, on 18 November 1840.jpg, ''Kabin-name'' (Marriage Certificate) of Bahadur Shah and Zeenat Mahal File:Zinat mahal.jpg, A portraiture of Zeenat Mahal File:Zeenat Mahal, wife of Bahadur Shah II.jpg, A portraiture of Zeenat Mahal File:Zinat Mahal.jpg, A portraiture of Zeenat Mahal File:Upper Floor of Mazar of Bahadur Shah Zafar.jpg, Zeenat Mahal's tomb in Yangon File:Zeenat Mahal at Lal Kuan in Old Delhi.jpg, Zeenat Mahal's haveli at Lal Kuan in Old Delhi

References

External links

The Prime Minister at Bahadur Shah Zafar's Dargah (Video)
at

CNN-IBN CNN-News18 (originally CNN-IBN) is an Indian English-language news television channel founded by Raghav Bahl based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is currently co-owned by Network18 Group and Warner Bros. Discovery. CNN provides internat ...