Khas Mahal (), meaning "the Exquisite One of the Palace", was one of the chief wives and empress of the Mughal emperor

Jahangir Nur-ud-din Muhammad Salim (31 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was List of emperors of the Mughal Empire, Emperor of Hindustan from 1605 until his death in 1627, and the fourth Mughal emperors, Mughal ...

Family

Khas Mahal was the daughter of Zain Khan Koka. Zain Khan was the son of Khawajah Maqsud of

Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...

and Pija Jan Anga, foster-mother of Emperor

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

. Khan's paternal uncle, Khawajah Hassan's daughter,

Sahib Jamal Sahib Jamal (; died 25 June 1599) was the wife of Prince Salim, the future Mughal emperor Jahangir and the mother of his second son, Prince Parviz. Family Sahib Jamal was of Turkish origin and the daughter of a respected Muslim religious pe ...

had been married to Jahangir, and was the mother of his son Prince

Parviz Mirza Parviz Mirza (31 October 1589 – 28 October 1626) was the second son of Mughal emperor Jahangir from his wife, Sahib Jamal. His daughter, Nadira Banu Begum, later became the wife of Dara Shikoh. Early life Born on 31 October 1589, Parviz wa ...

. Khas Mahal had two brothers, named Zafar Khan and Mughal Khan. The former served under

and Jahangir, and died on 7 March 1622. The latter served under Jahangir and his son

Shah Jahan Shah Jahan I, (Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram; 5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), also called Shah Jahan the Magnificent, was the Emperor of Hindustan from 1628 until his deposition in 1658. As the fifth Mughal emperor, his reign marked the ...

, and died on 1 July 1657. A sister of Khas Mahal was married to Mirza Anwar, a son of Mirza Aziz Koka, Akbar's foster brother.

Marriage

In 1596 Prince Salim (future Emperor Jahangir) became violently enamored of her and meditated on marrying her. Akbar was displeased at the impropriety. The cause of Akbar's objection was

who had already been married to Salim. Akbar objected to marriages between near relations. However, when Akbar saw that Salim's heart was immoderately affected, he, of necessity, gave his consent. There was a great feast and joy. The marriage took place on the eve of 18 June 1596 at the house of Dowager empress

Hamida Banu Begum Hamida Banu Begum (Persian: حمیده بانو بیگم; 1527 – 29 August 1604) was the queen consort, empress consort of the second Mughal emperor Humayun and the mother of his successor, the third Mughal emperor Akbar. ...

. When Jahangir ascended the throne, Khas Mahal became empress.

Sir William Hawkins Sir William Hawkins (fl. c. 1600) was a representative of the English East India Company notable for being the commander of ''Hector'', the first company ship to anchor at Surat in India on 24 August 1608. Hawkins travelled to Agra and met t ...

, a representative of the

English East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South Asia and Southeast A ...

noted her among Jahangir's chief wives. He said the following:

Architecture

In 1642–43, Khas Mahal commissioned a palace near the old fort in the neighborhood of Nizamuddin,

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, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

In popular culture

Khas Mahal is a character in Jyoti Jafa's historical novel ''Nur Jahan: A Historical Novel'' (1978).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khas Mahal Wives of Jahangir Year of death unknown 16th-century Indian women 16th-century Mughal Empire people Place of birth unknown Year of birth unknown 17th-century Indian Muslims 17th-century Indian women