Zainabadi Mahal (; born Hira Bai; died 1654) was a

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal relationship, interpersonal and Intimate relationship, sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarde ...

of Mughal emperor

Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...

Life

Described as the 'darling of Aurangzeb's youth', Zainabadi Mahal was a Kashmiri Hindu, abandoned by her parents and sold in the market. She was a slave girl of Mir Khalil, and had been a singing and dancing girl. Mir Khalil was the son-in-law of Asaf Khan, and was successively surnamed Muftakhar Khan, Sipahdar Khan, and Khan-i-Zaman. He was sent to the Deccan as Chief of the Artillery in the 23rd year of

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 ...

, 1649–50. In 1653, he became commandant of Dharur. It was only in Aurangzeb's reign that he became subahdar of

Khandesh Khandesh is a geographic region in Maharashtra, India. It was made up of present Jalgaon, Dhule and Nandurbar districts. It also said that Burhanpur District of Madhya Pradesh was also its part. The region have seen many geographical ch ...

. In 1652 or 1653, during his vice royalty of the Deccan, the prince went with the ladies of his harem to the garden of Zainabad, Burhanpur, named Ahu-khanah (Deer Park). Here he saw Zainabadi, who had come there with the other slaves of Khan-i-Zaman's wife (the Prince's maternal aunt), and was jumping up to pluck a mango from the tree. Her musical skills and charms captivated Aurangzeb. He had fallen in love with her, and negotiated with Mir Khalil to give her to him. Mir Khalil proposed an exchange between Zainabadi and one of Aurangzeb's slave girls, Chatter Bai. She was surnamed Zainabadi Mahal, because ever since from the reign 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 ...

, it had been ordained that the names of the women of the imperial harem should not be mentioned in public, they should be designated by some epithet, derived either from the place of their birth or the city or country where they had entered the imperial harem. Aurangzeb then lingered in Burhanpur for the next nine months in spite of Shah Jahan's repeated orders urging him to go to Aurangabad. One day, Zainabadi taunted him by offering him a cup of wine in order to test his love. This love-affair proceeded to such lengths as to reach Shah Jahan's ears. His elder brother,

Dara Shikoh Dara Shikoh (20 March 1615 – 30 August 1659), also transliterated as Dara Shukoh, was the eldest son and heir-apparent of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Dara was designated with the title ''Padshahzada-i-Buzurg Martaba'' () and was favoured ...

, made this incident known to their father in order to slander Aurangzeb. She probably accompanied him to Daulatabad when he made a month long journey there in November 1653, and died in around 1654. She was buried at Aurangabad close to the big tank. On the day of her death the prince became very unwell; in extreme agitation he rode out to hunt.

Niccolao Manucci Niccolao Manucci (19 April 1638 – 1717) was a Venetian writer, a self-taught physician, and traveller, who wrote accounts of the Mughal Empire as a first-hand witness. His work is considered to be one of the most useful foreign sources for th ...

, a Venetian adventurer, who traveled through India during the period reports that after she died, Aurangzeb "vowed never to take up wine or to listen to music," and would later claim that God had been very gracious to him by putting an end to that dancing girl's life, for through her the prince had "committed so many sins that he can risk of never reigning by being occupied in such vices."

In literature

* Zainabadi is a character in

Khushwant Singh Khushwant Singh FKC (born Khushal Singh, 2 February 1915 – 20 March 2014) was an Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist and politician. His experience in the 1947 Partition of India inspired him to write '' Train to Pakistan'' in 1956 ( ...

's historical novel '' Delhi: A Novel'' (1990). * Zainabadi is a character in Hamid Ismailov's historical novel ''A Poet and Bin-Laden: A Reality Novel'' (2018).

References

{{Authority control Year of birth unknown 1654 deaths Concubines of Mughal emperors Mughal royal consorts Women from the Mughal Empire 17th-century Mughal Empire people 17th-century Indian women People from Burhanpur Slave concubines Indian slaves Indian courtesans 17th-century slaves Indian female dancers