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Thursday, April 13, 2023

Shah Begum - Jahangir's first wife and Shehzade Khusrau's mother

 Shah Begum was the title given to Jahangir's first wife and Shehzade Khusrau's mother, a Kachhwaha princess, Man Bai. She was also his first cousin from his maternal side. She married Jahangir when he was still a Mughal prince, at the young age of fifteen.

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History doesn't record much about Mughal queens and princesses, they were mostly behind the purdah, and not all of them were favoured by the king to have acknowledged a place in the court chronicles.

Shah Begum Tomb
Shah Begum Tomb

While Man Bai finds mention in the Jahangirnama, she was not one of the influential women of the harem. Jahangir goes on to write about her in his memoirs after she killed herself when not able to solve the troubled relationship between her husband and son, with an overdose.

Shah Begum
Shah Begum


He mourns her death and loss, saying, 'What shall I write of her goodness and excellence? She had a mind to perfection and she was so loyal to me that she would have sacrificed a thousand sons and brothers for one hair on my head. She constantly wrote advice to Khusrau and tried to reason with him to be loving and loyal to me.'

shah-begum-and-Jahanjir
Shah Begum and Jahanjir


Though a Hindu by birth, she was buried after death according to Islamic culture. The construction of her tomb was entrusted to Aqa Reza, the principal artist at Allahabad court. Her tomb is located in Khusrau Bagh, Allahabad. It was completed in 1607.

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