Tag Archives: Bega Begum

Women who patronised Delhi

DELHI :

Grand design: A view of Fatehpuri Masjid | Photo Credit: V_V_Krishnan
Grand design: A view of Fatehpuri Masjid | Photo Credit: V_V_Krishnan

From Haji Begum to Qudsia Begum, there is a a long list of women who contributed to the city’s grandeur

Women who patronised Delhi and converted it into a centre of art and culture, besides making it verdant and floral by laying parks and gardens, can be traced right from the time of Bega Begum or Haji Begum who built the beautiful tomb for her husband in Nizamuddin, which became the model for the Taj Mahal. After her, the daughters of Shah Jahan made it a paradisiacal city (just as Nur Jahan had done so earlier in Lahore and Kashmir). They were followed by Qudsia Begum and in recent times, in a small way though, by Lady Willingdon, Aruna Asaf Ali, Indira Gandhi and Sheila Dixit, among others. From the mid-17th century, the social and cultural fabric of Shahjahanabad has borne the stamp of women as during the Mughal era they acquired considerable wealth and influence. Much of what survives in Shahjahanabad reminds us of them and their contribution, compiled from different sources.

The imperial city was given overall shape under the supervision of Shah Jahan himself. His diktat determined the encircling of the city wall and the two main streets, running north-south and east-west, respectively at their junction of the palace complex (Red Fort) and the congregational Jama Masjid. “Within the limits of this centralised plan, it was mainly individual enterprise that led to the creation of commercial, religious, public spaces and homes.” Among the landmarks of the city were its mosques, three of which were commissioned by the wives of Shah Jahan after the death of Mumtaz Mahal – Akbarabadi, Fatehpuri and Sirhindi masjids named after the three. Akbarabadi Begum of Agra built a grand mosque to the south of Red Fort which was demolished by the British after the Revolt of 1857. Akbarabadi Begum was gifted a garden by Shah Jahan to the north-west of the city which came to be known as Aizzabad or Shalimar Bagh. The Begum then built a sarai within it. It was in this garden that the coronation of Aurangzeb took place on the July 31, 1658, after he had deposed Shah Jahan and also the place where Gen Ochterlony caught a chill that led to his death. Another wife of the emperor, Fatehpuri Begum built a mosque at the western end of the street that led from the Red Fort, which is known after her name. The Sirhindi Masjid, just outside the city wall, was built by the third wife, Sirhindi Begum.

Women of influence

Shah Jahan’s elder daughter, Jahanara commanded great influence and resources. She was well-educated and also had leanings towards Sufism. Jahanara’s wealth enabled her to patronise works of learning, like commentaries on Rumi’s Masnavi and for commissioning architectural projects, in which the pride of place was taken by the moonlight square, Chandni Chowk.

Mughal ladies who continued the tradition of Jahanara and Roshanara were Aurangzeb’s wife, Aurangabadi Begum who built a mosque near the Lahore Gate. The emperor’s two daughters, Zinat-un-Nissa and Zeb-un-Nissa, were also great patrons. Zeb-un-Nissa is the author of poems composed under the alias ‘Makhfi’. A skilled calligraphist, she patronised many writers, poets and learned men and commissioned several important books and tracts. She was buried in the Tees Hazari Bagh, inherited from Jahanara, but her tomb is hard to find.

Her sister Zinat-un-Nissa built a grand mosque beside the Yamuna in 1700 which is called Ghata Masjid now, her tomb, north of the mosque, was demolished in the aftermath of 1857 while the mosque was used as a bakery for British troops.

Story of Sunehri Masjid

Qudsia Begum laid Qudsia Bagh to the north of the city in 1748 whose grand buildings and a mosque were badly damaged during 1857. She also constructed Sunheri masjid near the southern gate of the Red Fort in 1751, whose dome were originally gilt-covered. A noted Shia, she constructed a number of buildings in Jorbagh, at the Dargah of Shah-e-Mardan, the shrine of the footprint of Hazrat Ali. Fakhr-ul-Masjid, near Kashmeri Gate, was built in 1728-29 by Kaniz Fatima in memory of her husband, Shujat Khan, a commander of Aurangzeb’s time who was killed during a military campaign in Kandhar.

Rabia Begum built a palatial house south of the Jama Masjid in the 18th Century. She was the wife of Muhammad Khan Bangash, the Governor of Farukkhabad, Agra and Allahabad. Rabia also commissioned a number of other structures, including Pul Bangash. Some buildings are named after unknown women such as Burhiyas’ (old women’s) mosques, two other anonymous ladies built Mir Afzal’s mosque in the Lal Kuan area in 1806. In fact, there were a large number of mosques and temples built by women at that time. These included three mosques, a Kali temple and several Shiva temples. Mubarak Begum, a dancing girl, built a mosque in Lal Kuan which came to be known as “Randi-ki-Maszid”. But now it is known after her name. She was the chief mistress of Gen Ochterlony. Better known than her and other 18th Century women was Begum Samru, a Kashmiri dancing girl of Chandni Chowk who had married the European military adventurer, Walter Reinhardt ‘Sombre’. His nick name, Sombre, or ‘dark’ was corrupted to Samru. After his death, his begum inherited the estate of Sardhana. She also successfully led military expectations and made astute political alliances.

Zinat Mahal was the wife of Bahadur Shah Zafar who became a powerful influence within the palace, and controlled a good deal of wealth. In 1846, she built a mansion in Lal Kuan Bazar. Her aim was to establish herself in the city, so that when the emperor died, her property and person would not be under the jurisdiction of the new emperor, who might be one of his older sons. So how can one overlook the contribution of women (royal or not) to Delhi’s grandeur?

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> History & Culture /  by R.V. Smith / December 10th, 2018

Mausoleum that Humayun never built

NEW DELHI :

HumayunMPOs04apr2016

HUMAYUN’S TOMB, one of the 23 heritage sites in India, has come alive – at a cost of Rs.3 crore thanks to the Aga Khan – with dormant fountains playing again, old forgotten wells being redug and lights illuminating the mausoleum whose garden, in which tobacco was given till 1915, has been redesigned. Unlike many emperors, Humayun did not plan his own tomb for the simple reason that he did not expect to die so soon and suddenly at the age of 55, after a fall down the stairs of his library in the Purana Qila.

It was in response to the evening – maghrib – call for prayer on January 24, 1556 that Humayun got up from his seat on the terrace and hastily started descending the staircase. His robe got caught in his foot and he came tumbling down. He died two days later. What makes his death more tragic is the fact that the aazan had been given by one Miskin earlier than the scheduled time, disturbing the emperor who, as a keen astronomer, was scanning the heavens for the planet Venus.

The task of erecting a monument to his memory was left to Bega Begum or Haji Begum, his first wife, with monetary support from her stepson, Akbar. The mausoleum, whose architect was a Persian, Mirza Ghayak, was unique in the sense that it later served as the model for Shah Jahan to build the Taj Mahal. Besides, this, Humayun’s Tomb is also the last resting place of many of the emperor’s successors – princes and princesses – including Dara Shikoh, whose headless body was interred there after his execution on the orders of Aurangzeb.

Akbar was very fond of Haji Begum, though his love for Hamida Banu, his own mother, was naturally intense. It is interesting to note that the title of Mariam Makani was given by Akbar to his mother, because he regarded her as the epitome of innocence. And Mariam, as we know was the name of the mother of Christ of which the anglicised version is Mary. It shows the love and respect he had for her.

Humayun, following in the footsteps of his father, Babar, also had more than four wives. He was married to Bega Begum at an early age. Then Chand Bibi and Shad Bibi joined his harem. There were others too like Mah-Chehak Begum, Gunwar Bibi, Gul-Barg Barlas, Maywa-Jan and Shahnam Agha.

Hamida Banu was only 13 when Humayun saw her and fell in love at first sight. He was old enough to be her father but then love knows no bounds. Hamida was too young to respond and just giggled at the man who kept following her with his eyes. It was after his defeat at the hands of Sher Shah Suri that a dejected Humayun had gone to meet his half-brother Hindal at Lahore.

His meeting with Hamida took place at a dinner hosted by Hindal’s mother, Dildar Begum. The girl’s pretty face and liquid eyes attracted Humayun who had had a dream earlier in which a sufi saint, Zinda Pir, had predicted that the emperor would marry a girl from his tribe who would give birth to one of the greatest rulers of the world.

Hamida happened to be the great-granddaughter of the pir. But she refused to marry him. It was a very depressing experience for a man who had just lost an empire. What made it worse was that Hamida even declined to meet him again. But with the help of Hindal and Dildar Begum a number of meetings were arranged and the girl, finally realising the worth of the man who was courting her, gave her consent.

From there the story is a well-known one, Humayun was on the road again as Hindal, fearing an attract by Sher Shah, advised him to leave. It was in the desert of Sindh that he sought shelter with the Rana of Umarkot and it was there that Hamida gave birth to a son. When the Rana became hostile Humayun was a fugitive again, and leaving the infant with his wife and trusted followers, he fled to Persia.The journey back to Delhi was a long one, Bega Begum had been captured by Sher Shah after the Battle of Chausa while Chand Bibi and Shad Bibi had presumably been drowned.

Sher Shah treated Bega Begum with respect. As a matter of fact he is said to have ordered that “no Moghul woman is to be enslaved or killed but sent to Haji Begum’s pavilion.” That was in 1539. But it seems that Humayun did not like Bega Begum very much. His sister Gulbadan Begum records that on the eve of the Battle of Chausa the Begum had told the emperor that he was giving her a raw deal. This so infuriated Humayun that he asked her to make a written apology and also promise that she would never make similar complaints in future.

Haji Begum is supposed to have been left behind when Humayun fled after his second defeat at the hands of Sher Shah. But some say that she was escorted back to his court by Khawas Khan, a nobleman attached to the Afghan chief. Perhaps her only fault was that she was too domineering and Humayun’s other wives, and also concubines, resented this. But her love for Humayun was great because she was the one who supervised the building of her husband’s tomb. Not only that, she brought 300 Arabs from Mecca to pray for the emperor’s soul. And hence the name Arab-ki-Sarai for the enclosure near the tomb. Incidentally, the dome of Humayun’s tomb is modelled after the dome of Taimur’s mausoleum in Samarkand.

Haji Begum died in 1581 and was mourned by Akbar who escorted her body to Humayun’s mausoleum, where she was buried. Hamida Banu Begum died in 1603 and was laid to rest in a crypt in Humayun’s tomb, the emperor accompanying her body to Delhi from Agra. Two years later Akbar himself died but to his dying day he missed Mariam Makani who, though his mother, was less than 15 years older than him and could have easily passed off as his elder sister.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> MetroPlus Delhi / Online Edition / Monday – April 28th, 2003