Maham Anga

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Maham Anga (d.1562) was the wet nurse of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. She was the de facto regent of the Mughal state after the exclusion Bairam Khan in 1560 to Akbar's assumption of full power in 1562, shortly before her death.

The period is referred to by some historians as the "The Petticoat Government", suggesting that the 'foster father cohort' attempted to keep Akbar as a puppet ruler after Bairam Khan's death. An alternative perspective is that this regency was considerably less oppressive than that of Bairam Khan, and ended in considerably less destruction than the Uzbeg Revolt of 1564-7.

Maham Anga was the mother of Adham Khan, Akbar's foster brother, and his violent execution for the murder of Atga Khan, at the hands of the young Emperor himself no less, profoundly affected her. She famously commented 'You have done well' to Akbar when he broke the news to her; she died shortly afterwards

[edit] References

• B.V. Bhavan 'The Mughal Empire' (Bombay 1974) 'The Cambridge History of India' v.4 Abu'l Fazl 'Akbar-nama' Badauni