| Hamida Banu Begam | |
|---|---|
| Mughal Empress | |
| Spouse | Humayun |
| Issue | |
| Akbar Mirza Muhammad Hakim |
|
| Father | Shaikh Ali Akbar Jami |
| Mother | Mah Afraz Begum |
| Born | 1527 |
| Died | 29 August 1604 Agra, Mughal Empire |
| Burial | Humayun's Tomb, Delhi |
| Religion | Islam |
Hamida Banu Begam, 'Maryam Makani' (1527–1604) was a wife of the second Mughal Emperor, Humayun, and the mother of Mughal Emperor , Akbar.[1] Her important architectural legacy is the Humayun's Tomb, Delhi, which she commissioned in 1562 CE, and saw through its construction over the next eight years.[2][3]
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Hamida Banu Begum was born in 1527 to Shaikh Ali Akbar Jami, a Persian Shia, and a friend and preceptor to Mirza Hindal, the youngest son of first Mughal Emperor and Humayun's father Babur. Ali Akbar Jami was also known as Mir Baba Dost, who belonged to the lineage of Ahmad Jami Zinda-fil. Hamida Banu's mother was Mah Afraz Begum, who married Ali Akbar Jami in Paat, Sindh.
She met Humayun, as a thirteen year old girl and frequenting Mirza Hindal's household, at a banquet given by Dildar Begum, Babar's wife and Humayun's stepmother in Alwar. Mughal Emperor, Humayun was in exile after his exodus from Delhi, due to the armies of Sher Shah Suri, who had ambitions of restoring Afghan rule in Delhi.
Though initially she refused to meet him, eventually after forty days of pursuit and at the insistence of Dildar Begum, she agreed to marry the Emperor. She refers to her initial reluctance in her book the Humayunama,
| “ | I shall marry someone; but he shall be a man whose collar my hand can touch, and not one whose skirt it does not reach." | ” |
The marriage took place on a day chosen by the Emperor, an avid astrologer, himself employing his astrolabe, at mid-day on a Monday in September, 1541 (Jumada al-awwal 948 AH) at Patr. Thus she became his junior wife, after Bega Begum (later known as Haji Begum, after Hajji), who was the elder wife.[1][4][5]
Two years later, after a perilous journey through the desert, on 22 August 1542, she and Emperor Humayun reached at the Umerkot ruled by Rana Prasad, a Hindu Sodha Rajput, at a small desert town, and the Rana gave them asylum. Two months later she gave birth future Emperor, Akbar on the early morning of 15 October 1542 (fourth day of Rajab, 949 AH), he was given the name Humayun had heard in his dream at Lahore - the Emperor Jalalu-d-din Muhammad Akbar [6][7][8][9][10]
In coming years, she took on numerous tough journeys to follow her husband, who was still in flight. First the beginning of the following December she and her new born went into camp at Jūn, after traveling for ten or twelve days. Then in 1543, she made the perilous journey from Sindh, which had Qandahar for its goal, but in course of which Humayun had to take hasty flight from Shal-mastan, ‘through a desert and waterless waste.’ Leaving her little son behind, she accompanied her husband to Persia, here they visited the shrines of her ancestor, Ahmad-e Jami and Shiites shrine, of Ardabil in Iran, the place of origin of Safavid dynasty which helped them immensely in the following years . In 1544, at a camp at Sabzawar, 93 miles south of Herat, she gave birth to a daughter, thereafter she returned from Persia with the army given to Humayun by Shah of Iran, Tahmasp I, and at Qandahar met Dildar Begum, and her son, Mirza Hindal. Thus, it was not until 15 November 1545 (Ramdan 10th, 952 AH) that she saw her son Akbar again, the scene of young Akbar recognizing his mother amongst a group of women has been keenly illustrated in Akbar's biography, Akbarnama. In 1548, she and Akbar accompanied Humayun to Kabul.[10]
Meanwhile, Sher Shah Suri died in May 1545, and after that his son and successor, Islam Shah died too in 1554, disintegrating the Suri dynasty rule. In November 1554, when Humayun set out for India, she stayed back in Kabul. Though he took control of Delhi in 1555, he died within a year of his return, from a fall down the steps of his library at Purana Qila, Delhi, in 1556 at the age of 47, leaving behind a thirteen year old heir, Akbar, who was to become one of greatest emperors of the empire. Hamida Banu joined Akbar from Kabul, only during his second year of reign, 1557 CE, and stayed with him thereafter, she even intervened into politics on various occasions, most notable during the ouster of Mughal minister, Bairam Khan, when Akbar came of age in 1560.[10]
Hamida now an Empress mother, commissioned the construction of Humayun's Tomb, Delhi, in around 1562 CE, six years after his death, and designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyath, a Persian architect. Over the next eight years she personally supervised the construction of the tomb, where she too was buried after her death on 29 August 1604 (19th Shahriyar, 1013 AH) in Agra, just a year before the death of her son Akbar and almost half a century after death of her husband, Humayun. Throughout her years, she was held in high regard by her son Akbar, as English traveler Thomas Coryat recorded, Akbar carrying her palanquin himself across the river, during one of her journeys from Lahore to Agra. Later when Prince Salim, future king Jahangir, revolted against his father Akbar, she took upon the case of her grandson, and a reconciliation ensued thereafter, even though has plotted and got Akbar's favorite minister Abu'l-Fazl killed. Akbar shaved his head and chin only on two occasions, one at the death of foster-mother Jiji Anga and another at the death of his mother.[11][12][13]
She was given the title, Maryam-makānī, dwelling with Mary, posthumously, as she was considered, 'epitome of innocence' by Akbar.[14] Details of her life are also found in Humayun Nama, written by Gulbadan Begum, sister of Humayun,[15][16] as well as in Akbarnama and Ain-i-Akbari, both written during the reign of his son, Akbar.
In Jodhaa Akbar, a 2008 Indian epic film, directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, the character of Hamida Banu was portrayed by Punam S Sinha.[17] Previously in Hindi epic film Humayun (1945) directed by Mehboob Khan, her role was portrayed by actor, Nargis[18]