Salima Sultan Begum

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Salima Sultan Begum
Empress consort of the Mughal Empire

Spouse Bairam Khan
Akbar
House House of Timur
Father Nur ud-din Muhammad Mirza
Mother Gulrang Begum
Born 23 February, 1539
Died 15 December, 1612(73)
Delhi, India
Burial Mandarkar Garden, Agra
Religion Islam

Salima Sultan Begum (23 February 1539 – 15 December 1612) was an Empress of the Mughal Empire as a wife of Emperor Akbar. Salima had been previously married to Bairam Khan and after his murder in 1561, she was subsequently married by her first cousin, the Emperor Akbar.[1]

Salima Begum was a senior-ranking woman in the Imperial harem. As such, she wielded major political influence at Court and in the Empire.[2] Her name appears in the histories as a reader, poet, who wrote under the pseudonym of Makhfi (مخفی, “Hidden One”) and as pleading with Akbar for her step-son, Jahangir's forgiveness.

Family

Salima Sultan Begum was born as the daughter of Mughal princess Gulrang Begum and her husband, the Viceroy of Kanauj, Nur-ud-din Muhammad Mirza.[3] Salima's maternal grandfather was Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal Emperor.

Her maternal uncles were the second Mughal Emperor Humayun and the Mughal prince Hindal Mirza. Salima was therefore a first cousin to Emperor Akbar and to his first wife Ruqaiya Sultan Begum, as both of them were the children of her maternal uncles: Humayun and Hindal Mirza, respectively.[4]

Marriage

In December of 1557, at the age of eighteen, Salima Begum was married to the considerably older Bairam Khan, (who was in his fifties) at Jalandhar, Punjab.[5] Bairam was the Military Commander of the Mughal Empire and a powerful statesman at the Mughal Court. It is said that the marriage excited great interest at Court. It united two streams of descent from Ali Shukr Beg, i.e. the Blacksheep Turkomans from Bairam Khan's side and Timur from Salima's side as Salima was a Timurid through her maternal grandfather, Emperor Babur, and through Mahmud, one of her great-grandfathers.[6] Salima had been betrothed to Bairam Khan by her maternal uncle, Emperor Humayun, during his reign.[7] Salima became Bairam's second wife, after the daughter of Jamal Khan of Mewat, who was the mother to his son, Abdul Rahim. Salima and Bairam Khan's short-lived marriage did not produce any children.

After only three years of marriage, Bairam Khan died in 1561 as a result of the intrigues against him instigated by Maham Anga, which culminated in his murder. Salima was subsequently married by her first cousin, Akbar, in the same year. She was three years and seven months older than him. Akbar had been greatly impressed by his talented cousin which was the main reason for him marrying her aside from the fact that Salima was his only other wife apart from Ruqaiya, who was of the most exalted lineage, being a Timurid through her mother's side and thus, a granddaughter of Emperor Babur in the maternal line.[8]

Being an extensive reader, she kept accounts of her encounters with the Emperor and the state of affairs. Salima was thus, one of the most important ladies at the court. [5]

Salima and Maryam Makani played a crucial role in negotiating a settlement between Akbar and Jahangir when the father-son's relationship turned sour in the early 1600s, eventually helping to pave the way for Jahangir's accession to the throne.[5][9] During Jahangir's reign, Salima and Ruqaiya played a crucial role in securing pardon for the powerful, Khan-i-Azam, Mirza Aziz Koka, who had been sentenced to death by Jahangir.[9]

In 1575, Salima went for the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca along with her aunt Princess Gulbadan Begum and many other royal ladies.[10] Salima was an accomplished poet and collected a library, to which apparently copy of all books had to be contributed, which had any currency in court circles.[11][12]

Death

Salima died on 15 December, 1612 at Delhi. Her step-son, Jahangir, gives particulars of her birth and descent; her marriages and he states that she was sixty years old at the time of her death in 1612. By his orders, her body was laid in a garden which she herself had commissioned.[13]

Jahangir praises her both for her natural qualities and her acquirements. She creates an impression of herself as a charming and cultivated woman.[14]

References

  1. ↑ http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-05-06/people/29516233_1_akbar-mughal-era-emperor
  2. ↑ Eraly, Abraham (2000). Emperors of the Peacock Throne : the Saga of the Great Mughals ([Rev. ed.]. ed.). Penguin Books. p. 225. ISBN 9780141001432. 
  3. ↑ Beveridge, tras. from the Persian by H. (2002). The Akbar nama of Abu-l-Fazl (Repr. ed.). Delhi: Low Price Publications. p. 329. ISBN 9788175362949. 
  4. ↑ Chandra, Satish (2005). Medieval India : From Sultanat to the Mughals (Revised ed. ed.). Har-Anand Publications. p. 97. ISBN 9788124110669. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Smith, Vincent Arthur (1919). Akbar: The Great Mogul 1542-1605. Clarendon Press. p. 40,310. 
  6. ↑ Gulbadan, p. 278
  7. ↑ Misra, Rekha (1967). Women in Mughal India, 1526-1748 A.D. Munshiram Manoharlal. p. 114. 
  8. ↑ Asiatic Society of Bengal (1907). Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 2. The Society. p. 509. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Faruqui, Munis D. Princes of the Mughal Empire, 1504-1719. Cambridge University Press. p. 148. ISBN 9781107022171. 
  10. ↑ Schimmel, Annemarie (2005). The Empire of the Great Mughals : History, Art and Culture (Revised ed. ed.). Sang-E-Meel Pub. p. 145. ISBN 9781861891853. 
  11. ↑ Sikkand, Yōgīndar (2008). Bastions of the Believers : Madrass and Islamic Education in India. Penguin India. p. 36. ISBN 9780144000203. 
  12. ↑ Society of Arts (Great Britain) (1907). Journal of the Society of Arts, Volume 55. The Society. p. 158. 
  13. ↑ Gulbadan, p. 279
  14. ↑ Gulbadan, p. 279

Bibliography

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