List of Mughal empresses explained

This is a list of Mughal empresses. Most of these empresses were either from branches of the Timurid dynasty or from the royal houses of the Rajputs. Alongside Mughal emperors, these empresses played a role in the building up and rule of the Mughal Empire in South Asia, from the early 16th century to the early 18th century. The Mughal Empire mainly corresponds in the present day to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran and Nepal.

Mughal empresses

Name	Parent(s)	Birth name	Origin	Place of Origin	Marriage	Spouse
Aisha Sultan Begum^[1]	Sultan Ahmed Mirza and Qutak Begum	unknown	Timurid	Samarqand	1499	Babur
Zainab Sultan Begum^[2]	Sultan Ahmed Mirza and Khanzada Begum	unknown	Timurid	Samarqand	1504
	unknown	unknown	Persian		1506
Masuma Sultan Begum^[3]	Sultan Ahmed Mirza and Habiba Sultan Begum	unknown	Timurid	Samarqand	1507
Bibi Mubarika^[4]	Malik Shah Mansur Yusufzai	unknown	Pashtun	unknown	1519
Bega Begum^[5]	Yadgar Beg	unknown	Persian	Khorasan	1527	Humayun
Hamida Banu Begum^[6]	Shaikh Ali Akbar Jami and Mah Afroz Begum	unknown	Persian	unknown	1541
Mah Chuchak Begum^[7]	unknown	unknown	Mongol	unknown	1546
Ruqaiya Sultan Begum^[8]	Hindal Mirza and Sultanam Begum		Timurid	unknown	1556	Akbar
Salima Sultan Begum^[9]	Nuruddin Muhammad Mirza and Gulrukh Begum		Naqshbandi	unknown	1561
Mariam-uz-Zamani^[10] ^[11] ^[12] ^[13]	Raja Bharmal of Amber and Rani Champavati	Unknown	Kachhwaha Rajput	Amber	1562
Shah Begum	Raja Bhagwant Das of Amber	Man Bai	Kachhwaha Rajput	Amber	1585	Jahangir
Jagat Gosain^[14]	Raja Udai Singh of Marwar and Rani Kachavat Manrang Devi	Manavati Bai	Rathore Rajput	Jodhpur or Phalodi	1586
Sahib Jamal^[15]	Khwaja Hasan	unknown	Turkish	Herat	1586
Malika Jahan^[16]	Rawal Bhim Singh of Jaisalmer	unknown	Bhati Rajput	Jaisalmer	1587
Nur-un-Nissa Begum	Ibrahim Husain Mirza and Gulrukh Begum		Timurid	Khorasan	1593
Khas Mahal	Zain Khan Koka	unknown	Turkish	unknown	1596
Saliha Banu Begum^[17]	Qaim Khan	unknown	unknown	unknown	1608
Nur Jahan	Mirza Ghiyas Beg and Asmat Begum	Mehr-un-nissa	Persian	Kandahar	1611
Mihr-un-nissa Begum	Sher Afgan Khan and Nur Jahan	unknown	Turkoman	unknown	1621	Shahryar Mirza
Kandahari Begum	Sultan Muzaffar Husain Mirza Safavi	unknown	Safavid Persian	Kandahar	1610	Shah Jahan
Mumtaz Mahal^[18]	Abu'l-Hasan Asaf Khan and Diwanji Begum	Arjumand Banu Begum	Persian	Agra	1612
Akbarabadi Mahal^[19]	Mirza Iraj	Izz-un-Nissa	Turkoman	Agra	1617
Dilras Banu Begum^[20]	Mirza Badi-uz-Zaman Safavi and Nauras Banu Begum	unknown	Safavid Persian	unknown	1637	Aurangzeb
Nawab Bai^[21]	Raja Tajuddin Khan of Rajauri (disputed)	Rahmat-un-Nissa	Jarral Rajput	unknown	1638
Aurangabadi Mahal^[22]	unknown	unknown	Georgian or Circassian	unknown	unknown
Rahmat Banu Begum^[23]	Swargadeo Sutamla of Ahom kingdom and Pakhori Gabharu	Ramani Gabharu	Ahom	Ahom kingdom	1668	Muhammad Azam Shah
Jahanzeb Banu Begum^[24]	Dara Shikoh and Nadira Banu Begum	unknown	Timurid	Agra	1669
Shahar Banu Begum^[25]	Ali Adil Shah II and Khurshida Khanum	unknown	Adilshahi	Bijapur	1672
Nur-un-Nissa Begum	Mirza Sanjar Khan and Zinat-i-Alam Begum	unknown	Persian	Khorasan	1659	Bahadur Shah I
Imtiaz Mahal^[26]	Khasusiyat Khan	Lal Kunwar	unknown	unknown	unknown	Jahandar Shah
Indira Kanwar^[27]	Ajit Singh of Marwar	Indira Kanwar	Rathore Rajput	Jodhpur	1715	Farrukhsiyar
Badshah Begum^[28]	Farrukhsiyar and Gauhar-un-Nissa Begum	unknown	Timurid	Agra	1721	Muhammad Shah
Sahiba Mahal^[29]	Sayid Salabat Khan and Safa Begum	unknown	Turkish	unknown	1722
Qudsia Begum^[30]	unknown	Udham Bai	unknown	unknown	unknown
Zeenat Mahal^[31]	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown	1840	Bahadur Shah Zafar

Sources

• Book: Banks Findly, Ellison. 11 February 1993. Nur Jahan: Empress of Mughal India. Oxford, UK. Nur Jahan : Empress of Mughal India. 9780195074888.
• Book: Prasad, Beni. History of Jahangir. The Indian Press . Allahabad. 1930.
• Book: Beveridge, Henry. Akbarnama of Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak – Volume III. 1907. Asiatic Society, Calcutta.
• Book: Mukhia, Harbans . Harbans Mukhia . 2004 . The Mughals of India . Malden, MA . Wiley-Blackwell . 978-0-631-18555-0 .
• Book: Nicoll, Fergus . Fergus Nicoll . 2009 . Shah Jahan: The Rise and Fall of the Mughal Emperor . London . Haus . 978-1-906598-18-1.
• Book: Syed, Anees Jahan. Aurangzeb in Muntakhab-al Lubab. Somaiya Publications. 1977.

Notes and References

1. Book: Harold, Lamb. Swords from the East.. 2010. University of Nebraska Press. 9780803229723. 364.
2. Book: Harbans Mukhia. The Mughals of India. John Wiley & Sons. 9780470758151. 140.
3. Book: Begum, Gulbadan. Gulbadan Begum. The History of Humayun (Humayun-Nama). Royal Asiatic Society. 1902. 262.
4. Book: Aftab, Tahera. Inscribing South Asian Muslim women : an annotated bibliography & research guide . 2008 . Brill . Leiden . 9789004158498 . 46 . Online-Ausg. . Section Two. Muslim women in the history of South Asia.
5. Book: Annemarie Schimmel . Burzine K. Waghmar . The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture. registration . 2004. Reaktion Books. 149.
6. http://www.thedailystar.net/2004/06/27/d406271502101.htm The Humayun Nama: Gulbadan Begum's forgotten chronicle
7. Book: Begum, Gulbadan. Gulbadan Begum. The History of Humayun (Humayun-Nama). Royal Asiatic Society. 1902. 260.
8. Book: Lal, Ruby. Domesticity and power in the early Mughal world. 2005. Cambridge University Press. 9780521850223. 205.
9. Book: Burke. S. M.. Akbar: The Greatest Mogul. 1989. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. 143. en.
10. Book: The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History. 2008. Oxford University Press. 4. 656. 9780195148909. Bonnie G.. Smith.
11. Book: Hindu Shah. Muhammad Qasim. Gulshan-I-Ibrahimi. 2. 1590–1612. 223.
12. Book: Sujan Rai. Bhandari. Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh. 1695. Zafar Hasan. 374.
13. Book: Mehta . Jaswant Lal . Advance Study in the history of Medieval India:Mughal Empire . Sterling Publisher Private Limited . 1984 . 978-81-207-1015-3. II . 222 . Bihari Mal gave rich dowry to his daughter and sent his son Bhagwan Das with a contingent of Rajput soldiers to escort his newly married sister to Agra as per Rajput custom. Akbar was deeply impressed by the highly dignified, sincere and princely conduct of his Rajput relations. He took Man Singh, the youthful son of Bhagwant Das into the royal service. Akbar was fascinated by the charm and accomplishments of his Rajput wife; he developed real love for her and raised her to the status of chief queen. She came to exercise profound impact on socio-cultural environment of the entire royal household and changed the lifestyle of Akbar. Salim (later Jahangir), heir to the throne, was born of this wedlock on 30th August, 1569..
14. Book: Eraly, Abraham. Emperors of the Peacock Throne, The Saga of the Great Mughals. Penguin Books India. 2007. 0141001437. 299.
15. Book: Balabanlilar, Lisa. Imperial Identity in the Mughal Empire : Memory and Dynastic Politics in Early Modern South and Central Asia. I.B. Tauris. London. 9781848857261. 10.
16. Book: Jahangir, Emperor . Wheeler McIntosh. Thackston. The Jahangirnama : memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India. Washington, D. C.: Freer Gallery of Art, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; New York: Oxford University Press. 1999. 376.
17. Book: Findly. Ellison Banks. Nur Jahan, empress of Mughal India. 1993. Oxford University Press. New York. 9780195360608. 125.
18. Book: Lach. Donald F.. Kley. Edwin J. Van. Asia in the Making of Europe, Volume III: A Century of Advance. Book 2, South Asia. 1998. University of Chicago Press. 9780226466972. 689. en.
19. Book: Blake. Stephen P.. Shahjahanabad: the sovereign city in Mughal India, 1639-1739. 2002. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. 9780521522991. 63.
20. Book: Sarkar. Sir Jadunath. History of Aurangzib Vol. I. 1912. M.C. Sarkar & Sons. Calcutta. 61.
21. Book: South Asia Papers - Volume 2. South Asian Institute, University of Punjab. 1978. 96.
22. Book: Sarkar, Sir Jadunath. 1618-1659. Orient Longman. 1973. 34.
23. Book: Bhuyan, Suryya Kumar. Atan Buragohain and His Times: A History of Assam, from the Invasion of Nawab Mir Jumla in 1662-63, to the Termination of Assam-Mogul Conflicts in 1682. Lawyer's Book stall. 1957. 31.
24. Book: Sarkar. Sir Jadunath. Studies in Aurangzib's reign: (being Studies in Mughal India, first series). 1933. Orient Longman. 44. en.
25. Book: Sharma, Sudha. The Status of Muslim Women in Medieval India. SAGE Publications India. March 21, 2016. 82. 978-9-351-50567-9.
26. Book: Later Mughals. 1971. Munishram Manoharlal. New Delhi. 180, 192–197. 952981690. Irvine. William.
27. Book: R.K. Gupta . S.R. Bakshi . Studies In Indian History: Rajasthan Through The Ages The Heritage Of Rajputs (Set Of 5 Vols.). Sarup & Sons. 1 January 2008. 219. 978-8-176-25841-8.
28. Book: Sarkar. Jadunath. Fall of the Mughal Empire.. 1997. Orient Longman. Hyderabad. 9788125011491. 169. 4th.
29. Web site: Beveridge H.. The Maathir-ul-umara – Volume 2 . Internet Archive . 653 . 1952 . 2021-10-31.
30. Web site: Beveridge H.. The Maathir-ul-umara – Volume 2 . Internet Archive . 653 . 1952 . 2021-10-31.
31. News: The sad plight of Zeenat Mahal. The Hindu. 16 October 2011. Smith. R. v..