Bibi Mubarika Explained

Consort:yes
Bibi Mubarika Yusufzai
Pushto; Pashto: بي بي مبارکه یوسفزۍ
Queen consort of Kabul
Empress consort of the Mughal Empire
House:Pashtun
Father:Shah Mansur Yusufzai
Birth Date:16th century
Birth Place:Kabul
Religion:Islam

Bibi Mubarika Yusufzai (Pushto; Pashto: بيبي مبارکه یوسفزۍ;) was the Empress consort of the Mughal Empire. She was the fifth wife of Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor.[1]

She is frequently mentioned in the Humayun-nama by her stepdaughter Gulbadan Begum, who calls her stepmother 'The Afghan lady' or 'Afghani Aghacha'.[2] "Afghan" is an ethnonym referring to the Pashtun people.

Family

Bibi Mubarika was the daughter of Malik Shah Mansur, a Pashtun Yusufzai chief. She was the granddaughter of Malik Sulaiman Shah, and the niece of Taus Khan.[3]

One of her brothers named Mir Jamal accompanied Babur to India in 1525, and held high posts under Humayun and Akbar. He was given the title of Khan.

Marriage

Babur married her at Kehraj on 30 January 1519.[4] The alliance was the sign and seal of amity between him and her tribe. An intelligent woman, Mubarika played an important role in the establishment of friendly relations between the Mughals and the Yusufzai Pashtun chiefs.[5] Mubarika was much-loved by Babur as evidenced by the fact that she was one of the small and select party of ladies who were the first to join him in India in 1529.[2]

Death

Bibi Mubarika lived through Humayun's reign and died early in Akbar's reign.[2]

In popular culture

Bibi Mubarika is a character in Farzana Moon's historical novel Babur: The First Moghul in India (1977).[6]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Abridged. translated from the Turkish by Annette Susannah Beveridge. edited. Hiro. introduced by Dilip. Babur Nama : journal of Emperor Babur. 2006. Penguin Books. New Delhi. 9780144001491. 362. 1.publ..
  2. Book: Begum, Gulbadan. The History of Humayun (Humayun-Nama). Royal Asiatic Society. 1902. 266. Gulbadan Begum.
  3. Book: Babur, Emperor. Babur. Annette Susannah. Beveridge. The Baburnam in English (Memoirs of Babur). Luzac & Co., London. 1922. 375.
  4. Book: Shyam, Radhey. Babur. Janaki Prakashan. 1978. 263.
  5. Book: Aftab. Tahera. edited. Hiro. introduced by Dilip. Inscribing South Asian Muslim women : an annotated bibliography & research guide. 2008. Brill. Leiden. 9789004158498. 46. [Online-Ausg.]..
  6. Book: Moon, Farzana. Babur: The First Moghul in India. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. 1977. 268. 978-8-171-56702-7.