Hazrat Begum

Hazrat Begum (4 November 1741 – c. 1774) (Pashto: حضرت بېګم‎) was empress consort of the Durrani Empire from 5 April 1757 to 4 June 1772 as the wife of Ahmad Shah Durrani, the first emperor of the Durrani Empire. She was a Mughal princess by birth as the daughter of Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah.

Hazrat Begum
Shahzadi of the Mughal Empire
Empress consort of the Durrani Empire
Tenure5 April 1757 – 4 June 1772
Born4 November 1741 (1741-11-04)
Delhi, India
Diedc. 1774 (aged 32–33)
Afghanistan
Burial
Mausoleum of Muhammad Shah, Nizamuddin Awliya, Delhi
SpouseAhmad Shah Durrani
HouseTimurid (by birth)
Durrani (by marriage)
FatherMuhammad Shah
MotherSahiba Mahal
ReligionIslam

Family and lineage

Hazrat Begum was born a Mughal princess and was the daughter of Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah and his wife Sahiba Mahal.[1] At the age of sixteen in February 1756, she became so famous for her matchless beauty that the Mughal emperor Alamgir II, who was then about sixty, used pressure and threats to force Sahiba Mahal and the princess' guardian and step-mother, Badshah Begum, to give him Hazrat Begum's hand in marriage.[2] The princess preferred death over marrying an old wreck of sixty and Alamgir II did not succeed in marrying her.[2]

Marriage

In April 1757, after sacking the imperial capital of Delhi, the Durrani king Ahmed Shah Abdali desired to marry the deceased Emperor Muhammad Shah's 16-year-old daughter.[3] As she was only 16 years old, Badshah Begum again resisted handing over her tender charge to an Afghan king 35 years old, but Shah forcibly wedded her on 5 April 1757 in Delhi.[4] After the wedding celebrations, Ahmad Shah took his young wife back to his native place of Afghanistan. The weeping bride was accompanied by Badshah Begum, Sahiba Mahal and a few ladies of note from the imperial Mughal harem.[4]

See also

References
  1. Sarkar, Jadunath (1999). Fall of the Mughal Empire (4th ed.). Hyderabad: Orient Longman. p. 268. ISBN 9788125017615.
  2. Aḥmad, ʻAzīz; Israel, Milton (1983). Islamic society and culture: essays in honour of Professor Aziz Ahmad. Manohar. p. 146.
  3. A Comprehensive History of India: 1712-1772. Orient Longmans. 1978.
  4. Sarkar, Sir Jadunath (1971). 1754-1771 (Panipat). 3d ed. 1966, 1971 printing. Orient Longman. p. 89.
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