Sahiba Mahal

Sahiba Mahal (fl. 1795[1]) was Empress consort of the Mughal Empire, as the second wife of Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah.[2]

Sahiba Mahal
Diedfl. 1795
Sahiba Mahal Haveli, Delhi, India
Burial
Muhammad Shah Mausoleum, Nizamuddin Dargah, Delhi
Spouse
​
(died 1748)​
IssueHazrat Begum
HouseTimurid (by marriage)
FatherSayid Salabat Khan
MotherSafa Begum
ReligionIslam

Early years

Sahiba Mahal was the daughter of Sayid Salabat Khan[3] (died fl. 1753),[4] the son of Sadat Khan, a Mughal noble of Turkish origin,[5] who had been Mir Atish (head of artillery)[6] under emperor Farrukhsiyar.[7] Her mother was Safa Begum.[8] Her aunt, Fakhr-un-Nissa Begum also known as Gauhar-un-Nissa Begum was married to Farrukhsiyar, and bore him a daughter, Badshah Begum, who became first wife of Muhammad Shah.[9][4]

Empress

Sahiba Mahal married Muhammad Shah as his second wife.[2] To commemorate her wedding to Muhammad Shah, her father was treated with special favour, and was given the rank of 4000, and the post of Bakhshi of the Ahdis.[3] She was the mother of Muhammad Shah's only daughter, Princess Hazrat Begum, born in c. 1740.[10][11] She and Badshah Begum, brought up Muhammad Shah's son Ahmad Shah Bahadur from the dancing girl, Qudsia Begum, as their own.[12]

Dowager Empress

In April 1748, Muhammad Shah died. His son, Ahmad Shah Bahadur, who was in camp with Safdar Jang near Panipat to return to Delhi and claim the throne. On Safdar Jang's advice, he was enthroned at Panipat and returned to Delhi a few days later.[13] Sahiba Mahal was ignominiously sent to the widows' house with no special provision for her comfort,[14] and suffered much humiliation and hardship at Udham Bai's hands.[15] She, however, remained universally honoured in Delhi society.[16]

On 26 May 1754,[17] Ahmad Shah was attacked on a journey by a band of Marathas under Malhar Rao Holkar.[18] While running away from Sikandrabad, he took along with him his mother Qudsia Begum, his son Mahmud Shah Bahadur, his favourite wife Inayetpuri Bai, and Sahiba Mahal's daughter Hazrat Begum, leaving her and all other empresses and princesses at the mercy of the enemies.[19] She, along with some other ladies were overtaken by Aqibat Mahmud Kashmiri's brother, and were conducted to the house of the qazi of the city.[20]

In February 1756, her 16-year-old daughter, Princess Hazrat Begum, became so famous for her matchless beauty that the Mughal emperor Alamgir II, who was then about sixty, used undue pressures and threats to force Sahiba Mahal and the princess' guardian Badshah Begum, to give him Hazrat Begum's hand in marriage.[21] The princess preferred death over marrying an old wreck of sixty and Alamgir II did not succeed in marrying her.[21]

Role in Afghan invasions of Delhi

In April 1757, the Durrani king Ahmad Shah, after sacking the imperial capital of Delhi, desired to marry her 16-year-old daughter, Hazrat Begum.[22] Badshah Begum again resisted handing over her tender charge to a fierce Afghan of grandfatherly age but Ahmad Shah forcibly wedded Hazrat Begum on 5 April 1757 in Delhi.[23] After their wedding celebrations, Ahmad Shah took his young wife back to his native place of Afghanistan. The weeping bride was accompanied by Sahiba Mahal, Badshah Begum, and a few other ladies of note from the imperial harem.[23] On 8–10 April Sahiba Mahal came from the Ahmad Shah's camp on a final visit to the city to remove her property. She was escorted by 2,000 Durrani musketeers.[24]

In 1787, Ghulam Kadir, a leader of the Afghan Rohilla, tried to secure the support of Begum Samru, the wife of Walter Reinhardt, and ruler over the principality of Sardhana, who had considerable influence at this time in order to consolidate his position at Emperor Shah Alam II's court. Ghulam Kadir's efforts to secure her support were, however, fruitless, as the Begum rejected a proposal for an alliance. Ghulam Kadir and his Rohillas then turned away from Delhi to conquer the crownlands in the Doab. Sahiba Mahal was so much influenced that she recommended to the emperor that Begam Samru and Najaf Quli Khan should be invited to the presence in palace of Ghulam Kadir.[25]

During the occupation of Delhi in 1788 by Ghulam Kadir, he deposed Shah Alam II on the 30 July 1788[26] and installed the prince Bidar Bakht as the new emperor under the regnal name Nasir-ud-din Muhammad Jahan Shah (r. 31 July 1788 – 11 October 1788).[27] Bidar Bakht's enthronement was the result of a pact between Ghulam Kadir and Badshah Begum, who paid 12 lakhs of rupees to Ghulam Kadir to ensure her grandson's investiture. Sahiba Mahal also joined her in this project.[28]

Sahiba Mahal and Badshah Begum were then plundered by Ghulam Kadir.[29] The rebellious chiefs sent a party to the two of them. As they were known, not only very rich, but to possess considerable influence over the royal family. They were ordered to court and persuade the women of the royal harem to quietly deliver their jewels and valuable things. However, both of them refused compliance with the order, citing their advanced age and high rank.[30] Ghulam Kadir then raided their palaces on 22 August, and the two were placed on a river bank.[31]

Last years

During the 1780s, she patronised Sayyid Muhammad-Mehdi al-Shahristani, the patriarch of the Al-Shahristani family, an Iraqi-Iranian clerical Shia family.[32] Sahiba Mahal died in her haveli located near the stables of Prince Dara Shikoh,[33] and was buried in the mausoleum of Muhammad Shah, located at Nizamuddin Dargah, Delhi.[34][35]

References
  1. India. Imperial Record Department (1911). Calendar of Persian Correspondence: Being Letters, Referring Mainly to Affairs in Bengal, which Passed Between Some of the Company's Servants and Indian Rulers and Notables ... Superintendent government printing, India. p. 324.
  2. Muhammad Umar (1998). Muslim Society in Northern India During the Eighteenth Century. Available with the author. p. 188. ISBN 9788121508308.
  3. Nagendra Kr Singh, ed. (2001). Encyclopaedia of Muslim Biography: S-Z. A.P.H. Publishing Corporation. p. 10. ISBN 9788176482356.
  4. Irvine, William (2006). The Later Mughals. Low Price Publications. p. 401. ISBN 81-7536-406-8.
  5. University, Centre of Advanced Study, Department of History, Aligarh Muslim (1972). Medieval India : a miscellany. London: Asia Pub. House. p. 252. ISBN 9780210223932.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. Singh, U.B. (1998). Administrative system in India : Vedic age to 1947. New Delhi: APH Pub. Co. p. 111. ISBN 9788170249283.
  7. Sarkar, Jadunath (1997). Fall of the Mughal Empire (4th ed.). Hyderabad: Orient Longman. p. 169. ISBN 9788125011491.
  8. Maharashtra (India). Dept. of Archives (1970). Maharashtra Archives, Volume 5. Director, Government Print. and Stationery, Maharashtra State. p. 13.
  9. Cheema 2002, p. 237.
  10. Jaswant Lal Mehta (1 January 2005). Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707-1813. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. 137. ISBN 978-1-932705-54-6.
  11. Hari Ram Gupta, ed. (1961). Marathas and Panipat. Panjab University. p. 90.
  12. Beveridge H. (1952). "The Maathir-ul-umara – Volume 2". Internet Archive. p. 653. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  13. Edwards, Michael (1960). The Orchid House: Splendours and Miseries of the Kingdom of Oudh, 1827-1857. Cassell. p. 7.
  14. Cheema 2002, p. 239.
  15. Mansura Haidar, ed. (2004). Sufis, Sultans, and Feudal Orders: Professor Nurul Hasan Commemoration Volume. Manohar. p. 233. ISBN 9788173045486.
  16. Sarkar 1964, p. 209.
  17. Sarkar 1964, p. 334.
  18. Bilkees I. Latif (2010). Forgotten. Penguin Books India. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-14-306454-1.
  19. Sudha Sharma (21 March 2016). The Status of Muslim Women in Medieval India. SAGE Publications India. p. 66. ISBN 9789351505679.
  20. Sarkar 1964, p. 335.
  21. Aḥmad, ʻAzīz; Israel, Milton (1983). Islamic society and culture: essays in honour of Professor Aziz Ahmad. Manohar. p. 146.
  22. A Comprehensive History of India: 1712-1772. Orient Longmans. 1978.
  23. Sarkar, Sir Jadunath (1971). 1754-1771 (Panipat). 3d ed. 1966, 1971 printing. Orient Longman. p. 89.
  24. Hari Ram Gupta, ed. (1961). Marathas and Panipat. Panjab University. p. 328.
  25. Mahendra Narain Sharma (1985). The Life and Times of Begam Samru of Sardhana, A.D. 1750-1836. Vibhu Prakashan. pp. 76–77.
  26. Sarkar 1952, p. 310.
  27. Sarkar 1952, pp. 317–318.
  28. Sarkar 1952, p. 317.
  29. English Records of Maratha History. Poona Residency Correspondence, Volume 1. p. 317.
  30. William Francklin (1915). The History of the Reign of Shah-Aulum, the Present Emperor of Hindustaun: Containing the Transactions of the Court of Delhi, and the Neighbouring States, During a Period of Thirty-six Years: Interspersed with Geographical and Topographical Observations on Several of the Principal Cities of ... Panini Office. p. 174.
  31. Sarkar 1952, p. 319.
  32. Meir Litvak (2 May 2002). Shi'i Scholars of Nineteenth-Century Iraq: The 'Ulama' of Najaf and Karbala'. Cambridge University Press. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-521-89296-4.
  33. Shama Mitra Chenoy (1998). Shahjahanabad, a City of Delhi, 1638-1857. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. p. 85. ISBN 9788121508025.
  34. Indian Archives, Volume 1. National Archives of India. 2011. p. 18.
  35. Maulvi Zafar Hasan; James Alfred Page, eds. (1997). Monuments of Delhi: Delhi Zail. Aryan Books International. p. 154. ISBN 9788173051128.

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