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Gulbadan Begum
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2007) |
| Gulbadan Begum | |
|---|---|
| Shahzadi of the Mughal Empire | |
 The imperial princess Gulbadan Begum | |
| Born | c. 1523 Kabul, Afghanistan |
| Died | 7 February 1603 (aged 79–80) Agra, India |
| Burial | Gardens of Babur, Kabul |
| Spouse | |
| Issue | Sa'adat Yar Khan |
| House | Timurid |
| Dynasty | Timurid |
| Father | Babur |
| Mother | Dildar Begum (biological) Maham Begum (adoptive) |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
Gulbadan Begum (c. 1523 – 7 February 1603) was a Mughal princess and the daughter of Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire.[1]
She is best known as the author of Humayun-Nama, the account of the life of her half-brother and Babar's successor, Emperor Humayun, which she wrote on the request of her nephew and Humayun's son, Emperor Akbar.[2] Gulbadan's recollection of Babur is brief, but she gives a refreshing account of Humayun's household and provides a rare material regarding his confrontation with her half-brother, Kamran Mirza. She records the fratricidal conflict among her brothers with a sense of grief.
Gulbadan Begum[3] was about eight years old at the time of her father's death in 1530 and was brought up by her older half-brother, Humayun. She was married to a Chagatai noble, her cousin, Khizr Khwaja Khan, the son of Aiman Khwajah Sultan, son of Khan Ahmad Alaq of the Turpan Khanate in Moghulistan[4] at the age of seventeen.
She spent most of her life in Kabul. In 1557, she was invited by her nephew, Akbar, to join the imperial household at Agra. She wielded great influence and respect in the imperial household and was much loved both by Akbar and his mother, Hamida Banu Begum. Gulbadan Begum is mentioned throughout the Akbarnama (lit. 'Book of Akbar') of Abu'l Fazl and much of her biographical details are accessible through the work.
Along with several other royal women, Gulbadan Begum undertook a pilgrimage to Mecca and returned home seven years later in 1582. She died in 1603.
- ^ Aftab, Tahera (2008). Inscribing South Asian Muslim women : an annotated bibliography & research guide ([Online-Ausg.]. ed.). Leiden: Brill. p. 8. ISBN 9789004158498.
- ^ Faruqui, Munis D. (2012). Princes of the Mughal Empire, 1504-1719. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 251. ISBN 9781107022171.
- ^ Ruggles, D. Fairchild (2000). Women, patronage, and self-representation in Islamic societies. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press. p. 121. ISBN 9780791444696.
- ^ Balabanlilar, Lisa (2015). Imperial Identity in the Mughal Empire: Memory and Dynastic Politics in Early Modern South and Central Asia. I.B.Tauris. p. 8. ISBN 9780857732460.
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