Khas Mahal

Khas Mahal was the daughter of Zain Khan Koka.^[1] Zain Khan was the son of Khawajah Maqsud of Herat and Pija Jan Anga, foster-mother of Emperor Akbar.^[2] Khan's paternal uncle, Khawajah Hassan's daughter, Sahib Jamal had been married to Jahangir, and was the mother of his son Prince Parviz Mirza.^[3]

Khas Mahal had two brothers, named Zafar Khan and Mughal Khan. The former served under Akbar and Jahangir,^[4] and died on 7 March 1622.^[5] The latter served under Jahangir and his son Shah Jahan, and died on 1 July 1657.^[6] A sister of Khas Mahal was married to Mirza Anwar, a son of Mirza Aziz Koka, Akbar's foster brother.^[7]

In 1596 Prince Salim (future Emperor Jahangir) became violently enamored of her and meditated on marrying her. Akbar was displeased at the impropriety.^[8] The cause of Akbar's objection was Sahib Jamal who had already been married to Salim. Akbar objected to marriages between near relations.^[9]

However, when Akbar saw that Salim's heart was immoderately affected, he, of necessity, gave his consent. There was a great feast and joy. The marriage took place on the eve of 18 June 1596 at the house of Dowager empress Hamida Banu Begum.^[9]

When Jahangir ascended the throne, Khas Mahal became empress. Sir William Hawkins, a representative of the English East India Company noted her among Jahangir's chief wives. He said the following:

Hee (Jahangir) hath .... three hundred wives whereof four be chiefe as queenes, to say, the first, named Padasha Banu (Saliha Banu Begum), daughter to Kaime Chan (Qaim Khan); the second is called Noore Mahal (Nur Jahan), the daughter of Gais Beyge (Mirza Ghiyas Beg); the third is the daughter of Seinchan (Zain Khan); the fourth is the daughter of Hakim Humaun (Mirza Muhammad Hakim), who was brother to his father Ekber Padasha (Akbar)^[10]

In 1642–43, Khas Mahal commissioned a palace near the old fort in the neighborhood of Nizamuddin, Delhi.^[11][12][13]

Khas Mahal is a character in Jyoti Jafa's historical novel Nur Jahan: A Historical Novel (1978).^[14]