Ruqaiya Sultan Begum

Empress Ruqaiya Sultan Begum was born into the Timurid dynasty as a Mughal princess, and was the only daughter of Mughal prince Hindal Mirza, the youngest son of the first Mughal emperor Babur from his wife Dildar Begum.^[6] Ruqaiya's mother, Sultanam Begum, was the daughter of Muhammad Musa Khwaja and the younger sister of Mahdi Khwaja, who was the brother-in-law of Emperor Babur, being the husband of his sister, Khanzada Begum.^[7] Ruqaiya was named after the Islamic prophet Muhammad's daughter, Ruqayyah bint Muhammad.^[1]

Ruqaiya's oldest paternal uncle was the second Mughal emperor Humayun (who later became her father-in-law as well), while her most notable paternal aunt was the imperial princess, Gulbadan Begum, the author of Humayun-nama ("Book of Humayun").^[8]

Like her husband Akbar,^[9] Ruqaiya was a descendant of Timur or Tamerlane the Great through his son Miran Shah.^[1]

On 20 November 1551, Hindal Mirza died fighting valorously for Humayun in a battle against their half-brother, Kamran Mirza's forces. Humayun was overwhelmed with grief upon the death of his youngest brother, who had expiated for his former disobedience by his blood, but his amirs consoled him by saying that his brother was blessed in having thus fallen a martyr in the service of the Emperor.^[10]

Out of affection for the memory of his brother, Humayun betrothed Hindal's nine-year-old daughter, Ruqaiya, to his son Akbar. Their betrothal took place in Kabul, Afghanistan, shortly after Akbar's first appointment as a viceroy in the province of Ghazni.^[11][12] On their engagement, Humayun conferred on the imperial couple, all the wealth, army and adherents of Hindal, and Ghazni, which was one of Hindal's jagir, was given to Akbar, who was appointed as its viceroy and was also given the command of his uncle's army.^[12][10]

During the period of political uncertainty following Humayun's death in 1556, Shahzadi Ruqaiya Sultan Begum and the other female members of the imperial family were staying in Kabul.^[13] In 1557, Shahzadi Ruqaiya came to Punjab and joined Akbar, shortly after Sikandar Shah was defeated and had submitted to the Mughals. She was accompanied by her mother-in-law Hamida Banu Begum, her aunt Gulbadan Begum, and many other female members of the imperial family. The then-princess, Ruqaiya Sultan Begum's marriage with Akbar was solemnized near Jalandhar, Punjab, when both of them were 14 years old. After resting for about four months in Punjab, the imperial family set out for Delhi. The Mughals were at last ready to settle down in India.

Ruqaiya Sultan Begum became Empress of the Mughal Empire at the age of fourteen years following her husband's accession to the throne in 1556. She was the longest serving Mughal Empress, with a tenure spanning nearly 50 years. She remained childless throughout her marriage but was entrusted the upbringing of Akbar and Mariam-uz-Zamani's grandson, Prince Khurram (the future emperor Shah Jahan).^[14] Jagat Gosain's son Khurram, considered to be auspicious as per his astrological signs was insisted by Akbar to be raised under his care than at Salim's palace and therefore was raised in Akbar's palace. Prince Khurram was placed under the care of Akbar's childless wife, Empress Ruqaiya Sultan Begum who resided in Akbar's harem and she is stated to have raised Khurram affectionately.^[15]

Jahangir noted in his memoirs that Empress Ruqaiya Sultan Begum had loved his son, Khurram, "a thousand times more than if he had been her own [son]."^[16] Khurram remained with her until he had turned almost 14. After Akbar died in 1605, the young prince was then, finally, allowed to return to his father's household, and thus, returned to the care of his mother, Jagat Gosain whom he cared for and loved immensely.^[15] Empress Ruqaiya Sultan Begum also raised Shah Jahan's first daughter, Parhez Banu Begum.^[17][18]

The Empress remained one of Akbar's chief consorts from the time of their marriage in 1557 until his death in 1605.^[19] She also wielded considerable influence in the zenana. Although Empress Ruqaiya Sultan Begum is not as much mentioned in the Akbarnama as Akbar's favourite Rajput consort, the powerful Empress Mariam-uz-Zamani, she was highly regarded by her husband, as well as Khurram (Shah Jahan) and Mehr-un-Nissa (later Empress Nur Jahan) in later years. She held the supreme rank by birth, alongside Salima Sultan Begum

Once, Empress Ruqaiya Sultan Begum and her mother-in-law, Queen Mother Hamida Banu Begum, by their joint effort could not secure a pardon for a Sunni Muslim who had murdered a Shia in Lahore purely out of religious fanaticism.^[20]

In 1607, Jahangir organized a hunting trip to Kabul accompanied by his harem. Empress Ruqaiya during this trip, for the first time paid homage to her father's mausoleum, Hindal Mirza, and later was also buried alongside him at the Gardens of Babur in Kabul.^[21] In the same year, Sher Afghan Khan, the jagirdar of Burdwan died and his widowed wife, Mehr-un-Nissa (later Empress Nur Jahan) was summoned to Agra by Jahangir for providing her protection and was a lady in waiting to Dowager Empress Ruqaiya Sultan Begum.^[22] Given the precarious political connections of Sher Afghan before his death, his family was in great danger and therefore for her protection, Mehr-un-Nissa needed to be at the Mughal court in Agra. As her husband had gone down in ignominy and she could have rightly expected only the worst.^[23] Mehr-un-Nissa served as lady-in-waiting to Ruqaiya Begum for over four years.^[22] The relationship that grew up between Dowager Empress Ruqaiya and Mehr-un-Nissa appears to have been a tender one. The Dutch merchant and travel writer, Pieter van den Broecke, described their relationship in his Hindustan Chronicle: "This Begum [Ruqaiya] conceived a great affection for Mehr-un-Nissa [Nur Jahan]; she loved her more than others and always kept her in her company."^[19]

Empress Ruqaiya Sultan Begum died in January 1626 in Agra, at the age of eighty-four. She was buried on the fifteenth level in the Gardens of Babur (Bagh-e-Babur) in Kabul, Afghanistan beside the grave of her father Hindal Mirza as per her wish. The Gardens of Babur is the final resting place of her grandfather, Emperor Babur, as well as that of her father, Hindal Mirza.^[24]

• Ruqaiya plays an important role in Harold Lamb's historical novel, Nur Mahal (1935).^[25]
• Ruqaiya is a principal character in Indu Sundaresan's fictional novel, The Twentieth Wife (2002),^[26] as well as in its sequel, The Feast of Roses (2003).^[27]
• Ruqaiya is a pivotal character in Tanushree Podder's historical novel, Nur Jahan's Daughter, 2005.^[28]
• Ruqaiya was portrayed by Lavina Tandon/Smiley Suri in critically acclaimed Zee TV's fictional drama Jodha Akbar.^[29]
• Deepika Amin portrayed Ruqaiya in EPIC channel's fictional drama Siyaasat (based on The Twentieth Wife).^[30][31]
• In Sony TV's historical drama Bharat Ka Veer Putra – Maharana Pratap, Ruqaiya was portrayed by Poorti Agarwal as a teenager^[32] and Falaq Naaz as an adult.^[33]
• Vaishnavi Rao portrayed Ruqaiya in BIG Magic's historical drama Akbar — Rakht Se Takht Tak Ka Safar.
• Tasneem Sheikh portrayed Ruqaiya in Viacom 18's Colors' fictionalised historical drama, Dastaan-E-Mohabbat: Salim Anarkali.
• Padma Damodaran portrayed Ruqaiya in ZEE5's web series Taj: Divided by Blood.