Badshah Begum

Badshah Begum (c. 1703 – 14 December 1789) was the first wife and chief consort of the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah.

Badshah Begum bore her husband his first son, Shahriyar Shah Bahadur, who died in his childhood.

[3] Badshah Begum took an interest in several aspects of the state and governance and played an active part in matters of importance.

Muhammad Shah later developed a passion for a dancing girl, Udham Bai, a woman of no refinement, and made her a wife of his, though Badshah Begum remained his favourite.

[18] Badshah Begum commissioned elegant mansions in Jammu and, in typical Mughal style, laid the foundations of pleasure gardens on the banks of the Tawi River.

Badshah Begum, concealing the news of his death, sent messages to her step-son Ahmad Shah Bahadur, who was in camp with Safdar Jang near Panipat to return to Delhi and claim the throne.

[21] The princess made it clear that she preferred death to marrying an old man, and Alamgir II ultimately failed to win her.

[21] In April 1757, the Durrani king Ahmed Shah Abdali, after sacking the imperial capital of Delhi, desired to marry Princess Hazrat Begum.

The weeping bride was accompanied by her mother, Sahiba Mahal, and by her step-mother, Badshah Begum, along with a few other ladies of note from the imperial harem.

Badshah Begum died in 1789 in Delhi and was buried in the Tis Hazari Bagh (Garden of Thirty Thousand).