'Saint of the World'), was the second wife and the empress consort of the fourth Mughal emperor Jahangir and the mother of his successor, Shah Jahan.
[18][17][19][20] She belonged to the Rathore clan of Rajputs and was the daughter of Raja Udai Singh,[8] the ruler of Marwar (present-day Jodhpur).
[28] After the death of Maldeo Rathore in 1562, a fratricidal war for succession started and Chandrasen crowned himself in the capital, Jodhpur.
[29] According to Muni Lal, the young Jagat Gosain is said to have caught the eye of Prince Salim when he was attending a function with his mother and other senior women of the Mughal harem.
[34] According to Murārdān,[35] her paternal cousin, Rana Kalyan Das Rathore took offense at this marriage and was angry at Mota Raja and had remarked – Why has a daughter been married to the Turks?
Kalyan Das, realizing defeat is imminent, had his wives perform Jauhar and himself led his men to die fighting.
Marwar's alliance with Mughal would have broken down due to religious strain estrangement had Jahangir and Shah Jahan not been bound by blood ties.
After this marriage, Udai Singh and brothers and nephews of Jodh bai succeeded in gaining the confidence of their contemporary rules and were recipients of Royal favors.
He was placed under the care of his first wife Ruqaiya Begum who resided in Akbar's harem and she is stated to have raised Khurram affectionately.
[49][50] The West side of the quadrangle, surrounded by oblong niches with portraits of Hindu deity, was her temple.
[55] Jahangir noted the death: On Friday, the 30th, the mother(Jodh baī) of Shāh-Jahān attained the mercy of God.Shah Jahan, as noted by Jahangir, was inconsolable and The next day I myself went to the house of that precious son, and having condoled with him in every way, took him with me to the palace.According to Muni Lal, Shah Jahan was so indulged in grief on the death of his mother that he, "For twenty-one days he attended no public entertainment and subsisted on simple vegetarian meals" and Arjumand Banu "personally supervised the distribution of food to the poor during the three - week mourning period and led the recitation of the Holy Quran every morning" and "gave her husband many a lesson on the substance of life and death, and begged him not to grieve".
[56] After her death, Jahangir ordered that she be called Bilqis Makani ("the Lady of Pure Abode")[57] in all of the official documents.
[1] She was buried in Dehra Bagh near Noor Manzil (present-day Arjun Nagar, Agra) as per her wishes.
[45] Her tomb was a square building of 78 feet on all sides and consisted of a high dome, gateways, towers and a garden situated in the cantonment area.
[60] In 1921, a chhatri was constructed marking the site of her tomb using a design made in the Archeological Superintendent Office.