Of Roshanara's four brothers, the eldest, Dara Shikoh, was Shah Jahan's favourite son and heir apparent to the Peacock Throne.

Murad, the youngest son, was granted the Governorship of Gujarat, at which position he proved so weak and so ineffectual that Shah Jahan had him stripped of his titles, offering them to Dara Shikoh, instead.

This precipitated a family struggle between Shah Jahan and his embittered younger sons, who resolved to depose the aging emperor and seize the throne for themselves.

Roshanara's rise to power began when she successfully foiled a plot by her father and Dara Shikoh to kill Aurangzeb.

In truth, however, Shah Jahan planned to capture, imprison and kill Aurangzeb, as he viewed his third son as a serious threat to the throne.

Shah Jahan, who opened the package just as he was sitting down to dinner, was so distressed by the sight of his favorite son's head that he fell unconscious to the floor.

Roshanara's relationship with her older sister, Jahanara, was troubled and tinged by jealousy, as the latter was undisputedly their father's favorite daughter.

Additionally, she ruled Aurangzeb's palace with an iron hand and with such flexibility and with the same will that she used in the war of succession and earned the hatred of all the wives of her brother.

She also advised him on matters of state and accompanied him to important meetings and on several occasions spoke from behind her curtained sitting place.

She even stole Aurangzeb's signet ring and forged a decree to deny his eldest son by his wife Nawab Bai any chance of succession.

In addition, she blatantly misused the sweeping powers and privileges that Aurangzeb had granted her just before leaving for his long military campaign in the Deccan, to further her financial ends.