Consort Profile: Empress Mumtaz Mahal of India

Empress Mumtaz Mahal is one of the great romantic royal figures of history and while many people have probably never heard of her, absolutely everyone recognizes her final resting place, possibly the most famous monument to royal love in the world. But, more than just a pretty face, she was also one of the two great Mughal women who drove a number of reforms in the empire. She was born in Agra in April of 1593 as Arjumand Banu Begum, the daughter of Abdul Hasan Asaf Khan and a Persian princess. Her beauty and charm were legendary and when she first met the future Mughal Emperor, then Prince Khurram, it was a case of love at first sight. Struck by the stunning princess, the prince would have no other and the two were betrothed in 1607 when she was fourteen. Shah Jahan was so enamored with her that he swore he would have no other woman but her and that none could compare to her perfection. Given that, the only surprise is that it took five years before they were formally married in 1612. Romance aside, in keeping with tradition, Shah Jahan had two other wives as well but one can only feel sorry for the other two as there was never any doubt that Mumtaz Mahal was his favorite. Shah Jahan gave her that name, Mumtaz Mahal, which means “Jewel of the Palace” as a mark of his favor as well as entrusting her with the royal seal, Mehr Uzaz.

As with many royal marriages of the time, Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal were related. Her aunt Nurjahan was the wife of Shah Jahan’s father Jahangir but, after an initial period of favor, Nurjahan became prejudiced against her niece when one of her daughters from a previous marriage married Shah Jahan’s brother. With Shah Jahan, however, she was his greatest happiness on the world and traveled with him throughout the Mughal empire. Poets and songwriters wrote glowing, flowery tributes to her charm, beauty, grace and compassion. The other wives of Shah Jahan were treated correctly but were more like friends than anything else as it was always only Mumtaz Mahal who held his heart. From the days when he was a prince, chased about as a rebel, to the days when he ruled the Mughal Empire, Mumtaz Mahal was his constant companion, closest advisor, refuge and comfort. A compassionate woman, she influenced her husband toward justice and mercy and through her new rights and privileges for women became the law of the land in the Mughal Empire. Everyone adored her, none more than her husband, who lavished every devotion on her that it was in his power to give.

During their marriage, Mumtaz Mahal was gave birth to fourteen children, though half of them died in infancy. Whether it was watching elephant fights in the arena or going on military campaigns, the Empress never wished to leave the side of her husband and it pained him deeply to ever have her out of his sight. Their devotion to each other reached legendary proportions, it was truly a romance for the ages and one unsullied by suspicious, jealously or intrigues for political power as were all too common. It helped that the reign of Shah Jahan was known, even then, as a “Golden Age” for Mughal India, of power, prosperity and artistic masterpieces and at the center of it all was the devoted Emperor and Empress. Also noteworthy is the fact that, unlike at least one or two other notable consorts, Mumtaz Mahal never tried to influence her husband on political issues and certainly never attempted to consolidate any political power for herself. Rather, she used her influence only in the area of social issues to help those in need and she was always supportive of her husband, his decisions and his policies.

Mumtaz Mahal accompanied the Emperor whenever possible, despite being almost constantly pregnant. It was on one such occasion that her life was cut tragically short, journeying with Shah Jahan while he was waging war on the Deccan Plateau of central India. The Empress was at Burhanpur when she went into labor to give birth to her fourteenth child. Complications set in and she died on June 17, 1631. To say that Shah Jahan was grief-stricken would be an immense understatement. The Emperor was positively unhinged with sorrow at the loss of his most beloved wife. No one could comfort him, no one could calm him and for a year he cut himself off from the world as he mourned his wife who had been his greatest happiness in the world. His hair reportedly turned white, he seemed to age rapidly and forever after had the appearance of a bent and sorrowful old man.

When finally he regained his composure, with the help of his eldest daughter, the Emperor determined to build a monumental tomb for his beloved wife that would stand as a testament to her glory and his great affection for her. The result was the magnificent and world famous Taj Mahal at Agra which took thousands of Mughal artisans 22 years to complete and which covers some 1,003 acres. To this day it is considered perhaps the most spectacular achievement of Mughal architecture in India, the centerpiece of which is the massive, white marble tomb beneath which rest the bodies of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan. It is all set in the midst of vast and magnificent gardens and it is all a tribute to one of the most beloved royal consorts in world history and a monument to one of the greatest royal romances of all time.

Monarch Profile: Emperor Bahadur Shah II of India

Bahadur Shah II has the distinction of being the last emperor of the Mughal rulers of India. At one time the Mughal Empire stretched across almost the entire Indian subcontinent and was a successor of the massive central Asian empire of Tamerlane or Timur the Lane, a descendant of Genghis Khan. Starting with Babur who first took control from the old Sultan of Delhi, the Timurid dynasty of the Mughal Empire reached its peak under Emperor Akbar the Great. Shah Jahan was one of his descendants, his most lasting legacy being the Taj Mahal which he built as a mausoleum for his beloved wife. The Taj Mahal remains the most famous Mughal monument though many of the most famous landmarks in India, Pakistan and elsewhere such as the Agra Fort and the Badshahi Mosque were also built by the Mughals. The centuries, however, had taken their toll by the time Bahadur Shah II succeeded his father, Akbar Shah II, the Mughal Empire was confined mostly to the environs of Delhi and little else.

The British East India Company had first gained influence working through native leaders and in 1803 they took control of Delhi from the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II who had already suffered numerous personal disasters. He was forced to become a pensioner of the East India Company and place himself under the protection of the British. At first the British maintained some respect for the nominal monarch but in 1835 the company had become strong enough that it stopped even the nominal position they had previously held as lieutenant of the Emperor, by this time Akbar Shah II. Thus, on September 28, 1838 he inherited a throne which wielded only nominal power and even then it reached only to the area around Delhi. The British East India Company paid the Emperor a pension so long as he gave them no trouble and allowed him to remain inside the Red Fort palace, the walls of which marked the boundaries of his little actual authority. It was a far cry from the Mughal Empire that once stretched across most of India, Pakistan and parts of Afghanistan and Persia. Now there was no doubt that the glories of the empire were in the past and Bahadur Shah had been informed by the Company that his imperial title would die with him.

Bahadur Shah had witnessed much of this change in his own lifetime. When he was born in 1775 the British East India Company was only a minor force on the coast with a few factories and outposts in the major cities but by the time he came to the throne at the age of 63 the company dominated the subcontinent. Zafar, his well known pen name, was not an ambitious or a warlike man, yet what he represented was to prove vital to the nationalists of India who desired to throw off the East India Company and restore Indian independence. His reign also saw the last great cultural flowering of the old India and the remnant of the Mughal Empire. Zafar himself was quite famous for his poetry and the new innovations and modern ideas for the west were which had just been introduced were discussed at great length as well as how these new ideas could impact the traditional Islamic and Hindu beliefs of the Indian people. It is ironic that this cultural renaissance came when the empire was effectively on its death bed. That death was to be hastened by the great Indian Mutiny of 1857.

Bahadur Shah was hardly in a position to be an effective rebel leader. He was an 82-year-old mystic and poet and certainly not a military commander by any stretch of the imagination. Yet, as the Mughal Emperor, the ruler of the last dynasty which had reigned over a united and powerful India he was naturally the one most people turned to for leadership, even if only symbolic. The Indian Mutiny had been brewing for some time as more and more people became fed up with the rule of the East India Company. The famous spark which ignited the conflict was when Sepoy troops employed by the company for the Bengal army were issued Enfield rifles with paper cartridges greased in animal fat that the soldier had to bite off with his teeth to load the rifle. The Muslim and Hindu soldiers refused as pig fat was considered unclean by the Muslims and cows were sacred to the Hindus and this was the straw that broke the camels back. They feared a conspiracy on the part of the company to convert the entire population to Christianity and a military revolt flared up which quickly spread to the civilian population.

The revolt reached Delhi on the morning of May 11, 1857 and the rebels immediately went to the Red Fort palace and clustered under the windows to the apartments of the Emperor and called on him to lead them. Many in the palace immediately joined the rebels but the Emperor took no immediate action. An unambitious man by nature he was sympathetic to the cause of the rebels but rather horrified by the horrific violence that had erupted. He remained rather hesitant the next day when he held his first formal audience in many years to meet with the sepoys and hear their petition. The scene was chaotic and somewhat unnerved the aged monarch but the rebels were adamant that they needed him to take charge of their movement as the only possible figure who could unite all India in the fight for independence. Although greatly troubled by the violence that had already occurred and which was sure to follow Zafar felt it was his duty to comply with their demands and accept their allegiance. In quick order the rebels proclaimed Bahadur Shah II Emperor of Hindustan.

When news of this event reached the countryside it caused more Indians to rally to the rebel cause. The European communities went into a siege mentality and many Muslim clerics began calling for a holy war against the British. The Emperor, however, firmly rejected such a move because he feared that to stir up such religious violence would only lead to internal conflict between the Muslims and Hindus of India. Once again the nobles and all sections of society swore allegiance to the Emperor and coins were issued in his name. Nonetheless, some claimed early on that the sepoys had coerced Zafar into allowing himself to be placed at the head of the rebellion. Additionally, his support did not make rebellion more popular with everyone in India. The Sikhs, for instance, turned against the mutiny and supported the British when Muslim rulers endorsed the emperor for fear (probably unjust) that the result would be an Islamic Indian empire. The rebels also had to rely on a rather shaky command structure since events were moving so rapidly. Although the Emperor was the symbolic leader in whose name all fought he did not have absolute control over the forces under his nominal command.

To command the army Zafar chose one of his sons who had petitioned him to lead the rebellion, Mirza Mughal, who had no real military experience. He set about his duties with zeal and tried to make a formal military out of the disparate band of freedom fighters and provide billeting, provisions and a structured command system. However, enthusiasm is no match for experience and when Bakht Khan arrived; who was a veteran of the British forces, the Emperor placed him in command and gave Mirza the post of quartermaster general. All of this had to be done quickly because the Indian rebels were about to feel the full military might of an alarmed British Empire, fresh from victory in the Crimean War. Troops poured in from all directions; from Great Britain, across Persia from the Crimea and diverted from China and naturally Delhi was a major prize for both practical and symbolic reasons. The British also took particular aim at the Emperor and were determined that their counter-attack would bring a final end to the Mughal Empire which had stood for so many centuries.

When the British forces arrived they cut a bloody swath through India as they marched on Delhi, arriving on July 1. The East India Company had a relatively small force to besiege the city with but they had the advantages common to the proud military tradition of Great Britain: experience, training and discipline. For nearly three months the siege dragged on and as more Indian rebel troops arrived they made some attacks on the British but the company forces had little difficulty in driving them off. One of the British officers wounded in such an attack was a young Neville Chamberlain. The lack of any real success despite a significant numerical advantage worried the Emperor and he began refusing offers of help. His own control over the city was rather weak; the rebel forces did not have a great deal of discipline and despite the odds it looked like it was only a matter of time before the British re-took the city.

Disease and privation seemed to be doing the British more harm than the sepoys and as other rebellions, such as in the Punjab, were put down more Company forces arrived to reinforce the siege of Delhi. The rebels began sending out peace feelers in August but the company considered their demands unreasonable. The Indians might have regarded the war as a fight for independence but from the British point of view it was a rebellion and those taking part were traitors who could expect little in the way of mercy. Major General Archdale Wilson commanded the British forces and by the end of the first week of September his artillery train arrived and in quick order the British mortars and heavy artillery knocked out the rebel defenses. The rebels were running out of ammunition (all of which had been captured from Company stores) and on September 14 the British launched their assault. The British broke through at the Kashmiri Gate and suffered heavy losses but struggled forward in a week of hard fighting street to street and house to house before reaching the magnificent Red Fort.

By that time the Emperor and his entourage had fled to the Humayun tomb. The British thought he was planning a last stand there and took a cautious approach. However, Captain William Hodson took his native irregular cavalry and rode to the tomb where he demanded that the Emperor surrender. Bahadur Shah first asked if things could not go back to the way they had been before (he had not, after all, instigated the rebellion) but Hodson assured him such an idea was ludicrous but did promise that he would be fairly treated and suffer no indignities if he surrendered immediately. The Emperor agreed and turned over his jewel-encrusted swords to the captain and rode out with great dignity into British custody. The captain remarked later about how regal the procession was and what a calming presence the mere sight of the Emperor had on the public. However, despite the promises made, there was to be no happy ending for the last Mughal imperial family. Bahadur Shah was put on trial by the British who tried to blame the entire uprising on him and paint him as some sort of scheming mastermind who orchestrated the whole mutiny. His three sons, including Mirza Mughal, who were captured with him, were all summarily shot by Captain Hodson who then looted their bodies. Bahadur Shah, after his trial, was found guilty, deposed and exiled to Rangoon in Burma where he lived until his death in 1862.

When the last Mughal Emperor passed away his body was thrown into an unmarked grave and the soil was carefully replaced so that in a couple of months there would be no trace as to where his remains were located. Nonetheless, a shrine of sorts stands nearby to this day in his honor as modern India considers him something of an early Indian nationalist and champion of Indian independence. Indians travel to his resting place as if on pilgrimage to the shrine of a saint and there are many public buildings and institutions in India named in his honor. It was a campaign, effectively, to reverse the British portrayal of him after the mutiny as an arch villain. The real Bahadur Shah was probably somewhere between the two extremes. I tend to think he was something of a genuine Indian nationalist. He certainly did not have a great deal to lose at that point and an awful lot to gain. However, he was also a realist who knew a victory over the British would be close to miraculous and as a peaceful poet I think he was horrified by the idea of a bloody war and was undoubtedly disgusted by the actions of even his own nominal followers. He was a victim of circumstances beyond his control from beginning to end, as often seems to be the fate of last emperors and the best that can be said about him is that he had no hand in the worse aspects of the mutiny but a genuine love for his country and was a dutiful monarch even in the worst of circumstances.

Monarch Profile: Emperor Akbar the Great of India

The man known as Akbar the Great was the third monarch of the powerful Mughal Empire which dominated most India and much of south central Asia. He would rule more of India than anyone in history up to the era of British colonial rule. He is remembered today as a great conqueror, builder, lawgiver and a fair ruler of a very diverse population, particularly in religion. He was born Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar on November 23, 1542 in Umerkot, Sindh (modern Pakistan) to Emperor Humayun and his wife Hamida Banu Begum. When his parents were driven into exile in Persia by the Pashtuns young Akbar stayed behind and was later raised by an uncle in what is now Afghanistan. He grew up strong and determined, very athletic and adventurous but without much of a formal education. He would be illiterate for his entire life and yet, rather like Emperor Charlemagne in the west, this did not mean he was ill-informed or unrefined in taste or habits.

When his father returned during a struggle over the succession Humayun captured Delhi but died shortly thereafter. At only 13 years old Akbar succeeded to the Mughal throne in 1556 though it was still a throne he had to fight for. However, military campaigns were to take up a considerable portion of his reign and Emperor Akbar proved more than up to the challenge. In the beginning his army was often led by Bairam Khan who was also guardian of the young emperor. Eventually, however, he launched a rebellion against his former charge and it took a difficult military campaign to defeat him and for Akbar to consolidate his rule and begin expanding his empire. His forces won a number of stunning victories that destroyed the power of the Hindu kings and extended Mughal control across Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India though it took about twenty years to accomplish it. No other Mughal emperor would ever surpass his achievements on the battlefield and the Mughal Empire would never be bigger or stronger than it was during his reign. Yet, as adept at warfare as Akbar was, that is not how he is most remembered today.

Instead, Akbar the Great is today known for his epic building programs, ushering in the magnificent Mughal style of architecture. He was also known for reaching out to the now sidelined Hindu elites of India. He took Hindu princesses into his harem, abolished the tax on non-Muslims in India and abolished the tax which had formerly been collected on Hindus whenever they went on a pilgrimage. In time the Muslim emperor was admired and revered by most of the Hindu population. His tactic of marrying the daughters of powerful Hindu rulers was also quite effective and it is estimated that by the end of his life Emperor Akbar had more than 4,000 wives! He not only tolerated Hinduism but even participated in some Hindu customs to show that he was truly their monarch as well.

Akbar the Great reformed the tax system, streamlined the government and greatly improved the lives of his people. His court was very cosmopolitan and included people from various nationalities and religious backgrounds. He enjoyed assembling Islamic scholars, Hindu teachers, Jesuit priests and so on for religious debates. He established friendly diplomatic relations with the Portuguese who had already established a number of fortresses on the west coast of India. When the Ottoman authorities harassed Mughal pilgrims making the Hajj there was even a plan developed by Emperor Akbar to attack Yemen in alliance with the Portuguese but nothing ever came of it. The Portuguese ultimately attacked on their own but were repelled by the Ottoman navy. At home, Akbar was something of a renaissance man, as interested in art, architecture, crafts, philosophy and religion as he was in war and government administration. His empire was remarkably religiously tolerant, though it must also be said that all of his officials were not as open-minded as he was and religious harassment if not outright persecution did occur, particularly regarding the Christians who were the weakest of the religions present in India at the time.

Emperor Akbar carried his religious tolerance to such an extent that by the end of his life there was an effort to create a unique religion combining aspects of all others, though the extent to which this was a serious quest for a true “religion” may be debated. In any event, most could agree on very little aside from the great esteem in which they all held their emperor and it dissolved after his death which came on October 27, 1605 in Agra. During his life, Akbar the Great had risen from royal but humble origins, was forced to fight for his inheritance, defeated his enemies, built an empire that dominated the subcontinent and gained international fame for the beauty, splendor and freedom of his dominion. He remains probably the most widely revered and celebrated Mughal emperor of India.

Anniversary of the Red Fort

Today marks the anniversary of the completion of the famous Red Fort in Delhi, India in 1648. Originally called the 'Blessed Fort' it was built by the great Emperor Shah Jahan and was meant to be the crown jewel of his new capital city of Shahjahanabad which was to replace the former capital city of Agra. It remains one of the great monuments of the Mughal dynasty and a powerful symbol of the grandeur and glory of imperial India. It took roughly ten years to build the massive palace complex and imposing fortifications, the Delhi and Lahore Gates, the Rang Mahal where the Emperor kept his wives, the Pearl Mosque, and the massive "Life Bestowing Garden". The Red Fort of Delhi remained the seat of power and the most grand symbol of the Mughal Empire throughout the years of its height and slow decline. The last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah II lived there until the great Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. The Emperor was liberated by the rebels, proclaimed the ruler of a free India but was eventually captured by the British, who defeated the uprising and the aged monarch was brought back to the Red Fort as a criminal for trial. Nonetheless, the symbolism of the Red Fort remained constant. The British used it as their military headquarters during the period of the British Empire of India and when India became independent the occasion was marked by the raising of the national flag over the Red Fort by Prime Minister Nehru. To this day the political leaders of India make use of the Red Fort as a powerful backdrop to address the nation on independence day.