To be a favourite of a Mughal emperor was a grand affair – a status such as this meant being held in high esteem among the noble elite, receiving numerous valuable gifts, and being granted special favour in matters of the court. But there was another side to this golden coin – a fall from grace results in a swift and painful death, be it metaphorical or literal. In a flash, you would find yourself plunging into a dark abyss devoid of everything you possessed, from even before you rose in the king’s favour.
And with a king such as Aurangzeb, one had to tread very carefully indeed. Emperor Aurangzeb has been interpreted in varied perspectives throughout history, from a power-hungry zealot who marked the beginning of the end of the Mughal Empire, to a powerful but misunderstood king. But our story is not about him – today, we look at the king’s favourite child, Zeb-un-Nissa.
She caught the attention of her father at the tender age of seven, when she became a Hafiza, which was an Arabic title given to the royal Mughal women who memorised the entire Quran. When the deeply religious Aurangzeb saw that his seven-year-old daughter had already memorised the Quran, he was so impressed that he gave both her and her teacher 30,000 pieces of gold.
From then on, Zeb-un-Nissa continued to shine, mastering a wide range of subjects, from poetry and arts to philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, history, theology and literature. She was also said to be an excellent calligrapher. Her father recognised her supreme intellectual prowess and deemed that there was no better person to be his advisor. And so, Zeb-un-Nissa took her place as her father’s advisor at the age of 21.
There was only one thing that bothered Aurangzeb, and that was Zeb-un-Nissa’s love of poetry. The Emperor did not approve of his daughter’s likeness to his dead brother Dara Shukoh, who had similar propensities and ended up with his head being delivered to their father, Emperor Shah Jahan, on a platter during a brutal struggle for succession that Aurangzeb subsequently won. Still, Zeb-un-Nissa’s passion for poetry was not such a problem as to dislodge her from her position of high esteem.
What did become the cause for her downfall was her brother Akbar who, being another of Aurangzeb’s favoured children, rebelled against his father and fled from the kingdom. Although she was expected to cut ties with the disgraced prince, Zeb-un-Nissa continued to correspond with him – and Aurangzeb found out.
Enraged, the Emperor unleashed his fury upon his daughter, who was immediately stripped of all power, authority and possessions and thrown into lifelong imprisonment. Her poetry was banned, and for all intents and purposes, the princess was now an outcast.
After years of serving the kingdom faithfully, and everything she accomplished along the way, Zeb-un-Nissa, the emperor’s favourite, spent the rest of her life imprisoned, alone.
Works Cited
De, Souhardya. “Rebel princess: Zeb-un-Nissa of the Mughal ménage” Sunday Guardian Live. November 28th, 2020. Web. < https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/lifestyle/rebel-princess-zeb-un-nissa-mughal-menage > as seen on August 30th, 2022.
Sarkar, Jadunath. “Zeb-un-Nissa, the Gifted Daughter of Aurangzeb” Notes on Indian History. April 30th, 2015. Web. < https://www.notesonindianhistory.com/2015/04/princess-zeb-un-nissa-gifted-daughter.html > as seen on August 30th, 2022.