Predecessor Jahanara Begum Burial Zinat-ul-Masjid Mother Dilras Banu Begum House Timurid dynasty Name Zeenat Nissa | Successor Badshah Begum Father Aurangzeb Role Aurangzeb's daughter Siblings Sultan Muhammad Akbar | |
Tenure 16 September 1681 - 7 May 1721 Died May 7, 1721, Delhi, New Delhi Parents Aurangzeb, Dilras Banu Begum Cousins Sulaiman Shikoh, Jahanzeb Banu Begum, Mumtaz Shikoh, Sipihr Shikoh Similar People Aurangzeb, Zeb‑un‑Nisa, Muhammad Azam Shah, Murad Bakhsh, Bahadur Shah I | ||
Zeenat-un-Nissa (5 October 1643 – 7 May 1721) was an Imperial princess of the Mughal Empire as the second daughter of Emperor Aurangzeb and his chief consort Dilras Banu Begum. During her lifetime, she had the honorific title of Padshah Begum conferred upon her. The previous holders of this honorific and exclusive title were her paternal aunts, Jahanara Begum and Roshanara Begum.
Princess Zeenat-un-Nissa is known by historians for her piety and extensive charity.
Biography
Zeenat-un-Nissa ("Jewel among Women") was probably born at Aurangabad to Dilras Banu Begum, her father's first wife and chief consort. Her mother was a member of the Safavid dynasty, the then ruling dynasty of Iran. Her maternal grandfather was Mirza Badi-uz-Zaman Safavi, while her paternal grandfather being Emperor Shah Jahan during whose reign she was born.
She had in-depth knowledge of the doctrines of Islam, just like her elder sister, Princess Zeb-un-Nisa and her younger sister, Princess Zubdat-un-Nissa. She was educated by private tutors and scholars, and refused to marry, choosing to remain single her entire life.
She was a partisan of her step-brother, Kam Baksh, for whom she gained pardon from her father on several occasions. Though her real brother, Azam, had a strong disliking for him.
She was her father's sole companion during the later part of his reign, along with his concubine Udaipuri Mahal. She was the superintendent of her father's household in the Deccan for a quarter of a century till his death in 1707. She survived him many years, enjoying the respect of his successors as the living memorial of a great age.
She had the Zeenat-ul-Masjid ("Ornament of Mosques") constructed at her expense in c.1700 by the riverside wall of the Red Fort in Delhi, where she was buried.