{{Short description|Mughal Empire title}} {{Infobox official post | post = Padshah Begum | body = <br />the [[Mughal Empire]] | insignia = | insigniasize = 120px | insigniacaption = | image = Princess Jahanara aged 18, British Library, Add Or 3129, f.13v.jpg | imagesize = 200px | imagecaption = Mughal princess [[Jahanara Begum|Jahanara]], Padshah Begum during the reigns of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb | style = [[Her Imperial Majesty]] | residence = [[Agra Fort]] | appointer = [[Mughal Emperors]] | precursor = | formation = 21 April 1526 | first = [[Maham Begum]] | last = [[Zeenat Mahal]] | abolished = 14 September 1857 | succession = }}

'''Padshah Begum''' ({{Langx|fa|پادشاه بیگم}}) was a superlative [[wikt:Imperial|imperial]] [[title]] conferred upon the empress consort of the [[Mughal Empire]] and was considered to be the most important title in the [[Mughal Harem|Mughal harem]] or ''[[zenana]]''.<ref name="Findly">{{cite book|last1=Findly|first1=Ellison Banks|title=Nur Jahan, empress of Mughal India|url=https://archive.org/details/nurjahanempressm00find|url-access=limited|date=1993|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=9780195360608|pages=[https://archive.org/details/nurjahanempressm00find/page/n107 95], 125}}</ref> This title can be equivalent with "empress" in English, but in only approximate terms in the Mughal context.

==List of Padshah Begum== {| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" |- ! Rowspan="2"|Padshah Begum ! scope="row" colspan="2"| Tenure ! Rowspan="2"|Notes |- ! From ! Until |- ! [[Maham Begum]] | 1526 | 1530 | * Wife of [[Babur]] |- ! rowspan="2" |[[Bega Begum]] | 1530 | 1540 | rowspan="2" | * Wife of [[Humayun]] |- | 1555 | 1556 |- ![[Hamida Banu Begum]]

|1556 |1604 | *Mother of [[Akbar]] |- ![[Saliha Banu Begum]] |1608 |1620 | *Wife of [[Jahangir]] |- ![[Nur Jahan]] | 1620 | 1627 | * Wife of [[Jahangir]] |- ! [[Mumtaz Mahal]] | 1628 | 1631 | * Wife of [[Shah Jahan]] |- ! Rowspan="2"|[[Jahanara Begum]] | 1631 | 1658 |Rowspan="3"| * Daughter of [[Shah Jahan]] * Sister of [[Aurangzeb]] |- | 1669 | 1681 |- ! [[Roshanara Begum]] | 1658 | 1669 |- ! [[Zinat-un-Nissa Begum]] | 1681 | 1721 | * Daughter of [[Aurangzeb]] |- ! [[Badshah Begum]] | 1721 | 1789 | * Daughter of [[Farrukhsiyar]] * Wife of [[Muhammad Shah]] |- ! [[Zeenat Mahal]] | 1840 | 1857 | * Wife of [[Bahadur Shah Zafar]] |}

== Etymology == '''[[Padishah|Padeshah]]''', '''Padshah''', '''Padishah''', or '''Badishah''' is a superlative royal title, composed of the Persian ''pād'' (master) and ''shāh'' (king), which was adopted by several monarchs claiming the highest rank, equivalent to that of an ancient Persian notion of "The Great" or "Great King", and later adopted by post-Achaemenid and Christian Emperors. Its Arabized pronunciation as Badshah was used by Mughal emperors, and Bashah or Pasha was used by Ottoman Sultans.

'''[[Begum]]''', '''begam''', '''baigum''' or '''beygum''' is a female royal and aristocratic title from Central and South Asia. It is the feminine equivalent of the title ''[[baig]]'' or ''[[bey]]'', which in Turkic languages means ''chief'' or ''commander''. It usually refers to the wife or daughter of a ''beg''.

== Historical usage == The title of 'Padshah Begum' could only be bestowed upon the chief or principal wife, a sister, mother, or a favored daughter of the Mughal emperor<ref>{{cite book|last=Aftab|first=Tahera|title=Inscribing South Asian Muslim Women: an Annotated Bibliography & Research Guide|year=2008|publisher=Brill|isbn=9789004158498|page=66|edition=[Online-Ausg.]}}</ref> and could not be held by more than one lady simultaneously.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Journal of the Numismatic Society of India, Volumes 20-21|year=1958|publisher=Numismatic Society of India|page=223}}</ref> This was evidenced by the fact that Emperor [[Jahangir]]'s wife, [[Nur Jahan]], could only be given the title after his chief wife, [[Saliha Banu Begum]] (the Padshah Begum for most of his reign), had died in 1620.<ref name="Findly" />

Where the consorts of the Mughal emperors were concerned, the title could only be bestowed upon the chief wife of the emperor. The title was first bestowed upon [[Maham Begum]], who was the chief wife of Emperor [[Babur]]. It was held by [[Bega Begum]] during the reign of [[Humayun]]. Akbar, bestowed this title over his mother, [[Hamida Banu Begum]] who bore it until her death 1604.<ref>{{cite book |last=Badayuni|first=Abdul Qadir|volume=III|title=Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh|quote=Begum Pädshāh, the mother of his Majesty, busied herself in the ladies' apartments of the palace in interceding for the Shaikh and said to the Emperor. My son, he has an aged and decrepit mother in Ajmer.}} </ref> Emperor Jahangir bestowed this title upon his chief wife, Saliha Banu Begum, and then to her successor (after her death), Nur Jahan. Emperor [[Shah Jahan]] bestowed this title upon his chief wife, [[Mumtaz Mahal]] but after she died, he bestowed it upon his daughter [[Jahanara Begum]]. [[Shahar Banu Begum]] was briefly called Padshah begum during the short reign of her husband [[Muhammad Azam Shah|Azam Shah]], but it is unknown if the title was actually given to her.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sharma |first=Sudha |title=The Status of Muslim Women in Medieval India |date=21 March 2016 |publisher=SAGE Publications India |isbn=978-9-351-50567-9 |pages=82}}</ref> Emperor [[Muhammad Shah]] bestowed this title upon his chief wife [[Badshah Begum]].

The title was also bestowed upon the daughter of the emperor, such as Emperor Shah Jahan's daughter, Princess Jahanara Begum, and Emperor [[Aurangzeb]]'s daughter, Princess [[Zinat-un-Nissa]], both of whom bore the title throughout their lives.<ref>{{cite book|last=Schimmel|first=Annemarie|title=The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture|year=2004|publisher=Reaktion Books|isbn=1861891857|page=[https://archive.org/details/empireofgreatmug00anne/page/152 152]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/empireofgreatmug00anne/page/152}}</ref> In some cases, the title was also bestowed upon the sister of the emperor. Aurangzeb bestowed the title on his sisters [[Roshanara Begum]] and Jahanara Begum. When a Timurid Shahzadi held the title it meant "Empress amongst princesses".<ref>{{cite book|last=Butenschön|first=Andrea|title=The Life of a Mogul Princess: Jahānarā Begum, Daughter of Shāhjahān|year=1931|publisher=Taylor & Francis|page=221}}</ref>

== In popular culture== * ''[[Badshah Begum (TV series)|Badshah Begum]]'', a 2022 Pakistani television drama based on the concept of Padshah Begum.<ref>{{cite web|website=DAWN Images|access-date=2022-02-25|url=https://images.dawn.com/news/1189518/with-no-saas-bahu-drama-in-sight-badshah-begum-wants-to-push-the-boundaries-of-television|title=With no saas-bahu drama in sight, Badshah Begum wants to push the boundaries of television|date=2022-02-16|author=Mohammad Kamran Jawaid}}</ref>

==See also== * [[Padshah]] * [[Begum]] * [[Mughal Empire]] * [[List of Mughal empresses]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Titles]] [[Category:Persian words and phrases]] [[Category:Mughal royal consorts|*]] [[Category:Titles in India]] [[Category:Titles of national or ethnic leadership]] [[Category:Mughal Harem]]