Nadira Banu

Nadira Banu was the wife of Dara Shikoh, the heir to Shah Jahan's throne and the crown prince of the Mughal Empire. After his brother’s rise to power, Prince Dara’s immediate family and all of his supporters were in grave danger. She died in 1659, several months before his execution, and was survived by two daughters.

Personality and Lineage

Nadira Bagum was considered to be rather beautiful, and considerably intelligent. Her husband-to-be was reportedly eager for the marriage and they had a good relationship throughout his turbulent life. Nadira was the daughter of Shah Jahan’s half-brother, Pervaiz, and therefore his cousin, but there were no real objections to this from either party as it is commonplace in Muslim families.

Relationship with Jahanara

Nadira and Jahanara Begum, her sister-in-law, were said to have gotten on well; a fact which probably sprung from Jahanara’s involvement in her wedding and her closeness to her brother. Jahanara had consciously decided to support Dara, the most beloved to her of all of her siblings, over Aurengzeb, and she made outward demonstrations of this decision.

According to legend, Aurengzeb had fallen sick sometime during his teen years. It was at this time he called Jahanara in. He then asked her outright if she would support him in his bid for the crown. She refused. Despite how unpopular this must have made her in his sight, and her undying loyalty to her brother Dara, she went on to become the head of the harem in Aurengzeb’s court.

Jahanara’s outward declarations of love for her eldest brother no doubt strengthened the relationship between herself and his wife, and when she died, she left the cream of her fortune to one of the daughters Nadira had borne him.

Wedding and Married Life

The marriage was originally arranged when the couple were both teenagers, by Dara's mother, Mumtaz Mahal. When the Empress died with the birth of her last child, a girl, the wedding arrangements halted as India plunged into mourning and Shah Jahan was consumed in his grief. After much coaxing by many, including his favorite daughter Jahanara, he resumed life as normal and let her oversee the remaining aspects of the wedding. Before Shah Jahan died, he and Jahanara had been shunned from their lovely palace by Aurangzeb, the third son in line for the throne. Driven by his ambition and his fanatical Islamic views, he seized the throne and eventually defeated his brother (who was considerably more well-liked than he, a fact which was highlighted later on in his strict, extremist rule). While Shah Jahan's eldest son was said to be tolerant, wise and beloved, he was nonetheless overrun and eventually executed, leaving the crown to his brother, who ruled his empire harshly and assured that he was one of the remembered, if not fondly.

For these reasons, Nadira and her children were caught in a dangerous feud. She remained faithful to her husband until her death in the late sixteen-fifties.

Dara Shikoh was said to be a fine painter, and many of his works, when criticized, were considered to be almost of a professional standard. Some of his works were collected and gifted to Nadira Banu, and it was a token of her affection for him that she cherished it until her death, when it went on display at a museum.

Persondata
Name	Banu, Nadira
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Date of death	1659
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