Shahjahan Begum

Sultan Shahjahan Begum (July 29, 1838 - June 16, 1901) was the ruler of the princely state of Bhopal in central India for two terms: 1844-60, and secondly during 1868-1901. Image File history File links Shahjahan_Bhopal. ... Image File history File links Shahjahan_Bhopal. ... July 29 is the 210th day (211th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 155 days remaining. ... | Jöns Jakob Berzelius, discoverer of protein 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... June 16 is the 167th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (168th in leap years), with 198 days remaining. ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... A princely state is any state under the reign of a prince and is thus a principality taken in the broad sense. ... Bhopāl   (Hindi: भोपाल, Urdu: بھوپال, IPA: ) is a city in central India. ... The geography of India is extremely diverse, with landscape ranging from snow-capped mountain ranges to deserts, plains, hills and plateaus. ...

Born in Islamnagar near the city of Bhopal, Shahjahan was the only surviving child of Nawab Sikandar Begum, sometime ruler of Bhopal, and her husband Jahangir Mohammed Khan. She was recognised as ruler of Bhopal in 1844 at the age of six; her mother wielded power as regent during her minority. However, in 1860, her mother Sikandar Begum was recognised by the British as ruler of Bhopal in her own right, and Shahjahan was set aside. Shahjahan succeeded her mother as Begum of Bhopal upon the death of the latter in 1868. Bhopāl   (Hindi: भोपाल, Urdu: بھوپال, IPA: ) is a city in central India. ... The term Begum of Bhopal may refer to any of several ladies who ruled the princely state of Bhopal in Central India in the 19th and 20th centuries. ...

A lady of learning and piety, Shahjahan is credited with the authorship of several books in Urdu. She was instrumental in initiating the construction of the largest mosque in India, the Taj ul-Masjid, at Bhopal. The construction however remained incomplete at her death and was later abandoned; work was resumed only in 1971. Shahjahan Begum made sizable donations towards the building of a mosque at Woking, Surrey in the UK. She also contributed generously towards the founding of the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh, which developed into the Aligarh Muslim University. (اردو) is an Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-Iranian branch, belonging to Indo-European family of languages. ... Woking is a large town and local government district with borough status in the west of Surrey in South East England. ... Surrey is a county in southern England, part of the South East England region and one of the Home Counties. ... Aligarh   is a city in Aligarh district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ... Victoria gate, a prominent building at the university Aligarh Muslim University is located in the city of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India. ...

In 1855, Shahjahan Begum married Baqi Muhammad Khan, a nobleman of Bhopal, as his third wife. He died in 1867. Four years later, Shahjahan married Sadiq Hasan Khan of Bareilly in the then United Provinces. The second marriage was childless. Bareilly   (Hindi: बारैली, Urdu: باریلی) is a city in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ... United Provinces, 1903 The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, mainly referred to simply as the United Provinces, was a former province of British India, which existed from 1902 to 1947. ...

Shahjahan Begum died in Bhopal, and was succeeded as ruler by her only surviving daughter, of her first marriage, Kaikhusrau Jahan.

References

• "The Begums of Bhopal: A Dynasty of Women Rulers in Raj India" by Shahraryar M. Khan
• Brief biography and genealogy
• The Taj-ul-masjid at Bhopal
• Woking Mosque and the Woking Muslim Mission