Aurangabadi Mahal

Aurangabadi Mahal^[1] (Persian: اورنگ آبادی محل; died 1688) was a consort of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.^[2]

Aurangabadi Mahal
Died	c. 1688 Bijapur, Mughal Empire
Burial	Aurangabadi Mahal Mausoleum, Bijapur
Consort	Aurangzeb
Issue	Mihr-un-Nissa Begum
Religion	Islam

Origins

Aurangabadi Mahal either belonged to Aurangabad,^[3] or had entered Aurangzeb's harem in the city of Aurangabad.^[4] She was either Georgian or Circassian by origin (see Black Sea slave trade).^[5] Ever since the reign of Emperor Akbar, it had been ordained that the names of the women of the imperial harem should not be mentioned in public, they should be designated by some epithet, derived either from the place of their birth or the city or country where they had entered the imperial harem.^[6]

According to other sources Aurangabadi Mahal was the Daughter of Prince Shahryar Mirza and Ladli Begum, Granddaughter of Jahangir and Nur Jahan. She was given the name Arzani Begum at birth. It is said that after the death of Nur Jahan and Ladli Begum, as Arzani Begum became orphaned Aurangzeb brought her from Lahore to Aurangabad and married her as a means of support.^[7]  After the marriage it is proposed she was given the epithet Aurangabadi Mahal in honor of her taking up residence in Aurangabad, which led to confusions surrounding her origin.

As Consort

Depiction of Aurangzeb and one of his consorts possibly Aurangabadi.

On 28 September 1661, she gave birth to Aurangzeb's youngest daughter, Mihr-un-nissa Begum. She was the ninth child of her father, and the only child of her mother.^[8] She commissioned a mosque known as Main Sahibs's Mosque in Dhobi Katra, Khari Baoli.^[9]

In March 1680, Yalangtosh Khan Bahadur was sent to bring Aurangabadi, and Princess Zeb-un-nissa Begum from Delhi to Ajmer.^[10] Both of them reached there in May, and were welcomed by Prince Muhammad Azam Shah Mirza, who conducted them to the imperial harem.^[11] However, in February 1681, when Prince Muhammad Akbar Mirza had initiated a rebellion against his father, Aurangzeb, Aurangabadi was sent back to Delhi. She was accompanied by Salima Banu Begum, wife of Prince Muhammad Akbar Mirza and daughter of Prince Sulaiman Shikoh Mirza. ^[12]

In March 1686, before Aurangzeb's march to capture the fort of Bijapur, Khan Jahan Bahadur was sent to Burhanpur to bring Aurangabadi. An emerald smarani was made over to him for her. She reached Aurangzeb's camp at Sholapur from Delhi in May 1686, and was welcomed at the door of the fort near the deorhi by Prince Muhammad Kam Bakhsh Mirza.^[13] She followed Aurangzeb to Bijapur, and remained there after its conquest in September 1686.^[14]

Death

In November 1688, Aurangabadi was still living in Bijapur, when plague spread out in the city. The plague was the cause of death of a number of people, and one of its victims was Aurangabadi Mahal. After her death, Saqi Must'ad Khan, the author of the "Ma'asir-i-Alamgiri" described her as 'the Emperor's parastar, the old and devoted hand-maid.'^[14]

When Zeb-un-nissa Begum heard of her illness, she was deeply grieved, for she had always been nice to everybody.^[15] Her death removed the last rival of Aurangzeb's youngest and most beloved concubine, Udaipuri Mahal, the mother of Prince Kam Bakhsh.^[16]