Salima Sultan Begum

Salima Sultan Begum (February 23, 1539 – December 15, 1612) was an Empress of the Mughal Empire as a wife of Emperor Akbar. Salima had been previously married to Bairam Khan and after his murder in 1561, she was subsequently married by her first cousin, the Emperor Akbar.
Salima Begum was a senior-ranking woman in the Imperial harem. As such, she wielded major political influence at Court and in the Empire. Her name appears in the histories as a reader, poet, who wrote under the pseudonym of Makhfi (مخفی, "Hidden One") and as pleading with Akbar for her step-son, Jahangir's forgiveness.

Salima Sultan Begum was born as the daughter of Mughal princess Gulrang Begum and her husband, the Viceroy of Kanauj, Nur-ud-din Muhammad Mirza. Salima's maternal grandfather was Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal Emperor.

Her maternal uncles were the second Mughal Emperor Humayun and the Mughal prince Hindal Mirza. Salima was therefore a first cousin to Emperor Akbar and to his first wife Ruqaiya Sultan Begum, as both of them were the children of her maternal uncles: Humayun and Hindal Mirza, respectively.

In December 1557, at the age of eighteen, Salima Begum was married to the considerably older Bairam Khan (who was already 56) at Jalandhar, Punjab. Bairam was the Military Commander of the Mughal Empire and a powerful statesman at the Mughal Court. It is said that the marriage excited great interest at Court. It united two streams of descent from Ali Shukr Beg, i.e. the Blacksheep Turkomans from Bairam Khan's side and Timur from Salima's side as Salima was a Timurid through her maternal grandfather, Emperor Babur and through Mahmud, one of her great-grandfathers. Salima had been betrothed to Bairam Khan by her maternal uncle, Emperor Humayun, during his reign. Salima became Bairam's second wife, after the daughter of Jamal Khan of Mewat, who was the mother to his son, Abdul Rahim. Salima and Bairam Khan's short-lived marriage did not produce any children.

After only three years of marriage, Bairam Khan died in 1561 as a result of the intrigues against him instigated by Maham Anga, which culminated in his murder. Salima was subsequently married to her first cousin, Akbar, in the same year. She was three years and seven months older than him. Salima was very talented and Akbar's only other wife apart from Ruqaiya, who was of the most exalted lineage, being a Timurid through her mother's side and thus, a granddaughter of Emperor Babur in the maternal line. It is said that she was mother of Akbar's son Prince Murad. Salima became Akbar's prominent wife with Ruqaiya Sultan Begum, Akbar's first wife and other prominent wives, and Mariam-uz-Zamani.

Being an extensive reader, she kept accounts of her encounters with the Emperor and the state of affairs. Salima was thus, one of the most important ladies at the court.

Salima and Maryam Makani played a crucial role in negotiating a settlement between Akbar and Jahangir when the father-son's relationship turned sour in the early 1600s, eventually helping to pave the way for Jahangir's accession to the throne. During Jahangir's reign, Salima Begum played a crucial role in securing pardon for the powerful, Khan-i-Azam, Mirza Aziz Koka, who had been sentenced to death by Jahangir.

In 1575, Salima went for the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca along with her aunt Princess Gulbadan Begum and many other imperial ladies. Salima was an accomplished poet and collected a library, to which apparently copy of all books had to be contributed, which had any currency in court circles.

Salima died on December 15, 1612 at Delhi. Her step-son, Jahangir, gives particulars of her birth and descent; her marriages and he states that she was sixty years old at the time of her death in 1612. By his orders, her body was laid in a garden which she herself had commissioned.

Jahangir praises her both for her natural qualities and her acquirements. She creates an impression of herself as a charming and cultivated woman.