Gulbadan Begum
Encyclopedia
The Imperial Princess Gulbadan Begum (c. 1523 – 1603) was a Perso-Turkic Princess, the daughter of Emperor Zāhir ud-Dīn Mohammad Babur
of India, she is most known as the author of Humayun Nama, the account of the life of her brother, Humayun
. Later, her nephew, Prince Jalal-ud-Dīn ascended the imperial throne as Emperor Akbar the Great.
Her name means literally "princess with a body like roses" in Persian. She was a descendant of the lines of highest Central Asian aristocracy: Timur
through his son Miran Shah
, and Genghis Khan
through his son Chagatai Khan
. Her mother was Dildar Begum and she was sister to Humayun
, the second Mughal emperor.
She also finds reference throughout, Akbarnama
, the Book of Akbar, written by Abul Fazal, and much of her biographical details are accessible through the work.
for 19 years; he was master also in Kunduz
and Badakhshan
, had held Bajaur
and Swat since 1519, and Qandahar for a year. During 10 of those 19 years he had been styled "padshah", in token of headship of the house of Timur and of his independent sovereignty. Two years later Babur set out on his last expedition across the Indus to conquer an empire in India. Gulbadan Begum was brought to India at the age of six, was married at 17, and had at least one son.
lost the kingdom that his father Babur had established in India to Sher Shah Suri
, an upstart from Bihar
. With only his pregnant wife, one female attendant and a few loyal supporters, Humayun first fled to Lahore
, and then later to Kabul. He was in exile for the next fifteen years in Afghanistan
and Persia. Gulbadan Begum went to live in Kabul again. Her life, like all the other Mughal women of the harem, was intricately intertwined with three Mughal kings – her father Babur, brother Humayun and nephew Akbar. Two years after Humayun re-established the Delhi Empire, she accompanied other Mughal women of the harem back to Agra
at the behest of Akbar, who had begun his rule.
, was written by the well-known Persian scholar Abul Fazl). Akbar asked his aunt to write whatever she remembered about her brother’s life. Gulbadan Begum took the challenge and produced a document titled Ahwal Humayun Padshah Jamah Kardom Gulbadan Begum bint Babur Padshah amma Akbar Padshah. It came to be known as Humayun-nama.
Gulbadan wrote in simple Persian without the erudite language used by better-known writers. Her father Babur had written Babur-nama in the same style and she took his cue and wrote from her memories. Unlike some of her contemporary writers, Gulbadan wrote a factual account of what she remembered, without embellishment. What she produced not only chronicles the trials and tribulations of Humayun’s rule, but also gives us a glimpse of life in the Mughal harem
. It is the only surviving writing penned by a woman of Mughal royalty in the 16th century.
The memoir had been lost for several centuries and what has been found is not well preserved, poorly bound with many pages missing. It also appears to be incomplete, with the last chapters missing. There must have been very few copies of the manuscript, and for this reason it did not receive the recognition it deserved.
. Originally found by an Englishman, Colonel G. W. Hamilton. it was sold to the British Museum by his widow in 1868. Its existence was little known until 1901, when Annette S. Beveridge translated it into English (Beveridge affectionately called her Princess Rosebud).
Historian Dr. Rieu called it one of the most remarkable manuscripts in the collection of Colonel Hamilton (who had collected more than 1,000 manuscripts). A paperback edition of Beveridge’s English translation was published in India in 2001.
Pradosh Chattopadhyay translated Humayun Nama into Bengali
in 2006 and Chirayata Prokashan published the book.
From her account we know that Gulbadan was married by the age of 17 to Khizr Khwaja Khan, a Chagtai Mughal by ancestry and her second cousin. She had at least one son. She had moved to Delhi
/Agra
in 1528 from Kabul with her foster mother. After the defeat of Humayun in 1540 she moved back to Kabul to live with one of her half-brothers. She did not return to Agra immediately after Humayun won back his kingdom. Instead, she stayed behind in Kabul until she was brought back to Agra by Akbar, two years after Humayun died in a tragic accident in 1556. Gulbadan Begum lived in Agra and then Sikri for the rest of her life, except for a period of seven years when she undertook a pilgrimage
to Mecca
.
She appears to have been an educated, pious, and cultured woman of royalty. She was fond of reading and she had enjoyed the confidences of both her brother Humayun and nephew Akbar. From her account it is also apparent that she was an astute observer, well-versed with the intricacies of warfare, and the intrigues of royal deal making. The first part of her story deals with Humayun’s rule after her father’s death and the travails of Humayun after his defeat. She had written little about her father Babur, as she was only aged eight when he died. However, there are anecdotes and stories she had heard about him from her companions in the Mahal (harem) that she included in her account. The latter part also deals with life in the Mughal harem.
She recorded one light-hearted incident about Babur. He had minted a large gold coin, as he was fond of doing, after he established his kingdom in India. This heavy gold coin was sent to Kabul, with special instructions to play a practical joke on the court jester Asas, who had stayed behind in Kabul. Asas was to be blindfolded and the coin was to be hung around his neck. Asas was intrigued and worried about the heavy weight around his neck, not knowing what it was. However, when he realized that it was a gold coin, Asas jumped with joy and pranced around the room, repeatedly saying that no one shall ever take it from him.
Gulbadan Begum describes her father’s death when her brother had fallen ill at the age of 22. She tells that Babur was depressed to see his son seriously ill and dying. For four days he circumambulated the bed of his son repeatedly, praying to Allah
, begging to be taken to the eternal world in his son’s place. As if by miracle, his prayers were answered. The son recovered and the 47-year old father died soon after.
Soon after his exile, Humayun had seen and fallen in love with a 13-year old girl named Hamida Banu
in the harem
of Shah Husain Mirza. At first she refused to come to see the Emperor, who was much older than her. Finally she was advised by the other women of the harem to reconsider, and she consented to marry the Emperor. Two years later, in 1542, she bore Humayun a son named Akbar, the greatest of the Mughal rulers. Gulbadan Begum described the details of this incident and the marriage of Humayun and Hamida Banu with glee, and a hint of mischievousness in her manuscript.
Gulbadan also recorded the nomadic life style of Mughal women. Her younger days were spent in the typical style of the peripatetic Mughal family, wandering between Kabul and Delhi. During Humayun’s exile the problem was further exaggerated. She had to live in Kabul with one of her step brothers, who later tried to recruit her husband to join him against Humayun. Gulbadan Begum persuaded her husband not to do so.
kept her from returning to Agra for several months. She finally returned in 1582, seven years after she had set forth on her journey.
Akbar had provided for safe passage of his aunt on her Hajj and sent a noble as escort with several ladies in attendance. Lavish gifts were packed with her entourage that could be used as alms. Her arrival in Mecca caused quite a stir and people from as far as Syria
and Asia Minor
swarmed to Mecca to get a share of the bounty.
If Gulbadan Begum had written about the death of Humayun, when he tumbled down the steps in Purana Qila in Delhi, it has been lost. The manuscript seems to end abruptly in the year 1552, four years before the death of Humayun. It ends in mid-sentence, describing the blinding of Prince Kamran. As we know that Gulbadan Begum had received the directive to write the story of Humayun’s rule by Akbar, long after the death of Humayun, it is reasonable to believe that the only available manuscript is an incomplete version of her writing. It is also believed that Akbar asked his aunt to write down from her memory so that Abul Fazl could use the information in his own writings about the emperor Akbar.
Her charities were large, and it is said of her that she added day unto day in the endeavour to please God, and this by succouring the poor and needy.
When she was 80, in February, 1603, her departure was heralded by a few days of fever. Hamida was with her to the end, and it may be that Ruqaiya, Hindal’s daughter, also watched her last hours. As she lay with closed eyes, the Empress Hamida Banu Begum
spoke to her by the long-used name of affection, "Jiu!" (elder sister). There was no response. Then, "Gul-badan!" The dying woman opened her eyes, quoted the verse, "I die—may you live!" and died.
Akbar helped to carry her bier some distance, and for her soul's repose made lavish gifts and did good works. He will have joined in the silent prayer for her soul before committal of her body to the earth, and if no son were there, he, as a near kinsman, may have answered the Imam’s injunction to resignation: "It is the will of God."
It is said that for the two years after her death, Akbar lamented constantly that he missed his favorite aunt, until his own death in 1605.
Gulbadan was also said to have been a poet, fluent in both Persian and Turkish. None of her poems have survived.
For much of history the manuscript of Gulbadan Begum remained in obscurity. There is little mention of it in contemporary literature of other Mughal writers, especially the authors who chronicled Akbar’s rule. Yet, the little known account of Gulbadan Begum is an important document for historians, with its window into a woman’s perspective from inside the Mughal harem.
Babur
Babur was a Muslim conqueror from Central Asia who, following a series of setbacks, finally succeeded in laying the basis for the Mughal dynasty of South Asia. He was a direct descendant of Timur through his father, and a descendant also of Genghis Khan through his mother...
of India, she is most known as the author of Humayun Nama, the account of the life of her brother, Humayun
Humayun
Nasir ud-din Muhammad Humayun was the second Mughal Emperor who ruled present day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of northern India from 1530–1540 and again from 1555–1556. Like his father, Babur, he lost his kingdom early, but with Persian aid, he eventually regained an even larger one...
. Later, her nephew, Prince Jalal-ud-Dīn ascended the imperial throne as Emperor Akbar the Great.
Her name means literally "princess with a body like roses" in Persian. She was a descendant of the lines of highest Central Asian aristocracy: Timur
Timur
Timur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...
through his son Miran Shah
Miran Shah
Miran Shah was a son of Timur, and a Timurid governor during his father's lifetime.Miran Shah's first charge was a vast region centered around Qandahar, which he was granted in 1383. That same year, he destroyed a rebellion against Timurid authority by the Kartids, then vassals of Timur in...
, and Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
through his son Chagatai Khan
Chagatai Khan
Chagatai Khan was the second son of Genghis Khan and first khan and origin of the names of the Chagatai Khanate, Chagatai language and Chagatai Turks....
. Her mother was Dildar Begum and she was sister to Humayun
Humayun
Nasir ud-din Muhammad Humayun was the second Mughal Emperor who ruled present day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of northern India from 1530–1540 and again from 1555–1556. Like his father, Babur, he lost his kingdom early, but with Persian aid, he eventually regained an even larger one...
, the second Mughal emperor.
She also finds reference throughout, Akbarnama
Akbarnama
The ' , which literally means Book of Akbar, is the official chronicle of the reign of Akbar, the third Mughal Emperor , commissioned by Akbar himself and written in Persian by his court historian and biographer, Abul Fazl who was one of the nine jewels in Akbar's court...
, the Book of Akbar, written by Abul Fazal, and much of her biographical details are accessible through the work.
Biography
When Princess Gulbadan was born her father had been lord in KabulKabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
for 19 years; he was master also in Kunduz
Kunduz
Kunduz also known as Kundûz, Qonduz, Qondûz, Konduz, Kondûz, Kondoz, or Qhunduz is a city in northern Afghanistan, the capital of Kunduz Province. It is linked by highways with Mazari Sharif to the west, Kabul to the south and Tajikistan's border to the north...
and Badakhshan
Badakhshan
Badakhshan is an historic region comprising parts of what is now northeastern Afghanistan and southeastern Tajikistan. The name is retained in Badakhshan Province which is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, in the far northeast of Afghanistan, and contains the Wakhan Corridor...
, had held Bajaur
Bajaur
Bajaur or Bajur or Bajour is an Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Smallest of the agencies in FATA, it has a hilly terrain. According to the 1998 census, the population was 595,227 but other more recent estimates it has grown to 757,000...
and Swat since 1519, and Qandahar for a year. During 10 of those 19 years he had been styled "padshah", in token of headship of the house of Timur and of his independent sovereignty. Two years later Babur set out on his last expedition across the Indus to conquer an empire in India. Gulbadan Begum was brought to India at the age of six, was married at 17, and had at least one son.
Humayun and his sister
In 1540 HumayunHumayun
Nasir ud-din Muhammad Humayun was the second Mughal Emperor who ruled present day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of northern India from 1530–1540 and again from 1555–1556. Like his father, Babur, he lost his kingdom early, but with Persian aid, he eventually regained an even larger one...
lost the kingdom that his father Babur had established in India to Sher Shah Suri
Sher Shah Suri
Sher Shah Suri , birth name Farid Khan, also known as Sher Khan , was the founder of the short-lived Sur Empire in northern India, with its capital at Delhi, before its demise in the hands of the resurgent Mughal Empire...
, an upstart from Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
. With only his pregnant wife, one female attendant and a few loyal supporters, Humayun first fled to Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
, and then later to Kabul. He was in exile for the next fifteen years in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and Persia. Gulbadan Begum went to live in Kabul again. Her life, like all the other Mughal women of the harem, was intricately intertwined with three Mughal kings – her father Babur, brother Humayun and nephew Akbar. Two years after Humayun re-established the Delhi Empire, she accompanied other Mughal women of the harem back to Agra
Agra
Agra a.k.a. Akbarabad is a city on the banks of the river Yamuna in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, west of state capital, Lucknow and south from national capital New Delhi. With a population of 1,686,976 , it is one of the most populous cities in Uttar Pradesh and the 19th most...
at the behest of Akbar, who had begun his rule.
Writing of Humayun Nama
Akbar commissioned Gulbadan Begum to chronicle the story of her brother Humayun. He was fond of his aunt and knew of her storytelling skills. It was fashionable for the Mughals to engage writers to document their own reigns (Akbar’s own history, AkbarnamaAkbarnama
The ' , which literally means Book of Akbar, is the official chronicle of the reign of Akbar, the third Mughal Emperor , commissioned by Akbar himself and written in Persian by his court historian and biographer, Abul Fazl who was one of the nine jewels in Akbar's court...
, was written by the well-known Persian scholar Abul Fazl). Akbar asked his aunt to write whatever she remembered about her brother’s life. Gulbadan Begum took the challenge and produced a document titled Ahwal Humayun Padshah Jamah Kardom Gulbadan Begum bint Babur Padshah amma Akbar Padshah. It came to be known as Humayun-nama.
Gulbadan wrote in simple Persian without the erudite language used by better-known writers. Her father Babur had written Babur-nama in the same style and she took his cue and wrote from her memories. Unlike some of her contemporary writers, Gulbadan wrote a factual account of what she remembered, without embellishment. What she produced not only chronicles the trials and tribulations of Humayun’s rule, but also gives us a glimpse of life in the Mughal harem
Harem
Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men...
. It is the only surviving writing penned by a woman of Mughal royalty in the 16th century.
The memoir had been lost for several centuries and what has been found is not well preserved, poorly bound with many pages missing. It also appears to be incomplete, with the last chapters missing. There must have been very few copies of the manuscript, and for this reason it did not receive the recognition it deserved.
Translation of Humayun Nama
A battered copy of the manuscript is kept in the British MuseumBritish Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. Originally found by an Englishman, Colonel G. W. Hamilton. it was sold to the British Museum by his widow in 1868. Its existence was little known until 1901, when Annette S. Beveridge translated it into English (Beveridge affectionately called her Princess Rosebud).
Historian Dr. Rieu called it one of the most remarkable manuscripts in the collection of Colonel Hamilton (who had collected more than 1,000 manuscripts). A paperback edition of Beveridge’s English translation was published in India in 2001.
Pradosh Chattopadhyay translated Humayun Nama into Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
in 2006 and Chirayata Prokashan published the book.
Content of the document
Upon being entrusted with the directive by Akbar to write the manuscript, Gulbadan Begum begins thus:There had been an order issued, ‘Write down whatever you know of the doings of Firdous-Makani (Babur) and Jannat-Ashyani (Humayun)’. At this time when his Majesty Firdaus-Makani passed from this perishable world to the everlasting home, I, this lowly one, was eight years old, so it may well be that I do not remember much. However in obedience to the royal command, I set down whatever there is that I have heard and remember.
From her account we know that Gulbadan was married by the age of 17 to Khizr Khwaja Khan, a Chagtai Mughal by ancestry and her second cousin. She had at least one son. She had moved to Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
/Agra
Agra
Agra a.k.a. Akbarabad is a city on the banks of the river Yamuna in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, west of state capital, Lucknow and south from national capital New Delhi. With a population of 1,686,976 , it is one of the most populous cities in Uttar Pradesh and the 19th most...
in 1528 from Kabul with her foster mother. After the defeat of Humayun in 1540 she moved back to Kabul to live with one of her half-brothers. She did not return to Agra immediately after Humayun won back his kingdom. Instead, she stayed behind in Kabul until she was brought back to Agra by Akbar, two years after Humayun died in a tragic accident in 1556. Gulbadan Begum lived in Agra and then Sikri for the rest of her life, except for a period of seven years when she undertook a pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
to Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
.
She appears to have been an educated, pious, and cultured woman of royalty. She was fond of reading and she had enjoyed the confidences of both her brother Humayun and nephew Akbar. From her account it is also apparent that she was an astute observer, well-versed with the intricacies of warfare, and the intrigues of royal deal making. The first part of her story deals with Humayun’s rule after her father’s death and the travails of Humayun after his defeat. She had written little about her father Babur, as she was only aged eight when he died. However, there are anecdotes and stories she had heard about him from her companions in the Mahal (harem) that she included in her account. The latter part also deals with life in the Mughal harem.
She recorded one light-hearted incident about Babur. He had minted a large gold coin, as he was fond of doing, after he established his kingdom in India. This heavy gold coin was sent to Kabul, with special instructions to play a practical joke on the court jester Asas, who had stayed behind in Kabul. Asas was to be blindfolded and the coin was to be hung around his neck. Asas was intrigued and worried about the heavy weight around his neck, not knowing what it was. However, when he realized that it was a gold coin, Asas jumped with joy and pranced around the room, repeatedly saying that no one shall ever take it from him.
Gulbadan Begum describes her father’s death when her brother had fallen ill at the age of 22. She tells that Babur was depressed to see his son seriously ill and dying. For four days he circumambulated the bed of his son repeatedly, praying to Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
, begging to be taken to the eternal world in his son’s place. As if by miracle, his prayers were answered. The son recovered and the 47-year old father died soon after.
Soon after his exile, Humayun had seen and fallen in love with a 13-year old girl named Hamida Banu
Hamida Banu Begum
Hamida Banu Begam, Maryam Makani was a wife of the second Mughal Emperor, Humayun, and the mother of Mughal Emperor , Akbar...
in the harem
Harem
Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men...
of Shah Husain Mirza. At first she refused to come to see the Emperor, who was much older than her. Finally she was advised by the other women of the harem to reconsider, and she consented to marry the Emperor. Two years later, in 1542, she bore Humayun a son named Akbar, the greatest of the Mughal rulers. Gulbadan Begum described the details of this incident and the marriage of Humayun and Hamida Banu with glee, and a hint of mischievousness in her manuscript.
Gulbadan also recorded the nomadic life style of Mughal women. Her younger days were spent in the typical style of the peripatetic Mughal family, wandering between Kabul and Delhi. During Humayun’s exile the problem was further exaggerated. She had to live in Kabul with one of her step brothers, who later tried to recruit her husband to join him against Humayun. Gulbadan Begum persuaded her husband not to do so.
Pilgrimage to Mecca
Gulbadan Begum described in her memoir a pilgrimage she took to Mecca, a distance of 3,000 miles, crossing treacherous mountains and hostile deserts. Though they were of royal birth, the women of the harem were hardy and prepared to face hardships, especially since their lives were so intimately intertwined with the men and their fortunes. Gulbadan Begum stayed in Mecca for nearly four years and during her return a shipwreck in AdenAden
Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...
kept her from returning to Agra for several months. She finally returned in 1582, seven years after she had set forth on her journey.
Akbar had provided for safe passage of his aunt on her Hajj and sent a noble as escort with several ladies in attendance. Lavish gifts were packed with her entourage that could be used as alms. Her arrival in Mecca caused quite a stir and people from as far as Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
swarmed to Mecca to get a share of the bounty.
If Gulbadan Begum had written about the death of Humayun, when he tumbled down the steps in Purana Qila in Delhi, it has been lost. The manuscript seems to end abruptly in the year 1552, four years before the death of Humayun. It ends in mid-sentence, describing the blinding of Prince Kamran. As we know that Gulbadan Begum had received the directive to write the story of Humayun’s rule by Akbar, long after the death of Humayun, it is reasonable to believe that the only available manuscript is an incomplete version of her writing. It is also believed that Akbar asked his aunt to write down from her memory so that Abul Fazl could use the information in his own writings about the emperor Akbar.
Old age and death
When she was 70, her name is mentioned with that of Muhammad-yar, a son of her daughter, who left the court in disgrace; again, she and Salima join in intercession to Akbar for Prince Salim; again, with Hamida, she receives royal gifts of money and jewels.Her charities were large, and it is said of her that she added day unto day in the endeavour to please God, and this by succouring the poor and needy.
When she was 80, in February, 1603, her departure was heralded by a few days of fever. Hamida was with her to the end, and it may be that Ruqaiya, Hindal’s daughter, also watched her last hours. As she lay with closed eyes, the Empress Hamida Banu Begum
Hamida Banu Begum
Hamida Banu Begam, Maryam Makani was a wife of the second Mughal Emperor, Humayun, and the mother of Mughal Emperor , Akbar...
spoke to her by the long-used name of affection, "Jiu!" (elder sister). There was no response. Then, "Gul-badan!" The dying woman opened her eyes, quoted the verse, "I die—may you live!" and died.
Akbar helped to carry her bier some distance, and for her soul's repose made lavish gifts and did good works. He will have joined in the silent prayer for her soul before committal of her body to the earth, and if no son were there, he, as a near kinsman, may have answered the Imam’s injunction to resignation: "It is the will of God."
It is said that for the two years after her death, Akbar lamented constantly that he missed his favorite aunt, until his own death in 1605.
Gulbadan was also said to have been a poet, fluent in both Persian and Turkish. None of her poems have survived.
For much of history the manuscript of Gulbadan Begum remained in obscurity. There is little mention of it in contemporary literature of other Mughal writers, especially the authors who chronicled Akbar’s rule. Yet, the little known account of Gulbadan Begum is an important document for historians, with its window into a woman’s perspective from inside the Mughal harem.