Badshah Begum's Contribution to Azadari

Badshah Begum's Contribution to Azadari in Awadh Kingdom

By Dr.Mazhar Naqvi

Badshah Begum, the chief queen of King Ghazi Uddin Haider, is famous for coup d’etat of Munna Jaan whereas she should be remembered more for  her role in extending the period of Muharram mourning from ‘Ashra’ to Chehlum. Both British and Indian historians have preferred to highlight her political activities and ignored her immense contribution to the large scale active participation of women in azadari.

Instead of portraying her devotion to Ahle-Bait in right perspective, the contemporary historians have used her aristocratic ritual inventiveness to project her as a hot headed lady with a tendency to do at any cost whatever fancied her. Whereas her Persian biography ‘Tareekh Badshah Begum’ translated in English by Muhammad Taqi Ahmad in 1938, also supports the accusations made against the Begum by the British historians and officials, Juan R.I. Cole has attributed the unique observance of Muharram with royal splendor and a visible active participation of women to religious genius of Badshah Begum. In his article published in  ‘Lucknow- Memories of a City’. Cole remarks “Badshah Begum made a gender- specific contribution to ritual change in Awadh by championing the cause of a forty –day mourning period for commemorating Imam Husain’s martyrdom…. Certainly the manner in which she blended elements of local Indian female and family life- cycle rites with her celebration of events related to the lives of the Imams showed a peculiarly feminine imagination at work”          

Badshah Begum was the daughter of the famous court astrologer, Mubashir Khan of Delhi. She was married to Ghazi-ud-din Haider years before he was given the title of 'King' of Awadh. She did not enjoy very cordial relations with her husband but she was the ultimate authority in the royal household and even King refrained from interfering in the affairs of his Zenana (ladies) quarters.

Fanny parks has given a description of the tremendous authority and dominance of Badshah Begum in her memoirs ‘ Wanderings in the search of picturesque’ : “The old begam was the great lady, and in her palace were we received. It was a most amazing sight, as I had never witnessed the interior of a zenana before, and so many women assembled at once I had never beheld. I suppose from first we saw some thousands. Women-bearers carried our tanjans; a regiment of female gold and silver sticks, dressed in male costume, were drawn up before the entrance…. “

Badshah Begum was a pious lady with great love and affection for Ahle-bait. Instead of leading a luxurious or leisurely life as Chief Begum of Ghazi Uddin Haider or queen Mother of King Naseer Uddin Haider, she used her power and treasure for promoting azadari to a scale that Lucknow occupies a unique position for its splendid observance of Muharram in the world. She also did not restrict herself to only Muharram rituals but also introduced practices in honor of all the twelve Imams revered by followers of Ahle-bait.

‘Tareekh Badshah Begum’ mentions “ she spent days and nights in prayer and worship, she spent large sums in ' Fatiha' and ' Durud ' and mourning ceremonies every year on the day the death of each of the Imams had occurred and regarded these  observances the cause of her worldly and spiritual betterment. She built, in the palace, one tomb for each of the twelve Imams with one small mosque attached to each. These tombs were called-the Rauza-e-Dowazdah Imam, i.e., the tombs of the twelve Imams.⁷ Inside every tomb there was a “Zarih,'¹ an imitation of the actual tomb of the Imam and some sacred relics. Apart from these, there was another building constructed in imitation of the tomb of Hazrat Abbas.

Begum had set apart a room in the palace for the Imams and nobody was allowed to enter it. On the day of the birth of each of the Imams, the room was richly decorated and exquisitely lighted.”

Before her emergence as a powerful queen who could make and unmake ministers, fight against kings and lead an army to place her own candidate on the throne. Muharram was observed for 10 days in Lucknow. A Marsiyago of repute, Mir Khsan Ali,  who lived in the days of Yaminuddaulah Saadat Ali Khan, had strived to extend the period of Muharram mourning up to the Chehlum( 40^th day of Imam Husain’s martyrdom observed on 20^th day of Islamic month Safar) but failed to get a royal proclamation in this regard. His desire fulfilled when Badshah Begum in the first year of Naseer Uddin Haider’s accession had it proclaimed that the Muharram mourning  was to be observed up to  Chehlum and that no marriages or amusement parties were to be held within this period throughout the Kingdom and  the breach of the order would invite king's wrath and punishment.

The proclamation was modified later as some orthodox Muslims and Hindus of the kingdom found the order as an interference in their religious freedom and lodged a complaint  to the British resident who  intervened and  persuaded the king to  declare that his subjects were at liberty to do what best suited their interests but  personally he would abide by his pledge to observe  Muharram mourning up to the Chehlum.

Badshah Begum almost lost everything when she tried to crown Munna Jaan as the next King of Awadh against the wishes of British after the death of Naseer Uddin Haider. She tried to offer military resistance but suffered defeat being no match to better trained East India company troops. She was arrested along with Munna Jaan and confined to a palace for few days. The resident himself visited the place every now and then to look after the captives and always found the Begam reading the Quran and performing other religious practices and looked not the least perturbed by such a change of fortune. Later on, she was sent with Munna Jaan to Kanpur where she spent the night at Parmat Ghat. From Kanpur, she was taken to Chunar fort where she spent the rest of her life in confinement and breathed her last in captivity. Munna Jaan too met a similar fate. Nobody knows where lies buried the great Azadar Badshah Begum and if anyone ever recites a Fatiha for her or not.( References available on request)