Article by EIH Researcher and Writer
Akansha Sengupta
Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb is notably one of the most controversial and perhaps widely hated monarchs in Mugal history. His story unfolds with vying for the throne at a young age and massacring his kin to acquire the throne. He was calm, calculating, and quick-witted. Throughout their long history, the Mughals have had monumental romances, Aurangazeb’s own father raised a magnificent mausoleum over his wife’s remains, his grandfather was infatuated with his twentieth wife, theirs was one of the grandest love stories. How was Alamgir supposed to compete with such grandiose tales of love? For many, it would be madness to picture the shrewd ruler in love. But even within him lurked a hopeless romantic, who craved companionship.
Now there are two versions of how he met Mirabai, a young nautch girl. Ma’asir al -Umara, a Persian biography about the Mughal nobility chronicles their first meeting. Aurangzeb encountered the 16-year-old Hirabai when he was still a prince. Hirabai was a dancing girl in his uncle Mir Khalil’s harem. While in Deccan, he decided to visit the garden of Zainabad in Burhanpur named Abu Khunnah. While strolling with the ladies of his harem, he caught the eye of Hirabai, who came with his maternal aunt’s contingent of slave girls. He saw her picking a ripe mango from a tree nearby and was instantly captivated. The prince was intrigued because of how uncaring she was in the presence of royalty. It is said that this move of hers, “robbed the prince of his senses and self control”. He was also attracted to her talents because the girl was a powerhouse, she was a skilled dancer and had a nightingale-like voice, the prince himself was a connoisseur of music, even though his relationship with music became complicated after he assumed the throne. After she entered his harem, she began to be known as Zainabad Mahal. What followed was a passionate romance, his infatuation made him stay on in Burhanpur for nine long months. The affair had reached the eras of emperor Shah Jahan who was equally amused and confused about his son’s dalliance with the slave girl. He went as far as ignoring and defying his father and the reigning monarch’s orders to march to Aurangabad. But as luck would have it, Zainabadi succumbed to an illness and passed away as a result and Aurangazeb was distraught. The day she died, he too was overwhelmed with illness, but after the news of her death reached him, he rode into the jungles to hunt, in his agitated state.He lamented for days and according to European traveler, Niccolao Mannuci, he vowed to never drink or listen to music after his lover’s death.
Thus, her death shattered the ruler, who then resumed his quest for the Mughal throne and ultimately acquired it in 1659 and assumed the title of Alamgir. Despite their brief relationship, they were deeply in love with each other, much to the surprise of the subjects and nobility alike, because the thought of a passionate lover lurking within the ruler was unsettling to them.
Bibliography:
- https://www.deccanherald.com/content/536896/an-affair-remember.html
- https://scroll.in/article/706290/how-the-heartless-emperor-aurangzeb-fell-in-love-at-first-sight
- Soma Mukherjee (2001). Royal Mughal Ladies and Their Contributions.
