Mumtaz Mahal
Mumtaz Mahal (1593-1631) was the dearly loved wife of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.
It is in whose remembrance and tribute to her beauty emperor built the
grand monument Taj Mahal. Mumtaz Mahal was a Muslim Persian Princess originally known as Arjumand Banu Begum.
Based on the history it is said that Arjumand Banu was a pious Muslim
girl who grew up and became a woman of celebrated beauty and virtue.Mumtaz Mahal was the daughter of a Persian nobleman Abdul Hasan Asaf Khan. He was the chief nobleman of Mughal emperor Jahangir. Mumtaz Mahal was also the sister of Noor Jehan wife of the emperor Shah Jahan.
Based on the historical facts Mumtaz Mahal sold silks and glass beads at her shop in the Meena Bazar. This is the private royal market attached to the harem meant for the women of the royal family. At this market Prince Khurram (the future Shah Jahan) met her in 1607 and falls madly in love. After his father approval, the auspicious royal wedding then took place in May 1612 with grand pomp and gaiety. At the time of marriage Mumtaz Mahal was the beautiful maiden of 19 years.
Mumtaz Mahal was renowned for her superb beauty and elegance throughout the kingdom. The beauty was so impressive that it even inspired poets to pen down verses in her admiration. She was a concerned queen and helped Emperor in his governance. She also accompanied her husband all across his dominion.
Of days old and older
The Hindu
Red Fort’s Chhatta Chowk
Rendezvous for many a date. A square for confabulations. Red Fort’s Chhatta Chowk was many things to people noble and common
News that the Chhatta Chowk of the Red Fort may get
back its original vaulted roof will gladden history lovers. The chowk
was designed by Shah Jahan after the Mina Bazar of the Agra Fort, though
some may differ. But a ramshackle bazaar next to Azad Park of the Jama
Masjid area was named Mina Bazar in the 1960s. Now it has only dhabas
(relocated after Indira Gandhi’s emergency), including one claimed to be
that of the famed Maseeta Kababa, most of whose descendants migrated to
Pakistan. In the aftermath of the Partition they continued to send
kababs in mud “handies” by air for special customers in Delhi but not
any more. Interestingly, Ghalib was very fond of kababs made by Maseeta,
whose counterpart in Lucknow was Tunda. After the devastation of 1857,
Ghalib wrote to a friend in Jaunpur that Shahjahanabad had become such a
despicable place that dogs growled about in Maseeta’s shop (below the
steps of the Jama Masjid), as the kababia had stopped using it for fear
of the avenging British.
But to go back to Chhatta
Chowk, Shah Jahan had intended the bazaar to be a weekly market where
the ladies of his harem came to buy and sell both precious articles and
those of daily use, particularly the ornaments with which women are fond
of adorning themselves. The bazaar was held every Thursday, a day that
most Muslims revere as one reserved for offering fateha at the graves of
their near and dear ones and also making supplications at the shrines
of saints, 22 of whom lie buried in Delhi, and venerated as Khwajas.
However some Sayyid graves were also the venue of such salutations, with
people lighting agarbattis at them and offering “niyaz” on nuktidanas
(small yellow sweet balls), sugar bubble-like batashas and less sweeter
white ilaichidanas. These were distributed to those present, among them a
lot of children. The practice continues. Well, Jumairaat, preceding
Jumma, the day on which man is said to have been formed out of clay by
God, was picked by the emperor for the weekly bazaar in keeping with
tradition. On that day the gates of the fort were closed even to the
nobles, petitioners and military commanders, as also the ulema, and
women supervised all the arrangements.
Jahanara and
her sister Roshanara, the daughters of Shah Jahan, led the other
princesses to the Mina Bazar, where also congregated the residents of
Suhagpura (abode of royal widows and their progeny in the Lal Qila).
Princes too were not allowed, though some of them sneaked in or peeped
from behind trellis work, the ornamental jalis adorning the walls. Some
of the sellers were from Chandni Chowk, like the women dealing in
bangles and bindis for the forehead, as also henna for the hands and
hair. To attract their customers these women had coined a flattering
lingo like, “these bangles just suit the wrists of the princess, though
they are only of glass and the ones of gold and silver, studded with
diamonds, would look better on them. But then even glass ones gain value
when they are fitted into delicate, royal hands”. Such praise did not
fail to find its mark. Remember royalty, used to articles of gold,
sometimes hankered for those of baser material and so glass bangles
found enough customers who liked the jingle they made while exquisite
hands moved in rapid gestures, such as washing the face, bathing,
cuddling a lover or beckoning a kaneez or maid, of whom there were any
number. These women too exercised great influence and were not devoid of
honour even after death as is evident from the tomb of the maids
(Sahelion ka Burj) near the entrance gate of the Taj Mahal.
The
Mina Bazar also was the place where romance sometimes blossomed. Shah
Jahan, as Prince Khurram, had his first glimpse of Mumtaz Mahal
(Arjumand Bano) at the bazaar in the Agra Fort. After that he persuaded
his step-mother, Nur Jahan, to help him gain the object of his desire,
who happened to be her niece, being the daughter of her brother, Asaf
Khan. At the time of the latter Mughals, many a prince found his
sweetheart at Chhatta Chowk during the Thursday bazaar. Mohammad Shah
Rangila (1719-1748) often spotted a sexy kaneez and she ended up
becoming his concubine. But after Nadir Shah’s invasion in 1739 things
changed and instead of the laughter of princesses and their coquettish
maids, the noted poet Mir Taqi Mir just heard the sound of weeping
shehzadis on the verge of starvation. However, when things returned to
normal, Mohammed Shah and his successors (up to the time of Bahadur Shah
Zafar), continued to patronize the royal market until the Revolt ended
Mughul rule and British soldiers began disfiguring Chhatta Chowk. Its
much battered vaulted roof was replaced subsequently and it is only now
that it would perhaps get back its original shape. Meanwhile the Mina
Bazar of Agra Fort lies lifeless as it is not a shopping arcade like its
counterpart in Delhi.
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Delhi/ India - October 16,2019. Chhatta Chowk or Meena Bazaar adjacent to the Lahori Gate of Red Fort Stock Photo - Alamy
Delhi/ India - October 16,2019. Chhatta Chowk or Meena Bazaar adjacent to the Lahori Gate of Red Fort Stock Photo - Alamy
A day in the historic Red Fort - Shahjahanabad, the Seventh city of Delhi - Ghumakkar - Inspiring travel experiences.
A day in the historic Red Fort - Shahjahanabad, the Seventh city of Delhi - Ghumakkar - Inspiring travel experiences.
