Nadira Banu

Nadira Banu Biography

Nadira Banu was a Mughal princess and consort to Crown prince Dara Shikoh, the eldest son and the heir-apparent of the fifth Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Her in-laws is best known for the best love symbol and one among the 7 wonders of the world – Taj mahal, fully made of white marble, which still attracts millions of tourists from all over the world. Nadira Banu was Dara’s paternal uncle’s daughter. Dara was a patron of fine arts, music and dancing, like his father. Though he was declared as the heir of Mughal Empire, he couldn’t rule the kingdom as his younger brother Aurengazeb defeated him to snatch away his throne. Nadira stood with her husband in all those days of hardships and she passed away on 6 June, 1659, of dysentery, a few months before her husband got caught and killed by Mughal emperor.  Nadira was the only wife of Dara.

She was born as a Mughal princess to Sultan Parvez Mirza, the second son of Emperor Jahangir. She married her paternal uncle Shah Jahan’s son, Prince Dara Shikoh and the marriage was arranged by the family in her teens.  She was the grand-granddaughter of Emperor Akbar. By all accounts, Nadira and Dara were both devoted to each other and remained faithful to each other till their death. For the same reason, Dara didn’t marry again and Nadira remained his only consort.

She gave birth to eight children of whom only 4 survived. Sulaiman Shikoh, Sipihr Shikoh and a daughter Jahanzeb Banu Begum were the prominent names among their kids. When her husband was forced to flee from Agra following his defeat with his younger brother Aurengazeb, Banu too accompanied him. Nadira Begum died on 6 June, 1659, of dysentery at Balochistan. Despite Nadira's last wish to be buried in India, her corpse was buried in Lahore.

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Updated: September 24, 2017