Roshanara Begum
Roshanara Begum (|lit=Adorned in Light}}); 3 September 1617 – 11 September 1671) was a
Mughal princess and the third daughter of Emperor
Shah Jahan and his wife,
Mumtaz Mahal, and a poet. She was a partisan of her younger brother,
Aurangzeb, and supported him during the war of succession which took place after Shah Jahan's illness in 1657. After Aurangzeb's accession to the throne in 1658, Roshanara was given the title of
Padshah Begum by her brother displacing her sister and rival
Jahanara Begum. This made her the de-facto First Lady of the
Mughal Empire, and a powerful political figure. However, after the death of
Shah Jahan,
Jahanara succeeded in regaining her title of Padshah Begum, by replacing Roshanara. Towards the end of her life, Roshanara was sidelined in Aurangzeb’s court.
Today, however, Roshanara is best known for the
Roshanara Bagh, a
pleasure garden located in present-day north
Delhi. The present-day Roshanara Club which was constructed in the late 19th century by the British is a country club that was actually originally a part of the Roshanara Bagh.
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