Khanzada the eldest daughter of Umar Shaikh Mirza ll and the elder sister of Babur, is a name we can’t quite recall easily learning in chapters of history textbooks.
Dhrashti Dhami made her digital debut through the character of Khanzada and she did justice to the character with her acting. Shehzadi Khanzada had seige that was particularly filled with trauma and sacrifice. The main brain behind all of these atrocities done to Shehzadi was the decision of the establishment of the Mughal Empire. Alongside Aisan Daulat Begum, her grandmother. The Mughal emperor credits his sister with the safekeeping and safeguarding of the regime and the family’s life and honor. This take of her valor and sacrifice is celebrated in Babur’s memoir Baburnama.
To everyone’s relief, Shaibani calls for a truce, but with a condition. Because Shaibani Khan, the Uzbek leader, besieges Babur and his entourage at Samarkhad for six months. The seige soon intensifies and conditions grow so desperate that the poor and unfortunate began to eat dogs and donkeys in Samarkand.
“If you would marry your sister, the Begum to me, there might be peace and a lasting alliance between is.”To all this Khanzada willingly accepted the truce and gave herself into the hands of Shaibani Khan but with a condition, it was in exchange for her family’s life. She said, “It’s not too high a price for your safety, either I marry him or we all starve and die.
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After her marriage life, she would be slandered, humiliated and even sometimes beaten. The twenty-three years old proud and intelligent princess submitted to the enemy and that was the key to her brother’s well-being. Khanzada as we all know married Shaibani and gave him a son Khurram, her only son. But he died during his childhood. She was accused by Shaibani of siding with her brother in all the conflicts. So she layer got divorced. The accusations hold an account for her unwavering spirit and pride in her own Timurid family.
Shaibani married Sayyid Hada, a lower-ranking man who died in the Battle of Marv (between Sainani Khan and Shah Ismail) after divorcing Khanzada in 1510. A Shi’a religious leader discovers that Khanzads is Babur Mirza’s sister, he returned her to Babur after the battle with Shah Ismail. The thirty-three. She had been living miserable life for ten years protecting her brother’s pride and future, this thirty-three-year-old Khanzada.
“You’re a heroine; my savior. My Goddess; my good-luck charm. Without your sacrifice, I and mine would never have survived. I certainly wouldn’t have lived to conquer Kabul and make plans to expand my rule. You shall not only join my family but become the head. You shall be Padshah Begum, for you are the light of our clan. We exist because of you.”
No shame will ever be attached to Khanzada or any other Timurid woman even if she falls into the hands of the enemy. It was a tribute to Khanzada’s resilience and her sacrifice.
She remained the Mughal’s most powerful woman as she held the title of ‘Padshah Begum of Hindustan’ even after the death of her brother Babur. This honor was showered to all the extraordinary women who held great power.
While she was accompanied by her nephew Humayun Khanzada Begum died at Qabal-chak in September 1545.
