Khanzada Begum

Khanzada Begum
Timurid princess Padshah Begum
The painting depicts the reunion of Khanzada Begum and Babur in Qunduz, Afghanistan, c. 1511 AD, Baburnama
Empress consort of the Shaybanid Empire
Tenure	c. 1500 – 1510
Born	c. 1478 Andizhan, Ferghana, Uzbekistan
Died	September, 1545 (aged 66-67) Qandahar, Afghanistan
Burial	Gardens of Babur, Kabul
Spouse	Shaybani Khan Sayyid Hada Mahdi Khwaja
Issue	Khurram Shah
House	House of Timur (by birth) House of Shiban (by marriage)
Father	Umar Sheikh Mirza
Mother	Qutlugh Nigar Khanum
Religion	Islam

Khanzada Begum (c. 1478 – 1545) was a Timurid princess and the eldest daughter of Umar Sheikh Mirza, the amir of Ferghana, and his first wife and chief consort Qutlugh Nigar Khanum. She was the dearly beloved older sister of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire. She and her brother remained deeply attached to each other all their lives, a period during which the family progressed from ruling a tiny and obscure principality in Central Asia to ruling a large portion of the Indian subcontinent. Khanzada Begum was conferred the honorific title of Padshah Begum by her brother, Emperor Babur, and was really the first lady of the Empire after his death.

Khanzada Begum is frequently mentioned in the Baburnama, her brother's memoirs, and always with affection and respect. She is also frequently mentioned in the Humayun-nama by her niece Gulbadan Begum, who calls her aunt 'Dearest Lady' (aka janam). Many occasions are described where she intervened during political difficulties between her relatives and more specifically her nephews.

Khanzada Begum was born in c. 1478 in Andizhan, Ferghana as the eldest daughter of Umar Sheikh Mirza and his first wife and chief consort Qutlugh Nigar Khanum, a princess of Moghulistan. Her younger brother, Babur, was born five years after her birth in 1483, and went on to become the founder of the Mughal Empire of India as well as its first emperor.

Khanzada's paternal grandfather was Abu Sa'id Mirza, the emperor of the Timurid Empire; while her maternal grandfather was Yunus Khan, the Great Khan of Moghulistan. Khanzada was thus, a descendant of Genghis Khan from her maternal side and a direct descendant of Timur from her paternal side.