Zebunissa

Zeb-un-Nissa
Shahzadi of the Mughal Empire
Princess Zeb-un-Nissa with her attendants.
Born	15 February 1638 Daulatabad, India
Died	26 May 1702(1702-05-26) (aged 64) Delhi, India
Burial	Sikandra, Agra
House	Timurid
Father	Aurangzeb
Mother	Dilras Banu Begum
Religion	Islam

Zeb-un-Nissa (Persian: زیب النساء مخفی‎‎) (15 February 1638 – 26 May 1702) was a Mughal princess, the eldest child of Emperor Aurangzeb and his chief consort Dilras Banu Begum. She was also a poet, who wrote under the pseudonym of "Makhfi" (مخفی, "Hidden One"). Imprisoned by her father in the last 20 years of her life at Salimgarh Fort, Delhi, Princess Zeb-un-Nissa is remembered as a poet, and her writings were collected posthumously as Diwan-i-Makhfi.

Zeb-un-Nissa ("Ornament of Womankind"), the eldest child of Prince Muhi-ud-Din (the future emperor Aurangzeb), was born on 15 February 1638 in Daulatabad, Deccan, exactly nine months after the marriage of her parents. Her mother, Dilras Banu Begum, was Aurangzeb's first wife and chief consort, and was a princess of the prominent Safavid dynasty; the ruling dynasty of Iran (Persia). Zeb-un-Nissa was her father's favourite daughter, and because of this she could compel him to pardon people who had offended him.

Her father charged Hafiza Mariam, one of the women of the court, with the education of Zeb-un-Nissa. She seems to have inherited her father's keenness of intellect and literary tastes because Zeb-un-Nissa memorized the Quran in three years and became a Hafiz at age seven. This occasion was celebrated by her father with a great feast and public holiday. The princess was also given a reward of 30,000 gold pieces by her delighted father. Aurangzeb paid the princely sum of 30,000 gold pieces to the ustani bi for having taught his cherished daughter well.

Zeb-un-Nissa then learned the sciences of the time with Mohammad Saeed Ashraf Mazandarani, who was also a great Persian poet. She learned philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, literature, and was a mistress of Persian, Arabic and Urdu. She had a good reputation in calligraphy as well. Her library surpassed all other private collections, and she employed many scholars on liberal salaries to produce literary works at her bidding or to copy manuscripts for her. Her library also provided literary works on each subject, such as law, literature, history and theology.