Ruqaiya Sultan Begum

Ruqaiya Sultan Begum (alternative spelling: Ruqayya, Ruqayyah) ( – 1626) was the first and chief wife of the third Mughal emperor, Akbar. Ruqaiya was a first cousin of her husband and was a Mughal princess by birth. Her father, Hindal Mirza, was the youngest brother of Akbar's father, Humayun. She was betrothed to Akbar at the age of nine and married him at 14, but remained childless throughout her marriage. She was being the first wife also known as Zan-i-Kalan. In later life, she raised Akbar and Mariam-uz-Zamani's grandson, Khurram (the future emperor Shah Jahan). Family and lineage Ruqaiya Sultan Begum was born into the Timurid dynasty as a Mughal princess, and was the only daughter of Mughal prince Hindal Mirza, the youngest son of the first Mughal emperor Babur from his wife Dildar Begum. Ruqaiya's mother, Sultanam Begum, was the daughter of Muhammad Musa Khwaja and the younger sister of Mahdi Khwaja, who was the brother-in-law of Emperor Babur, being the husband of his sister, Khanzada Begum. Ruqaiya was named after the Islamic Prophet Muhammad's daughter, Ruqayyah bint Muhammad.