Hamida Banu Begum, born in 1527 in Paat, was the empress consort of the Mughal Emperor Humayun and the Padshah Begum of the Mughal Empire. She married Humayun in September 1541 and went on to become the mother of Emperor Akbar. At the time of their marriage, Humayun settled an alimony of two lakh rupees (200,000 rupees) on her, marking her formal entry into the Mughal imperial household. She died on 29 August 1604 in Agra, having outlived her husband by nearly half a century and witnessed the full flourishing of the empire her son built.
Key facts
- Born: 1527
- Birthplace: Paat
- Died: 29 August 1604
- Place of death: Agra
- Occupation: empress consort
Marriage to Humayun
The marriage between Hamida Banu Begum and Humayun took place in September 1541 at Patr (Paat). Before agreeing to the union, Hamida resisted Humayun’s proposal for forty full days. The Humayun-nama records her response directly: she declared she would only marry a man ‘whose collar my hand can touch,’ a phrase that set a condition of personal equality as the price of her consent.
Humayun, a devoted astrologer, did not simply set a wedding date on the calendar. He consulted his astrolabe personally to identify the exact propitious hour for the ceremony, treating the occasion as an astrological matter of imperial importance alongside its ceremonial one. At the conclusion of the marriage, he granted Hamida Banu Begum an alimony of two lakh rupees (200,000 rupees).
Role and Legacy
As Padshah Begum of the Mughal Empire, Hamida Banu Begum held the highest rank among the women of the imperial household. Her prominence extended into the literary record of the court. The court historian Abul Fazl devoted multiple pages of the Akbarnama to praising her at the time of Akbar’s birth, giving her a documented place in one of the defining chronicles of the Mughal era.
She died on 29 August 1604 in Agra. Her burial in the Humayun’s Tomb complex placed her among approximately 150 members of the Mughal royal family interred there, a concentration of dynastic graves that gave the complex its informal designation as the ‘dormitory of the Mughals.’
Did you know
- Hamida initially resisted Humayun’s marriage proposal for forty full days. According to the Humayun-nama, she declared she would only marry a man ‘whose collar my hand can touch,’ expressing a bold demand for equality rare for a woman of her time and age. (thefridaytimes.com)
- The Humayun’s Tomb complex where Hamida Banu Begum is buried contains the graves of approximately 150 members of the Mughal royal family, earning it the informal title ‘dormitory of the Mughals.’ (culturalindia.net)
- Humayun was such a devoted astrologer that he personally consulted his astrolabe to select the exact propitious hour for his wedding to Hamida in September 1541 at Patr (Paat), making it an imperial astrological event as much as a ceremony. (franpritchett.com)
Data sources
Data updated: 2026-10-30