Gulbadan Begum

Who was Gulbadan Begum?

The Imperial Princess Gulbadan Begum was a Perso-Turkic Princess, the daughter of Emperor Babur of India, she is most known as the author of Humayun Nama, the account of the life of her half-brother, Humayun. Later, her nephew, Prince Jalal-ud-Dīn ascended the imperial throne as Emperor Akbar the Great. She was also the paternal aunt of Akbar's chief consort, Empress Ruqaiya Sultan Begum.

Her name means literally "with a body like a rose flower" in Persian. She was a descendant of the lines of highest Central Asian aristocracy: Timur through his son Miran Shah, and Genghis Khan through his son Chagatai Khan. Her mother was Dildar Begum and she was half-sister to Humayun, the second Mughal emperor.

She also finds reference throughout, Akbarnama, the Book of Akbar, written by Abul Fazal, and much of her biographical details are accessible through the work.