Nadira Banu

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Nadira Benu was the wife of the heir to Shah Jahan's throne, Dara Shikoh. Though information about her is uncommon, it is known that she was on good terms with her sister-in law, Jahanara Begum, who left the cream of her fortune to Nadira's daughter. Nadira was the daughter of emperor Shah Jahan's half-brother, making her the cousin of the man she wed. However, this was not uncommon, and she and her husband had a happy marriage, if not a happy life. The marriage was originally arranged when the couple were both teenagers, by Dara's mother, Mumtaz Mahal. When the Empress died with the birth of her last child, a girl, the wedding arrangements halted as India plunged into mourning and Shah Jahan was consumed in his grief. After much coaxing by many, including his favorite daughter Jahanara, he resumed life as normal and let her oversee the remaining aspects of the wedding. When Shah Jahan died, he and Jahanara had been shunned from their lovely palace by Arangzeb, the third son in line for the throne. Driven by his ambition and his fanatical Islamic views, he seized the throne and eventually defeated his brother (who was considerably more well-liked than he, a fact which was highlighted later on in his strict, extremist rule). While Shah Jahan's eldest son was said to be tolerant, wise and beloved, he was nonetheless overrun and eventually executed, leaving the crown to his brother, who ruled his empire harshly and assured that he was one of the remembered, if not fondly. For these reasons, Nadira and her children were caught in a dangerous feud. She did not deny her husband, however, despite the enormous danger she brought upon herself in doing so. Dara Shikoh was said to be a fine painter, and many of his works, when criticized, were considered to be almost of a professional standard. Some of his works were collected and gifted to Nadira Benu, and it was a token of her affection for him that she cherished it until her death, when it went on display at a museum.