The Royal Women's Hajj - An Unusual Haraman Initiative During Akbar's Reign..!!

According to the Akbarnama, Akbar was at the center of everything that happened in his empire. However, the collective royal women's pilgrimage to Mecca is an exceptional moment in the history of the Mughals. It is one of those rare moments that shakes the patriarchal language of the Mughal chronicles, which otherwise swirl around only the emperor and his achievements. 

Akbar and his biographer Abul Fazl tried to project the harem as being inaccessible to the outside world. However, the harem inmates (haraman) lost no opportunity to show that they could not be so easily domesticated or entombed in bejeweled marble palaces. We have discussed the undertakings of the various begums in other posts on the blog. People may think that it was only Jehangir who allowed Nur Jehan so much sway in his reign. But, in reality, the image of the emperor as the ultimate power center and being at the helm of affairs was never more shaken than by Akbar's harem.

This is best illustrated by the hajj initiative of Gulbadan Begum in the 157os.The Akbarnama has covered this pilgrimage in detail.

As I said before, this independent journey by the royal women way back in the 16th century, when women were confined to the purdah, raises many questions about the absoluteness of Akbar as the monarch (zil-i-ilahi), the making of the harem and the unusual initiatives of the women within the confines of the harem.

Abul Fazl refers to this trip as "the visit to the Hijaz of the veiled ladies of the Caliphate."

Gulbadan Begum, Akbar's aunt (and Humayun's sister) had "long ago, made a vow to visit the holy places." The Akbarnama records that she had been unable to fulfill this vow because the route to Mecca from Gujarat was unsafe, especially for women. When relative calm returned to Gujarat and "the masters of the European islands" ("amiran-i-jazair-i-farang") had become submissive, Gulbadan Begum broached the topic with Akbar. Akbar instantly gave her permission along with a large sum of money and goods. Abul Fazl says the caravan left on 8/9 October, 1575 and stayed for three and a half years in Mecca!!!. (This time is exclusive of the travel time. ) 

Even by today's standards, it would be amazing for a group of elderly women to go and stay alone in Mecca for so long!

Gulbadan Begum's Request to go for Hajj is Granted

Note: The dates of departure and return are not known exactly. But the Akbarnama notes the date of return as 13 April, 1582, which is not compatible with the suggestion that the women stayed in Mecca for three and a half years. Henry Beveridge, who translated the Akbarnama, suggests that the royal party may have started back in 1580 or the beginning of 1581. Then the voyage to Surat, the detention in Gujarat, the journey to Ajmer for a supplementary pilgrimage, and then onto Fatehpur Sikri would have taken another year.



Who were the women who accompanied Gulbadan Begum?

Hamida Banu Begum was conspicuous by her absence from the trip. She had a very important intercessory role in Akbar's court. The presence and support of senior women was critical to the running of the empire and so one or 2 senior women from the harem, including Hamida Banu Begum and the trusted Bibi Fatima, stayed back to support Akbar. Hamida Banu Begum was required to advise, to intervene, to conciliate, and even to conduct the administration sometimes. Such occasions had to be considered in advance. (She took charge of Delhi on one occasion around 1580's when Akbar marched to Kabul to suppress a conspiracy to install Mirza Hakim as the emperor. This shows the immense amount of respect Akbar had for his mother and his belief in her capabilities as Malika-i-Azam. I cannot recall any other Mughal emperor who showed so much faith in his mother, except perhaps Babur.) 

Note: Abhay had mentioned that Hamida Banu Begum may have gone alone on a separate Hajj pilgrimage before this trip by Gulbadan Begum. He had also talked about this Hajj pilgrimage by Gulbadan Begum and Salima Sultan Begum therein. Link | See Point #26.


The other elderly women of the harem including mothers, aunts and other senior women accompanied Gulbadan Begum. They included Salima Sultan Begum (Akbar's wife), the daughters of Mirza Kamran (Akbar's step-sisters) - Haji Begum and Gul'azar Begum, a wife of Mirza Askari - Sultan Begum, a wife of Babur - Gulnar Agha and old servants - Bibi Safiya, Bibi Sarw Sahi and Shaham Agha. The only relatively young people were Gulbadan Begum's granddaughter - Kulsum Khanam (nothing is known about her) and Salima Khanum (daughter of Khizr Khvaja Khan). Note that Salima Sultan was the only wife of Akbar who went on the trip. No young wife of Akbar was included. 

This shows perhaps the privilege and respect enjoyed by the elderly women in the harem. Of course, the senior women felt a greater need to go on the trip, given their advanced age. And the younger women may have been kept back for their protection.

The Hajjis

Note: Pls see both the pictures above for the list of the names of the women who went on the pilgrimage. 

It is interesting to see the women who formed Akbar's harem. They included many senior women like Babur's wives, his father's and uncle's wives and their servants too. Though there may have been much rancour among the men for the throne, Akbar took all the women and children under his protection. This respect for women was part of his Mughal-Timurid tehzeeb and something that we should appreciate. It was this tradition that passed on to the other generations and enabled the other emperors to value their wives and mothers / sisters.


The Return of the Hajjis

There was much rejoicing when the women finally returned home. In Abul Fazl's words, when the litter of "that chaste lady" Gulbadan Banu Begum reached Ajmer, Prince Salim, "the pearl of the crown",  was sent off to meet her. Every day, one court noble would be sent to convey their salutations. After Akbar himself joined the cortege of women, "there were hospitalities, and that night they remained awake and in pleasing discourses." The next day, a glorious homecoming to Fatehpur Sikri was arranged for the hajjis.

Home Come the Hajjis to a Glorious Reception by Akbar Himself

Note: Pls see the last sentence in this picture carefully. It clearly mentions that the ladies had spent 3 years and 6 months in that country. Like I said earlier, this was the period of stay in Mecca and didn't include travel time.

What a mark of respect Akbar showed his aunt and the other ladies! It is so heartwarming to see that he went all the way to Ajmer to receive them personally and to bring them back to Fatehpur Sikri. Which emperor would do that?   

Other accounts also recorded the return of these chaste women.

"When his aunt returned from Mekka, the king had the street-pavements covered with silken shawls, and conducted her himself to her palace in a gorgeous litter, scattering largesse meanwhile to the crowd."


How the Trip had been Planned and Undertaken

No doubt Akbar supported the women generously and showed immense respect to his aunt for taking the onerous initiative. However, we will be doing the women a great disservice if we do not take their own varied concerns/interests while planning activities and undertaking initiatives. The chronicles describe how the women themselves did the planning to a great deal. 

Gulbadan Begum, while "preparing for a journey to Mecca", was staying at Surat. As a diplomatic overture to the Portuguese so that they would cooperate, she gave them the town of Butzar (or Bulsar).  

It is interesting to note that the young princes Salim(aged only 6) and Murad(aged only 5) were also sent by Akbar, to pay respects/accompany the ladies till the shore of the ocean, but "turned back" by Gulbadan Begum.

This was a really major decision - not to take any royal male escort. The faith the ladies had in themselves and the faith Akbar had in them is reflected in this decision.
A shipwreck and the consequent stay of the women at Aden for a year also indicate a most unusual enterprise by mostly elderly women of that era. Even by today's standards, it was a bold and highly significant adventure given the constraints of the passage and other restrictive circumstances.  

Badauni says that both the routes that could be taken for the Haj were inaccessible at the time. One route was through Shia Iraq (the Mughals were mostly Sunnis) and the other through Gujarat, across the Arabian Sea, that required a pass that "bore the idolatrous stamp of the heads of the Virgin Mary and of Jesus Christ ('on whom be peace')". It would have been quite disconcerting to the hajjis to accept the stamp of Jesus Christ on their passes!

Abul Fazl also says that Akbar was aware of the problems associated with the trip and had instructed "the great amirs, the officers of every territory, the guardians of the passes, the watchmen of the borders, the river-police and the harbour masters" to perform "good services" for the ladies.

Recall that in the 1570s, Akbar had started debates on spirituality and religion in the Ibadat Khana at Fatehpur Sikri. He may have permitted the trip for a political purpose - to reinforce the Islamic face of the Mughal empire to his people, facing as he was rebellions and charges from Muslims that he was venturing outside the limits of Islam. But the keenness of the women to perform the pilgrimage must also have weighed down on him.

Of all hajj trips undertaken by Mughal women, this trip was surely special because it was solely a women's hajj trip, with no royal male escort! Whatever compulsions may have driven Akbar, he supported this trip whole-heartedly. This is most remarkable because such an incident did not recur in the reign of any of his successors. May be they felt no need to "consolidate" their power. Or may be because the subsequent kings successfully kept the women under wraps and did not provide them with the opportunity to undertake exceptional initiatives, such as this trip.    


This topic has been posted under the Mughals(Akbar) section of history_geek's blog.