Salim got violently enamoured to marry & Akbar gave in.!

Friends,

This post talks about an interesting incident relating to Salim and his father Mughal Emperor Akbar. Salim wanted to marry the daughter of a Mughal noble - Zain Khan Koka. But Akbar did not give his consent to this request, initially. Later, he agreed. Along with this, i have also quoted some passages from Ain-i-Akbari, which state Akbar's views on marriage between close cousins..


Before going into the details let us know some background of this issue.

Khwaja Maqsud was the father of Zain Khan Koka. Khwaja Hasan was a brother of Zain Khan Koka. It is not clear if he was a real brother or a cousin brother. In Persian literature, they refer them as simply 'brothers', but explicitly mention Zain Khan as son of Khwaja Maqsud.

This family belonged to the Central Asian town of Herat, & was associated with the Mughals for a long time. Zain Khan Koka's father - Khwaja Maqsud was a faithful officer of Hamida Bano Begum, & remained with her, throughout all her misfortunes, for her safety, including the time when Humayun fled to Persia. Zain Khan Koka's mother - Pichah Jan Anga was a wet nurse/foster mother of Akbar. Hence, Zain Khan Koka was a foster brother of Akbar. It is just like Mirza Aziz Koka, who was a foster brother, as his mother Jiji Anga was a foster mother of Akbar.

Zain Khan Koka's rise in Mughal hierarchy is noteworthy. By 1584, he was a mansabdar of 2500. In 1587, he was made the governor of Zabulistan(present day South Afghanistan). In 1591, he was made a mansabdar of 4000. Along with this, in 1591 he was allowed the honor of 'drums' , and was also appointed the governor of the provinces beyond the river Indus and upto Hindukush ranges.
{
This honor of "drums", as far as i have read at present, was only accorded to Raja Man Singh and Raja Bhagwan Das, even though they were outside 'direct Mughal' nobility. Otherwise, the honor of drums welcome was the prerogative of Imperial Mughal Family ONLY..See this link for more details: Relations of Akbar with Mariam Uz Zamani and Rajputs of Amer Clan 
}
In 1596, Zain Khan was made governor of Kabul. His rank was raised to a mansabdar of 5000. This was the time when Salim fell in love with his daughter. Her name was Khaas Mahal. But, Akbar refused this marriage, initially.


Why Akbar opposed this marriage ?

Salim was already married to Sahib-i-Jamal in 1586, the daughter of Khwaja Hasan(brother of Zain Khan Koka). Hence, Sahib Jamal was the niece of Zain Khan Koka. 

But NOW, in 1596 he wanted to marry Khaas Mahal. But Khas Mahal and Sahib-i-Jamal were cousins. Sahib Jamal was niece of Zain Khan Koka, and Khaas Mahal was his daughter.

As per Akbar's constitution, he had banned close cousin marriages, as per Din-e-Illahi. (In this case both girls were closely related from paternal side, as their fathers were brothers.)

But finally Akbar gave the permission for marriage when he saw that Salim's "heart was immoderately affected". The marriage took place with great celebration in the house of Mariam Makani - Hamida Bano Begum. This lady(Khaas Mahal) was childless and she lived long as far as 1632, in the reign of Shah Jahan(Jahangir died in 1627).

There was no other reason for opposing the marriage, certainly not the pretext that Khaas Mahal was the daughter of Akbar's foster brother. Infact, Akbar had also got his second son, Murad married to Habiba Banu Begum(not Hamida), daughter of Mirza Aziz Koka in 1587, who was also his foster brother.

The Marriage Happens | Akbar gives in to Salim's Heart..

This is what Akbarnama says > 
" 
At this time the Prince Royal(Salim) became "violently enamoured" of the daughter of Zain Khan Koka, and meditated marrying her. H.M.(Akbar) was displeased at the impropriety, but when he saw that "his heart was immoderately affected", he, of necessity, gave his consent. There was a great feast, and a new law for joy.

They set up a spacious tent.
They made the ground a star-spangled heaven.
On all sides they put screens round the courtyard.
They gave to the curtain new moonlight.

On 18th June, 1596 the nuptials were celebrated in the dwelling of Mariam Makani, and the lady was conveyed to the harem.
"


Scan:
I have scanned only 1 page from Akbarnama. See the end portion.

More Details:

In the Ain-i-Akbari, Abu'l Fazl writes the following about Akbar's thinking while talking about bride & bridegroom / marriages:
"
His Majesty abhors marriages which take place between man and woman before the age of puberty. They bring forth no fruit, and His Majesty thinks them even hurtful; for afterwards, when such a couple ripens into manhood, they dislike having connexion, and their home is desolate.
{ ^^ This point was quoted in one of the old posts. See here: Akbar Ruqaiyya False Monogamy Clause }

Marriage between near relations His Majesty thinks highly improper. He says, - 'The fact that, in ancient times even, a girl was not given to her twin brother, ought to silence those who are fond of historical proofs. Marriage between first cousins, however, does not strike the bigoted followers of Muhammad's religion as wrong; for the beginning of a religion resembles, in this regard, the beginning of the creation of mankind."
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This article has been posted under the Miscellaneous topics section of history_geek's Blog.