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Saturday, January 3, 2015

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."
"



This article has been posted under the Miscellaneous topics section of history_geek's Blog.




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56 comments:

  1. Abhay


    Interesting post! :) You have a knack for discovering insightful incidents from Akbarnama and presenting their significance in an engaging manner so that even lay readers can appreciate them. :)


    It seems Akbar's thinking changed a lot after he came up with Din-i-ilahi. He had earlier got Salim married to Man Bai, his cousin. But now he is opposing Salim's marriage to Khaas Mahal because she is his wife's cousin. Though he doesn't seem to mind that Khaas Mahal is Salim's "cousin".


    All's well that ends well. :)


    Marriages amid cousins were very much a part of Mughal culture and continue among ordinary folk even today.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Again a very interesting bit of information Jahangir had a very easy life he had everything on the plate did not have to work hard only rebel and try to snatch his own legacy which would have come to him any way so he propably kept on falling in and out of love marry many whom he liked/loved. Akbar probably had to do so for political reasons . since the Salim phase in the show so this is interesting bit of info.

    Down south people marriages take place between 1st cousins in the sense fathers sisters offspring and mammu and mammu's children

    ReplyDelete
  3. You are right, Sunram. In South, children of a brother and sister can marry and a girl can marry her maternal uncle. In fact, earlier, such marriages had to be performed if there were suitable matches. Otherwise people took offence! In my extended family, relations are very confusing with people constantly marrying among themselves only. LOL


    But the trend is going down now, with many educated people refusing to marry close relations.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Radhika,
    You've caught a very nice point. :)

    I think Akbar behaved practically. :-P

    I say this because, even before the marriage of Salim and Man Bai, Din-e-Illahi was very much in existence. But still he got Man Bai married to Salim. Perhaps, he thought Man Bai was a cousin from maternal side(as she was MUZ's niece).! ?


    But in case of Sahib Jamal and Khaas Mahal, one of the girls was already married to him. ?



    Also, Din-e-Illahi says that males can get married only after age of 16, but Salim was married to Man Bai, when he was not even 16. !



    Perhaps, Akbar "overlooked" his laws while considering Man Bai. :-P
    Tabaqat-i-Akbari says - "Man Bai was the most suitable girl to marry Salim."

    ReplyDelete
  5. Abhay,


    @bold: agree :)


    Perhaps political considerations dictated his decisions. He wanted to consolidate his relations with Amer/ Man Singh/Bhagwan Das by marrying Salim to Man Bai. Perhaps MUZ had a role to play in fixing this alliance.


    May be he had nothing to gain by letting Salim marry Khaas Mahal?

    ReplyDelete
  6. abhay - very well timed post. show iz running around salim. it is bewildering 2 c salim getting in love wid so many ladies. 'tis post was an eye opener. i never heard name of khaas mahal.
    haha..interesting 2 c akbar going against his rules n getting man bai married to salim. i read he wanted 2 get her married 2 salim. she was favorite dil of akbar.
    waiting 4 man bai post.
    thnk u.

    ReplyDelete
  7. hmm..u hv a point radhika. gud thought. she was of fine genetic pool. akbar wanted tat marriage.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Abhay, as per what I know, marriages between maternal cousins are allowed. It is the cousins from the paternal sides that are not allowed to get married.
    But seriously, did Salim really defy his father like this again and again? Akbar did eventually agree but probably out of reluctance. And Salim is known for many of his alleged affairs, his heart was probably too fluttery :P
    Even in the JA serial, he was women-folk vying for his attention and Anarkali falling over him all the time :P
    I wonder why the law for the marriageable age was broken for Salim's marriage to Maan Bai?
    Anyway, Salim has a really colourful history as per facts which are being unearthed :P

    ReplyDelete
  9. Interesting, informative post Abhay.


    So Akbar was against the marriage of close cousins. Good thinking on his part, however Maan Bai and Salim were first cousins too, and were married. Rukaiyya and Salima were cousins also. Akbar himself was married to two sisters. Maybe this experience in itself was reason enough for him to be opposed to the idea. However , eventually he gave in to Salim's love for Khaas Mahal.

    I am a south indian and I know that marriages between cousins ( a practice that I do not endorse at all ) is in vogue even to this day.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks Abhay for this informative Post. Gosh, this Salim fell in love with how many women.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Abhay, Its Interesting Post,Cousin, marriage, common, in Mughals, or some other Relgions, Also.But Here Akbar First refused, & after seeing, Salim too much interested, in Khaas, Mahal, He accepted, this Marriage.Akbar Own married, Cousins,
    But One ques coming in my mind, Because, If we see Akbar decesions, or acceptions, about Life. He was also a Keen, Observer.He made a law, Marriage should not happen in Near realtives. Is he Know effects, of Nearly realtion Marriages.
    if this ans is Yes, then in 21 cen, Doctors also advice, Marriage should not happen, in, close realtives, Because Hereditary, diseases,soon effects in this way So here again Akbar is Right & Learner.But when he saw,Salim is too much interested, He accpted, this Marriage.But if we see this fact, Girls were close realtives, But Salim side realtion, was, not close. (Here Akbar is accepting, Salim realtion, or we read, Aurangjeb, not accepted, Zeb, Love.)


    But this clearly shows,( Khass, or,sahib,i, jamal, were not queens.) So King can marriage, these type, of Girls.


    one ques, More comes in my Mind, Suppose Anar is not a fictional character, Why Akbar not accepted her, if so many, concubines, can live in Haram, why Anar can't live.Is Anar reason not accepting, was, Akbar not wants, Concubine, became Malkkika of hindustan.But in this case, Akbar understanding, Salim Heart's sound, but Anar case, he is refusing.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Radhika,
    The case of Man Bai was different.
    She was a "devoted" girl to her husband. :)

    You tend to overlook some rules for some people.



    About MUZ's role here. It is said that she had also an instrumental role in this match. :)


    Akbar wanted her to get married to Salim. It may be possible that initially Akbar did not follow Din-e-Illahi so "seriously" . ;-P


    About not allowing Khaas Mahal to marry Salim, i agree with your point. But, if there was no gain to Akbar, then there was no loss as well. ;-P

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yes Samanika,
    Even i have certain impression that such marriages were not considered if they were from paternal cousins, like the case of Sahib-i-Jamal and Khaas Mahal. :)
    Yes, Salim's history is too interesting. ;-P

    ReplyDelete
  14. Following is Ayushi's(user name - ayushimehra) comment.
    Somehow, it is not appearing openly on this page.
    So, i am re-posting it here.


    Abhay, Its Interesting Post,Cousin, marriage, common, in Mughals, or
    some other Relgions, Also.But Here Akbar First refused, & after
    seeing, Salim too much interested, in Khaas, Mahal, He accepted, this
    Marriage.Akbar Own married, Cousins,

    But One ques coming in my mind,
    Because, If we see Akbar decesions, or acceptions, about Life. He was
    also a Keen, Observer.He made a law, Marriage should not happen in Near
    realtives. Is he Know effects, of Nearly realtion Marriages.

    if this
    ans is Yes, then in 21 cen, Doctors also advice, Marriage should not
    happen, in, close realtives, Because Hereditary, diseases,soon effects
    in this way So here again Akbar is Right & Learner.But when he
    saw,Salim is too much interested, He accpted, this Marriage.But if we
    see this fact, Girls were close realtives, But Salim side realtion, was,
    not close. (Here Akbar is accepting, Salim realtion, or we read,
    Aurangjeb, not accepted, Zeb, Love.)


    But this clearly shows,( Khass, or,sahib,i, jamal, were not queens.) So King can marriage, these type, of Girls.


    one
    ques, More comes in my Mind, Suppose Anar is not a fictional
    character, Why Akbar not accepted her, if so many, concubines, can live
    in Haram, why Anar can't live.Is Anar reason not accepting, was, Akbar
    not wants, Concubine, became Malkkika of hindustan.But in this case,
    Akbar understanding, Salim Heart's sound, but Anar case, he is refusing.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Abhay


    This is not really so. He allowed Murad's marriage and also Salim's marriage to Sahib Jamal. So the issue is not that Khaas Mahal was a cousin from paternal side.


    Akbar was probably not aware of the medical reasons for not marrying in close relatives. The reason must have been that he didn't want relations to suffer. Since Sahib and Khaas were cousins, Akbar may have felt that their relations as also the relations between their families may suffer because both the women may compete for Salim's affection.


    For Akbar's family too, the relationships would be awkward because it would be difficult to take sides with any of the ladies or their families should any unforeseen incident occur.


    My feeling is that Akbar wanted to avoid all this trouble by not bringing in a sister (almost) of an existing wife of Salim into his son's harem.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Another interesting point in the main post is that Akbar felt that children should not be married because after they grow up, they find it difficult to establish marital relations with their spouse who apears to them to be almost like their "sibling" or "childhood friend".


    Did Akbar realise this from his own experience of childhood marriage with Ruqaiyya? I wonder. :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Abhay


    There is no doubt in my mind about MUZ's position in the harem, which must have been good for her suggestion to be accepted. And like Iqra also said, MUZ's genetic pool was considered so noble that any girl from her family would have been welcomed with open arms into the Mughal harem.


    In Akbar's time, Rajput girls were given preference. Like it was mentioned in your other post on MUZ that Rajputs were highly regarded. :) Both because of political considerations as also for their inherent qualities of high self-esteem, courage, loyalty and honesty. So Man Bai would never have faced any problem in being approved.


    (MUZ must have been happy about her position in the Mughal harem to want to bring her niece there without any fears or concerns. :) )


    Regarding Khaas Mahal, I posted in another comment here that Akbar may have been worried about bringing in the cousin sister of an existing wife of Salim because of the strain it might put on several relations. You are right, he had no other reasons to oppose it. :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. And it seems Akbar was warier of Mughal relatives than Rajput ones.


    Din-i-ilahi was never a problem for him - it was only a convenient excuse for him. Like many people nowadays would say the horoscopes don't match if they want to turn down a match. :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Transferring a Comment of "Birdiee" from this link..>
    http://mariam-uz-zamani.blogspot.in/2014/11/british-reminisces-are-we-losing-our-tolerance.html#comment-1771233163

    Posted by Birdiee
    How many times did Jhangir fall in love exactly? It's seems like he is always enamored with someone.

    Reply
    Well..!!
    Birdiee,
    This is a question which makes me think too. His list seems endless.
    Till now, we knew about Man Bai, Jagat Gosain, Sahib-i-Jamal, Nur Jahan. Now, we have Khaas Mahal also. More may be there. ;-P

    ReplyDelete
  20. Radhika,
    The reason given by me in the main post, is the one given in Akbarnama. We can interpret/discuss this. I get your point. This is also quite valid. Thanks for pointing out. :)

    Yes, till date, i have not read any text which says about Akbar mentioning the "medical ill effects" of close cousin marriages. In case, i get i will share here.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Ayushi,

    From what i have read. I did not get any thing which says that Akbar knew about the "medical ill effects" of close cousin marriages. :)


    About Anarkali, i find it a gossip, nothing else. Your questions are very valid. Will be posting about Anarkali soon. :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Charu,


    Radhika also pointed out a point that those girls were first cousins, hence Akbar might have opposed the marriage. He himself was married to Salima and Ruqayya Begum. :)
    Yes, he made an exception for Man Bai. ;-P

    ReplyDelete
  23. Yes Radhika, this could be the case. In fact, I even read somewhere that before it was known that children born from two siblings usually suffered from genetic diseases, such marriages were largely discouraged because it would create confusion in relations. For example, your sister would become your wife, your aunt would become your mother-in-law and so on. Even in Akbar's case, his first cousin Ruqaiyya became his wife and she became Salim's step-mother as well as aunt. So there could have been such a case where there must have been a confusion whether to refer to her as a mother or as an aunt.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Very interesting post, Abhay.! All n alI I must say, Salim was not at all one woman man.Quite a rangeela kism ka aadmi. Interestingly, he fell fr all these women! :) I don't know if his marraige to Maanbai was according to his wish or just an arranged marraige?
    I think Akbar must hv realised, the importance of Rajputana relation, Rajputana blood, their honesty, courage etc.May be he wanted a Jodha like shehzadi fr Salim.
    His realisation of marraige between bros n sisters at 16th century is really worth praising fr.Such marraiges would take place almost everywhere in India, but frm maternal side. rarely frm paternal side as in Mughals.Now it is medically also proven that marraiges within close relation r one of the root causes of chronic deseases in children.
    So it's amply proved that Akbar held Ruqs more as his freind n cousin than his lover. thank u abhay fr that respat.:)

    ReplyDelete
  25. I agree with Radhika's views. Akbar was very well aware of the conspiracy the Mughal khandaan was famous fr.n also the competition among these wives fr attention. Given a choice he would hv prefered only Rajput bahus, I think.:)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Abhay, I really need your help. I need to know how to get things working with Blogger :D

    ReplyDelete
  27. Geeta


    For us, it is difficult to comprehend marriage with paternal cousins but in some communities, it is allowed even today.

    ReplyDelete
  28. I agree, Abhay. Abul Fazl is cryptic as usual. And we can endlessly discuss the reasoning behind the "reason" given in Akbarnama without arriving at a conclusion. :))


    Your posts always lead to exciting debates. :)

    ReplyDelete
  29. Salim seems like the one of the only famous Mughal emperors who used his harem extensively ;) Truly an extravagant prince! He had children from all his chief wives except Nur Jahan unlike his immediate predecessor and successor. Nur Jahan seems to have taken consideration of Salim's womanizing ways, unlike Jagat Gosain. Nur kept Jahangir inebriated most of the time, then he wouldn't have much time ,apart from his kingly duties, to be enamored with beautiful women.


    Why couldn't Akbar allow Khaas mahal to be married to Salim? They weren't blood cousins. They were cousins only by law.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Hi Sav


    Regarding your last Q, see the discussion below. :) This point has been much debated.

    ReplyDelete
  31. But discussion only talks about marriages between blood cousins from paternal side. Salim was a cousin only by law to Khaas Mahal. Salim and his brothers were never married to any of their paternal cousins due to Jalal's apprehensions. Akbar was married to a Jodhpur princess and her aunt. So he could clearly differentiate between cousins by blood and cousins or relatives by law. Akbar's sisters's and brother's children were never wed into his own brood.


    I think we have hastily concluded the reason for Akbar's disapproval of the marriage. It might have been something other than the cousin angle.

    ReplyDelete
  32. If Mughals knew about the medical issues which followed close-cousin marriages, then this practice would have been abhorred. But as we know from future marriages in Mughal household, such weddings resumed with much vigor after Akbar's demise. One of the first such being marriage of Salim's son Parvez with Murad's (Salim's brother) daughter at the MUZ palace. So, this idea was restricted to Akbar alone not even the rest of his immediate family.


    Looks like Akbar had deep personal issues and bad experiences in his own marriage to paternal cousins namely Ruqaiya and Salima. Probably more such concerns with Ruqaiya as Akbar married Salima to provide protection to her.

    ReplyDelete
  33. You are right Sav. !

    I also did not get anything to suggest that Akbar knew about genetic problems/medical problems of close cousin marriages. Also, you rightly pointed out that such marriages continued even after Akbar's reign.

    And, i do agree with your last paragraph, because

    a. Akbar will proclaiming the law barring marriage with girls below puberty says > "when such couple attains manhood, they dislike having connexion and their home is desolate".

    b. Also, the old show of DD Akbar-The Great, had shown Akbar saying marrying Ruqayya was not a good step/mistake, in one of the episodes.

    c. And, about banning marriages with close cousins, Badayuni gives a reason as lack of sexual vigor between them. This was also quoted in Akbar Ruqayya False Monogamy Clause post.

    Based in light of these facts, we are trying to decipher more possible views, the discussion has been interesting so far. :)

    ReplyDelete
  34. Hi Sav,
    As usual, logical points. Radhika also pointed out some clauses. :)
    But, Akbarnama gives the reason as ban on "cousin marriages". That's why we all are in a fix and debating the reasons possible. ;-P

    ReplyDelete
  35. All the deduction points towards the inevitable: non-existence of Akbar and Ruqaiya love story. But media seems convinced otherwise despite lack of proof supporting it.

    Abhay, you have always said Abul Fazl used cryptic language and described the most disturbing of events in the calmest possible manner. Does his quoting of Akbar so eloquently give an indication of Akbar's relation with his first wives?? Akbar wouldn't have liked to have his marital life being talked about in his official biography but as cunning Abul Fazl was, he did manage to entwine his emperor's personal life and beliefs with the image Akbar wanted to project without him even realising it. But why does he remain so quiet about effect of MUZ on Akbar??

    ReplyDelete
  36. Yup, read about Radhika's clauses of relations getting awkward. And i agree with it. But not about taking sides as women come from the same family.

    I was more thinking on the lines of jija-saali (sister-in-law) angle. Sexual relations establishes between jija-saali, devar-bhabhi are frowned upon even today and termed extremely inappropriate. Just like Akbar initially viewed Salim's infatuation as impropriety.

    It boils down to the same close cousin/sister theory we have been discussing. Only we all forgot the relation between Salim and Khaas Mahal had a proper definition. And impropriety in which is looked down upon even today.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Sav, Radhika and other readers...I agree with your theory, which is also supported by written chronicles, as i mentioned about Badayuni's reasoning on ban on such marriages above.
    Will get back to other comments soon. :)

    ReplyDelete
  38. Sav,


    You can be right. Though I really don't know how much propriety was followed in those days. Consider that Salim married Man Bai and also Man Singh's granddaughter. Which is much worse than marrying a saali, if we look at that way.


    By taking sides, I meant that since both are sisters, whose side can Salim or Akbar take if the two sisters fight for Salim's affections?


    But there are cases of men marrying 2 sisters, like Raja Reddy, the Kuchipudi dancer, who married his wife's younger sister.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Man bai was his maternal first cousin and could be married to Salim with all propriety, atleast in eyes of Akbar. And we have already have had a discussion on appropriateness of Salim's marriage to Man Singh's granddaughter. Man Singh disproved of it and the princess was a widow.

    The harem was a each-for-his-own kind of place especially when it came to garnering a husband's attention. I am sure not only the sisters but other wives also must have fought for Salim's favor. But I highly doubt anyone else would have taken part in such frivolies and chose sides unless the altercations had some political weight to them.

    I am not saying that such marriages don't happen. They do but are frowned upon by society. They are deemed to be improper in eyes of the society. I am sorry to have offended anyone but this is simply a view of our society in general and i only posting it here. It doesn't mean I agree with it. A person should be allowed to marry whoever he pleases to.

    Coming back to the topic, Perhaps Akbar saw this as an impropriety and refused Salim. In their long list of wives, Mughal emperors didn't marry sisters atleast till one was ali ve and with them.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Your comment is not at all offending, Sav. This is a discussion, after all, and it's good to look at any issue from ALL angles.


    You have a valid point - as mentioned by you in the last para.


    The issue here is whether this was just a personal viewpoint of Akbar in this specific case or a part of his ideology, which formed the basis of his din-i-ilahi. Because like Abhay mentioned (as the reason given in Akbarnama), I also came across instances where it was mentioned that Akbar frowned upon marriages among near relations, just as he was against marriage before puberty, forced sati etc.


    Looking fwd to your views on this, as well as the views of others. Esp Iqra, who may have a better understanding of this matter of marriage among cousins in muslims and why Akbar may have been against it.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Sav,

    Abu'l Fazl's account has been writen keeping in view Akbar as the centre of every thing. When we compare his account with Badayuni's writings, we find certain differences.

    Like, Badayuni says Akbar stopped eating beef due to influence of his Rajput wives, but Abul Fazl does not mentions anything like that. :)

    Well yes, about the views on Akbar and Ruqayya, i am on same page as you. :)

    ReplyDelete
  42. Radhika, it seems like Akbar's views about marriage with close relations (except in case of Man bai) were restricted to Akbar himself. Not even the rest of his family. Just like his religion din-e-illahi, this particular died with him. Now, i don't know whether this clause was part of din-e-illahi or not. Looking forward to Iqra's views :)

    ReplyDelete
  43. Hey SAmmy , The thing is SAlim was the only one born with the heart as per serial :P
    And it's a usual thing to marry btw both paternal n maternal sides , if in case the people getting married should have bro-sis duo from either mom or dad's side and not bro-bro n sis-sis duo as far as Islam traditions are considered ...

    ReplyDelete
  44. Abhay good post yaar !!! Salim is such a persom who fell in love with all women who looks good to him it seems :P Regardless , his charc noted as a Ardent lover from the times of MEA ... And , is this marriage was done before Noor came into his life or after ??? Sorry that i m confused with years :S

    ReplyDelete
  45. But Bhagwant DAs n MUZ were bro n sis na , so the Marriage of SAlim n Maan cant be considered as the marriage of cousins ... AS for the case , it still happens in India i guess !!! May be the term 'cousins ' is used all the brother sister relations in ENG but usually it would be apt when used to bro-bro n sis-sis duo's , where they r considered to be brother n sisters unlike bro sister relations ...

    ReplyDelete
  46. Suganya


    This marriage happened in 1596. (Date is given in post. :) ) Much before Noor came into his life. :)

    ReplyDelete
  47. Suganya


    It's only in S. Indian communities that children of 2 brothers or 2 sisters are considered equivalent to brothers / sisters. And the children of a brother and a sister are not considered to be brother / sister.


    Generally, in English, cousins are children of any 2 siblings.


    In Muslims, children of any set of siblings can marry each other.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Suganya


    Like I said in an earlier comment, children of 2 brothers or 2 sisters can also marry in muslims. :) Akbar was married to Ruqaiyya and there are countless such examples in the Mughals in almost every generation.

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  49. sav n radhika - sorry 4 late reply. u r having very gud discussion. in islam cousin marriages r common n thought pious. they can marry. now opinion iz changing in some societies.

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  50. yeah i knew wat u said di ... That's Exactly wat i wanted to deliver too , About akbar not following din-e-ilahi SERIOUSLY - " it should have been this matter( i meant bro-sis fact of lineage) " becoz of which he accepted for the marriage of maan bai to salim :) I have this hunch that this practice was followed in whole India , unlike wat u said particular abt S.Indian communities ... I dont know whether they practise this in N.India now , But centuries ahead this must have been prevailed in whole of India ' MAINLY under Hindu communities ' n Rajputs were major one those days " this FACT evryone knows " !!! So we cant use the word
    "COUSIN " of English here , for the practice that was followed even before its entry in India unlike Islam tradition where the Reverse occured ( bro-bro n sis-sis duo's as in case of Ruq-Akku then) as part of their tradition ... Tat's all i wanted to convey here ;) as i felt this as contradictory !!!

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  51. Suganya,
    Salim got married to Nur in 1611, as Radhika said above. And this marriage happened in 1596. :)
    By the way, i did not understand your mention about bro-bro and sis-sis type cousins.?. Can you plz explain it. :)

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  52. Oh !!! Thanks for the info :)
    That was regarding cousin Marriage Abhay ... I meant , bro-bro n sis-sis children from paternal n maternal sides r usually brothers and sisters , when compared to bro-sis children who r considerably married according to traditions in most of the place in S.India ... I think , Radhika di said it Aptly !!! But i dont know , whether they practice it now in N.India ...

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  53. I agree with Iqra. Akbar's reason fr opposing the marriage might not be connected to Cousin angle but may hv some personal touch.May be his own experience or may be totally different reason.!

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  54. Ok. I got it now. :)

    About North Indian communities, i have not seen marriages among cousins, whether bro-sis or bro-bro or sis-sis children. Though, Some exceptions are there, but in majority communities it does not happen at present.

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  55. Good Post Abhay. When did Nur entered akbar 's court. When salim - Nur met for the first time.
    Happy Pongal To All.

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  56. Thanks for your wishes Katana & wish the same to you as well. :)
    The question who have asked is a bit difficult to answer. Some sources claim Salim and Nur Jahan met before Nur was married to Sher Afghan in 1590's. Some claim it was after death of Akbar. The accounts are really blurred so as to conclude anything. I will be making a post on this. Till then, i have given the answer. :)

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