Mah Chuchak Begum: The Rebel Queen
Lad Malika, The Key To Chunar
Story Time Thread! A tale of the Rebel Mughal Queen, Mah Chuchak Begum.. She came from a house that ruled Kabul before Babur, and once she ruled it she never gave it back, even fighting the armies of Akbar to keep it! Buckle up as we explore a rogue member of the Zenana
Within the Mughal Court, Emperors had multiple wives, each of which often came from different cultures and held different political influences. Mah Chuchak Begum was the last recorded wife of Humayun, and had her own sons, heirs and often forgotten younger blood brothers to Akbar
Her lineage is hard to discern from Gulbadan’s account in the Humayunama. In the translator's notes it is said “was not a woman of birth”, asserting she was potentially not of royal descent. However, she is also referred to as Humayun’s “Arghun wife”, a Mongol royal house
Assuming she was in fact Arghun, this kingdom ruled over the southeastern half of Khorasan (Afghanistan) prior to the invasion of Babur. Displaced, this Central Asian house ended up integrating with a Sindhi faction, Shah Hussain (Footnotes for this section [1])
She was married to Humayun in 1548, and gave birth to Mirza Mhd Hakim in 1553. When the boy was just 3 years old, he was named as the governor of Kabul under the tutelage of Munim Khan, the future Prime Minister. Akbar reconfirmed this arrangement as well after he took power
However, Mah Chuchak was just biding her time. In 1561, Munim was called to court and left his son Ghani in charge. Gulbadan is quoted as saying Ghani “had neither suavity nor sense”, a great insult and fittingly he was locked out of the city by Mah Chuchak on a morning walk
Munim Khan caught wind of Mah Chuchak’s shenanigans, turned around to aid his son in recapturing Kabul. His army was met in Jalalabad between Kabul and Peshawar. Trounced by the Central Asian armies of the Dowager Queen, he returned to Delhi with his tail between his legs
This brings us to around 1564. The Rebel Queen had cycled through a number of advisors while ruling as regent, promoting and executing at least 4. She eventually takes in Abul Maali, an Uzbek Noble who escaped from prison in Lahore, sentenced for assassinating 2 other nobles
Potentially because she was a woman and needed a cover, she elevated Abul Maali to Vakil. However, he was not appreciative of her continued hold on power, and assassinated Mah Chuchak as well. Mhd Hakim was rescued by a Central Asian Noble, and quickly displaced Maali
Mhd Hakim continued to rule over Kabul for another 20 years or so after the death of his mother. He attempted to appeal to Akbar’s Central Asian officers in a failed rebellion. When Akbar was finally done conquering the rest of the Gangetic Plain, he got around retaking Kabul
We have many stories in South Asia of women successfully exerting political power in South Asia. On a more rare occasion we have someone like Mah Chuchak who exerted military power as well as in politics. This is a trend we see true both among Hindu and Muslim empires of the time
Empires are made of a collection of political alliances of convenience. The Mughals were a collection of Central Asians, Afghans, and beginning in the 1500s, Rajputs, Jats and other people of the Gangetic Plain. Mah Chuchak held great sway in the Central Asian corner of this
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Footnote 1* - There is actually another Mah Chuchak Begum who comes in here, apparently Babur had married her off to another lord, and after his death was then married to Shah Hussain of Sindh. She may or may not have poisoned him (entirely hearsay)
