Mariam-uz-Zamani

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Mariam-uz-Zamani (lit. 'Mary/Compassionate of the Age'; 1543 – 19 May 1623) was the Chief consort and favourite wife of the third Mughal emperor, Akbar, and the mother of his successor, Jahangir. She was Akbar's most influential wife and the longest-serving Hindu empress in the Mughal Empire, for forty-three years. Born a Rajput princess of the Kachhwaha dynasty, she was the eldest daughter of Raja Bharmal of Amer and married Akbar in 1562 as part of a political alliance between the Mughal Empire and the Amer. Although widely known in popular culture as Jodha Bai, the name is regarded by modern historians as a historical misnomer and does not appear in contemporary Mughal chronicles. As Akbar's chief consort and later Queen Mother, Mariam-uz-Zamani occupied one of the highest positions in the imperial harem and exercised considerable influence during the reigns of both Akbar and Jahangir. She was among the few Mughal women granted the exceptional privilege of issuing imperial farmans...

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