Maham Anga


Maham Anga was the chief nurse of the Mughal emperor Akbar. A highly shrewd and ambitious woman, she was the political adviser of the teenage emperor and the de facto regent of the Mughal Empire from 1560 to 1562.

Biography

Maham Anga was Akbar's chief nurse prior to his enthronement at age thirteen as Mughal emperor in 1556. Her own son, Adham Khan, as Akbar's foster brother, was regarded as almost one of the imperial family. Maham Anga, shrewd and ambitious and very much in charge of the household and harem, sought to advance her own authority and that of her son. In 1560, the two tricked Akbar into coming to India without his regent and guardian Bairam Khan and they were able to convince Akbar that now that he was seventeen, he did not need Bairam. Akbar dismissed his regent and sent him on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Months later, Bairam was murdered by an Afghan and much of the former's power passed on to Maham Anga.

Death

Adham Khan's violent execution for the murder of Ataga Khan, Akbar’s favourite general Shams-ud-Din, at the hands of the young Emperor himself no less in May, 1562, profoundly affected her. She famously commented You have done well to Akbar when he broke the news to her; she died shortly afterwards.
Her tomb and that of her son, known as Adham Khan's Tomb, was built by Akbar, and popularly named Bhul-bulaiyan, owing to the labyrinth in its structure, lies north of the Qutub Minar in Mehrauli.
, which also serves as his mother, Maham Anga's tomb, Mehrauli, Delhi.
, built by Maham Anga

Khairul Manazil

She also built a mosque, Khairul Manazil in 1561 CE in Mughal architecture. It later served as a madarsa, and now stands opposite, Purana Qila, Delhi on Mathura Road, south east to Sher Shah Gate.
It was her slave that tried to kill Akbar, after his return from hunting and moving towards Nizamuddin Dargah, but the arrow hit a soldier in his entourage instead, who was hurt, albeit not gravely.

In popular culture