Biography
Her maiden name was Muhammadi Khanum and she was born at Faizabad, Awadh, India. She was a courtesan by profession and had been taken into the royal harem as a Khawasin, after being sold by her parents to Royal agents and later promoted to a Pari. She became a Begum after being accepted as a royal concubine of the King of Oudh, and the title 'Hazrat Mahal' was bestowed on her after the birth of their son, Birjis Qadra.
She was a junior wife of the last Tajdaar-e-Awadh, Wajid Ali Shah. The British had annexed Oudh in 1856 and Wajid Ali Shah was exiled to Calcutta. After her husband was exiled to Calcutta, she took charge of the affairs of the state of Awadh despite her divorce from the Nawab which then was a large part of the current state of Uttar Pradesh, India.
Read more about this topic: Begum Hazrat Mahal
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