Udham Bai (fl. 1748–1754)
Udham Bai (fl. 1748–1754)
Queen and co-ruler of Mughal India. Flourished between 1748 and 1754; daughter of Farrukh-Siyar; married Muhammad Shah; children: Ahmad Shah Badahur (b. 1725).
Udham Bai married Muhammad Shah, the fourth in a line of weak rulers of the Mughal Empire, which was in serious decline. Under Muhammad's leadership, the empire lost the province of Kabul to Persian ruler Nadir Shah (c. 1741), lost the province of Katehr to the warrior Ruhela, and saw several other provinces become virtually independent. In 1725, Udham Bai had had a son, Ahmad Shah Badahur, who would prove to be no stronger than his father. Upon his father's death in 1748, 23-year-old Ahmad crowned himself king. Udham Bai, knowing he would not be an able ruler, manipulated his weakness and lack of responsibility and assumed de facto control of the rulership. Eventually this led to her downfall, as her son fled the invading Marathas rather than face them, thus abandoning her and the other women of the family and allowing them to be captured. He was nonetheless deposed and blinded by a joint force of Marathas and Doab Afghans in 1754.
Kelly Winters , freelance writer