Born: Unknown, Afghanistan
Died: 28 March 1564
Country most active: Afghanistan
Also known as: NA
Mah Chuchak Begum was a wife of the second Mughal emperor Humayun, married in 1546. Before his death in 1556, he put forth their three-year-old son, Mirza Muhammad Hakim, as governor of Kabul in 1554. After his death, Mah Chuchak Begum’s stepson, Akbar (son of queen consort Hamida Banu Begum), became the third Mughal emperor.
Rather than allow the appointed regent, Ghani Khan, to take control of Kabul, Mah Chuchak Begum closed the city gates to him and, unable to find support to oppose her, he left. She appointed her advisors, Fazli Beg and his son Abdulfath as regents but, displeased with their performance, later had them killed. The emperor, hearing of this, sent Ghani Khan’s father, Munim Khan, to lead an army against her. She met and defeated his forces at Jalalabad.
Mah Chuchak Begum made the mistake of allowing Shah Abul Maali to take refuge in the city, even allowing him to marry her daughter, Bakht-un-Nissa Begum. Wanting Kabul for himself, he killed his mother-in-law in 1564, but he was soon overthrown as well and her son, Mirza Hakim, succeeded her. After he in turn tried to stage a rebellion in 1581, Akbar appointed her daughter, Bakht-un-Nissa Begum, to rule the region instead.