Born: 15 February 1638, India
Died: 26 May 1702
Country most active: India
Also known as: Makhfi, مخفی, زیب النساء
The following bio was written by Emma Rosen, author of On This Day She Made History: 366 Days With Women Who Shaped the World and This Day In Human Ingenuity & Discovery: 366 Days of Scientific Milestones with Women in the Spotlight, and has been republished with permission.
Zeb-un-Nissa, a Mughal princess and poet who wrote under the pseudonym “Makhfi,” was born in 1639 in Daulatabad, Deccan (now Aurangabad, India). Celebrated for her literary talents, she was the eldest daughter of Emperor Aurangzeb. Zeb-un-Nissa’s contributions to Persian poetry were significant, but her later years were marked by twenty years of imprisonment by her father for unclear reasons.