Amina Begum


Amina Begum was a Bengali aristocrat from the Nawab family of Bengal and mother of Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal.

Early life

Amina was the youngest daughter of Nawab Alivardi Khan, the Nawab of Bengal. She married Zainuddin Ahmad Khan. They had two sons, Mirza Mehdi Ekram ud-Doulah and Siraj ud-Daulah. Her husband, Zainuddin Ahmad Khan was appointed the Naib Nazim of Patna by her father, the Nawab of Bengal.

Career

Amina was captured by Afghan rebels after they killed her husband. She was captured along with her two sons. They were rescued by the Nawab of Bengal, Alivardi Khan, who led an expedition against the Afghans. Her son Siraj would go on to become the Nawab of Bengal. After her son was defeated by the British East India Company and their ally Mir Jafar in the Battle of Plassey, she was imprisoned along with her other family members including her mother, sister, and daughter-in-law. The captives were exiled from Murshidabad to Dhaka in 1758 and kept confined in the Jinjira Palace.

Death

Miran, the son of Mir Jafar ordered their release and recalled them to Murshidabad in 1760. On their way from Dhaka by boat, Amina Begum died when her boat was sunk on the orders of Miran. She was buried beside her family in Khoshbagh, Murshidabad.