Bahu Begum
Bahu Begum, real name: Ummat-uz-Zuhra, d. 1816, Begum of Avadh. Daughter of Ishaq Khan, a close associate of Emperor Muhammad Shah, of Delhi, she was married at the express command of the emperor to Shuja-ud-Daula, the son and heir of Nawab Safdar Sang of Avadh and became the mother of Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula. She became a widow in 1775 and was living in Faizabad after the transfer of capital to Lucknow, and was reputed to be enormously rich. She was threatened with torture and flogging by the British soldiers, under ,the orders of the governor-general, Warren Hastings, and made to surrender over a million pounds in December 1782, in addition to over half a million surrendered earlier. She is buried in a beautiful mausoleum at Faizabad, U.P.
