Mah Laqa Bai Chanda
"Cypress of the garden of grace and rose-tree of the grove of coquetry" — The Poet, Courtesan, and Warrior of the Deccan
Mah Laqa Bai Chanda (born Chanda Bibi on 7 April 1768) was an 18th-century Urdu poet, tawaif (courtesan), philanthropist, and noblewoman of Hyderabad. In 1824, she became the first female poet to have a diwan (collection) of her Urdu ghazals published posthumously, titled Gulzar-e-Mahlaqa. The Nizam appointed her to the omarah (the highest nobility), and she was consulted on state policy, participated in three battles (dressed in male attire), and became a master of spear-throwing, tent-pegging, and archery. She never married but had lasting relationships with Maratha General Raja Rao Ranbha, British diplomat John Malcolm, and Prime Minister Mir Alam. Upon her death in August 1824, her vast wealth was distributed among homeless women. Her memorial on Moula-Ali hill in Hyderabad was restored in 2010 with US government funds.
Birth: Born as Chanda Bibi on 7 April 1768 in Hyderabad (present-day Telangana).
- Father: Bahadur Khan – a Mansabdar (military official) at Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah's court. He migrated from Delhi to Hyderabad Deccan.
- Mother: Raj Kunwar (born Mida Bibi) – a courtesan (tawaif) who had migrated from Rajputana (Rajasthan). She married Bahadur Khan late in life.
- Maternal grandparents: According to Ghulam Hussain's Tarikh-i-Dil Afroz (1814), Mahlaqa claimed her maternal grandparents were Sayyids – direct descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, giving her high social status. Her grandfather was a Mughal administrator in Ahmedabad under Muhammad Shah but abandoned his family in poverty, leaving his wife and three daughters to fend for themselves.
Adoption by Her Sister: Chanda Bibi was adopted by her mother's childless sister, Mehtaab Ma (Mahtab Kanvar Bai), who was a favored courtesan – almost a regular consort – of Nawab Rukn-ud-Daula, the Prime Minister of the Nizam of Hyderabad. Rukn-ud-Daula took a personal interest in Chanda's training, providing her with the best teachers, access to a well-endowed library, and exposure to Hyderabad's vibrant culture.
Training and Skills: By the time she was 14, she excelled in horse riding, spear-throwing, tent-pegging, and archery. She learned singing and classical Indian music (specializing in Thumri) from Khushhal Khan (also known as Anup), a master musician and great-grandson of the legendary Tansen of the Mughal court. She also learned poetry from Nawab Mir Alam, who later became Prime Minister of Hyderabad.
Debut at the Prime Minister's court: Chanda gave her first performance at just fifteen in the household of Aristu Jah (1732–1804; Prime Minister of Hyderabad, 1778–1795). Her performance was so impressive that Aristu Jah personally recommended her to the Nizam's court.
She went on to perform in the courts of Nawab Mir Alam (1752–1808), Raja Rao Rambha Sahib, and Raja Chandu Lal (1761–1845) — all ministers under Nizams Asaf Jah II (r. 1761–1803) and Sikandar Jah Asaf Jah III (r. 1803–1829).
Mahlaqa was initially introduced to Nizam 'Ali Khan (Nizam II, r. 1762–1803) by Arastu Jah (the then Kiladar of Aurangabad and later Dewan of Hyderabad). Arastu Jah wanted her to influence the Nizam and keep him aware of his harem's affairs. Under Arastu Jah's patronage, Mahlaqa began her career as a poet, and his initiative led to the publication of her first collection of poetry, Dewan, in 1798.
Court Title: The second Nizam, Mir Nizam 'Ali Khan, conferred upon her the title "Mah Laqa Bai" – meaning "Madame Moon Cheek" or "Visage of the Moon". Her pen name was Chanda.
Political Role and Diplomacy: Mahlaqa was appointed to the omarah (the highest nobility), becoming the only woman at the time to receive such public recognition in Hyderabad State. She was frequently consulted by the rulers on policy matters and accomplished assigned diplomatic engagements. A battalion of 500 soldiers was reserved to march with her on official visits.
Once on a diplomatic mission to the Maratha court in Pune, Maratha Chief Minister Nana Phadnavis was astonished by her profound understanding of Arabian horses – which she purchased from a French trader for herself and as a gift for Rao Ranbha, the Maratha general with whom she had a romantic relationship.
Artistic Partnership with Anup (Khushhal Khan): Mahlaqa's ustād (master-teacher) Anup trained her in the Khandari lineage of Mughal court music, including composing and singing elite song forms in North Indian rāgas. He taught her to set her own ghazals to suitable rāgas and tālas, as well as how to compose khayāls, tappas, and hoṛis. Anup and Mahlaqa worked for the same patrons, lived together in her mansion at Nampally, and remained close until her death. Anup served as a trusted father figure and continued to train her female protégés.
Relationships and Romances: Though she never married, Mahlaqa was romantically linked with several powerful men:
- Raja Rao Ranbha Bahadur (Rambhaji Rao Nimbalkar): A Maratha military chief who led a cavalry of 20,000 men, fought alongside the second Nizam, and became his favourite Amir-ul-Umra. Their shared fondness for horses brought them together.
- Captain Sir John Malcolm: An assistant to James Achilles Kirkpatrick, the British Resident at Hyderabad. Mahlaqa gifted him a signed manuscript of her diwan (125 ghazals) on 18 October 1799, during a dance performance at Mir Alam's residence. This manuscript is now preserved in the British Museum.
- Mir 'Alam: The Prime Minister of Hyderabad (who rose to power in 1804 with British support). Mahlaqa likely had a romantic relationship with him and continued to receive his patronage after the political shift from Arastu Jah.
- Battle of Kolar (1781 AD)
- Battle of Nirmal (1782 AD)
- Battle of Pangal (1789 AD)
She accompanied the Nizam on multiple hunting expeditions, and a painting by Rai Venkatchallam (in the Salar Jung Museum) shows her in her palanquin at the upper right – the only female in a landscape of men, a crowd with which she was perfectly comfortable. She even traveled with a pair of cheetahs.
Gulzar-e-Mahlaqa (Mahlaqa's Garden of Flowers): In 1824, after her death, her collection of 39 ghazals (each of 5 couplets) was published, making her the first female poet to have a diwan of Urdu ghazals published. The poems reveal:
- Themes of love, philosophy, and spirituality
- Recurring motifs of bulbul (songbird), gul (rosebud), and Saqi (wine-server)
- Influences from mystic poet Siraj Aurangabadi (1715–1763)
Diwan e Chanda (1798 manuscript): A collection of 125 ghazals, compiled and calligraphed by Mahlaqa herself in 1798, signed and gifted to Captain John Malcolm on 18 October 1799. It is now preserved in the British Museum.
Hoping to blossom (one day) into a flower,
Every bud sits, holding its soul in its fist.
Between the fear of the fowler and (approaching) autumn,
The bulbul's life hangs by a thread.
Thy sly glance is more murderous than arrow or sword;
It has shed the blood of many a lover.
How can I, like a candle, compare to thy (glowing) cheek?
The candle is blind with the fat in its eyes.
How can Chanda be dry-lipped, O Saqi of the heavenly wine!
She has drained the cup of thy love.
Designer of her own style: Mahlaqa Chanda's clothes were greatly admired, and she designed each outfit herself. The edges of her dupattas featured varied Hyderabadi borders of karchob embroidery with beads and zari work, along with successive lines of finely stitched edging called gokhru or other patterns. Her kurtas (tunics) had matching designs worked in silver kamdani work or karchob embroidery.
Jewelry for every occasion: Each outfit had matching jewelry — sometimes a satlara (seven-stringed pearls, each with its own little pendant), or the chintaak worn around the neck like a dog collar set with diamonds and gems, or a round hansli, or a long haar with a large pendant, or one of the numerous necklaces she owned.
Earrings, armlets, and bracelets: Her earrings were likely traditional flower-shaped karanphool with bell-shaped drops below, or crescent-shaped chand bowlies. She wore a bazooband (armlet) to emphasize the beauty of her arms. Along with these, she wore a variety of kadas (bracelets) with the finest enamel engraved on the inner rim and inlaid with gems around her delicate wrists.
Forehead ornament: She often adorned her forehead with a moon-shaped tika of fine gold filigree, set with diamonds, pearls, rubies, or whichever stone matched the rest of her outfit, attached to a string of pearls.
Wherever she went, she was the cynosure of all eyes.
Endowments and Training: She patronised dance and music training centers, endowing an institute led by her adopted daughter Husn Laqa Bai to continue a lineage of dance performers in the Deccani style of Kathak. She learned dance from master Panna Maharaj and Khushhal Khan.
Philanthropy: Although she practiced Islam, she was influenced by Hindu philosophy. Upon her death in 1824, she bequeathed her properties – including land, gold, silver, and diamond-studded jewellery – to homeless women.
Cypress of the garden of grace and rose-tree of the grove of coquetry,
an ardent inamorata of Hydar and suppliant of Panjtan.
When the tidings of the advent of death arrived from God,
she accepted it with her heart, and heaven became her home.
The voice of the invisible speaker called for her chronogram,
Alas! Mah Laqa of the Deccan departed for heaven 1240 A.H.
Restoration (2010): Professor Scott Kugle of Emory University discovered the memorial in a dilapidated condition. Using funds from the US federal government through the Consulate General's office in Hyderabad, the Centre for Deccan Studies spearheaded a year-long restoration project completed in 2010. The Muslim Educational, Social and Cultural Organisation also supported the project. Debris was cleared, water channels rebuilt, and buildings and their exquisite decorations restored.
Death: Mah Laqa Bai died in Hyderabad in August 1824 (1240 AH). Her residence in Nampally, Hyderabad, has been converted into a government-aided girls degree college.
Legacy Highlights:
• First female poet to publish a diwan of Urdu ghazals (Gulzar-e-Mahlaqa, 1824)
• Only woman of her time appointed to the highest nobility (omarah) in Hyderabad State
• Master of spear-throwing, archery, and tent-pegging; accompanied three battles
• Patron of 300 girls' training in music and dance; established a library and cultural centre
• Philanthropist who left her wealth to homeless women
• Her memorial restored by the US government in 2010
• Inspiration for Mirza Hadi Ruswa's famed novel Umrao Jaan Ada (1899)
• Subject of stage plays ("Mah Laqa Bai Chanda" in 2013) and contemporary dance ("Veiled Moon" by Preeti Vasudevan's company Thresh at the Met)
• Her well at EFLU Hyderabad named after her – "Mah Laqa Chanda Bai's well"
The end of the eighteenth century – the period in which Mahlaqa grew up and received her elaborate education – was in some ways as turbulent as the politics she navigated. The Mughal empire was fragmenting, the Maratha confederacy was rising and clashing with the Nizam, and the British East India Company was expanding its influence. The Battle of Kharda (1795) saw Nizam II defeated by the Marathas, leading to the Treaty of Kharda, under which Arastu Jah was held hostage in Poona for two years. His diplomatic success in securing release and reinstating ceded territories impressed Nizam II, who made him Dewan of Hyderabad – paving the way for Mahlaqa's rise.
The 1798 treaty between the Nizam and the East India Company placed Hyderabad under British protection. By 1804, Nawab Mir 'Alam rose to power as prime minister with British support, displacing Arastu Jah. Despite this political shift, Mahlaqa continued to receive patronage from the new Nizam, Sikandar Jah, and from Mir 'Alam, with whom she likely had a romantic relationship.
Ghulam Hussain Jawahar completed his Tarikh-i-Dil Afroz (or Heart Dazzling History) in 1814 CE. The book is also known as Tajalliyat-e Mah Laqa ("Manifestations of the Moon Cheek") or simply Mah-nama ("Moon Chronicle"), underscoring her enduring presence in Hyderabadi historiography.
Read the story of the 1806 Sepoy Uniform Controversy that shook Hyderabad during Mahlaqa's lifetime:
→ The 1806 Sepoy Uniform Controversy ←
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