Ruqaiya Sultan Begum (Persian: رقیه سلطان بیگم; also spelled as Ruqayya, Ruqayyah) (1542 – 19 January 1626) was Empress of the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1605 as the first wife and chief consort[1][2][3][4] of the third Mughal emperor Akbar.[5] She was also the longest serving Mughal empress, having a tenure of approximately fifty years.[6]
Ruqaiya was born a Mughal princess (Shahzadi) and was the only daughter of Mughal prince Hindal Mirza, who was Akbar's youngest paternal uncle.[3] She was also the paternal granddaughter of Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor, as