Salima and Maryam Makani played a crucial role in negotiating a settlement between Akbar and Jahangir when the father-son's relationship turned sour in the early 1600s, eventually helping to pave the way for Jahangir's accession to the throne.[5][9] During Jahangir's reign, Salima Begum played a crucial role in securing pardon for the powerful, Khan-i-Azam, Mirza Aziz Koka, who had been sentenced to death by Jahangir.[9]
In 1575, Salima went for the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca along with her aunt Princess Gulbadan Begum and many other royal ladies.[10] Salima was an accomplished poet and collected a library, to which apparently copy of all books had to be contributed, which had any currency in court circle