Sultana Chand Bibi: The Warrior Queen Who Defied the Mughals
- Daniel Holland
- Oct 11
- 7 min read
A Queen with a Sword and a Setar
History rarely gives enough room to women who led from the front, especially those who did so in armour. One such remarkable figure is Sultana Chand Bibi, also known as Chand Sultana or the Queen of Ahmednagar. Born in 1550 into royalty, she was no ordinary princess content with courtly comforts. She was a scholar fluent in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Marathi, and Kannada, a musician skilled with the setar, and an artist who painted flowers in her spare time. But more importantly, she was a ruler who held her own against one of the most powerful empires in Indian history, the Mughals under Emperor Akbar.
Her story is one of intellect, courage, and political skill. It is also a tale of tragic betrayal, for Chand Bibi’s greatest enemy was not just the Mughal army, but also the political intrigue within her own palace walls.
Born into Power and Intrigue
Chand Bibi was the daughter of Hussain Nizam Shah I, Sultan of Ahmednagar, and the sister of Burhan Nizam Shah II. From her youth, she was exposed to the political manoeuvrings of the Deccan Sultanates — a world of shifting alliances, court conspiracies, and constant war.
Her father ruled Ahmednagar, one of the five major Deccan Sultanates that emerged after the breakup of the Bahmani Empire. These kingdoms, Ahmednagar, Bijapur, Golconda, Bidar, and Berar, were powerful yet perpetually at odds.
As part of a strategy to secure peace, Chand Bibi was married to Ali Adil Shah I, the ruler of the Bijapur Sultanate. Their union was both political and symbolic, a link between two Deccan dynasties meant to ensure mutual protection.
Bijapur itself was a culturally rich court, influenced by Persian art, literature, and architecture. It was here that a stepwell, known as Chand Bawdi, was constructed by her husband and named in her honour. But behind the decorative arches and water-fed gardens, the palace was a battlefield of ideologies and ambition.
The Regent of Bijapur
When Ali Adil Shah I died in 1580, a young boy, his nephew Ibrahim Adil Shah II, was declared the new ruler. With no strong heir, Bijapur became vulnerable to manipulation by powerful nobles.
At first, a general named Kamal Khan seized control as regent, showing little respect for Chand Bibi. Realising his intentions to usurp the throne, she formed an alliance with another commander, Haji Kishvar Khan, and led a daring palace coup. Kamal Khan was captured and executed.
But peace did not last long. Kishvar Khan, her new ally, grew arrogant and demanded absolute control. He even imprisoned Chand Bibi in Satara Fort and attempted to crown himself king. However, his tyranny made him deeply unpopular, and a group of generals united under Ikhlas Khan, a powerful Habshi (Ethiopian-origin) commander, to overthrow him.
After Kishvar Khan’s death in exile, Chand Bibi briefly took up the regency once more, maintaining stability until new factions arose.
This turbulent period in Bijapur’s history, a swirl of coups and betrayals, revealed Chand Bibi’s political sharpness and personal courage. Despite being a woman in a male-dominated court, she commanded respect through intellect and strategy.
Eventually, once order returned, she withdrew from Bijapur and returned to her birthplace, Ahmednagar.
A New Crisis in Ahmednagar
When Chand Bibi returned to Ahmednagar in the 1590s, the Deccan was under growing pressure from the north. The Mughal Emperor Akbar had already expanded his empire across much of India and now looked southwards toward the Deccan Sultanates.
In 1591, Akbar sent envoys demanding that the Deccan rulers accept his supremacy. They refused. Two years later, the emperor sent his army to enforce submission.
The timing could not have been worse for Ahmednagar. Its ruler, Ibrahim Nizam Shah, was killed in battle against the Bijapur forces. He left behind an infant son, Bahadur Shah.
The court was divided, some nobles backed the child-king under Chand Bibi’s regency, while others installed a rival, Ahmad Nizam Shah II, under the Deccani minister Miyan Manju. The infighting escalated, and Miyan Manju, desperate, called on Akbar’s son Prince Murad Mirza for help.
This invitation of the Mughals into Deccan politics was a fatal mistake, one that Chand Bibi recognised immediately. She stepped in to unify the kingdom and declared the infant Bahadur Shah as the rightful ruler, assuming regency in his name.
The Siege of Ahmednagar
In November 1595, the Mughal army arrived outside Ahmednagar’s walls. What followed was one of the most remarkable sieges in Indian history, led by a woman who refused to surrender.
Inside the fort, the defenders faced famine, disease, and dwindling morale. Outside, the Mughals brought their formidable artillery and siege machines. Despite the odds, Chand Bibi personally took command, riding on horseback, inspecting defences, and rallying her troops with the cry:
“The fort is our honour, defend it to the last!”
Her leadership inspired men and women alike. For months, the fort held firm. Even as supplies ran out, she refused to yield. Eventually, facing starvation, she negotiated peace, ceding the province of Berar to the Mughals in exchange for lifting the siege.
It was a calculated move. By conceding one region, she bought time to rebuild and seek allies.
Rallying the Deccan
Following the siege, Chand Bibi sent urgent messages to the neighbouring sultanates of Bijapur and Golconda, urging them to unite against the common Mughal threat. Her nephew, Ibrahim Adil Shah II, responded, dispatching 25,000 troops under Sohail Khan. Golconda’s ruler Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah also sent reinforcements.
The combined Deccan armies clashed with the Mughal forces at Sonpet (Supa) on the banks of the Godavari River in February 1597. Though Chand Bibi’s alliance fought valiantly, the Mughals ultimately prevailed. Yet their victory came at great cost, internal feuds, disease, and exhaustion weakened their campaign.
Prince Murad died soon after, and Akbar’s forces temporarily withdrew, giving Chand Bibi a fragile reprieve.
The Second Siege and Her Tragic Death
But the peace was short-lived. In 1599, Akbar sent a new army under his son Prince Daniyal and the general Khan-I-Khana to finally capture Ahmednagar. The city once again came under siege.
Inside the fort, Chand Bibi’s resources were drained, her ministers divided, and morale broken. She decided to negotiate surrender, hoping to preserve the lives of her people.
But rumours spread like wildfire. A court eunuch named Jita Khan, misunderstanding her intent, accused her of treachery. “She has betrayed the fort to the Mughals!” he shouted.
The panic turned to fury. In a tragic twist, her own soldiers stormed her chambers and killed her, the very woman who had defended them for years.
Her death marked the fall of Ahmednagar. On 18 August 1600, after a siege of four months, the Mughal army entered the fort.
A Misnamed Tomb and a Misunderstood Legacy
For centuries, travellers to Ahmednagar have pointed to a grand domed structure on a hill and called it “Chand Bibi’s Mahal.” In truth, the monument is the Tomb of Salabat Khan II, a Mughal-era noble. Yet the misattribution speaks volumes about how strongly Chand Bibi’s name endures in local memory.
As for her remains, historical accounts suggest that her bones were later transported to Mashhad, Iran, to be interred near the Imam Reza shrine, a resting place worthy of her royal lineage.
Chand Bibi in Popular Culture
Her story has echoed across generations. In 1931, filmmaker Narayanrao D. Sarpotdar made a silent film titled Chandbibi, retelling her heroic stand at Ahmednagar. Six years later, in 1937, actress Shakuntala Paranjpye portrayed her in the Hindi-language film Sultana Chand Bibi, bringing her legend to new audiences.
Despite her importance, Chand Bibi remains relatively unknown outside academic circles. Yet her image, a regal woman in armour, defending her fort against an empire, endures in the cultural imagination of southern India.
A Woman Ahead of Her Time
In a world where female rulers were rare and often marginalised, Chand Bibi’s leadership stood as a powerful exception. She was not only a queen and regent but also a linguist, diplomat, and artist.
She moved between the courts of Bijapur and Ahmednagar with intellect and grace, wielding both sword and pen with equal strength. Her rule was not built on lineage alone but on wisdom and courage, traits that earned her loyalty from soldiers and fear from rivals.
Unlike many rulers who sought conquest for power’s sake, Chand Bibi fought for survival, for her people, her land, and her belief that the Deccan could remain free.
Legacy of the Warrior Queen
Today, Chand Bibi is remembered in Maharashtra and Karnataka as a symbol of resistance. Her name appears in school textbooks, local legends, and ballads sung by wandering storytellers.
Her life is a reminder that leadership is not defined by gender or circumstance but by conviction. She faced invasions, betrayals, and impossible odds, yet her courage outlived empires.
When the Mughal forces finally entered Ahmednagar, they did not merely capture a city, they inherited a legend.
In the centuries since, the Deccan’s forts have crumbled, dynasties have faded, and empires have turned to dust. But Chand Bibi’s defiance remains one of the most remarkable acts of courage in India’s medieval history.
Conclusion
Chand Bibi’s life reads like an epic, equal parts courage, tragedy, and brilliance. Her ability to lead armies, manage fractious courts, and hold her own against the Mughal war machine makes her one of India’s most remarkable historical figures.
Even in death, her story resonates as one of resilience and sacrifice. She lived at a time when women were seldom given political agency, yet she not only governed but also shaped the destiny of two kingdoms.
As one Persian chronicler wrote of her,
“She was as fierce as a lion in battle and as wise as Solomon in counsel.”
Four centuries later, Chand Bibi’s legend continues to inspire, a reminder that true power often wears a quiet grace, and that courage, once shown, can echo forever.
Sources
The History of the Deccan, H.K. Sherwani (Government of Andhra Pradesh, 1974).
Akbarnama by Abul Fazl (translated by H. Beveridge, Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1902).
R. C. Majumdar, The Mughal Empire, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 2007.
A. R. Kulkarni, Medieval Deccan History, Atlantic Publishers, 1998.
History of the Adil Shahi Dynasty of Bijapur, S.M. Latif, 1890.
Sultanate Women of the Deccan, Rekha Pande, Deccan Studies Journal, 2012.
Richard Eaton, A Social History of the Deccan, 1300–1761, Cambridge University Press, 2005.
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