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Begum
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<h2 id="title">Title</h2> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Begum_(name)/vedBoNJh">Begum (name)</a></p> <h2 id="in-modern-society">In modern society</h2> <p>Colloquially, the term is also used in <a href="/facts/Uzbekistan/o8wfw2xR">Uzbekistan</a>, <a href="/facts/India/1kKHcnxM">India</a>, <a href="/facts/Pakistan/cbIsvJy1">Pakistan</a> and <a href="/facts/Bangladesh/NXk4f78Y">Bangladesh</a> by Muslim men to refer to their own wives, daughters, sisters or as an honorific address to a married or widowed woman. </p><p>In Bangladesh the term has been used for the titles of current and former <a href="/facts/First_Lady_of_Bangladesh/0dXpmubv">First Lady of Bangladesh</a> e.g. Begum <a href="/facts/Khaleda_Zia/hV1QV1HT">Khaleda Zia</a> and Begum <a href="/facts/Rowshan_Ershad/KoshVJNn">Rowshan Ershad</a>. It has also been used to refer to women of high social status such as philanthropists, activists, authors and many others such as <a href="/facts/Begum_Rokeya/f5EYPnwB">Begum Rokeya</a> and <a href="/facts/Begum_Sufia_Kamal/uTzRVUhs">Begum Sufia Kamal</a>. <a href="/facts/Khaleda_Zia/hV1QV1HT">Khaleda Zia</a> and <a href="/facts/Sheikh_Hasina/1PrsasKM">Sheikh Hasina</a>, who have alternated as Prime Ministers of Bangladesh since 1991, are nicknamed "the battling begums".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p><p>The term became well known in the West, especially in the <a href="/facts/Francophone_world/I9arP2JJ"> French-speaking world</a>, due to <a href="/facts/Jules_Verne/lLA0B0EF">Jules Verne</a>'s 1879 novel <i><a href="/facts/The_Begum%2527s_Millions/3CWHs2YX">The Begum's Millions</a></i>. </p><p>The term had earlier become known in <a href="/facts/United_Kingdom/kuPAILt2">Great Britain</a> during the <a href="/facts/Impeachment/KxfpuQ3d">impeachment</a> and <a href="/facts/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom/7bFbPI9g"> Parliamentary</a> trial of <a href="/facts/Warren_Hastings/QoNjxft1">Warren Hastings</a>, former <a href="/facts/Governor-General_of_India/NEzPygom">Governor-General of India</a>, which lasted from 1787 until 1795. One of the major charges against Hastings was that he had unjustly confiscated land (and thus taxes) belonging to the "Begums of <a href="/facts/Awadh/NGDz9Yvr">Oudh</a>" (the mother and grandmother of <a href="/facts/Asaf-Ud-Dowlah/6ueBFfHF">Asaf-Ud-Dowlah</a>, <a href="/facts/Nawab_of_Awadh/fGTSCQEf">Nawab of Oudh</a>). </p><p><a href="/facts/Begumpet/pT8L90vY">Begumpet</a> is one of the major commercial and residential suburbs of the city of <a href="/facts/Hyderabad%2c_Andhra_Pradesh/APPUtNqU"> Hyderabad</a>, <a href="/facts/India/1kKHcnxM">India</a>. Begumpet stands on land given by the <a href="/facts/Mahboob_Ali_Khan/SIQb4hNG"> sixth</a> <a href="/facts/Nizam_of_Hyderabad/K3y7b0dN">Nizam of Hyderabad</a> (in office: 1869-1911) to his daughter as her wedding present when she married a <a href="/facts/Paigah_family/SyL8QPlD">Paigah</a> noble. </p><p>Members of the <a href="/facts/Pakistan/cbIsvJy1">Pakistani</a> community of Toronto refer to <a href="/facts/Mississauga/xhu6RGJp">Mississauga</a>, <a href="/facts/Ontario/HUkxk5Rf">Ontario</a>, <a href="/facts/Canada/cWWFM8oc">Canada</a> (a suburb of <a href="/facts/Toronto/cnXH7881">Toronto</a>) as <i>Begumpura</i> ("Ladies' Town"). Mississauga has a large Pakistani immigrant community and many husbands work in the <a href="/facts/Persian_Gulf/W78AfnC1">Persian Gulf</a> and <a href="/facts/Saudi_Arabia/uyUpe1J2">Saudi Arabia</a> while their wives and children live in Mississauga.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p><p>Among the <a href="/facts/Nizari_Ismaili/VlqLYnhg">Nizari Ismaili</a> people, the title is also used as the official style of the consort of their imam, the <a href="/facts/Aga_Khan/m1tp4lT3">Aga Khan</a>. </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Begum_(disambiguation)/DzpRYksH">Begum (disambiguation)</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Khanum/ICwa6Blk">Khanum</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Khatun/o7pUygEE">Khatun</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Hemenway, Stephen Ignatius (1975). The Novel of India: The Anglo-Indian novel. Writers Workshop. p. 107. Begum (Hindi), Moslem princess or lady of high rank. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Yılmaz Öztuna (1996). Devletler ve Handeanlar. Vol. 1. Ankara: Ministry of Culture. p. 944. <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Moazzambaig, Begzadi or Begzada[permanent dead link]. Digg.com: Social News. Retrieved July 8, 2011. <a href="http://www.digg.com/news/world_news/begzadah" target="_blank">http://www.digg.com/news/world_news/begzadah</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Rowlatt, Justin (November 2008). "Bangladesh grows tired of the Battling Begums". BBC. Retrieved 24 September 2019. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42999503" target="_blank">https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42999503</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"Muslim immigrants to Canada facing discrimination and social problems". Archived from the original on 2012-07-04. Retrieved 2009-06-24. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120704221737/http://www.mediamonitors.net/tahir1.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20120704221737/http://www.mediamonitors.net/tahir1.html</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>