This article examines the durable, yet largely overlooked, claims of Bahu Begam (1727–1815) to dynastic wealth and authority in the Awadh nawabi (1722–1856), a North Indian Mughal ‘successor state’ and an important client of the East India Company. Chief consort (khass mahal) to Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula (r. 1754–75) and mother to his successor Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula (r. 1775–97), Bahu Begam played a well-documented role in the regime’s tumultuous politics, particularly during Warren Hastings’s tenure as the Company’s governor-general (1773–85) and his later parliamentary impeachment. But despite her prominent political influence, little attention has been paid to the substance of her persistent claims to proprietorship over revenue rights and the immense fortune in her custody, as well as her broader assertions of authority over Awadh’s male rulers. Taking those claims seriously, this article contends that the begam rooted her arguments in notions of natural deference to maternal authority and generational seniority, evolving dynastic traditions of co-sharing sovereignty and fiscal resources, and her particular history as a principal financier of the Awadh regime. In so doing, the article argues that the begam’s claims reflect the shifting conceptual language of late-Mughal Persianate political discourse and the ambivalent position of elite women as dynastic financiers and state-builders in early colonial South Asia.

中文翻译：

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“这一切都来自我”：Bahu Begam 和 Awadh nawabi 的制作，大约 1765-1815 年

本文考察了 Bahu Begam（1727-1815 年）对 Awadh 王朝财富和权威的持久主张，但在很大程度上被忽视了纳瓦比(1722–1856)，北印度莫卧儿“继承国”和东印度公司的重要客户。大妃（凯斯玛哈陵) 到 Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula（在位 1754-75 年）和他的继任者 Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula（在位 1775-97 年）的母亲，Bahu Begam 在该政权的动荡政治中发挥了有据可查的作用，特别是在沃伦·黑斯廷斯 (Warren Hastings) 作为公司总督的任期 (1773-85) 和他后来的议会弹劾。但是，尽管她具有显着的政治影响力，但很少有人关注她坚持主张对收入权和她保管的巨额财富的所有权的实质内容，以及她对 Awadh 的男性统治者更广泛的权威主张。认真对待这些说法，本文认为，贝加姆的论点植根于自然尊重母权和世代资历的观念，不断发展的共同分享主权和财政资源的王朝传统，以及她作为 Awadh 政权主要金融家的特殊历史。在这样做时，文章认为，贝加姆的主张反映了晚期莫卧儿波斯政治话语的概念语言的转变，以及精英女性在南亚早期殖民地时期作为王朝金融家和国家建设者的矛盾地位。