Begum Bega (c. 1511 – 17 January 1582) was Empress consort of the Mughal Empire from 26 December 1530 to 17 May 1540 and 22 February 1555 to 27 January 1556 as the first wife and chief consort of the second Mughal emperor Humayun.
Bega Begum began the tradition of commissioning monuments in the Mughal Empire, when she had her husband’s mausoleum commissioned in the late 16th century, Humayun’s Tomb at Delhi.
This first colossal monumental mausoleum in Islamic India can be considered an early masterpiece that was to decisively influence the design of the later Taj Mahal, the high point of Mughal architecture.
Bega Begum was a Persian from Khurasan and was the daughter of Humayun’s maternal uncle (taghai), Yadgar Beg, who was the brother of Sultan Ali Mirza, father of Kamran Mirza’s wife Gulrukh Begum. She was a wise, well educated woman and had profound knowledge of medicine and treatment also.
Bega was also known as Haji Begum after she performed the Hajj pilgrimage