Person

Khayr al-Nisa Begum

d. 1579 · 16th century · Also known as Mahd-i Ulya

Khayr al-Nisa Begum, known as Mahd-i Ulya, was a Safavid queen from the Mar'ashi family of Mazandaran. As wife of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda she effectively ran the government of Iran after his accession in 1578, but her attempts to curb the Qizilbash chiefs led to her murder by them in 1579. She was the mother of Shah Abbas I.

Khayr al-Nisa Begum
Image: 1584 artist · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

Mar'ashi dynasty

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Khayr al-Nisa Begum. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/khayr-al-nisa-begum
MLA
“Khayr al-Nisa Begum.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/khayr-al-nisa-begum. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Khayr al-Nisa Begum.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/khayr-al-nisa-begum.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Khayr al-Nisa Begum’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/khayr-al-nisa-begum (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻