From destiny to fate

Chapter 1

                The Beginning

The first ray of the sun broke through the dark blue sky ,bestowing its warmth on the piligrims visiting the holy land of ajmer dargah . A group of sufi singers were singing praises of the saint , their mellifluous songs charged the atmosphere with a soul filled current, making the entire place estatic .

The spiritual place was filled with peaceful and positive environment . Devotees came to visit the place to offer their prayers and seek blessings from the revered sufi saint of khwaja moinuddin chisti , the bestower of boons , in front of whom even badshah of mughal sultanate was no exceotion .

The peerless king was blessed with all the worldly desires by the heavens even before him asking for them, but was not granted his only heart's desire  .

He has countless number of begums and concubines in his harem who gave birth to girl child but none bore him a son , the inheritance of throne after him became quite bothersome with the passing days  .

Concerned that there would be no heir to secure his throne ,the 28 yrs old mughal badshah began to despair for the mughal empire .

He made many piligrimages to holy shrines and prayed with utmost sincerity for a son ,but his prayers were denied everytime .

Today the mughal badshah with his first and cheif consort ' begum Nadira ' and  seventh wife ' begum zubaida ' who was to deliver soon  ,came to the holy place of ajmer dargah to offer his prayers to the almighty ,in a hope that his prayers would be heard by the god atleast this time .

Cladded in a very simple attire the trio took their positions on the floor in front of the grave of the preist . Bowing their heads they greeted the holy spirit of the preist with their hands.

After offering flowers and chaddar the trio  decided to look into the langar (free meals) prepared for piligrims , devotees , poor and hungry people .

Emperor and his begums personally served the people with love and respect untill they were full . The time flew by and it was almost evening when the emperor's eyes fell on his begums tired faces .

Taking begum Zubaida's condition into consideration , the emperor decided to rest for a while before heading back to the capital .

Small pavilions were quickly arranged and were filled with all the neccessities .  While everyone settled in their respective tents and drifted into deep slumber heavily exhausted baadshah of mughal sultanate tossed and turned on his bed .

He couldn't get a blink of eye ,for some unknown reason he felt unusually restless today , his soul was not at peace even after visiting the holy dargah  .

Wrapping a shawl around his body he stepped out of his tent to stroll around .

Begum Nadira who happened to come out of her tent at the same time noticed her husband's restlessness and decided to have a walk with him .

It was only times like these when she could have her husband all to herself,  otherwise , giving into badshah's busy schedule and long list of begums and concubines to be pleased by him , it was rarely possible for her to spend time with her husband  .

Speaking of her , she was a lady of great charm and beauty and was loved by the emperor more than any other . Being the daughter of late empress dowager's close relative she was bestowed alliance with badshah salamat of mughal sultanate , making her , his first legally wedded wife and chief consort .

After her ,many women joined his harem but she was the only one to rule his heart .

Harem ladies ,both of higher and lower ranks often resented her for her beauty and status  .

But like every common person , the humble lady too had a flaw . She was blessed with everything a woman could ever wish for but was unfortunate when it came to children .

She knew ,people praised and respected her infront ,while at back they mocked her for being childless . The pity begum was helpless in front of almighty's decision but urged to pray for the fellow begum who was soon to deliver .

Walking hand in hand ,enjoying the beauty of nature the duo travelled quite a distance away from the tents , when a kaneez hurried to them panting heavily .

'Badshah salamat ,  begum , begum sahiba is in labour ', the words gushed out of her mouth sweeping the ground beneath the emperor's feet . 

'Hey parwadigaar, reham ', the emperor cried as the baby was not due to another two months and he was expecting a baby boy this time with the blessings of holy spirit of Dargah ,but this happened , he ran like a lunatic ,tailed by begum Nadira .

Luckily he got imperial hakeem sahibas along with him just in case of any emergency .

Begum zubaida's bed was surrounded by kaneezs and hakimas , when the emperor barged in with his cheif consort  .

' What happened to her hakim sahiba ? ',He asked extremely horrified looking at his begum's unconsious state  .

" Badshah salamat ,begum sahiba's water bag broke, at this rate ,i dare to say , we have to deliver the baby here itself else , not only her but also the baby will be in danger  " , hakeema replied suttering in fear .

His mind blocked out hearing her words . He strode towards his wife and sat on the bed ,holding the hand while caressing the head of his begum who was screaming in pain .

"Stay strong begum , im here ", he said caressing her forehead when she fell unconsious making the emperor horrified . Patting her cheeks he screamed her name again and again .

"Hakim sahiba , the emperor shreiked  "do whatever u can but save my begum and the child and this is not a request but an order , otherwise u wont see the sunrise tommorrow ", ....he threatened in extreme pain .

The old lady shuddered , " i , i will try my best your majesty ' .

After few attempts by the hakim sahibas ,begum regained her consiousness ,soon after which painful screams resonated in the air and a loud wail was heard by everyone present in the tent before the peircing sound of a new life urging for care and protection ,hitting the ears .

A releived smile crossed the hakimas face as she checked the baby .

Emperor still in trance looked at hakima expectantly untill the hakima placed the small bundle of joy in his hands .

" Mubarak ho shehenshah ...its a prince " .

Happy tears rolled down his cheek as soon as the words registered in his mind , he couldn't beleive that hr was finally blessed with a son ,his prayers were finally heard this time .

Thanking the almighty inwardly  he pressed the small infant close to his heart ...his first son  .

" He is such a beauty shehehshah ...did u think of any name for ur child ?",  Begum Nadira asked lovingly caressing the baby's hair  .

"Yes shehenshah ...even im curious to know what name my majesty has thought for the heir of mughal sultanate ....it should be the best remind you ? He is your successor afterall ", begum zubaida uttered in her weak yet proud voice .

The child barely stepped his feet into the world and his fate was already being decided .