Abadi Bano Begum

عبادي بانو بيغوم (بي أما)

–

Delhi

Indian independence activist (1850–1924) known as Bi Amma ('the Mother'), mother of Muhammad Ali Jauhar and Shaukat Ali. Widowed young, she pawned her own jewellery to educate her children, joined the Khilafat committee, gave a celebrated speech at the 1917 Muslim League session, and toured India rallying women and raising funds for the Khilafat and freedom movements until her death.

Depth

At a glance

Roles
activist
Region
South Asia
Identifiers
Wikidata
Review

Life in time

18001825185018751900192519501975
The Colonial Era · The Gunpowder Empires · The Modern Era Contemporaries: Ali-Hajji of Akusha · Badreddin al-Hasani · Deli Fuad Pasha · Jamaat Ali Shah · Leyla Saz

In space

Delhi

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Place in the story

    Unknown (unknown)

    Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.

    Early and personal life

    Her birth year is disputed between the sources: the English and Urdu articles' leads give 1850 12, both articles' body texts give 1839 — the English at Amroha, the Urdu at Rampur 12 — and Wikidata gives 1853 3. She married Abdul Ali Khan, a senior official in the Rampur State, and the couple had one daughter and five sons 1. Widowed while her children were young, she pawned her personal jewellery to educate them, and though she had no formal education herself she sent them to an English-medium school at Bareilly 1. Her sons Muhammad Ali Jauhar and Shaukat Ali became leading figures of the Khilafat movement 1.

    The freedom movement

    She took an active part in politics as a member of the Khilafat committee; in 1917 she joined the agitation to release Annie Besant and her two sons from prison, and Gandhi encouraged her to speak, as she could win the support of women for the movement 1. Her speech at the 1917 session of the All India Muslim League left a lasting impression on the Muslims of British India 12. While her sons were in prison she toured the country for the Khilafat movement and was its moving spirit 2. She raised funds for the Khilafat movement and, with Begum Hasrat Mohani, Basanti Devi, Sarala Devi Chaudhurani and Sarojini Naidu, addressed women-only gatherings and urged women to donate to the Tilak Swaraj Fund 1. Her public slogan, as the Urdu article records it, was her call that her son lay down his life for the Khilafat 2. She remained active in the movement until her death 1.

    Death and legacy

    She died in November 1924: the Urdu article, citing Malik Ram's Tazkira Mah-o-Sal, and Wikidata give 12 November 23, while the English article gives 13 November 1. On 14 August 1990 Pakistan Post issued a commemorative stamp in her honour in its Pioneers of Freedom series 1.

    Faith, as the sources attest it

    The English article's text attests her personally as a Muslim, calling her one of the first Muslim women in politics 1, and the Urdu article presents her within the Khilafat movement and the Muslim League's 1917 session 2; Wikidata records no religion for her 3. No source names a school for her, so the museum's data record leaves her school unknown and sets out the evidence exactly.

    Sources

    • The defined source entities cited above, recorded in data/source/.
    • Revisions of this article must be dated, and must name the source that changed each fact.

    Connections

    Explore the connections

    Parent of
    Muhammad Ali Jauhar· Shaukat Ali
    Died in
    Delhi

    People and things also explored

    Shaukat Ali· Muhammad Ali Jauhar· Delhi· Coronation of Aurangzeb at Delhi· Founding of Shahjahanabad· Humayun returns to Delhi, 962 AH· Ibn Battuta named envoy to China· Completion of the Jama Masjid of Delhi

    Sources

    1. Abadi Bano Begum — English Wikipedia
    2. Abadi Bano Begum — Urdu Wikipedia
    3. Abadi Bano Begum — Wikidata Q42896051
    Cite this page

    islam.museum contributors. “Abadi Bano Begum”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/abadi-bano-begum/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-26.

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    Wing

    People

    Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story.
    Related

    Shaukat Ali

    Indian politician (1873–1938), a leader of the Khilafat movement and the elder brother of Muhammad Ali Jauhar. Educated at Aligarh Muslim University, he served seventeen years in the civil service, helped his brother publish Hamdard and Comrade, was elected the last president of the Khilafat Conference in 1919 while in jail, and was imprisoned again from 1921 to 1923. He opposed the Nehru Report, attended the Round Table Conferences, organised the World Muslim Conference in Jerusalem after his brother's death, joined the Muslim League in 1936, and sat in the Central Assembly until his death at Delhi.