The birth of a prince was always an occasion for celebration. A painting by Baswan shows the mother and child surrounded by female attendants while women in the harem celebrate and rejoice, dancing to music played by musicians while astrologers prepare horoscopes. In another painting by Dharman Das, musicians and the distribution of alms is beautifully depicted.

The news of the birth of a son was announced by the sound of trumpets and beating of drums. The person who conveyed the happy news to the emperor received a handsome award. The occasion was celebrated by distributing alms and charity, releasing prisoners, awarding nobles, and the festivities lasted seven days.

Soon after the birth, astrologers were asked to prepare horoscopes for the newborn. Humayun, who had a keen interest in astrology, would often be requested to make horoscopes and he prepared Akbar’s horoscope himself. Sometimes more than one horoscope would be prepared by different astrologers in Indian and Greek styles. Predictions about the newborn’s greatness were made by astrologers.

Poets composed chronograms predicting good luck and a bright future for the prince. Humayun on his birth received titles such as Shah Firuz Qadr, (Victorious King), and Khushbad (the good sign). Khwajah Husain composed a qaseeda on the birth of Salim and was awarded two lakh tankas. On his birth, he received the title of Durr-i-Lujha-i-Akbar (a royal pearl of the great ocean).

The newborn was usually named the same day on which he or she was born; mostly named after a person, a place or indicating an attribute or quality. An allowance was granted for his or her maintenance. When a grandson or grand-daughter was born, the emperor proposed the name himself and bore all expenses for the celebrations.

The occasion of circumcision of the royal baby boy was celebrated in a befitting manner. At the ceremony of Akbar’s circumcision, the nobles were dressed in green. In the hall where the prince was to be circumcised, the emperor sat on a special throne and all the courtiers stood in order.

According to a Mughal custom, the newborn prince was handed over to the wife of a favourite noble who also had a baby at the same time. She suckled the royal prince and her own son together. The suckling woman was called Anga, her husband Atga of the prince and her son Kuka or Kukaltash of the prince. The members of the family of Atga were known as Atga Khel. The foster family enjoyed a prestigious position.

Princes were usually married at the age of 16. On this occasion the palace and the whole city were decorated, roads covered with costly cloth and illuminated, trees beautified with artificial flowers and armed soldiers wearing colorful uniforms stood on both sides of the road where the marriage procession passed. The bridegroom sat on an elephant, while nobles in palkis (palanquins) or on horses followed him. Music and dancing were the order of the day. The wedding celebrations lasted for a month, during which grand feasts and entertainment were held at the royal palace. Alms and charity were distributed generously, prisoners were released and food was served to the poor.

Turkish ceremonies were usually observed at weddings, but as Akbar and his successors married Rajput princesses, Hindu customs were also adopted. Three Turkish and Indian ceremonies such as sachaq, mehndi, and the baarat were very significant.

Before the wedding costly gifts were exchanged between the two families for the bride and groom. The bride received a dowry from her parents, as well from her in-laws. According to the Muslim law, the bride received mehr or alimony from the bridegroom. Sultana Begam on her marriage to Hindi, received a palace (kushak) in addition to jewellery, silks and other articles in dowry from her parents.

When prince Salim was married to the daughter of Raja Bhagwandas, the mehr was fixed at two lakh tankas. The Raja gave away horses, elephants, slave boys and girls from Ethiopia and India as dowry along with gold and silver utensils adorned with jewels. At the same time the Raja gave a saddled horse to every noble who accompanied the bridegroom.

For the very first wedding between a Mughal prince and the daughter of a Rajput ruler, the doli (palanquin) for the departure of the bride to her new house was carried a short distance by the emperor and the bridegroom, as a special and unique honour for the Rajput princess, the Rajput rulers, and the Rajputs in general.

The marriage of prince Dara Shikoh to the daughter of prince Parwez is memorable in the history of the Mughal dynasty. After the appointment of the wedding day, the royal karkhanajat (workshops) of Lahore, Akbarabad and other places were ordered to make ornaments, jewellery, furniture and dresses. Experts from Gujarat, Benaras, Satgaon, Sonargaon and Surat were ordered to prepare brocade, jewellery and other articles for the wedding. Jahanara Begam supervised all arrangements. The dowry given by the bride’s family was witnessed by the emperor.

After the marriage, the prince was allowed a separate establishment with a monthly allowance for the newlyweds. Sometimes a prince would be given a palace, servants, and cash for initial expenses. Mughal princes were mostly married into the royal family or to the daughters of nobles, members of the Safawids of Iran who had come to the Mughal court, and daughters of Rajput rulers. Marriage with Rajput princesses and with the daughters of the Safawids had a political significance.

The weddings of the princesses were also celebrated with royal aplomb. It was a great honour for a royal prince to be married into a royal family and he showed his extreme gratitude for this honour at the wedding. When Babur’s daughters, Gulrang and Gulchehra, were married to Timur and Takhta Bagha Sultan, both the bridegrooms knelt down before the emperor in gratitude at being given the position of his sons-in-law.

Princesses were mostly married to members of the royal family. Gulbadan, daughter of Babur, was married to her cousin Khizr Khwaja; Gulrang and Gulchehra, were also married to cousins; Sultan Ruqqaya, the daughter of Hindal, was married to Akbar; Khanum Sultan, the daughter of Akbar, was married to Muzaffar Husain, the grandson of Kamran; Gulrukh, the grand-daughter of Kamran, was married to Jahangir; Bahar Banu, the daughter of Jahangir, was married to Tahmurath, the son of Danyal; the daughter of prince Murad was married to prince Parwez, and the daughter of Parwez to Dara Shikoh; Mehr al-Nisa and Zubdat-al-Nisa, daughters of Alamgir, were married to Iizad Bakhsh, the son of Murad, and Sipahr Shikoh, the son of Dara Shikoh, respectively.