Chand Bibi Chand Bibi ( 1550 – 1599 CE ) , also known as Chand Khatun or Chand Sultana , was an Indian Muslim woman warrior . She acted as the Regent of Bijapur ( 1580 – 90 ) and Regent of Ahmednagar ( 1596 – 99 ) . Chand Bibi is best known for defending Ahmednagar against the Mughal forces of Emperor Akbar . Early life . Chand Bibi was the daughter of Hussain Nizam Shah I of Ahmednagar , and the sister of Burhan - ul - Mulk , the Sultan of Ahmednagar . She knew many languages including Arabic , Persian , Turkish , Marathi and Kannada . She played sitar , and painting flowers was her hobby . Bijapur Sultanate . Following an alliance policy , Chand Bibi was married to Ali Adil Shah I of the Bijapur Sultanate . A stepwell ( " bawdi " ) constructed near the eastern boundary of Bijapur by her husband was named " Chand Bawdi " after her . Ali Adil Shah ' s father , Ibrahim Adil Shah I had divided power between the Sunni nobles , the Habshi s and the Deccanis . However , Ali Adil Shah favored Shi ' a s . After his death in 1580 , the Shi ' a nobles proclaimed his nine - year old nephew Ibrahim Adil Shah II as the ruler . A Deccani general called Kamal Khan sieged the power and became the regent . Kamal Khan showed disrespect to Chand Bibi , who felt that he had ambitions to usurp the throne . Chand Bibi plotted an attack against Kamal Khan with help from another general , Haji Kishvar Khan . Kamal Khan was captured while fleeing and was beheaded in the fort . Kishvar Khan became the second regent of Ibrhaim . In a battle against the Ahmednagar Sultanate at Dharaseo , the Bijapur army led by him captured all the artillery and elephants of the enemy army . After the victory , Kishvar Khan ordered other Bijapuri generals to surrender all the captured elephants to him . The elephants were highly valued , and the other generals took great offense . Along with Chand Bibi , they hatched a plan to eliminate Kishvar Khan with help from General Mustafa Khan of Bankapur . Kishvar Khan ' s spies informed him of the conspiracy . Kishvar Khan sent troops against Mustafa Khan , who was captured and killed in the battle . Chand Bibi challenged Kishvar Khan , but he got her imprisoned at the Satara fort and tried to declare himself the king . However , Kishvar Khan had become very unpopular among rest of the generals . He was forced to flee when a joint army led by a Habshi general called Ikhlas Khan marched to Bijapur . The army consisted of forces of three Habshi nobles : Ikhlas Khan , Hamid Khan and Dilavar Khan . Kishvar Khan tried his luck at Ahmednagar unsuccessfully , and then fled to Golconda . He was killed in exile by a relative of Mustafa Khan . Following this , Chand Bibi acted as the regent for a short time . Ikhlas Khan then became the regent , but he was dismissed by Chand Bibi shortly afterwards . Later , he resumed his dictatorship , which was soon challenged by the other Habshi generals . Taking advantage of the situation in Bijapur , Ahmednagar ' s Nizam Shahi sultan allied with the Qutb Shahi of Golconda to attack Bijapur . The troops available at Bijapur were not sufficient to repulse the joint attack . The Habshi generals realized that they could not defend the city alone , and tended their resignation to Chand Bibi . Abu - ul - Hassan , a Shi ' a general appointed by Chand Bibi , called for the Maratha forces in Carnatic . The Marathas attacked the invaders ' supply lines forcing the Ahmednagar - Golconda allied army to retreat . Ikhlas Khan then attacked Dilavar Khan to seize the control of Bijapur . However , he was defeated , and Dilavar Khan became the regent from 1582 to 1591 . When order was restored in Bijapur kingdom , Chand Bibi returned to Ahmednagar . Ahmednagar Sultanate . In 1591 , the Mughal emperor Akbar had asked all the four Deccan sultanates to acknowledge his supremacy . All the sultanates evaded compliance , and Akbar ' s ambassadors returned in 1593 . In 1595 , Ibrahim Nizam Shah , the ruler of Ahmednagar Sultanate was killed in a severe battle about 40 miles from Ahmednagar at Shahdurg against Ibrahim Adil Shah II of Bijapur . After his death , some nobles felt that his infant son Bahadur Shah should be proclaimed the King under the regency of Chand Bibi ( his father ' s aunt ) . However , the Deccani minister Miyan Manju proclaimed the twelve - year old son of Shah Tahir , Ahmad Shah II , as the ruler on August 6 , 1595 . The Habshi nobles of Ahmednagar , led by Ikhlas Khan , were opposed to this plan . The rising dissent among the nobles prompted Miyan Manju to invite Akbar ' s son Shah Murad ( who was in Gujarat ) to march his army to Ahmednagar . Murad came to Malwa , where he joined Mughal forces led by Abdul Rahim Khan - I - Khana . Raja Ali Khan joined them at Mandu , and the united army advanced on Ahmednagar . However , while Murad was on march to Ahmednagar , many noblemen left Ikhlas Khan and joined Miyan Manju . Miyan Manju defeated Ikhlas Khan and other opponents . Now , he regretted having invited the Mughals , but it was too late . He requested Chand Bibi to accept the regency , and marched out of Ahmednagar , with Ahmed Shah II . Ikhlas Khan also escaped to Paithan , where he was attacked and defeated by the Mughals . Chand Bibi accepted the regency and proclaimed Bahadur Shah king of Ahmednagar . Defence of Ahmednagar . Ahmednagar was invaded by the Mughals in November 1595 . Chand Bibi took the leadership in Ahmednagar and defended the Ahmednagar fort successfully . Later , Shah Murad sent an envoy to Chand Bibi , offering to raise the siege in return for the cession of Berar . Chand Bibi ' s troops were suffering from famine . In 1596 , she decided to make peace by ceding Berar to Murad , who retreated . Chand Bibi appealed to her nephews Ibrahim Adil Shah II of Bijapur and Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah of Golconda , asking them to unite against the Mughal forces . Ibrahim Adil Shah II sent a contingent of 25 , 000 men under Sohil Khan , which was joined by the remainder of Yekhlas Khan ' s force at Naldurg . Later , it was joined by a contingent of 6 , 000 men from Golconda . Chand Bibi had appointed Muhammad Khan as the minister , but he proved treacherous . He made overtures to the Khan Khanan , offering to surrender the whole Sultanate to the Mughals . Meanwhile , Khan Khanan started taking possession of districts that were not included in the cession of Berar . Sohil Khan , who was returning to Bijapur , was ordered to come back and attack Khan Khanan ' s Mughal forces . The Mughal forces under Khan Khanan and Mirza Shah Rukh left Murad ' s camp at Sahpur in Berar and encountered the combined forces of Bijapur , Ahmadnagar , and Golconda under Sohil Khan , near Sonpet ( or Supa ) on the banks of Godavari River . In a fierce battle on February 8 – 9 , 1597 , the Mughals won . In spite of their victory , the Mughal forces were too weak to pursue their attack and returned to Sahpur . One of their commanders , Raja Ali Khan was killed in the battle and there were frequent disputes between other commanders . Due to these disputes , Khan Khanan was recalled by Akbar in 1597 . Prince Murad died shortly thereafter . Akbar then sent his son Daniyal and Khan Khanan with fresh troops . Akbar himself followed and encamped at Barhanpur . In Ahmednagar , Chand Bibi ' s authority was being resisted by the newly appointed minister Nehang Khan . Nehang Khan had recaptured the town of Beed , taking advantage of Khan Khanan ' s absence and of the rainy season . In 1599 , Akbar dispatched Daniyal , Mirza Yusuf Khan and Khan Khanan to relieve the governor of Beed . Nehang Khan also marched to seize the Jaipur Kotli pass , expecting the Mughals to meet him there . However , Daniyal avoided the pass and reached Ahmednagar fort . His forces laid siege to the fort . Chand Bibi again defended the fort bravely . However , she could not bring about an effective resistance , and decided to negotiate terms with Daniyal . Hamid Khan , a nobleman , exaggerated and spread the news that Chand Bibi was in treaty with the Mughals . According to another version , Jita Khan , an eunuch valet of Chand Bibi thought that her decision to negotiate with Mughals was treacherous and spread the news that Chand Bibi was a quisling . Chand Bibi was then killed by an enraged mob of her own troops . After her death , and a siege of four months and four days , Ahmednagar was captured by the Mughal forces of Daniyal and Mirza Yusuf Khan . Chand bibi ka Mahal . The tomb of Salabat Khan is wrongly known locally as " Chand bibi ka Mahal " .