Babo Jan

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Babo Jan, born Mirmon Halima (active around 1880), was a wife of Afghan ruler Abdur Rahman Khan. She was the granddaughter of Amir Dost Mohammed Khan, Rahman’s grandfather. In the Kabul royal palace, the king had four official wives and many unofficial wives and slave concubines. Babo Jan was his favorite wife and influenced state affairs. She advised him and sometimes acted as his representative on diplomatic missions, helping to mediate clan and tribal conflicts across Afghanistan. This mediator role showed the great trust he placed in her and had a precedent a century earlier with Zarghona Anaa. It was noted that she could ride a horse, which was uncommon for women at the time, and she trained her enslaved maidservants in military self-defense. Babo Jan was described as wise and patriotic, and she wrote poetry, as many royal women did.