In 1934, despite strenuous opposition from both their families due to religious differences, 15-year-old Shamshad married Ganpat Lal Batto.
Their efforts were on the verge of bearing fruit in 1934 when Ganpat Lal Batto and Shamshad made the decision to marry each other. In those days, marriages were performed while the bride and groom were very young, and Shamshad's parents were already looking out for a suitable alliance for her. In 1932, the teenage Shamshad came in contact with Ganpat Lal Batto, a Hindu law student who lived in the same neighbourhood and who was several years older than her. Her father, Mian Hussain Baksh Maan, worked as a mechanic and her mother, Ghulam Fatima, was a pious lady of conservative disposition, a devoted wife and mother who raised her children with traditional family values. She was one of eight children, five sons and three daughters, born to a conservative muslim family of limited means. Shamshad Begum was born in Lahore, British India (present-day Pakistan) on 14 April 1919 the day after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place in nearby Amritsar.
