Mariam Behnam was born on 25 February 1921 in Bandar Lengeh in the Hormozgan Province of Iran[1] to Hafsa Abbas[2] and Abdul Wahid Behnam.[3] Her wealthy family was involved in the pearl trade[4] and owned homes in "Bombay, Bahrain, Dubai, Karachi and Paris".[5] Born in the same year that an earthquake hit her hometown and because she had a forceful personality, Behnam was given the nickname "Zelzelah Bibi" (Little Earthquake).[4] Her mother died when she was ten years old and Wahid was raised, along with her five surviving siblings, by her maternal grandmother, Monkhali (née Kingely) Abbas.[6][7] Against her family's wishes, who saw no reason for girls to be educated, she pressed to go to public school and was finally granted permission to attend the Jufel Hurst High School in Karachi.[8][9]