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Nur Jahan
Nur Jahan, original name Mehr al-Nesaʾ, (b. 1577, Gandhar, Safavid Empire [now in Afghanistan] — d. December 17, 1645, Lahore, Mughal Empire [now in Pakistan]), was the de facto ruler of India during the later years of the reign of her husband Jahangir, who was emperor from 1605 to 1627. She achieved unprecedented political power for a woman in Mughal India.
Mehr al-Nesaʾ was born in Kandahar to parents Mirza Ghiyas Beg and Asmat Begum, Persians who fled Safavid Iran in hopes of finding prosperity and refuge under the Mughal emperor Akbar. The future empress’s childhood is clouded by legend, with conflicting folktales jostling to explain her rise to power. One oft-repeated legend claims that her parents, lacking food and water on their pilgrimage to India, attempted to abandon her in the desert. Overcome with grief for their lost child, they returned for her—only to find her sitting calmly and safely next to a dangerous snake. Also unsubstantiated is the claim that Mehr al-Nesaʾ was frequently seen with Jahangir at court in her youth, perhaps beginning their romantic relationship, though there is no documentation of the two meeting until 1611.
Apart from legend, little is known about Mehr al-Nesaʾ’s life prior to her marriage to the Iranian-born Mughal official Sher Afgan in 1594. The couple had one child, a daughter named Ladli Begum, and were married until Sher Afgan’s death in 1607. Sher Afgan was killed in an altercation with the Mughal governor of Bengal, who was seeking Sher Afgan’s arrest for his alleged involvement in a plot against Jahangir. Though Jahangir was marked as Akbar’s successor early on, he had grown tired of waiting for the throne and revolted in 1599 while Akbar was engaged in the Deccan; Sher Afgan, for his part, sided with Akbar. Jahangir finally became emperor after his father’s death in 1605.
Though Sher Afgan may have been considered a traitor, the custom of offering refuge to widows meant that Mehr al-Nesaʾ was welcomed into Jahangir’s court as a lady-in-waiting. The couple met and married. Mehr al-Nesaʾ became his 20th and final wife in 1611. She was renamed Nur Jahan (“Light of the World”) and quickly became the emperor’s favorite.
In Jahangir’s court, being the favorite wife was no small privilege. Nur Jahan’s father, now known as Iʿtimad al-Dawlah, and her brother, Aṣaf Khan, were granted prominent positions at court. Together, the three formed a kind of "junta" that heavily influenced Jahangir in political matters. As Jahangir’s hard-partying ways were no secret (he was a heavy drinker and opium eater), many historians theorize that Nur Jahan became the Mughal Empire's de facto empress. Eventually she even minted coins in her name and issued royal decrees—two powers typically reserved for sovereigns, not wives.
Foreign visitors were not thrilled to find that any amount of political power had been surrendered to one of the emperor’s wives. Dutch East India Company officer Francisco Pelsaert wrote that Jahangir “surrendered himself to a crafty wife of humble lineage” who used the emperor to secure “a more than royal position.” British merchant Peter Mundy alleged that Nur Jahan had been taken prisoner upon the death of her first husband but, unfortunately for Jahāngīr, “hee became her prisoner by marryeing her, for in his tyme shee in a manner ruled all in ruleing him.” European visitors were intensely focused on Nur Jahan’s power and Jahangir’s substance use, perhaps none more so than Sir Thomas Roe, the first official English ambassador to the Mughal Empire. Roe frequently complained about life in India, disparaging the local people’s “barbarous” nature, their rejection of Christian faith, and Jahangir’s skill as a ruler. The “gentle” and “soft” Jahangir, according to Roe, had “yielded himself into the hands of a woman” to the point that he could no longer control his empire.
These barbs did not seem to phase Jahangir, and references to Nur Jahan in his journals are complimentary, not critical. As Nur Jahan herself left behind no known written records of a personal nature, Jahangir’s extensive diaries contain perhaps the only non-political account of her life. Reflecting on an illness that left him bedridden, Jahangir wrote that Nur Jahan's “remedies and experience were greater than any of the physicians’, especially since she treated me with affection and sympathy. She made me drink less and applied remedies that were suitable and efficacious.…I now relied on her affection.” In another entry, Jahangir complimented her hunting skills: “The elephant sensed the lion and wouldn’t keep still, and to shoot a gun from on top of an elephant without missing is a very difficult task.…[Nur Jahan] hit it so well on the first shot that it died of the wound.”
With little to no protest from Jahangir, Mughal politics were dominated by the clique of Nur Jahan, her father and brother, and the emperor’s son and assumed successor, Prince Khurram (Shah Jahan), until 1622 — at which point Khurram, eager to ensure his place as the next emperor, unsuccessfully rebelled against his father. The two reunited three years later, and, when Jahangir died in 1627, Khurram proclaimed himself emperor with the support of Asaf Khan, Nur Jahan’s brother.
Though her position was now perilous, Nur Jahan was on the verge of completing what was arguably her biggest accomplishment from her time at court, the tomb of Iʿtimad al-Dawlah in Agra. Dedicated to her father, the tomb is an architectural masterpiece that likely inspired the Taj Mahal, which was begun by Shah Jahan in 1632. The tomb of I'timad al-Dawlah was the first Mughal tomb to be built in white marble. Construction began in 1622 and was finally completed in 1628. Soon Shah Jahan would remove her from court and begin destroying many of the coins she had minted in her name. After her death in 1645, she was buried in Lahore, Pakistan in a tomb near Jahangir’s far grander one.
Nur Jahan was born Mehr-un-Nissa, the daughter of a Grand Vizier (Chief Minister) who served under Jahangir's father Emperor Akbar. Nur Jahan was the most powerful and influential woman in the court during her husband's reign. More decisive and proactive than her husband, she is considered by historians to have been the real power behind the throne for more than fifteen years. Nur Jahan was granted certain honors and privileges which were never enjoyed by any Mughal empress before or after like having coinage struck in her name, and sitting on the throne.
She attended the court, whether Jahangir was there or not, and consulted with the ministers and made decisions on affairs of state. Her power was determined by holding the royal seal. Jahangir's addiction to alcohol and drugs made it easier for Nur Jahan to exert her influence over him and exercise power. She was granted the privilege to issue farmans (sovereign mandates). The only other empress to command such devotion from her husband was Nur Jahan's own niece and step daughter-in-law Mumtaz Mahal, for whom the Taj Mahal was built by Emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum. Mumtaz, however, took no interest in affairs of state and Nur Jahan is therefore unique in the annals of the Mughal Empire for the sheer political influence she wielded.
Nur Jahan was born Mehr-un-Nissa in 1577 in Kandahar (now in Afghanistan, into a family of Persian nobility and was the second daughter and fourth child of the Persian aristocrat Mirza Ghiyas Beg and his wife Asmat Begum. Both of Nur Jahan's parents were descendants of illustrious families – Ghiyas Beg from Muhammad Sharif and Asmat Begum from the Aqa Mulla clan. Her paternal grandfather, Khwaja Muhammad Sharif, was first a wazir to Tatar Sultan the governor of Khurasan, and later was in the service of Shah Tahmasp, who made him the wazir of Isfahan, in recognition of his excellent service. For unknown reasons, Ghiyas Beg's family had suffered a reversal in fortunes in 1577 and soon found circumstances in their homeland intolerable. Hoping to improve his family's fortunes, Ghiyas Beg chose to relocate to India where the Emperor Akbar's court was said to be at the center of the growing trade industry and cultural scene.
Halfway along their route the family was attacked by robbers who took from them their remaining meager possessions. Left with only two mules, Ghiyas Beg, his pregnant wife, and their two children (Muhammad Sharif, Asaf Khan) were forced to take turns riding on the backs of the animals for the remainder of their journey. When the family arrived in Kandahar, Asmat Begum gave birth to their second daughter. The family was so impoverished they feared they would be unable to take care of the newborn baby. Fortunately, the family was taken in by a caravan led by the merchant noble Malik Masud, who would later assist Ghiyas Beg in finding a position in the service of Emperor Akbar. Believing that the child had signaled a change in the family's fate, she was named Mehr-un-Nissa or ‘Sun among Women’. Her father Ghiyas Beg began his career in India, after being given a mansab of 300 in 1577. Thereafter, he was appointed diwan (treasurer) for the province of Kabul. Due to his astute skills at conducting business, he quickly rose through the ranks of the high administrative officials. For his excellent work he was awarded the title of Itimad-ud-Daula or ‘Pillar of the State’ by the emperor.
As a result of his work and promotions, Ghiyas Beg was able to ensure that Mehr-un-Nissa (the future Nur Jahan) would have the best possible education. She became well-versed in Arabic and Persian languages, art, literature, music and dance. The poet and author Vidya Dhar Mahajan would later praise Nur Jahan as having a piercing intelligence, a volatile temper and sound common sense.
In 1594, when Nur Jahan was seventeen years old, she married her first husband Ali Quli Istajlu (also known as Sher Afgan Khan). Sher Afgan was an adventurous Persian who had been forced to flee his home in Persia after the demise of his first master Shah Ismail II. He later joined the Mughal army and served under the Emperors Akbar and Jahangir. As a reward for his loyal service, Akbar arranged Nur Jahan's marriage with Sher Afgan. Their only child together, a daughter, Mihr-un-Nissa Begum, popularly known as Ladli Begum, was born in 1605. While participating in a military campaign in Mewar under Prince Salim, Ali Quli Istajlu was bestowed the title of Sher Afgan or "Tiger Tosser". Sher Afgan's role in the rout of the Rana of Udaipur inspired this reward, but his exact actions were not recorded by contemporaries. A popular explanation is that Sher Afgan saved Salim from an angry tigress. The title "Sher Afgan" ("tiger grappler") has been sometimes misquoted in the English history of the Mughals as "Sher Afghan", "Sher Afghan" has a different meaning than "Sher Afgan".
In 1607, Sher Afgan was killed after it was rumored he had refused to obey a summons from the Governor of Bengal, took part in anti-state activities and attacked the governor when he came to escort Sher Afgan to court. Some have suspected Jahangir for arranging Sher Afgan's death because the latter was said to have fallen in love with Nur Jahan and had been denied the right to add her to his harem. The validity of this rumor is uncertain as Jahangir only married Nur Jahan in 1611, four years after she came to his court. Furthermore, contemporary accounts offer few details as to whether or not a love affair existed prior to 1611 and historians have questioned Jahangir's logic in bestowing honors upon Sher Afgan if he wished to see him removed from the picture. The tomb, still in existence at Purana/ Puratan Chawk in Bardhaman in present-day West Bengal, says that there was a battle between Sher Afgan and Qutubuddin Koka, the then Mughal Subahdar of Bengal and the foster brother of Jahangir in Burdwan in 1610 CC in which both of them died and were buried there at the tomb of Pir Baharam Sakka (died in 1563).
After her husband Sher Afgan was killed in 1607, Nur Jahan and her daughter, Ladli Begum, were summoned to Agra by Jahangir for their protection. Nur Jahan served as lady-in-waiting to the dowager empress Ruqaiya Sultan Begum, who had been the late Emperor Akbar's chief wife. Given the precarious political connections of Sher Afgan before his death, his family would be in certain danger with him gone from those seeking to avenge Qutbuddin's murder. For her protection, then, Nur Jahan needed to be at the Mughal court in Agra, she was brought back in honor (presumably because of her father's position at court) and installed in her new post with Ruqaiya Sultan Begum. Ruqaiya, being a senior woman in the harem, was by stature and ability, capable of providing the protection that Nur Jahan needed at the Mughal court. It was under Ruqaiya's care that Nur Jahan was able to spend time with her parents and occasionally visit the apartments where the emperor's women lived.
Nur Jahan served as lady-in-waiting to the Dowager Empress for four years. The relationship that grew between Nur Jahan and Ruqaiya appears to have been an extremely tender one. The Dutch merchant and travel writer Pieter van den Broecke, described their relationship in his Hindustan Chronicle, "This Begum [Ruqaiya] conceived a great affection for Mehr-un-Nissa [Nur Jahan]; she loved her more than others and always kept her in her company."
In 1611, Nur Jahan met Emperor Jahangir at the palace's Meena bazaar during the spring festival of Nowruz which celebrated the coming of the new year. Jahangir proposed immediately and they were married on May 25 of the same year (12 Rabi-ul-Awwal, 1020 AH/ May 25, 1611 CC). Nur Jahan was thirty-four years old at the time of her second marriage and she would be Jahangir's twentieth and last legal wife. According to some accounts they had two children, while others report the couple remained childless. Incomplete records and Jahangir's abundant number of children, obscure efforts to distinguish individual identities and maternity. This confusion is shown by later sources mistakenly identifying Nur Jahan as the mother of Shah Jahan. Jahangir's wife, Jagat Gosaini, a Rajput princess, was, in reality, Shah Jahan's mother.
Jahangir gave Mehr al-Nesaʾ the title of Nur Mahal (lit. "Light of the Palace") upon their marriage in 1611 and Nur Jahan (lit. 'Light of the World') five years later in 1616. Jahangir's affection and trust in Nur Jahan led to her wielding a great deal of power in affairs of state. Jahangir's addiction to opium and alcohol made it easier for Nur Jahan to exert her influence. His trust in her was so great that he gave her the highest symbol of power and determination of the decrees of the empire – his imperial seal, implying that her perusal and consent were necessary before any document or order received legal validity. So for many years, she wielded imperial power and was recognized as the real force behind the Mughal throne.
Jahangir entrusted her with Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal's second son, Prince Shah Shuja, upon his birth in 1616. This new responsibility was given to her due to her high rank, political clout and Jahangir's affection for her. It was also an honor for the empress as Shuja was a special favorite of his grandfather.
After Sher Afgan's death, Nur Jahan's family was again found in a less than honorable or desired position. Her father was at that time, a diwan to an Amir-ul-Umra, decidedly not a very high post. In addition, both her father and one of her brothers were surrounded by scandal as the former was accused of embezzlement and the latter of treason. Her fortunes took a turn for the better when she married Jahangir. The Mughal state gave absolute power to the emperor, and those who exercised influence over the emperor gained immense influence and prestige. Nur Jahan was able to convince her husband to pardon her father and appoint him Prime Minister. To consolidate her position and power within the Empire, Nur Jahan placed various members of her family in high positions throughout the court and administrative offices. Her brother Asaf Khan was appointed grand wazir (minister) to Jahangir.
To ensure her continued connections to the throne and the influence which she could obtain from it, Nur Jahan arranged for her daughter Ladli to marry Jahangir's youngest son, Shahryar. This wedding ensured that one way or another, the influence of Nur Jahan's family would extend over the Mughal Empire for at least another generation.
Nur Jahan was fond of hunting and often went on hunting tours with her husband and was known for her boldness in hunting ferocious tigers. She is reported to have slain four tigers with six bullets during one hunt. According to Syed Ahmad Khan this feat, inspired a poet to declaim a spontaneous couplet in her honor:
Nur Jahan's administrative skills proved invaluable during her regency as she defended the Empire's borders in her husband's absence and navigated family feuds, rebel uprisings, and a war of succession brought on by the failure of Jahangir to name an heir before he died on October 28, 1627.
In 1626, Emperor Jahangir was captured by rebels while on his way to Kashmir. The rebel leader Mahabat Khan had hoped to stage a coup against Jahangir. Riding into battle atop a war elephant, Nur Jahan intervened to get her husband released. She ordered the ministers to organize an attack on the enemy in order to rescue the Emperor; she would lead one of the units by issuing commands from on top of a war elephant. During the battle Nur Jahan's mount was hit and the soldiers of the imperial army fell at her feet. Realizing her plan had failed Nur Jahan surrendered to Mahabat Khan and was placed in captivity with her husband. Unfortunately for the rebels, Mahabat Khan failed to recognize the creativity and intellect of Nur Jahan as she soon was able to organize an escape and raise an army right under his very nose. Shortly after being rescued, Jahangir died on October 28, 1627.
In 1620, Nur Jahan in order to secure her power in the Mughal court after the decline of her husband, Jahangir's health, offered the marriage proposal of her daughter to the charismatic Khusrau Mirza with the affirmation of bringing him back to power. He was the first choice of Nur Jahan for the marriage of her daughter, Ladli Begum as he was the favorite of the common people who desperately wanted to see him on the throne. Khusrau Mirza was highly backed by the people of the Mughal Court owing to his exceptional capabilities and talent. However, the Prince in an effort to uphold the fidelity to his chief wife refused the marriage proposal though his wife begged him to accept the proposal and subsequently, this proposal was passed onto Prince Khurram upon whose refusal it was finally passed to and accepted by Shahryar Mirza.
Tensions between Nur Jahan and Jahangir's third son, the crowned Prince Khurram (and future Shah Jahan), had been uneasy from the start. Prince Khurram resented the influence Nur Jahan held over his father and was angered at having to play second fiddle to her favorite Shahryar, his half-brother and her son-in-law. When the Persians besieged Kandahar, Nur Jahan was at the helm of the affairs. She corresponded with Kosem Sultan, Valide Sultan and regent of the Ottoman Empire. Nur Jahan attempted, with the support of the Ottomans and the Uzbeks, to form a coalition against the Safavids. However, no significant progress was made.
Nur Jahan ordered Prince Khurram to march for Kandahar, but he refused. As a result of Prince Khurram's refusal to obey Nur Jahan's orders, Kandahar was lost to the Persians after a forty-five-day siege. Prince Khurram feared that in his absence Nur Jahan would attempt to poison his father against him and convince Jahangir to name Shahryar the heir in his place. This fear brought Prince Khurram to rebel against his father rather than fight against the Persians. In 1622, Prince Khurram raised an army and marched against his father and Nur Jahan. The rebellion was quelled by Jahangir's forces and the prince was forced to surrender unconditionally. Although he was forgiven for his errors in 1626, tensions between Nur Jahan and her stepson would continue to grow underneath the surface.
Jahangir's death on October 28, 1627, sparked a war of succession between his remaining sons, Prince Khurram who had proclaimed himself Shah Jahan and Prince Shahryar who was backed by Nur Jahan. Jahangir's eldest son Khusrau had rebelled against the Emperor, was partially blinded as a result and was later killed by Prince Khurram during an uprising in the Deccan. Jahangir's second son, Parviz, was weak and addicted to alcohol. Afraid that if Shah Jahan was made emperor she would lose her powers and influence in the court, Nur Jahan favored Shahryar who she believed could be manipulated much more easily.
During the first half of the war it appeared as though Shahryar and Nur Jahan might turn out to be the victors. However, the two were hindered by Nur Jahan's brother, Asaf Khan. Asaf Khan, who was also the father of Mumtaz Mahal, sided with Shah Jahan. While Asaf Khan forced Nur Jahan into confinement, Shah Jahan defeated Shahryar's troops and ordered his execution. In 1628, Shah Jahan became the new Mughal emperor.
Nur Jahan was put under house arrest by her brother on the orders of the new Emperor Shah Jahan and spent the remainder of her life confined in Lahore with her young widowed daughter, Ladli Begum, along with her granddaughter. In Lahore, the three of them lived a simple and austere life.
Nur Jahan was granted an annual amount of 2 lakhs rupees by Shah Jahan. During this period she oversaw the completion of her father's mausoleum in Agra, which she started in 1622 and is now known as Itmad- ud- daulah's tomb. The tomb served as the inspiration for the Taj Mahal, unarguably the zenith of Mughal architecture, the construction of which began in 1632 and which Nur Jahan must have heard about before she died. Nur Jahan died on December 17, 1645. She was buried in her tomb at Shahdara Bagh in Lahore. Upon her tomb is inscribed the epitaph
"On the grave of this poor stranger, let there be neither lamp nor rose. Let neither butterfly’s wing burn nor nightingale sing".
Nur Jahan's brother Asaf Khan's tomb is also located nearby. Her daughter, Ladli Begum was buried beside her in her mausoleum after her death.
Nur Jahan's patronage of architecture was extensive.
I'timad al-Dawlah died in January 1622, and his tomb has been generally attributed to Nur Jahan. The tomb took six years to finish (1622-1628), and was built at an enormous cost. It was built in I'timad al-Dawlah's own garden, on the eastern bank of the Yamuna across from Agra. The building is square measuring sixty nine feet on each side, with four octagonal towers rising up one at each corner. The central Vault inside the tomb contains the cenotaphs of I'timad al-Dawlah and his wife, Nur Jahan's mother Asmat Begum. The walls in the central chamber are decorated with paintings set in deep niches. The pietra dura of I'timad al-Dawlah's tomb was one of the earliest true examples of the technique in India. Nur Jahan also built the Pattar Masjid at Srinagar, and her own tomb at Lahore.
Nur Jahan is purported to have made contributions to almost every type of fine and practical art. According to Findly, Nur Jahan is said to have contributed substantially by introducing a variety of new textiles, among them silver-threaded brocade (badla) and silver-threaded lace (kinari).
Nur Jahan was very creative and had a good fashion sense. She is credited with creating many textile materials and dresses like nurmahali dress and fine cloths like Panchtoliya badla (silver-threaded brocade), and kinari (silver-threaded lace).
Nur Jahan, original name Mehr al-Nesaʾ, was the de facto ruler of India during the later years of the reign of her husband Jahangir, who was emperor from 1605 to 1627. She achieved unprecedented political power for a woman in Mughal India.
Mehr al-Nesaʾ was born in Kandahar to parents Mirza Ghiyas Beg and Asmat Begum, Persians who fled Safavid Iran in hopes of finding prosperity and refuge under the Mughal emperor Akbar. The future empress’s childhood is clouded by legend, with conflicting folktales jostling to explain her rise to power. One oft-repeated legend claims that her parents, lacking food and water on their pilgrimage to India, attempted to abandon her in the desert. Overcome with grief for their lost child, they returned for her—only to find her sitting calmly and safely next to a dangerous snake. Also unsubstantiated is the claim that Mehr al-Nesaʾ was frequently seen with Jahangir at court in her youth, perhaps beginning their romantic relationship, though there is no documentation of the two meeting until 1611.
Apart from legend, little is known about Mehr al-Nesa’s life prior to her marriage to the Iranian-born Mughal official Sher Afghan in 1594. The couple had one child, a daughter named Ladli Begum, and were married until Sher Afgan’s death in 1607. Sher Afgan was killed in an altercation with the Mughal governor of Bengal, who was seeking Sher Afgan’s arrest for his alleged involvement in a plot against Jahangir. Though Jahangir was marked as Akbar’s successor early on, he had grown tired of waiting for the throne and revolted in 1599 while Akbar was engaged in the Deccan; Sher Afgan, for his part, sided with Akbar. Jahangir finally became emperor after his father’s death in 1605.
Though Sher Afgan may have been considered a traitor, the custom of offering refuge to widows meant that Mehr al-Nesaʾ was welcomed into Jahangir’s court as a lady-in-waiting. The couple met and married; Mehr al-Nesaʾ became his 20th and final wife in 1611. She was renamed Nur Jahan (“Light of the World”) and quickly became the emperor’s favorite.
In Jahangir’s court, being the favorite wife was no small privilege. Nur Jahan’s father, now known as Iʿtimad al-Dawlah, and her brother, Asaf Khan, were granted prominent positions at court. together, the three formed a kind of "junta" that heavily influenced Jahangir in political matters. As Jahāngīr’s hard-partying ways were no secret (he was a heavy drinker and opium eater), many historians theorize that Nur Jahan became the Mughal Empire's de facto empress. Eventually she even minted coins in her name and issued royal decrees — two powers typically reserved for sovereigns, not wives.
Foreign visitors were not thrilled to find that any amount of political power had been surrendered to one of the emperor’s wives. Dutch East India Company officer Francisco Pelsaert wrote that Jahangir “surrendered himself to a crafty wife of humble lineage” who used the emperor to secure “a more than royal position.” British merchant Peter Mundy alleged that Nur Jahan had been taken prisoner upon the death of her first husband but, unfortunately for Jahangir, “hee became her prisoner by marryeing her, for in his tyme shee in a manner ruled all in ruleing him.” European visitors were intensely focused on Nur Jahan’s power and Jahangir’s substance use, perhaps none more so than Thomas Roe, the first official English ambassador to the Mughal Empire. Roe frequently complained about life in India, disparaging the local people’s “barbarous” nature, their rejection of Christian faith, and Jahangir’s skill as a ruler. The “gentle” and “soft” Jahāngīr, according to Roe, had “yielded himself into the hands of a woman” to the point that he could no longer control his empire.
These barbs did not seem to phase Jahangir, and references to Nur Jahan in his journals are complimentary, not critical. As Nur Jahan herself left behind no known written records of a personal nature, Jahangir’s extensive diaries contain perhaps the only nonpolitical account of her life. Reflecting on an illness that left him bedridden, he wrote that her “remedies and experience were greater than any of the physicians’, especially since she treated me with affection and sympathy. She made me drink less and applied remedies that were suitable and efficacious.…I now relied on her affection.” In another entry, he complimented her hunting skills: “The elephant sensed the lion and wouldn’t keep still, and to shoot a gun from on top of an elephant without missing is a very difficult task.…[Nur Jahan] hit it so well on the first shot that it died of the wound.”
With little to no protest from Jahangir, Mughal politics were dominated by the clique of Nūr Jahān, her father and brother, and the emperor’s son and assumed successor, Prince Khurram, until 1622—at which point Khurram, eager to ensure his place as the next emperor, unsuccessfully rebelled against his father. The two reunited three years later, and, when Jahangir died in 1627, Khurram (soon to be known as Shah Jahan) proclaimed himself emperor with the support of Āṣaf Khan, Nūr Jahān’s brother.
Though her position was now perilous, Nur Jahan was on the verge of completing what was arguably her biggest accomplishment from her time at court: the tomb of Iʿtimad al-Dawlah in Agra. Dedicated to her father, the tomb is an architectural masterpiece that likely inspired the Taj Mahal, which was begun by Shah Jahan in 1632. It was the first Mughal tomb to be built in white marble. Construction began in 1622 and was finally completed in 1628. Soon Shah Jahan would remove Nur Jahan from court and begin destroying many of the coins she had minted in her name. After her death in 1645, she was buried in Lahore, Pakistan, in a tomb near Jahangir’s far grander one.
Prince Salim was the third son born to Akbar and his favorite Queen Consort, Mariam-uz-Zamani in Fatehpur Sikri on August 30, 1569. Salim had two elder full brothers, Hassan Mirza and Hussain Mirza, born as twins to his mother in 1564, both of whom died in infancy. Since these children had died in infancy, Akbar sought the blessing of holy men for an heir-apparent to his empire.
When Akbar was informed of the news that his chief Hindu wife was expecting a child again, an order was passed for the establishment of a royal palace in Sikri near the lodgings of Shaikh Salim Chisti, where the Empress could enjoy the repose being in the vicinity of the revered saint. Mariam was shifted to the palace established there and during her pregnancy, Akbar himself used to travel to Sikri and used to spend half of his time in Sikri and another half in Agra. When Mariam-uz-Zamani was near her confinement, she was shifted to the humble dwelling of Shaikh Salim by Akbar where she gave birth to Prince Salim. He was named after Shaikh Salim given the faith of Akbar in the efficacy of the prayers of the holy man. Akbar, overjoyed with the news of his heir-apparent, ordered a great feast on the occasion of his birth and ordered the release of criminals with the great offence. Throughout the empire, largesses were bestowed over common people, and he set himself ready to visit Sikri immediately. However, he was advised by his courtiers to delay his visit to Sikri on the account of the astrological belief in Hindustan of a father not seeing the face of his long-awaited son immediately after his birth. He, therefore, delayed his visit and visited Sikri to meet his wife and son after forty-one days after his birth.
Jahangir's foster mother was the daughter of the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti, and his foster brother was Qutubuddin Koka (originally Sheikh Kubhu), the grandson of Chishti.
Salim started his learning at the age of five. On this occasion, a big feast was thrown by Emperor Akbar, ceremonially initiating his son into education. His first tutor was Qutb-ud-din. After some time he was inaugurated into strategic reasoning and military warfare by several tutors. His maternal uncle, Bhagwant Das was supposedly one of his tutors on the subject of warfare tactics. Salim grew up fluent in Persian and pre-modern Hindi, with a "respectable" knowledge of Turkic, the Mughal ancestral language.
Jahangir succeeded to the throne on Thursday, November 3, 1605, eight days after his father's death. Salim ascended to the throne with the title of Nur-ud-din Muhammad Jahangir Badshah Ghazi, and thus began his 22-year reign at the age of 36. Jahangir, soon after, had to fend off his own son, Prince Khusrau Mirza, when the latter attempted to claim the throne based on Akbar's will to become his next heir. Khusrau Mirza was defeated in 1606 and confined in the fort of Agra. Jahangir considered his third son, Prince Khurram (reign name Shah Jahan), his favorite. As punishment, Khusrau Mirza was handed over to his younger brother and was partially blinded and killed. In 1622, Jahangir sent his son, Prince Khurram, to fight against the combined forces of Ahmednagar, Bijapur and Golconda. After his victory, Khurram turned against his father and made a bid for power. Khurram murdered his blind older brother, Khusrau Mirza, in order to smoothen his own path to the throne. As with the insurrection of his eldest son, Khusrau, Jahangir was able to defeat the challenge from within his family and retain power.
The East India Company persuaded King James to send Sir Thomas Roe as a royal envoy to the Agra court of Jahangir. Roe resided at Agra for three years, until 1619. At the Mughal court, Roe allegedly became a favorite of Jahangir and may have been his drinking partner. Certainly Roe arrived with gifts of "many crates of red wine" and explained to him "What beer was? How was it made?".
The immediate result of the mission was to obtain permission and protection for an East India Company factory at Surat. While no major trading privileges were conceded by Jahingir, Roe's mission was the beginning of a Mughal-Company relationship that would develop into something approaching a partnership and see the East India Company gradually drawn into the Mughal nexus.
While Roe's detailed journals are a valuable source of information on Jahangir's reign, the Emperor did not return the favor, with no mention of Roe in his own voluminous diaries.
In 1623, Emperor Jahangir sent his tahwildar, Khan Alam, to Safavid Persia, accompanied by 800 sepoys, scribes and scholars, along with ten howdahs well decorated in gold and silver, in order to negotiate peace with Abbas I of Persia after a brief conflict in the region around Kandahar. Khan Alam soon returned with valuable gifts and groups of Mir Shikar (Hunt Masters) from both Safavid Persia and the Khanates of Central Asia.
In 1626, Jahangir began to contemplate an alliance between the Ottomans, Mughals and Uzbeks against the Safavids, who had defeated the Mughals at Kandahar. He even wrote a letter to the Ottoman Sultan, Murad IV. Jahangir's ambition did not materialize however, due to his death in 1627.
Salim's first and chief wife was the daughter of his maternal uncle Raja Bhagwant Das, Shah Begum, to whom he was betrothed in his tender years. His Mansab -- his military pay -- was raised to Twelve Thousand, in 1585, at the time of his marriage to Shah Begum. Nizamuddin (a Muslim historian of India) remarks that Shah Begum was considered to be the best and most suitable princess as the first wife of Prince Salim. Abul Fazl in Akbarnama illustrates her as a jewel of chastity and describes her as an extremely beautiful woman whose purity adorned her high extraction and was endowed with remarkable beauty and graces.
The marriage with Man Bai took place on February 24, 1585, in her native town Amer which was also the native town of his mother, Mariam-uz-Zamani. Akbar alongside several other nobles of the court personally visited Amer and followed this marriage. A lavish ceremony took place and the bride's palanquin was carried by Akbar and Salim for some distance in her honor. She became one of Jahangir's favorite wives. Jahangir notes that he was extremely fond of her and designated her as his chief consort in the royal harem in his princely days. Jahangir also records his attachment and affection for her and makes notes of her unwavering devotion towards him. Jahangir honored her with the title Shah Begum after she gave birth to Khusrau Mirza, the eldest son of Jahangir.
One of Jahangir's early favorite wives was a Rajput princess, Manavati bai, daughter of Raja Udai Singh Rathore of Marwar. The marriage was solemnized on January 11, 1586 at the bride's residence. Jahangir named her Jagat Gosain and she gave birth to Prince Khurram, the future Shah Jahan, who was Jahangir's successor to the throne.
On June 26, 1586, Jahangir married a daughter of Raja Rai Singh, Maharaja of Bikaner. In July 1586, Jahangir married Malika Shikar Begum, daughter of Abu Sa'id Khan Chagatai. Also in 1586, he married Sahib-i-Jamal Begum, daughter of Khwaja Hassan of Herat, a cousin of Zain Khan Koka.
In 1587, Jahangir married Malika Jahan Begum, daughter of Bhim Singh, Maharaja of Jaisalmer. Jahangir also married the daughter of Raja Darya Malbhas.
In October 1590, Jahangir married Zohra Begum, daughter of Mirza Sanjar Hazara. He married Karamsi, daughter of Raja Kesho Das Rathore of Merta. On January 11, 1592, he married Kanwal Rani, daughter of Ali Sher Khan, by his wife, Gul Khatun. In October 1592, he married a daughter of Husain Chak of Kashmir. In January/March 1593, he married Nur un-Nisa Begum, daughter of Ibrahim Husain Mirza, by his wife, Gulrukh Begum, daughter of Kamran Mirza. In September 1593, Jahangir married a daughter of Ali Khan Faruqi, Raja of Khandesh. He also married a daughter of Abdullah Khan Baluch.
On June 28, 1596, Jahangir married Khas Mahal Begum, daughter of Zain Khan Koka, Subadar of Kabul, and Lahore. This marriage was initially opposed by Akbar as he did not approve of the marriage of cousins to the same man however seeing the melancholy of Salim being refused to marry her, Akbar approved of this union. She became one of his chief consorts after her marriage.
In 1608, Jahangir married Saliha Banu Begum, daughter of Qasim Khan, a senior member of the Imperial Household. She became one of his chief consorts and was designated the title of Padshah Begum and for most of the reign of Jahangir retained this title. After her death, this title was passed to Nur Jahan.
On June 17, 1608, Jahangir married Koka Kumari Begum, eldest daughter of Jagat Singh, Yuvraj of Amber. This marriage was held at the palace of Jahangir's mother, Mariam-uz-Zamani. On January 11, 1610, Jahangir married the daughter of Ram Chand Bundela.
At some point, Jahangir had also married a daughter of Mirza Muhammad Hakim, son of Emperor Humayun. She was also one of the chief consorts of Jahangir.
Jahangir married Mehr-un-Nissa (better known by her subsequent title of Nur Jahan) on May 25, 1611. She was the widow of Sher Afgan. Mehr-un-Nissa became Jahangir's most favorite wife after their marriage and was one of the chief consorts of Jahangir. She was witty, intelligent, and beautiful, which was what attracted Jahangir to her. Before being awarded the title of Nur Jahan ('Light of the World'), she was called Nur Mahal ('Light of the Palace'). After the death of Saliha Bano Begum in 1620, she was designated the title of Padshah Begum (First Lady of the Mughal Empire) and held it until the death of Jahangir in 1627. Nur Jahan would serve as the defacto ruler of the Mughal Empire. Her other abilities are said to have ranged from fashion designing to building architectural monuments.
In the year 1594, Jahangir was dispatched by his father, the Emperor Akbar, alongside Asaf Khan, also known as Mirza Jafar Beg and Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, to defeat the renegade Vir Singh Deo of Bundela and to capture the city of Orchha, which was considered the center of the revolt. Jahangir arrived with a force of 12,000 after many ferocious encounters and finally subdued the Bundela and ordered Vir Singh Deo to surrender. After tremendous casualties and the start of negotiations between the two, Vir Singh Deo handed over 5000 Bundela infantry and 1000 cavalry, but he feared Mughal retaliation and remained a fugitive until his death. The victorious Jahangir, at 26 years of age, ordered the completion of the Jahangir Mahal a famous Mughal citadel in Orchha to commemorate and honor his victory.
Jahangir then gathered his forces under the command of Ali Kuli Khan and fought Lakshmi Narayan of Koch Bihar. Lakshmi Narayan then accepted the Mughals as his suzerains and was given the title Nazir, later establishing a garrison at Atharokotha.
In 1613, Jahangir issued a sanguinary order for the extirpation of the race of the Kolis who were notorious robbers and plunders living in the most inaccessible parts of Gujarat. A large number of the Koli chiefs were slaughtered and the rest hunted to their mountains and deserts.
In 1613, the Portuguese seized the Mughal ship Rahimi, which had set out from Surat on its way with a large cargo of 100,000 rupees and pilgrims, who were on their way to Mecca and Medina in order to attend the annual Hajj. The Rahimi was owned by Mariam-uz-Zamani, mother of Jahangir and Akbar's favorite consort. She was bestowed the title of "Mallika-e-Hindustan" (Queen of Hindustan) by Akbar and was subsequently referred by that title during Jahangir's reign. The Rahimi was the largest Indian ship sailing in the Red Sea and was known to the Europeans as the "great pilgrimage ship". When the Portuguese officially refused to return the ship and the passengers, the outcry at the Mughal court was unusually severe. The outrage was compounded by the fact that the owner and the patron of the ship was none other than the revered mother of Jahangir. Jahangir himself was outraged and ordered the seizure of the Portuguese town of Daman. He ordered the apprehension of all Portuguese within the Mughal Empire. He further confiscated churches that belonged to the Jesuits. This episode is considered to be the precursor to the struggle for wealth that would later ensue and lead to the colonization of the Indian sub-continent.
Jahangir was responsible for ending a century long struggle with the state of Mewar. The campaign against the Rajputs was pushed so extensively that they were made to submit with great loss of life and property.
In 1608, Jahangir posted Islam Khan I to subdue the rebel Musa Khan, the Masnad-e Ala of the Baro-Bhuyan confederacy in Bengal, who was able to imprison him. Jahangir also captured Kangra Fort in 1615, whose rulers came under Mughal vassalship during the reign of Akbar. Consequently, a siege was laid and the fort was taken in 1620, which resulted in the submission of the Raja of Chamba, the most prominent of all the rajas in the region. The district of Kishtwar, in the state of Kashmir, was also conquered.
Jahangir was trying to restore his health by visiting Kashmir and Kabul. He went from Kabul to Kashmir but decided to return to Lahore because of a severe cold.
On the journey from Kashmir to Lahore, Jahangir died near Bhimber in 1627. To embalm and preserve his body, the entrails were removed. The entrails were buried inside Baghsar Fort near Bhimber in Kashmir. The body was then conveyed by palanquin to Lahore and was buried in Shahdara Bagh, a suburb of that city. The elegant mausoleum is today a popular tourist attraction site.
Jahangir was succeeded by his third son, Prince Khurram, who took the regnal name Shah Jahan.
Thomas Roe was England's first ambassador to the Mughal court. Relations with England turned tense in 1617 when Roe warned Jahangir that if the young and charismatic Prince Khurram, newly instated as the Subedar of Gujarat, turned the English out of the province, "then he must expect we would do our justice upon the seas". Shah Jahan chose to seal an official firman allowing the English to trade in Gujarat in the year 1618.
Many contemporary chroniclers were not sure how to describe Jahangir's personal belief structure. Roe labelled him an atheist, and although most others shied away from that term, they did not feel as though they could call him an orthodox Sunni. Roe believed Jahangir's religion to be of his own making, "for he envies [the Prophet] Muhammad, and wisely sees no reason why he should not be as great a prophet as he and therefore professed himself so... he hath found many disciples that flatter or follow him." At this time, one of those disciples happened to be the English ambassador, though his initiation into Jahangir's inner circle was devoid of religious significance for Roe, as he did not understand the full extent of what he was doing. Jahangir hung "a picture of himself set in gold hanging at a wire gold chain" around Roe's neck. Roe thought it a "special favour, for all the great men that wear the King's image (which none may do but to whom it is given) receive no other than a medal of gold as big as six pence."
Had Roe intentionally converted, it would have caused quite a scandal in London. But since there was no intent, there was no resultant problem. Such disciples were an elite group of imperial servants, with one of them being promoted to Chief Justice. However, it is not clear that any of those who became disciples renounced their previous religion, so it is probable to see this as a way in which the emperor strengthened the bond between himself and his nobles. Despite Roe's somewhat casual use of the term 'atheist', he could not quite put his finger on Jahangir's real beliefs. Roe lamented that the emperor was either "the most impossible man in the world to be converted, or the most easy; for he loves to hear, and hath so little religion yet, that he can well abide to have any derided."
This should not imply that the multi-religious state appealed to all, or that all Muslims were happy with the situation in India. In a book written on statecraft for Jahangir, the author advised him to direct "all his energies to understanding the counsel of the sages and to comprehending the intimations of the 'ulama'." At the start of his regime many staunch Sunnis were hopeful, because he seemed less tolerant of other faiths than his father had been. At the time of his accession and the elimination of Abu'l Fazl, his father's chief minister and the architect of his eclectic religious stance, a powerful group of orthodox noblemen had gained increased power in the Mughal court. This included nobles like Shaykh Farid, Jahangir's trusted Mir Bakhshi, who held firmly the citadel of orthodoxy in Muslim India.
Most notorious was the execution of the Sikh Guru Arjan Dev, whom Jahangir had killed while Arjan Dev was in prison. Arjan Dev's lands were confiscated and his sons imprisoned as Jahangir suspected him of helping Khusrau's rebellion. It is unclear whether Jahangir even understood what a Sikh was, referring to Guru Arjan as a Hindu, who had "captured many of the simple-hearted of the Hindus and even of the ignorant and foolish followers of Islam, by his ways and manners... for three or four generations (of spiritual successors) they had kept this shop warm." The trigger for Guru Arjan's execution was his support for Jahangir's rebel son Khusrau Mirza, yet it is clear from Jahangir's own memoirs that he disliked Guru Arjan before then: "many times it occurred to me to put a stop to this vain affair or bring him into the assembly of the people of Islam."
Jahangir also moved swiftly to persecute Jains. One of his court historians states, “One day at Ahmadabad it was reported that many of the infidel and superstitious sect of the Seoras [Jains] of Gujarat had made several very great and splendid temples, and having placed in them their false gods, had managed to secure a large degree of respect for themselves and that the women who went for worship in those temples were polluted by them and other people. The Emperor Jahangir ordered them banished from the country, and their temples to be demolished.”
In another story narrated by Jahangir himself in his memoir, Jahangir visited Pushkar and was shocked to find a temple of a boar like deity. He was quite taken-aback. "The worthless religion of the Hindus is this," he claimed and ordered his men to destroy the idol. He also heard about a jogi doing mysterious things and he ordered his men to evict him and have the place destroyed.
Emperor Jahangir issued many edicts admonishing his nobles not to convert anybody by force, but the issuance of such orders also suggests that such forced conversions must have occurred during his rule in some measure. He continued the Mughal tradition of being scrupulously secular in outlook. Stability, loyalty, and revenue were the main focus, not the religious conversions among his subjects.
There are instances of Jahangir being open to multi-religious influences. Jahangir used to visit a Hindu ascetic, Jadrup Gosain. In his memoirs, he writes how the ascetic made a great impression on him due to his knowledge of Vedanta and his austere life. Jahangir also used to abstain from non-vegetarian food during the 12 days of the Jain Paryushan festival out of respect for his Jain subjects.
Muqarrab Khan sent to Jahangir "a European curtain (tapestry) the like of which in beauty no other work of the Frank [European] painters has ever been seen." One of his audience halls was "adorned with European screens." Christian themes attracted Jahangir, and even merited a mention in the Tuzuk. One of his slaves gave him a piece of ivory into which had been carved four scenes. In the last scene "there is a tree, below which the figure of the revered (hazrat) Jesus is shown. One person has placed his head at Jesus' feet, and an old man is conversing with Jesus and four others are standing by." Though Jahangir believed it to be the work of the slave who presented it to him, Sayyid Ahmad and Henry Beveridge suggest that it was of European origin and possibly showed the Transfiguration. Wherever it came from, and whatever it represented, it was clear that a European style had come to influence Mughal art, otherwise the slave would not have claimed it as his own design, nor would he have been believed by Jahangir.
Jahangir was fascinated with art and architecture. In his autobiography, the Jahangirnama, Jahangir recorded events that occurred during his reign, descriptions of flora and fauna that he encountered, and other aspects of daily life, and commissioned court painters such as Ustad Mansur to paint detailed pieces that would accompany his vivid prose. For example, in 1619, he put pen to paper in awe of a royal falcon delivered to his court from the ruler of Iran: “What can I write of the beauty of this bird's color? It had black markings, and every feather on its wings, back, and sides was extremely beautiful,” and then recorded his command that Ustad Mansur paint a portrait of it after it perished. Jahangir displayed much of the art that he commissioned in elaborate albums of hundreds of images, sometimes organized around a theme such as zoology.
Jahangir took his connoisseurship of art very seriously. He also preserved paintings from Emperor Akbar's period. An excellent example of this is the painting done by Ustad Mansur of musician Naubat Khan, son-in-law of legendary Tansen. In addition to their aesthetic qualities, paintings created under his reign were closely catalogued, dated and even signed, providing scholars with fairly accurate ideas as to when and in what context many of the pieces were created.
Jahangir ruled during a time of considerably stable political control and had the opportunity to order artists to create art to accompany his memoirs that were “in response to the emperor's current enthusiasms”. He used his wealth and his luxury of free time to chronicle, in detail, the lush natural world that the Mughal Empire encompassed. At times, he would have artists travel with him for this purpose. When Jahangir was in Rahimabad, he had his painters on hand to capture the appearance of a specific tiger that he shot and killed, because he found it to be particularly beautiful.
The Jesuits had brought with them various books, engravings, and paintings and, when they saw the delight Akbar held for them, sent for more and more of the same to be given to the Mughals. They felt the Mughals were on the "verge of conversion", a notion which proved to be very false. Instead, both Akbar and Jahangir studied this artwork very closely and replicated and adapted it, adopting much of the early iconographic features and later the pictorial realism for which Renaissance art was known. Jahangir was notable for his pride in the ability of his court painters. A classic example of this is described in Thomas Roe's diaries, in which the Emperor had his painters copy a European miniature several times creating a total of five miniatures. Jahangir then challenged Roe to pick out the original from the copies, a feat Thomas Roe could not do, to the delight of Jahangir.
Jahangir was also revolutionary in his adaptation of European styles. A collection at the British Museum in London contains seventy-four drawings of Indian portraits dating from the time of Jahangir, including a portrait of the emperor himself. These portraits are a unique example of art during Jahangir's reign because faces were not drawn in full, including the shoulders as well as the head as these drawings are.
Jahangir is widely considered to have been a weak and incapable ruler. Henry Beveridge (editor of the Tuzk-e-Jahangiri) compares Jahangir to the Roman emperor Claudius, for both were "weak men... in their wrong places as rulers... [and had] Jahangir been head of a Natural History Museum,... [he] would have been [a] better and happier man." Further Beveridge notes, "He made no addition to the imperial territories, but on the contrary, diminished them by losing Qandahar to the Persians. But possibly his peaceful temper, or his laziness, was an advantage, for it saved much bloodshed. His greatest fault as a king was his subservience to his wife, Nur-Jahan, and the consequent quarrel with his son, Shah Jahan, who was the ablest and best of his male children. William Hawkins, who visited Jahangir's court in 1609, said: "In such short that what this man's father, called Ecber Padasha [Badshah Akbar], got of the Deccans, this king, Selim Sha [Jahangir] beginneth to lose." Italian writer and traveller, Niccolao Manucci, who worked under Jahangir's grandson, Dara Shikoh, began his discussion of Jahangir by saying: "It is a truth tested by experience that sons dissipate what their fathers gained in the sweat of their brow."
According to John F. Richards, Jahangir's frequent withdrawal to a private sphere of life was partly reflective of his indolence, brought on by his addiction to a considerable daily dosage of wine and opium.
Esposito, John L. (1998). The Oxford History of Islam. Oxford University Press.
Lapidus, Ira M. (2014). A History of Islamic Societies; New York City, New York, Cambridge University Press.
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