Skip to main content

Jodha Bai: A Fact Check on Mughal History

 

In popular culture


Jodha Bai, as we know her, is the title by which we refer more often to the Rajput wife of Emperor Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar, the third Emperor of the Mughal (originally Timurid) dynasty who ruled between 1556 and 1605 A.D. She appears in various folklores of the popular "Akbar Birbal stories for Children '' as a queen, and these fictional tales on the wit of Birbal often are in fact our first introduction to both Akbar and Jodha Bai as children. These folktales have been taken up by various animators to be made into series. India's most popular platform of entertainment, besides its cricket, is Bollywood and Hindi cinema.


One of the most iconic movies ever made in the industry is "Mughal-e-Azam", which revolves around yet another fictitious tale of Prince Salim, later Jahangir, falling for a dancing girl from his father's harem, Anarkali. There, we see Prithviraj Kapoor in his iconic voice as Akbar, referring to his queen and Salim's mother as Jodha as well. Skip to Ashutosh Gowariker's most popular historical movie so far, the 2008 Hritik-Aishwarya starrer "Jodha Akbar" Yet again, the Rajput princess from Amer has been addressed as Jodha Bai. This movie inspired the later Zee TV drama called "Jodha Akbar" by the television star producer Ekta Kapoor, where yet again she has been portrayed as his love and the chief queen.



Who should be referred to as Jodha Bai?


The princesses who hail from Marwar, presently Jodhpur, Mehrangarh Fort or any other place belonging to the Marwar Rathore rulers were actually addressed as Jodha Bai or Jodh Bai. That can also include Merta Princesses, the most popular one being Meera Bai, who was married to Bhoj Raj, the heir apparent of Rana Sanga of Chittorgarh, Mewar.


Was Akbar's wife Jodha Bai?


Akbar married not one but many Rajput princesses under his alliance policy. He may have had princesses from Marwar in his harem as well. (Harem being where the women, including royals and their staff, stayed) But the princess of Amer, who is referred to as Jodha Bai, was not actually someone with that title. The title had, over time, been wrongly attributed to her. She is Harka Bai, born to Raja Bharmal of Amer and is also referred to as Heer Kanwar. Her date of birth remains unknown, as is the case with most Rajput women of her time, but her lineage is in no way related to the Rathores of Marwar. She came into Akbar's Harem after a marriage of Alliance between Amer and the Timurids. Akbar by then had two chief wives. His chief wife, cousin and consort, Rukaiya Sultana Begum, the daughter of his father's half-brother Hindal Mirza and Salima Sultana Begum, the daughter of his father's sister, who also happened to be a widow of his mentor Bairam Khan, who died in an attack. 


Harka Bai was prominent in establishing Akbar as a secular ruler and contributed to history by incorporating her Rajput culture and heritage into the Timurid legacy. She, along with other princesses who came from different Hindu states, made the Rajput Harem, which she in turn headed. She was not his Padshah Begum. She was the head of the Rajput Harem. Rukaiya remained Akbar's Padshah Begum throughout her life. The only reason Harka Bai finds more mention in Akbar's self-sponsored Biography by Abul Fazl, the Akbarnama, is that she had given birth to his first heir, Salim, after much difficulty in Akbar's life for an heir apparent. 


Upon Salim's birth, she was given the title of "Mariam Ur Zamani" or Mary of the Age. She lived well into her son's reign, had her own trading ships and business dealings and died in 1623 A.D. In Jahangir's own memorial, Tuzk E Jahangiri, he fondly remembers her by her title, Mariam Ur Zamani.




This scene from "Akbarnama" depicts the birth of Salim and Mariam Ur Zamani is shown on the bed, her complexion clearly more subcontinental than the Timurid ladies. This is perhaps the most detailed painting found of her alongside Hamida Banu Begum, Akbar's mother, who is seen (not in this part) in the painting wearing a Turkish hat. Salim was born in Sikri, a few miles from Agra, at the house of Salim Chisti, one of the descendants of the founder of the Chisti order of Sufism, Moinuddin Chisti, whose shrine is at Ajmer.


Was there any Jodha Bai?


The most popular princess in the Mughal(Timurid) Harem, who was probably originally referred to as Jodha Bai or Jodha Begum, could be Salim's wife, Manwati Kanwar, the second Rajput princess Salim married. She was the daughter of Raja Udai Singh Rathore, better known as Mota Raja and granddaughter of Rao Maldeo Rathore of Marwar (Jodhpur).

She is better known as the mother of Prince Khurram, the later emperor Shah Jahan.


The prince Khurram was handed over to Akbar's first wife, Rukaiya Begum, whom he fondly called "Shah Ammi." Manwati's official royal title was "Jagat Gossain", and she was perhaps the closest contender to Nur Jahan to be Jahangir's consort. She died early, during the reign of Jahangir in 1619. She is remembered in his memoirs and has been clearly referred to as the Jodhpuri princess in various sources. Her residence was at the Jahangir Mahal of Agra Fort. 


Jagat Gossain



Fact check on popular culture:


A lot of our beliefs and knowledge actually come from popular media such as stories and movies, rather than facts. Here are a few popular facts that have been wrongly incorporated into our lives on the Mughals, as well as perhaps even in our history books. (I will add points here as I progress, so your inputs are welcome, with sources)


  1. The dynasty is called the Timurids. They hail from Timur the Lame, and their native place was Samarkand. The popular name Mughal was given to them by Europeans to reflect upon Babar's maternal side, hailing from Genghis Khan and the Mongols, who were often referred to as Barbaric. It was a futile attempt to make the dynasty look bad.

  2. The Baburnama is not original. The original accounts written by Babar were lost, and the recreated version has 8 different sources written over a long period in different versions post his death.

  3. The Humayun Nama, written by his half-sister Gulbadan Begum, under the patronage of Akbar, has been found in pieces. The rest of it remains missing.

  4. Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar was one of the first rulers to speak up against child marriage and Sati. 

  5. Anarkali is fiction. The entire story had been written later by a poet. However, some say there was a dancer girl called Nadira whom Salim took an interest in, causing a rift between him and his father, in a futile attempt to get back at his father. Salim, later Jahangir, throughout his life, acknowledged his love for his later wife, Nur Jahan.

  6. Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal on a property gifted by Raja Jagat Singh for his second official wife, Arjumand Banu Begum, Mumtaj Mahal, the mother of his children. He did not marry any of her relatives or her sister. His other chief Begums were Qandahari Begum (From Kandahar), Zainabadi Begum and Fatehpuri Begum.

  7. No outsiders were allowed into the inner zenanas of the Harem. Nor did they visit any princesses in person. Any attempt by Europeans claiming so is just bazaar gossip, including their theories of incest and affairs that pointed at the characters of the princesses, namely, Jahanara and Roshanara. Since these writers were sponsored by the courts of European kings, they cooked up these stories to please their patrons, mostly because they were intimidated by the power and freedom these princesses held

  8. Most think Aurangzeb was a cruel and unjust ruler. What they don't often know is that he was just like Shah Jahan. And ever since his mother's death, Shah Jahan was very partial toward his children. Dara got to sit on a golden throne after his defeat in Kandahar, while Aurangzeb was scrutinised over the smallest of details of whether he sent the emperor the good mangoes from his orchard or kept them for himself. (We will do that story some other time.)

  9. None of the wives belonging to any other religion was ever converted. The titles given to them were official honours and not a change of name. The mausoleums in their names were made in their honour, and they were not buried inside. The wives belonging to any other religion practised their own. Even Akbar or Jahangir followed certain rituals of Hinduism as well as Sufism. They were not devout Muslims, much like the later Prince Mohammad Dara Shikoh, son of Shah Jahan, who was perhaps the first one in the dynasty to officially embrace Sufism. 

  10. Most importantly, in conclusion, Jodha Bai was neither Akbar's first Rajput queen nor the mother of Salim. Akbar's Rajput queen was Harka Bai, and Salim's wife was Jodha Bai.


Bibliography:

These are some of the very basic starting books you can refer to.
  1. Akbar Nama

  2. Akbar The Great Mogul by Vincent Smith

  3. Tuzk E Jahangiri

  4. Short History of Aurangzeb by Jadunath Sircar

  5. Mughal Empire by R.C. Majumder

  6. Medieval India by Satish Chandra

  7. Empress by Ruby Lal

  8. Daughters of the Sun by Ira Mukhoty

  9. Mahal by Subhadra Sengupta

  10. Royal Rajputs by Manoshi Bhattacharya


Popular posts from this blog

Bharat Ka Veer Putra Maharana Pratap on Sony: Review

  This is a tribute to Contiloe Entertainment’s Bharat Ka Veer Putra Maharana Pratap… which has no connection to history whatsoever! Everything that Begins comes to an End... But Memories Remain Forever...  A Serial, yes. Just a serial? No.  It’s much more than that.  It celebrates the life of India’s first freedom fighter. The man who stood against the odds and became immortal in history. It made us fall in love with the young, emotional. Strong and determined Kunwar Pratap. It made our hearts go  Na Na Na Na Na Chan Chan Chan Chan  every time his eyes met Ajabde’s. It made us believe in eternal love. It made our eyes moist with  Jauhar Phir se hai aya  and our hearts proud at  Veer tu Prachand du . His wars became ours, his pains and happiness our truths. His undying love and forgiving nature towards his family, and the respect he showed his parents. The love he had for the country and his horse. Everything we loved. Was it all love and no ...

Jauhar: All You Need To Know

 We have no Knowledge of the beginning and end of the world, the first and last of this ancient book has fallen out ~  Abu Talib Karim. Rightly said by the poet laureate of Emperor Shah Jahan above, we do not actually know the beginning and end of anything in the universe, be it the traditions, culture or human race, or the world. What we know are fragments of the past we extract from evidence. It is in vain to try to determine the first and last of something. For the past few months, owing to some media hype on Jauhar, many of you have asked me questions. I tried to answer most of them. However, a lot remained unsaid and unwritten. Mostly because some things are impossible to put into words. But here I try my best. Today is a very significant day in history. On the 23rd of February 1568, the world saw the last “Jauhar” of Chittorgarh, recorded in the medieval history of India. Akbar had invaded Mewar, and the four-month siege of four months ended in the Saka. There was no bet...

One Bullet? Not Enough!

  “NOTHING COMES WITHOUT SELF SACRIFICE... NEVER GIVE UP, EVEN IF WE FACE OUR OWN END...” ~ Matangini Hazra The year was 1869. For most of India, it is famous as the year when Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born to change the face of India's struggle for freedom. But in a corner of Undivided Bengal, the villagers of Hogla in Tamluk, the district capital of Medinipur, witnessed the birth of a girl child to Thakurdas Maity and his wife Bhagabati Devi. One can only imagine the birth of a girl child to a loan-ridden poor peasant in a village back then, perhaps meant no celebration. It meant the burden of having no heir, providing for this child and of course arranging for her dowry.    She was named Matangini, literally meaning “The Female Elephant”, but a name attributed to the consort of Lord Shiva, Adi Shakti.  The birthplace of Matangini is now renovated into this building. Courtesy: Midnapore. in The official records show her date of birth as the 17th of November 18...

Symphony of Love

  A week was enough for the master to be pleased enough with the new student to tell the Sultan that she was ready for her first performance. The Sultan was extremely pleased and rewarded him with a gold chain. As the master bowed to leave, the guards announced the arrival of the chief queen. Sultan Baz Bahadur sat upright. She was his first bride, a childhood alliance his father had forced upon him when he did not even know what marriage implied. Now he only saw her face when she had complaints about the inner palace and its inhabitants. Honestly, he expected her to be there since Roopmati arrived. His queen did not like changes, especially if those changes were threatening to her position. The Chief Queen arrived with her maids, dismissed them at the threshold and came up to her husband to bow and greet him. “What brings you here?” Baz Bahadur asked, with a lingering smile on his lips. The queen could hear the hint of taunt in his voice. She forced a smile. Her marriage to this r...

Maha Shiva Ratri

Mahashivratri: The Night of Shiva. It's Story, Significance & Spiritual Meaning: Har Har Mahadev! This powerful chant means Mahadev resides in all of us. On Mahashivratri, this eternal truth is celebrated by millions across the world, as the cosmos itself feels the blessings of Shiva. The Sacred Night: Legend of Mahashivratri On the 14th night before the new moon of the Phalgun month, a transformative event occurred in the ancient lore of Hindu Dharma: Lord Shiva married the Daughter of the Mountain, Parvati. This night became known as Mahashivratri , the great night of Shiva. This was the night when the ascetic, the great yogi who cared for none, embraced the life of a householder for the second time, showing that both renunciation and worldly responsibilities are valid paths for spiritual growth. The celestial wedding of Shiva and Parvati brought together all beings of the universe. Devas, Asuras, Ganas, Yakshas, and Nagas , beings from all realms and walks of life, ce...

The Atheist and The Lord

  This is more of a personal account of one of our family stories, and the reason we are ardent devotees of Lord Shiva. We mythologically trace our roots to the age of Ramayana, as descendants of Sage Vasistha's lineage from Sage Saktri, while historically we have records of our immediate family as early as the time of Babur and that of our ancestors from Kanauj. Family Origins: This was Gaur Banga or Bengal. My forefathers lived in the Jessore district of present-day Bangladesh. They were descendants of Shaktri, the son of Ved Vyas, whose family lived in Kanauj, U.P., and we are direct descendants of Sage Vasistha, who taught Rama the Vedas. The Shaktri clan travelled from the Vasistha Ashram near the River Beas to Kanauj in UP ( Present Uttarakhand) to teach and practice medicines there. They were Vedic-age Vaidyas. They were learned people of the Brahmin class trained to cure difficult diseases. Pandit Saktridhar Sen and his family were invited to King Adhisur's court in Ben...

The Groom Abductor

  She was sitting inside the Palace at Dwarka. Her brothers were busy attending to guests. The Prince of Hastinapur had arrived that day with a proposal for her elder brothers. Being aloof from political scenarios, the young princess, the only sister to her two brothers, was not bothered. She hated the sight of the prince who troubled her aunt and cousins back in Hastinapur. But he was her brother's student and hence a favourite at Dwarka. A maid came in a hurry and informed,  " There is good news, Rajkumari. Your wedding has been fixed to the Prince of Hastinapur, Suyodhan, by your eldest brother" Shocked, she could not speak. Her brother did not bother to ask for her opinion. Her childish anger overcame her as she rushed to her other brother, the one who always had the way. Crying, she reached his chambers, where his wife Rukmini was present. Seeing his dearest sister cry, Rukmini got up worried from her seat. "What is wrong, sister? Why are you crying?" ...

Sisodiya Family History

Many of you have requested a historical and chronological account of Chittorgarh since Rana Sanga. Let me start by telling you this is just an outline of the events as per history. The family name was originally Guhilot from Guha, a Rana of Mewar. But after one of the kings bravely killed a Sisod, a wild boar, the family name came to be Sisodiya. The Maharana of Mewar,  Sangram Singh , was father to Maharaj Kumar Bhoj Raj, his heir apparent and prince who was married to Saint Poetess Meera Bai , the princess of Merta. While Bhoj Raj died in the battle of Khanua, Rana Sanga died of wounds that did not heal from his battle with Babur and the invading Mughal army. He had fought 17 wars against Babar. When both Bhoj Raj and Sanga died, Rani Karvawati, the favourite queen of Rana Sanga, asked Meera Bai to leave the fort of Chittorgarh. It is believed that luck left Chittorgarh with Meera. The year was  1528 AD . Ratan Singh, the brother of Bhoj Raj, had been coronated when he suspe...

The Lady Sultan

Indian History, or subcontinental History, is incomplete without speaking of the women who left a mark in their own significant ways. The first woman who comes to mind is perhaps the only woman Sultan to rule Delhi, Raziya (Razia). It’s been over a year since I had been trying to read and understand the mystery of  Raziya Bint Iltutmish . Attributed as the only Woman Muslim Monarch of India, she is a name of many assumptions, imagination and speculations. The few books that have been written on her or the historical accounts of the Slave Dynasty mentioning her have always been about the turbulence of the government and the various rebels and uprisings that took place among the prominent chiefs of Iltutmish, who wanted to rise in power. No documentation or portrayal is found about her look, character or early days from her contemporary times. The only relevant historical book I found solely on her was by Dr Karunapada Dutta, while she finds a chapter in Heroines by Ira Mukhoty or Th...

Sisodiya: Kings, Queens and Princes (1538 - 1597)

I am back with another History post, this time it is on the wives and sons of Rana Udai Singh II of Mewar, his son and heir Maharana Pratap and Rana Amar Singh. This is a continuation of the Sisodia Family History I posted some time back. The information has been taken from Annals of Mewar by James Todd, Maharana Pratap by B.N. Rana, and Maharana Pratap by Rima Hooja.  Udai Singh II  was the son of Ranisa Karnawati and Rana Sangram Singh. He was born on 4th August 1 522, at Chittorgarh and died on 28th February 1 572 at Gogunda . He was the Ruler of the Sisodia Dynasty. He is believed to have  56 sons and 2 5 wives, apart from the many insignificant queens in his Rani Mahal. Here is a list of his main queens and their sons. Maharani Jaivanta Bai Songara of Jalore  was his chief queen and consort. Her son is Maharana Pratap. He was married to her before he went to war with Banbir, as her father, Akshayraj Rao, was a friend and ally of his father, Rana Sanga.  Saj...