Nur Jahan: The Enigma

The Mughal Empire was at its peak. The year was 1577. Emperor Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar was the Imperial Mughal Emperor, and the only resistance he was facing was from the Deccans and Mewar. Maan Singh, his general, was taking care of these resistances as Akbar indulged in art and religion. Akbar's first son, from Mariam Ur Zamani, i.e. Harka Bai of Amer, Nur-Uddin-Mohammad Salim, was eight years old and spoilt immensely as the heir to the throne.

Meanwhile, far away,
Mirza Ghiaz Begh and his pregnant wife Asmat Begum, along with their three sons, were moving through the difficult roads of Afghanistan into India, in search of a new life after suffering misfortune in their homeland of Persia after a change of power on the throne. A clueless Mirza was searching for a new life and job. Disaster didn't seem to end on the tough roads when they were attacked by robbers. Everything they had was snatched away, and thankfully, lives were spared.

The day was 31st May 1577.
His luck seemed to go nowhere when his wife was in labour pains in the middle of nowhere at Kandahar. His only daughter was born to them. But the sad parents, unsure of the future and seeing their three hungry and tired children, were not sure if they could take care of the child at all. They decided to abandon the child when, for the first time, luck seemed to favour them and Mirza met an influential merchant, Malik Mahsud. Malik Mahsud was a generous man who took the family with him to Lahore and thus introduced Ghiaz Begh to the Emperor. Malik Mahsud named the girl child Mehr - Un- Nissa.

Nur Mahal Sarai

Within a few years, Ghiaz Begh was an influential name in the court of Akbar. Mehr un Nisa were growing up to be beautiful and intelligent girls. Unlike most parents of her time, Mehr Un Nisa's father insisted on giving her all the education her brothers received, including archery, sword fighting and learning Urdu poetry. She was so intelligent that at the tender age of seven, the chief consort of Akbar, Rukaiya Begum (since Harka Bai died), appointed her as one of her service girls. Her intelligence and suggestions won her the Empress' trust and love. The Nur Mahal in Punjab is where people assume she spent her early childhood.

Prince Salim

In Lahore, where the Mughal Ladies stayed, away from the politics of Agra, she met the sixteen-year-old Prince Salim when she was only eight. He was then married to his cousin's sister, Rajkumari Manwati Bai, daughter of Bhagwan Das of Amer. Salim used to come to Lahore at times to spend time with his wives and Rukaiyya Begum, while Mehr Un Nissa was always attracted by the grandeur and imperialism of the  Mughal Royals. Prince Salim, known for his not-so-good ways with the ladies, had married 11 princesses across Rajputana and Afghanistan between 1685 to 1696. He also had three sons, Khusru, from Maanwati Bai, Khurram from Jagat Gosain of Jodhpur (Later emperor Shah Jahan) and lastly Shahryar from his influential concubine Yasmina. He met a teenager, Mehr Un Nisa, in Lahore and fell in love. What followed was a turbulent affair of love and politics.

The Mughal Zenana was buzzing with news that Ghiaz Begh's teenage daughter had attracted the attention of the crown prince. What did she want? Power? Was Mirza using her to be more influential? Her elder brother, Asaf Khan (father of later Empress Mumtaz Mahal), was already a trusted man in Salim's regiment. Power Hungry or Love... the news of their affair reached Akbar, who was already displeased at Salim's ways. He immediately arranged the marriage of Mehr Un Nissa with Ali Quli Khan, an official of his court, who was previously a Persian general. Ali Quli was a name that quickly gained prominence in Agra. Even when her parents didn't approve of the match, they married her off to this man against her wishes in 1594, at the age of seventeen.

Salim and Mehr Un Nisa

This marriage, I believe, is the turning point in Mehr Un Nisa's life. She became more politically aware and learned to play her moves in the political world well. I think the love that she blindly believed in Salim was shaken when she was made to believe by Salim's close aide that he chose the throne over her. Meanwhile, the Prince was engaged in a war in Mewar and had no clue about the marriage until it was too late. The game of misunderstandings increased when Akbar ordered Ali Quli to shift to Burdwan in Bengal. Mehr Un Nisa left Agra with a broken heart. Meanwhile, Salim came back to realise that his father had acted against his love, and his rage increased. However, the competition from his brothers was too much, and the greed for the throne was too much to speak up against Akbar. If folktales are to be believed, a broken-hearted Salim found solace in one of his father's mistresses, popularly known as Anarkali. That love too suffered the misfortunes as Akbar was humiliated by Salim's ways yet again.

In 1605, Mehr Un Nisa gave birth to her daughter, Ladli Begum, in Bengal. Quli Khan was summoned for war under Salim, who was coronated the same year. Folktales say it is then that he saved Salim from a tiger, and in gratitude, he was named Sher Afghan. He went back to Bengal, and Salim came to know that Mehr Un Nisa now had a daughter. Salim, by 1610, married eight more wives. Some say he even married some out of love.

In 1610, as per the burial sites of Burdwan in Bengal, a war broke out between Quli Khan and Qutubuddin Koka, the foster brother of Salim, who was Subedar of Bengal. Quli Khan had reportedly joined the rebels against the state. Both died in this war, leaving Mehr Un Nisa with her child, helpless. Her brother took her back to Lahore, where, once again in 1610, she was appointed as one of the Ladies in waiting for Rukaiya Begum. Jagat Gosain Begum was slowly gaining prominence in Salim's life as he blamed Manbhawati Bai for Khusrau's rebellious ways. Rukaiya Begum saw that with Jagat Gossain's prominence increasing, it would be trouble, as the Jodhpur princess didn't like her, as she had taken Prince Khurram out of his mother's care and brought him up herself with Mehr Un Nisa's help.


In 1611, Rukaiya Begum decided to step up and took Mehr Un Nisa with her to Agra for the spring festivals of Nowruz. Mehr Un Nisa was in the Meena Bazar with her child in tow when she finally met the then Emperor Nuruddin Mohammad Salim Jahangir at the bazaar. The love rekindled, knowing she was now a widow who had suffered misfortunes and misunderstandings, took a back seat as he immediately proposed marriage to her. This time, there was no one to stop him. Rukaiya Begum supported this match much to Jagat Gosain and the other Rajputs' dismay. This marriage also ended the Rajput influence in the Mughal courts.

Khurram and Mumtaz

She was his twentieth and last legal wife. After the marriage, she was named "Empress Nur Jahan", the "Light of the world", by her husband, who lost no time in making her his chief consort. She was an influence in his life that all his other wives and sons dreaded. She got her father and brother their influential positions back in the Mughal court and was a co-regent of Jahangir. Unlike other Mughal Empresses, she took an active part in the court, wars and hunting expeditions alongside her husband, which angered many courtiers. Nur Jahan was the only Mughal Empress to have her name engraved on coins, thus proving her importance in the court and his life. She was always in favour of women's education, and the first schools and colleges for women in India were built by Empress Nur Jahan. She even got her niece, Arjumand Banu, later Mumtaz Mahal married to Salim's second child, Khurram, known popularly as Shah Jahan. Childless with the emperor, she got her daughter, Ladli, married to Prince Shahryar.

Empress Nur Jahan

In 1616, while Jahangir and Nur Jahan were enjoying time off at the Akbari fort in Ajmer alone when Sir Thomas, the English Ambassador, paid them a visit to ask for trade permission from the East India Company. Although Jehangir was reluctant, Nur Jahan suggested it would be beneficial to curb the Portuguese traders of the West, and thus, England gained access to India.

In 1626, there was a rebellion in Kashmir in which the leader, Mahabat Khan, captured the Mughal Emperor Jehangir. Here for the first time, Nur Jahan's independent war strategies were visible as she led an army and planned a strategy to save the Emperor. She mounted an elephant on the Battlefield, bow and arrows in hand. The rebellion injured her mount, which fell, and thus she was left with no choice but to surrender. Mahabat Khan underestimated the power and intellect of this Lady as he put them both in a cellar from which Nur Jahan planned a successful escape.

Shahryr

On 7th November 1627, he ascended the throne in Lahore, under Nur Jahan's influence. She even made him reward nobles so that they would not rebel against him. This was proof of her foresight in politics. However, Khurram's supporters and her brother's army were stronger. She had been in the bad books of many with her open-mindedness and power to influence and decide for the Emperor, something the Mughals had never witnessed before. Soon, forces of Asaf Khan sent by Khurram met Shahryar in Lahore, and he was killed on 23rd January 1628, at the mere age of 23.

Jahangir died on 28th October 1627, leaving the authority and responsibility of the Mughal Empire in her able hands. She was now to choose his heir. Khurram was her closest son till she married his father. But with her growing influence, Khurram was insecure about his position and being heir to the throne, as Khusrau was blinded by his father. He and his father-in-law soon were against the influential Nur Jahan. Hurt by the ones she called her own, Nur Jahan supported Shahryar, husband to her daughter, for the throne. He was already a governor, under Jahangir, by her influence. He had Ladli Begum had a daughter as well.

Ladli Begum and her child, along with Nur Jahan, were ordered to be kept under house imprisonment by Khurram in Lahore, where she grew up as the lady in waiting for Rukaiya Begum. Filled with memories of the glorious past, of love found and lost, deceits and politics, power and intelligence, Nur Jahan spent the last days of her life in Lahore, remaining faithful to her one true love. Ladli Begum took care of her mother in her last days. She spends her time overseeing the construction details of her father's Memorial in Agra, and she's in Lahore. She wrote poetry under the assumed name Makhfi and read books and poems.

On 17th December 1645, she died in Lahore, under confinement, and Khurram made sure she was given a glorious farewell the Mughal Empress deserved. Her tomb is Shahdara Bagh in Lahore, and upon her tomb, it is inscribed " On The Grave Of This Poor Stranger, Let There Be Neither Lamp Nor Rose, Let Neither Butterfly's Wings Burn Nor The Nightingale Sing."

Tomb of Nur Jahan, Lahore

Nur Jahan. The name itself speaks of a romantic weave of a writer's imagination in her characterisation. Some see her as a cunning lady, intelligent and power-hungry, who rose to the throne she had dreamt of ruling. Others see teenagers in love, struck by deception and misfortune, to win what was hers again.

To me, Nur Jahan is the Nefertiti of her time. Misunderstood, beautiful, intelligent and influential. She is the symbol of women's power that the male-dominant society feared and wanted to stop in vain.

Nur Jahan was the only Mughal woman with commercial coins minted in her name. 

I see Nur Jahan as the woman, the only one, in the large, influential Mughal empire who walked out of the Zenana, and the Jharokhas to teach the world that women could rule alongside, fight and be brave. She preferred the court and battlefields over the luxuries of the inner palace. She was a mesmerising beauty and a deft politician. She was an influential wife and a co-regent. She was a selfish lover, power-hungry. Was that a crime? While men killed brothers and fathers over the throne, was it a crime to love and influence with her beauty, charm and intelligence to gain the prominence she wanted? No. She played by the rules that the men played by. She was Nur Jahan, the light of Jehangir's life.

Further Reads:

Nur Jahan by Findly

Empress by Ruby Lal

For Historical Fiction on Nur Jahan by Suranya: