Get Complete Information on Nur Jahan

The story of Nur Jahan must occupy a very important place in the history of Jahangir. She was the daughter of Mirza Ghiyas Beg who himself was the son of Khwaja Mohammad Sharif who was the native of Tehran and Wazir of The Tartar Sultan, Beglar Begi of Khorasan. On account of unfavourable circumstances, Mirza Ghiyas Beg decided to try his luck in India. He took his journey under the protection of a wealthy merchant named Malik Masud.

While Mirza Ghiyas Beg was on his way to India, a daughter was born at Kandhar. Mirza Ghiyas Beg was introduced to Akbar by Malik Masud and on account of his hard work and honesty, he rose to the high position of Diwan of Kabul. When his daughter named Mahrunnissa reached the age of 17, she was married to Ali Wuli Beg Istaglu who was a Persian Adventurer. He was given a Jagir in Bengal and also the Title of Sher Afghan.

Jahangir learnt that Sher Afghan was insubordinate and disposed to be rebellious. Consequently, Qutb-ud-Din, the New Governor of Bengal, was directed to chastise home. When Qutb-ud-Din went to carry out the orders, he was killed by Sher Afghan who himself was put to death by the attendants of Qutb-ud-Din. Afghans widow, Mahrunnissa, as brought to Agra and was placed under Sultana Salima Begum in 1607. In 1611, she married Jahangir who gave her the Title of Nur Mahal or “Light of the Palace”. The Title changed later onto Nur Jahan or ” The Light of the World”.

There has been a lost of controversy regarding the circumstances of the death of Sher Afghan and the marriage of his widow with Jahangir. Some views are as under:

Dr. Beni Prasad, the author of his monumental work on Jahangir, was of the opinion that Prince Salim had never seen Mahrunnissa. Akbar had also not forbidden the marriage between Prince Salim and Mahrunnissa and Jahangir saw her for the first time in 1611. He maintained that no contemporary Persian Source supported the view that Jahangir as a prince had desired to m Ty Mahrunnissa and Akbar had refused permission. No contemporary Persian Writer had held Jahangir responsible for the murder of Sher Afghan.

Likewise, the contemporary European Travellers and Missionaries are also silent on this point. If it is accepted that Akbar had opposed the marriage of Mahrunnissa with Salim, he would not have placed Sher Afghan on the staff of Prince Salim in 1599. Moreover, if Salim had considered Sher Afghan as his rival, he would not have given him promotions after his accession to the throne and even before.

Qutb-ud-Din was appointed the Governor of Bengal not for the purpose of bringing about the murder of Sher Afghan but because Jahangir wanted to remove Man Singh from that important province. Moreover, a woman like Nur Jahan would never have agreed to marry the murderer of her husband.

According to Dr. Ishwari Prasad, “There is every possibility that Jahangir as a Prince loved Mahrunnissa and wanted to marry her. There is every possibility of his complicity in the murder of Sher Afghan. According to him, the arguments given by Dr. Beni Prasad in favour of the innocence of Jahangir are of a negative nature. There is nothing to contradict the positive assertions of the later Indian Historians who were “in a batter position to state the truth in a matter like this than their predecessors.”

Moreover, there were no definite charges against Sher Afghan and the Governor, Qutb-ud-Din, was instructed to punish him only if he “showed any futile seditious ideas.” To quote Dr. Ishwari Prasad, “Our suspicions are confirmed by the suddenness with which the arrest was attempted.” Jahangir himself was very fond of mentioning even the most trivial affairs of his life in his Memoirs. He has omitted altogether the circumstances of his marriage with Nur Jahan.

That creates the suspicion. He mentioned the name of Nur Jahan for the first time in 1614. It is also pointed out that after the death of Sher Afghan, Mahrunnissa should have been sent to her father or brother who were both living. There was absolutely no justification of her being brought to the royal palace and kept under the control of the step-mother of Jahangir. It is worthy of note that such a thing was never done in the case of the windows of other nobles and officers. De Laet, a Dutch contemporary, says that Jahangir loved Mahrunnissa when he was a Prince.

Jahangir intentionally did not marry Mahrunnissa for four long years with a view to removing the suspicion from the mind of the people regarding the death of Sher Afghan. Moreover, some time was required for reconciling Mahrunnissa, who must have been unhappy over the death of her husband. The conclusion of Dr. Ishwari Prasad is that “the circumstances of Sher Afghan’s death are of highly suspicious nature. Altogether there is no conclusive evidence to prove that the Emperor was guilty of the crime.”

The character of Nur Jahan provides a fascinating study. There is much in her which deserves praise. She had “a piercing intelligence, a versatile temper, sound commonsense.” She could understand the most intricate problems of the state without any difficulty. No political or diplomatic problem was beyond her comprehension.

The greatest statesmen and ministers bowed to her decisions. She was fond for poetry and wrote verses. She not only possessed superb beauty but was also a love of beauty. She did a lot to add to the splendour and glory of Mughal court. She set the fashions of the age. She designed new varieties of silk and cotton fabrics. She suggested models of jewellery.

Nur Jahan was possessed of great physical strength and courage. She went out on hunting tours with her husband. On more than one occasion she shot ferocious tigers. Her presence of mind was remarkable. This is clear from the rebuke she gave on her brother, Asaf Khan, when Jahangir was imprisoned by Mahabat Khan on the river Jhelum. Nur Jahan was at her best at the time of difficulty. Even generals and soldiers were amazed at the manner in which she behaved at the time of an emergency. When her husband was imprisoned by Mahabat Khan, she seatei’ herself on an elephant and tried to rescue him even by endangering her own life.

She worked very hard and no detail of administration escaped her notice. She was generous and the refuge of the poor and the destitute. She provided money for the marriages of orphan Muslim Girls. She was the “asylum of all sufferers.” According to Jahangir himself, “Whosoever threw himself upon her protection was preserved from tyranny and oppression, and if ever she learnt that any orphan girl was destitute and friendless, she would bring about her marriage and give her a wedding portion. It is probable that during her reign no less than 500 orphans were married and portioned.”

Nur Jahan raised her own kiths and kins to high positions. Asaf Khan, her brother, was made the first minister of the state. She also gave a high position to her father. Likewise when she married her daughter to Shahriyar, many favours were showered on him. Her devotion to Jahangir was unmatched. She loved him so much that he forgot all about the world. No wonder, he entrusted all the work of the Government to her. Jahangir used to remark: “I have sold my kingdom to my beloved queen for a cup of wine and a dish of soup.”

Nur Jahan was the ruler herself. The highest dignitaries of the state came to her for favours. A word from her could make or mar the career of any one. Rebels against the state requested her to interfere on their behalf. It was because of her that Jagat Singh, the hill chief of the Punjab, was forgiven and the “the pen of pardon was drawn through record of his faults.”

If Nur Jahan had virtues, she had her faults also. She was extremely jealous and could not tolerate the rise of others. She was afraid less their rise should weaken her position. This is clear from the treatment meted out by her to Mahabat Khan who had been sent to pursue Prince Khurram in the Deccan. Mahabat Khan had done his job so nicely that he had succeeded in turning out the Prince from the Deccan and also from Bengal where he had retired. This made him the idol of his soldiers. It was his popularity which created jealousy in the mind of Nur Jahan.

She recalled him from his mission and ordered him to send to the court the elephants he had obtained in Bihar and Bengal and also render an account of the money alleged to have been received by him from the dispossessed jagirdars. Mahabat Khan proceeded towards the Punjab where the Emperor was with a view to presenting his case personally. He had with him four to five thousand Rajput Soldiers. Jahangir had come back from Kashmir and was going to Kabul and he was to cross the River Jhelum next morning. News of the approach of Mahabat Khan upset the Royal Party.

Jahangir ordered Mahabat Khan to remain where he was and Nur Jahan asked him to explain as to why he had married his daughter to a nobleman’s son named Barkhurdar without the previous permission of the court. Barkhurdar was summoned to the court. He was publicly disgraced and sent to prison with his hands tied to the neck. The dowry given by Mahabat Khan was forfeited. All this was too much for Mahabat Khan. He got Jahangir arrested and Nur Jahan had also to submit for the time being.

However, when the control of Mahabat Khan over the Emperor ended, he ran away to the Deccan and joined hands with Prince Khurram who was already in revolt. It cannot be denied that Nur Jahan was responsible for turning Mahabat Khan into an enemy. The man who could have been used against the enemies of the Empire, was himself turned into an enemy.

Nur Jahan was responsible for the loss of Kandhar in 1622. The Persians besieged Kandhar and the Mughal Garrison appealed for help to Jahangir. Nur Jahan who was at the helm of affairs ordered Prince Khurram to proceed to Kandhar but the latter refused to do so. There is no denying the fact that the refusal of Khurram was due to her behaviour towards him. She had done things which could not be tolerated by Khurram. She was favouring her son-in-law’ at the cost of j. Ladli Begum, daughter of Nur Jahan from her first marriage was married to Shahriyar.

Khurram. The latter had requested again and again for the grant of the Jagir of Hissar Firoza, but that was given to Shahriyar, who had been rightly nicknamed “Nashudani,” or “good-for-nothing” by his contemporaries. Khurram was right in suspecting that in his absence to Kandhar, Shahriyar might be given further promotion and he himself might be deposed of in the battlefield. Even Dr. Beni Prasad admits that in the absence of Prince Khurram, Nur Jahan was sure to push her creature Shahriyar to the front and undermine the position of Prince Khurram.

It was t.S s fear which forced Khurram to rebel against his father rather than fight against the Persians and thereby Kandhar was lost to the Mughals. It was Nur Jahan who was primarily responsible for this. It cannot be denied that the system of Government degenerated under her control. Everything became rotten. There were plots, intrigues and conspiracies. Sir Thomas Roe tells us that “The things had come to such a pass that even he himself had to offer a very costly present to Asaf Khan to get his own work done.”

According to Dr. Ishwari Prasad, it was under the influence of Nur Jahan that Jahangir became a thorough-bred pleasure-seeker and completely forgot the duties of his office. If Jahangir’s reign forms an inglorious period in the annals of the Mughal Dynasty, she must share the responsibility in no small measure. The new fashions and tastes which she fostered, are a poor compensation for the lack of military achievement or administrative reform which must remain the supreme test of the greatness of rulers and statesmen. The dominating Begum made her husband travel fast on the path of ease till he ceased to take all interest in public business and began to look upon alcohol as a prodent friend.

According to Dr. R.R. Tripathi, “The influence which she exercised over her husband was mostly moral, emotional, spiritual and possibly intellectual. It, however, led some people to believe that in political sphere also her influence was equally great and politics of the day, particularly after the death of her father, was entirely dominated by her. This suspicion was strengthened by her interested detractors who wanted to exploit it for their own ends. Opinions are easily formed and popular currency is given to them equally easily.

If facts are stripped of opinion and scrutinized on their own merit, they hardly support the popular view. To argue that a lady of such energy, vitality and personality could hardly resist the temptation of meddling in politics is to beg the question and take to unscientific reasoning. Only once did she take an appreciable part in war and politics not for love of them or her inquisitiveness or ambition but to rescue her husband from the grip of Mahabat Khan.

The driving motive was her love for her husband and brother and incidentally, a desire to uphold respect and vindicate the dignity of the Crown of which she was also an ornamental part. Her responsibility for the rebellion of Khurram or Mahabat Khan or the so-called struggle for succession is a figment of imagination and popular myth and is as fanciful as the responsibility of Jahangir for the murder of Sher Afghan. The facts, however, indicate that far from being an evil genius hovering over Jahangir, she was his guardian angel.'”