JAHANGIR vs NURJAHAN

Jahangir (1605-1627)

Prince Salim, later Jahangir, was born in 1569, in Fatehpur Sikri, to Akbar and Mariam-uz-Zamani. Akbar's previous children had died in infancy and he had sought the help of holy men to produce a son. 

Salim was named for one such man, Sheikh Salim, though Akbar always called him Sheikhu Baba

When Akbar died, Prince Salim succeeded with the title Jahangir (Conqueror of World) at the age of 36. in 1605.

Jahangir‟s rule witnessed a spate of rebellions. 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 heirs. 

Khusrau Mirza was defeated in 1606 and confined in the fort of Agra. As punishment Khusrau Mirza was handed over to his younger brother and third son Prince Khurram (future Shah Jahan)and was imprisoned, partially blinded and killed.

One of Khusrau’s supporters, Guru Arjun, the fifth Sikh Guru, was beheaded.

In the year 1594, Jahangir was dispatched by his father, the Mughal Emperor Akbar to defeat the renegade Vir Singh Deo of Bundela and capture the city of Orchha, which was considered the centre of the revolt.

The victorious Jahangir, at 26 years of age, ordered the completion of the Jahangir Mahal a famous Mughal citadel in Orchha to commemorate and honour his victory

In 1622, Jahangir sent his son Prince Khurram against the combined forces of Ahmednagar, Bijapur and Golconda. After his victory Khurram turned against his father and make a bid for power. Jahangir was able to defeat the challenge.

The tale of his relationship with the Mughal courtesan, Anarkali, has been widely adapted into the literature, art and cinema of India.

In 1623, the Mughal 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 even the Khanates of Central Asia.

Jahangir began to contemplate an alliance between the Ottomans, Mughals and Uzbeks against the Safavids, who had defeated the Mughals at Kandahar. 

Salim was made a Mansabdar of ten thousand (Das-Hazari), the highest military rank of the empire, after the emperor. He independently commanded a regiment in the Kabul campaign of 1581, when he was barely twelve. His Mansab was raised to Twelve Thousand, in 1585, at the time of his betrothal to his cousin Rajkumari Man Bai, daughter of Bhagwant Das of Amer. 

Bhagwant Das, was the son of Raja Bhar Mal and the brother of Akbar's Hindu wife and Salim's mother – Mariam-uz-Zamani.

Emperor Jahangir weighing his son Prince Khurram(the future Shah Jahan) on a weighing scale by artist Manohar(AD 1615)

The marriage with Man Bai took place on 13 February 1585. Jahangir named her Shah Begum, and gave birth to Khusrau Mirza. 

Thereafter, Salim married, in quick succession, a number of accomplished girls from the aristocratic Mughal and Rajput families. One of his early favourite wives was a Rajput Princess, Jagat Gosain Begum. 

Jahangir named her Taj Bibi Bilqis Makani and she gave birth to Prince Khurram, the future Shah Jahan, Jahangir's successor to the throne.

Jahangir married the extremely beautiful and intelligent Mehr-un-Nisaa (better known by her subsequent title of Nur Jahan) in 1611. 

She was the widow of Sher Afgan. Mehr-un-Nisaa became his indisputable chief consort and favourite wife immediately after their marriage. 

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'). Her abilities are said to range from fashion designing to hunting. There is also an event that she had once killed four tigers with six bullets.

Jahangir also thought of capturing Kangra Fort, which Akbar had failed to do in 1615. Consequently, a siege was laid and the fort was taken in 1620,

Sir Thomas Roe was England's first ambassador to the Mughal court. Relations with England turned tense in 1617 when Roe warned the Jahangir that if the young and charismatic Prince Shah Jahan, newly instated as the Subedar of Gujarat, had 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 quite how to describe Jahangir's personal belief structure. Roe labelled him an atheist

Jahangir's most irksome foe was the Rana of Mewar, Amar Singh, who finally surrendered in 1613 to Khurram's forces. In the northeast, the Mughals clashed with the Ahoms of Assam, whose guerilla tactics gave the Mughals a hard time.

In Northern India, Jahangir's forces under Khurram defeated their other principal adversary, the Raja of Kangra, in 1615

painting

Like his father Akbar, the emperor Jahangir showed a keen interest in painting and maintained his own atelier. 

The tradition of illustrating books assumed secondary importance to portraiture during Jahangir’s reign because of the emperor’s own preference for portraits. Among the finest works of his reign are elaborate court scenes depicting him surrounded by his courtiers.

These are large scale exercises in portraiture, and the likeness of each figure is produced faithfully. The composition lacks the vigor, movement, and vivid color characterized by the works of Akbar’s reign; the figures are more formally ordered, the colors soft and harmonious, and the brushwork particularly fine.

Mughal paintings during Jahangir’s reign also boast magnificent floral and geometric borders.

Jahangir was also deeply influenced by European painting, having come into contact with the English crown and received gifts of oil paintings from England. 

He encouraged his atelier to emulate the single point perspective favored by European painters, unlike the flattened, multi-layered style traditionally used in miniature painting. 

These influences are evident in the illustrations of the Jahangirnama, a biographical account of Jahangir’s own life. In addition to portraits, many works included plant and animal studies and became part of lavishly finished albums. 

Most illuminated manuscripts were created by a single painter.

Jahangir in Darbar: Illustration of a court scene from the Jahangirnama, c. 1620. Jahangir makes a public appearance on a balcony as a large group of courtiers stand below.
Nur Jahan
In 1611, Jahangir married Mehrunnisa who was known as Nur Jahan (Light of World).
Her father Itimad Ud Daulah was a respectable person. He was given the post of chief diwan
Other members of her family also benefited from this alliance. Nur Jahan‟s elder brother Asaf Khan was appointed as Khan-i-Saman, a post reserved for the nobles.
In 1612, Asaf Khans daughter, Arjumand Banu Begum (later known as Mumtaj), married Jahangir's third son, prince Khurram (later Shah Jahan).
It was believed by some historians that Nur Jahan formed a group of “junta” and this led to two factions in the Mughal court.
The loss of Kandahar was due to Prince Khurram's refusal to obey her orders. When the Persians besieged Kandahar, Nur Jahan was at the helm of affairs. She ordered Prince Khurram to march for Kandahar, but the latter refused to do so.
There is no doubt that the refusal of the prince was due to her behaviour towards him, as she was favouring her son-in-law, Shahryar, at the expense of Khurram.
Khurram suspected that in his absence, Shahryar might be given promotion and that he might die on the battlefield. This fear forced Khurram to rebel against his father rather than fight against the Persians, and thereby Kandahar was lost to the Persians.
Nur Jahan struck coins in her own name during the last years of Jahangir's reign when he was taken ill.
She was the only Mughal empress to have coinage struck in her name.She was often present when the Emperor held court, and even held court independently when the Emperor was unwell.
She was given charge of his imperial seal, implying that her perusal and consent were necessary before any document or order received legal validity. The Emperor sought her views on most matters before issuing orders.
The only other Mughal empress to command such devotion from her husband was Nur Jahan's niece Mumtaz Mahal, for whom Shah Jahanbuilt the Taj Mahal as a mausoleum.
The palace of Jahangiri Mahal was built by Akbar. Mughal empress Nur Jahan used this magnificent palace as her residence until her death on 17 December 1645 .
However, she took no interest in affairs of state and Nur Jahan is therefore unique in the annals of the Mughal Empire for the political influence she wielded.
In 1620, Nur Jahan commissioned a large "sarai" in Jalandhar district twenty-five miles southeast of Sultanpur. It was such an important "sarai" that, according to Shujauddin, " 'Serai Noor Mahal' in local idiom meant some spacious and important edifice."
Tomb of Itimaaduddaula died in January 1622, and his tomb has been generally attributed to Nur Jahan. Itimaduddaula's tomb took six years to finish (1622-1628), and was built at an enormous cost.
According to Vincent Smith the pietra dura of Itimadadudddaula's tomb was one of the earliset true examples of the technique in India
Nur Jahan also built the Pattar Masjid at Srinagar, and her own tomb at Lahore.