Nur Jahan

Also called: Mehr-un-Nisa · Topic: The Mughal Empire: Babur to Aurangzeb · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Nur Jahan (born Mehr-un-Nisa) was a Persian-born noblewoman who married the Mughal emperor Jahangir in 1611. She became the most powerful woman at the Mughal court, and coins and royal orders were issued in her name.

She matters because she is the clearest example of a woman holding real power in Mughal politics. Her family also became very important at court. Through her niece Mumtaz Mahal, this family linked the reigns of Jahangir and Shah Jahan.

Explanation

Background: from Mehr-un-Nisa to Nur Jahan

• She was born Mehr-un-Nisa into a Persian family that had come to Mughal India in Akbar's time.
• Her father, Mirza Ghiyas Beg, rose in Mughal service and later received the title Itimad-ud-Daulah ("Pillar of the State").
• Her first husband was Sher Afgan, a Mughal officer in Bengal. He was killed in c. 1607.
• She then joined the royal household. In 1611 she married Jahangir (r. 1605–1627).
• Jahangir first gave her the title Nur Mahal ("Light of the Palace"), and later Nur Jahan ("Light of the World").

How her power worked

• Signs of sovereignty in her name:
• Coins were struck bearing her name together with Jahangir's. In Mughal India this was a mark of royal authority.

• Farmans (royal orders) were issued under her seal.

• Family in high office:

• Her father Itimad-ud-Daulah became the empire's chief minister.
• Her brother Asaf Khan became a leading noble.

• Asaf Khan's daughter Arjumand Banu Begum married Prince Khurram, the future Shah Jahan. She is better known as Mumtaz Mahal (born 1593, died 1631) [1].

• Why she could take control:

• Jahangir loved art and spent much of his attention on his painting workshop and on nature studies [3].
• In his later years his health became poor, partly from drink and opium.
• So everyday decisions passed more and more to Nur Jahan and the people around her.

How things changed over time

• Early years (c. 1611–1620): Nur Jahan, her father, her brother and Prince Khurram worked together. Some historians call this group the "Nur Jahan junta" (a small ruling clique).
• The split (early 1620s):
• Itimad-ud-Daulah died in c. 1622.
• Nur Jahan's daughter from her first marriage, Ladli Begum, married Jahangir's younger son, Prince Shahryar.
• Nur Jahan now backed Shahryar for the throne. Khurram felt threatened.

• Khurram rebelled (c. 1622–1626), but it failed.

• Mahabat Khan's coup (1626): the general Mahabat Khan captured Jahangir for a short time. Nur Jahan helped free him.

• The end (1627):
• Jahangir died in 1627.
• Asaf Khan sided with his son-in-law Khurram, not with his sister.
• Shahryar was defeated, and Khurram became Shah Jahan (r. 1628–1658).
• Nur Jahan withdrew from politics and lived quietly in Lahore until her death (1645).

Patronage and results

• She built the Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah at Agra for her father (c. 1622–1628).
• It is made of white marble with rich pietra dura (coloured stones cut and fitted into marble to make pictures) [2].

• It is often called a forerunner of the Taj Mahal (built 1631–1648) [1].

• She was also known as a patron of gardens, sarais (rest-houses) and court fashion. She was a skilled hunter as well.

• Result: her family's rise placed Asaf Khan and Mumtaz Mahal at the centre of Shah Jahan's reign. That reign became the architectural peak of the empire.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: about 1611–1627, during Jahangir's reign (r. 1605–1627), in the Mughal Empire.
• Places: the Mughal court at Agra and Lahore; the Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah, Agra (Uttar Pradesh); her own tomb at Shahdara, Lahore (now in Pakistan).
• Key people: Jahangir; Itimad-ud-Daulah (father); Asaf Khan (brother); Prince Khurram/Shah Jahan; Mumtaz Mahal (niece); Prince Shahryar (son-in-law); Mahabat Khan.
• How we know:
• Coins bearing her name.
• Farmans issued under her seal.
• Jahangir's own memoirs, the Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri. They are the same memoirs in which he records his Kashmir flower paintings [3].
• Accounts by European visitors, especially Sir Thomas Roe, the English ambassador at Jahangir's court. According to Roe, she held great power behind the throne.

Don't confuse with

• Mumtaz Mahal: she was Shah Jahan's wife and Nur Jahan's niece (Asaf Khan's daughter). The Taj Mahal is her tomb [1]. Nur Jahan was Jahangir's wife.
• Nur Mahal: this was not a different woman. It was Nur Jahan's earlier title, before she became "Nur Jahan".
• Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah and Taj Mahal: both are white marble tombs at Agra. Nur Jahan built the first, for her father. Shah Jahan built the Taj for his wife (1631–1648) [1].
• Itimad-ud-Daulah and Asaf Khan: Itimad-ud-Daulah was her father and the chief minister. Asaf Khan was her brother, and he helped Shah Jahan take the throne in 1627.

Prelims Hooks

• Mehr-un-Nisa married Jahangir in 1611 and received the titles Nur Mahal, then Nur Jahan.
• Nur Jahan is the Mughal empress whose name appeared on coins together with the emperor's name.
• Relationships: Itimad-ud-Daulah was her father. Asaf Khan was her brother. Mumtaz Mahal was her niece. Prince Shahryar was her son-in-law.
• Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah, Agra: built by Nur Jahan, with white marble and pietra dura. It came before the Taj Mahal (1631–1648) [1].
• Chronological order: Nur Jahan's marriage (1611) → Khurram's rebellion (early 1620s) → Mahabat Khan's coup (1626) → Jahangir's death (1627) → Shah Jahan's reign (1628–1658).
• Trap: Nur Jahan was Jahangir's wife, not Shah Jahan's wife or Akbar's.

Mains Points

• Women and power in the Mughal state. Coins and farmans in her name show that a queen could use real authority, not just influence from behind a curtain. This is useful for GS-I answers on women in medieval India. It also shows how power at court passed through family and marriage networks.
• The "junta" debate. Older historians described a "Nur Jahan junta" that ran the empire after 1611. Later historians argue this goes too far:
• Jahangir kept the final say for most of his reign.
• Her group broke up early, when Khurram and Asaf Khan turned against her.

• The balanced view: her power was real but limited, and it grew as Jahangir's health failed.

• A bridge in art and architecture. Her Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah, with its white marble and pietra dura [2], sits between Jahangir's painting-centred patronage [3] and Shah Jahan's marble building programme. Use it to show continuity in the shift from brush to building that led up to the Taj Mahal [1].

Related concepts

• Jahangir
• Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri
• Chain of justice
• Itimad-ud-Daulah's tomb
• Akbar's tomb, Sikandra
• Shalimar Bagh, Srinagar
• Mughal miniature painting
• Ustad Mansur
• Muraqqa
• Shah Jahan

Read more

• Jahangir and Shah Jahan: the architectural peak