:''For people named Jahangir Khan, see
Jahangir Khan (disambiguation).''
'Nuruddin Salim Jahangir' (
Persian: نور الدین جهانگیر) (
August 31,
1569 –
October 28,
1627) was the ruler of the
Mughal Empire from
1605 until his death. The name Jahangir is from
Persian جهانگير, meaning "Conqueror of the World," "World-Conqueror," or "Dominant over the World." Alternative spellings of the name include ''Jehangir'', and ''Cihangir'' (in
Turkish). Nuruddin or Nur al-Din is an
Arabic name which means "the Light of the Faith."
Birth
It is said to be by blessing of Shaikh Salim Chisti (one of the revered sages of his times) that
Akbar's first surviving child, the future Jahangir, was born. He was born at the dargah of the Sheikh Salim Chishti, in the village Sikri near Agra. The child was named Salim after the darvesh and was affectionately addressed by Akbar as the Sheikhu Baba.
Akbar developed emotional attachment with the village Sikri (abode of Chishti). Therefore, he developed the town of Sikri and shifted his imperial court and residence from Agra to Sikri, later renamed as
Fatehpur Sikri.
Education
Akbar ensured that his son received the best education possible. Salim started his studies at the age of four and was taught
Persian,
Turkish,
Arabic,
Urdū, history, arithmetic, geography and other sciences by important tutors like Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, a renowned soldier and scholar.
Marriage
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 Man Bai, daughter of Bhagwan Das of Amber. Bhagwan Das (son of Bihari Mal) was the brother of Akbar's wife Jodhabai nee Rajkumari Hira Kunwari.
The marriage with Man Bai took place on
February 13,
1585. Thereafter, Salim was allowed to marry, in quick succession, a number of accomplished girls from the aristocratic Mughal and Rajput families. One of his favourite wives was a Rajput Princess, known as Jagat Gosain, who gave birth to Prince Khurram, the future
Shah Jahan, Jahangir's successor to the throne.
Jahangir married his twentieth and last wife, the extremely beautiful and intelligent
Mehr-un-Nisa (better known by her subsequent title of
Nur Jahan), in May
1611. She was the widow of
Sher Afghan. She was witty, intelligent and beautiful, which was what attracted Jahangir to her. Her abilities are said to range from fashion designing to hunting. There is also a myth that she had once killed four tigers with six bullets.
Revolt
Salim raised a standard of revolt against Akbar in
1599. Prince Salim finally succeeded to the throne on
November 3,
1605, eight days after his father's death. Salim ascended to the throne with the title of Nuruddin Muhammad Jahangir Padshah Ghazi, and thus began his 22-year reign at the age of 36. Having seized power, he had to fend off his own son Prince
Khusraw's claim to the throne. Khusraw (or Khusrau) was defeated in
1606 and confined in the fort of Agra. Later on, unearthing a conspiracy for his murder, Jahangir had Khusraw blinded as punishment. Afterwards, however, Jahangir's parental love led him to summon the best of physicians to cure him, and after a lot of effort vision in one of Khusrau's eyes was restored. Jahangir also executed the Sikh guru
Guru Arjan Dev who he suspected of supporting his opponents.
In
1622, Khurram (
Shah Jahan), younger brother of Khusrau, had Khusrau murdered in a conspiracy to eliminate all possible contenders to the throne.
Jahangir in Darbar, from the Jahangir-nama, c.1620.
Gouache on paper.
Jahangir's Mausoleum in Shahdara, Lahore
His reign
Jahangir started his reign with several popular acts. During his reign, there was a significant increase in the size of the Mughal Empire, half a dozen rebellions were crushed, prisoners of war were released, and the work of his father, Akbar, continued to flourish. Jahangir promised to protect
Islam and granted general amnesty to his opponents. He was also well noted for his subsidizes on the work of hundreds of painters and writers, of which he added works of his own.
Jahangir is most famous for his golden “chain of justice.” The chain was setup as a link between the people and Jahangir himself. Standing outside the castle of Agra with sixty bells, anyone was capable of pulling the chain and having a personal hearing from Jahangir himself.
Furthermore, Jahangir preserved the Mughal tradition of having a highly centralized form of government. The son of a Hindu Rajput mother, Jahangir refrained from making the precepts of Sunni Islam the cornerstone of his state policies. A faithful Muslim, as evidenced by his memoirs, he expressed his gratitude to Allah for his many victories which he called the “triumphs” of Islam. Nevertheless, Jahangir did not let his personal beliefs dictate his state policies. Sovereignty, according to Jahangir, was a “gift of God” not necessarily given to enforce God’s law but rather to “ensure the contentment of the world.” Although, the spread of Islam and the implementation of the Shari-ah were not the primary aims of the government, Jahangir attempted to implement the sanctions and prohibitions of Islamic law. Even so, it was only in the judicial department of the Mughal administration where Islamic law was applied. In civil cases, Islamic law applied to Muslims and criminal law was the same for both Muslims and Hindus. In matters like marriage and inheritance, both communities had their own laws that Jahangir respected. In the Mughal state, therefore, defiance of imperial authority, whether coming from a prince or anyone else aspiring to political power, or a Muslim or a Hindu, was crushed in the name of religion or law and order.
In this state, Jahangir was also susceptible to the influence of others, a weakness exploited by many. Because of this constant inebriated state,
Nur Jehan, the favorite wife of Jahangir, became the actual power behind the throne.
Although it started out as Jahangir’s flirtations with Christianity and with European traders and missionaries merely for the goods and protection they could bring, it was during Jahangir’s reign that the
British East India Company got formal permission to trade freely in the Mughal Empire. This is often said to be his greatest blunder, for these traders went on to become the rulers of
South Asia.
His autobiography
Jahangir was a good writer and loved nature. He recorded all sorts of wild tales of his life in his autobiography
Tuzk-e-Jahangiri. He liked paintings and collected many of them in his palace. Some of them are still found in museums.
Death
Jahangir died in
1627 and was buried in
Shahdara Bagh, a suburb of
Lahore,
Punjab,
Pakistan. He was succeeded by his third son,
Prince Khurram who took the title of
Shah Jahan. Jahangir's elegant
mausoleum is located in the Shahdara locale of Lahore and is a popular tourist attraction in Lahore.
Jahangir in media
Nuruddin Salim Jahangir and his father
Akbar the Great were portrayed in the
Hindi film ''
Mughal-e-Azam'', in which Jehangir was played by
Dilip Kumar.
Jalal Agha also played the younger Jehangir at the start of the film.
See also
★
Tomb of Jahangir
★
Battle of Swally
★
Anarkali
★
Hiran Minar
★
Mughal-e-Azam
References
1. Fatehpur Sikri. Columbia University.
Andrea, Alfred J. and Overfield, James H. The Human Record: Sources of Global History. Vol. 2: Since 1500. Fifth Edition.
Alvi, Sajida S. “Jahangir.” Religion and State During The Reign of Mughal Emperor Jahangir: Non-juristical Perspectives. No. 69. [1995]. JSTOR Database.
Findly, Ellison B. “Jahangir.” Jahangir’s vow of Non-Violence. No.2. Vol. 107. [1987]. JSTOR Database. < www.jstor.org >
★ The World Conqueror: Jahangir
★ Tūzuk-i-Jahangīrī Or Memoirs of Jahāngīr
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