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Sunday, December 14, 2014

Excerpts from Jahangirnama - Jahangir and his Relatives


This post which you are going to read now deals mainly with the experience of a blog reader, Preeti, who was reading Jahangirnama. I wanted some one else(other than me) to share the review of that book, so asked her to share her personal views after going through that memoir. She shared it on blog. {Link} This post talks of Jahangir's relationship with his parents, step-mothers, foster mother, etc. The Focus is on his relation with his mother.

I am posting her review/comment "as it is" here. I have tried to be as brief as possible & added my views in RED color only , because i want this post to be read as an independent assessment of hers only. I will be posting my views later in a separate post.

Here we go:

"
Reference:
The Jahangirnama: Memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India
By Jahangir, tr. Wheeler M. Thackston, Oxford University Press, 1999

Hello, I have just had a wonderful week reading excerpts of the Jehangirnama.
Abhay had requested I share some of the snippets from my reading with you all.

I want to start with a DISCLAIMER: 

I only read it in bits and pieces as I was primarily interested in Jehangir’s relationship with his mother/parents and with his step mothers. So I indexed the names I was interested in and only read those sections. Here are some facts and my thoughts as well:

1. 
There is no ambiguity in the Jehangirnama about the status of his mother what so ever! Mariam-Uz-Zamani(MUZ) is the only one (besides for his grandmother Hamida Bano) who he addresses as HER MAJESTY /HAZRAT Mariam-Uz-Zamani. At other times he addresses her as my exalted mother. Akbar is also addressed as His Majesty, Arsh Arshiyani or my exalted father.
 

His stepmothers are addressed simply as "Ruqayya Sultana Begum - daughter of Hindal Mirza" and "Salima Sultan Begum -  daughter of Gulrukh Begum". There are no titles prefixed in front of their names at all. Even Nur Jehan is NOT referred to as Her Majesty after her many titles.

{
If missed, do check out this post. 
It is about the mosque of Mariam-Uz-Zamani Begum Sahiba in Lahore, even here in the inscriptions, her name is mentioned along with the epithet - "Hazrat".
The Mosque of Mariam-Uz-Zamani Begum at Lahore | Pictures, Persian Inscriptions, English Translations, Explanations, & more
}


2. 
JEHANGIR AND HIS FOSTER MOTHER : 

It is without doubt that he loved this lady immensely….possibly more than his own mother. I know Abhay clarified with Ika { Here is that post : Link } earlier about what Jehangir said when his foster mother died but he also said something similar when talking about Qutubudin Koka: “when I was an infant I was looked after by her. The intimacy I have with her I do not have with my own mother”. Clearly this signifies to me he was closer to his foster mother than to MUZ.

{ 
My views:

The foster mother of Jahangir was a daughter of the Sufi saint Sheikh Salim Chisti, by whose blessings he was born. She was also the mother of Jahangir's favorite foster brother - Qutub-ud-din Koka, who became his private secretary after Jahangir became the Emperor. He was also made a Governor of Bengal. Clearly all these points leave no doubt that he respected her a lot, and held her in high regard. She was his foster mother and also the mother of his favorite foster brother. 

We all know, how much Akbar regarded his foster mother - Jiji Anga. He shaved his head ONLY twice in his life. Once at the death of his own mother-Hamida Bano and other at the death of his foster mother-Jiji Anga. He even carried the corpse of Jiji Anga for some distance with her. Mughals regarded their sisters/senior ladies with respect.


Some details in this regard were shared by Radhika, {Link} which i am sharing here also. 

Akbar was equally respectful towards Maham Anga, Jiji Anga etc. Generally, very high noble women who were trustworthy and close to the royal family were chosen as the foster mothers(anagha). Once a woman nursed a prince, she remained his foster mother for life and was treated as such. Akbar deeply mourned the death of Jiji Anga too by shaving off his head and moustache. And he forgave his foster brothers (koka) like Adham Khan, Mirza Koka etc many times.

The foster brothers and even the husbands of the foster mothers (atakah) became part of the imperial family and rose high in the imperial service. Mirza Aziz Koka was given the title of Khan-i-Azam and rose to a level just below that of a prince of royal blood. His daughter was married to Akbar's grandson, Khusrau. Shams ud-din Ataka was Jiji Anga's husband and rose to the level of vakil at the time of his death. The sons of Mirza Aziz Koka also rose to respectable positions in the reign of Jahangir, despite the fact that Jahangir wanted to severely punish Aziz Koka for his involvement in the rebellion of Khusrau.

Salim, we know, always bowed deeply to his mother out of respect for her. He even touched her feet. It seems, he extended the same respect towards his mother-in-law, Gulrukh Miranshahi, too. Once she fell sick in 1614 and offered a robe of honour to Salim. He accepted it against the propriety of the Emperor. This shows that he regarded the mother as above all and deserving to be honored.

Aurangzeb too, respected his sister Jahanara Begum a lot, despite the fact that she was on side of his brother - Dara Shikoh, his rival during the war of succession. We discussed this aspect on these posts. The links:>

Jahanara - Begum 
Jahanara Begum - A Sufi Fakeera or a Padshah Begum





3. 
MARIAM-UZ-ZAMANI: She is mentioned throughout the book several times.

a. MUZ’s house was the center of his social life. All the Lunar and Solar weighing ceremonies when he was in the palace are held at her house. Many weddings of Jehangir's kids are also held at her house as narrated by Jehangir himself.

There are two beautiful/ tender narrations about his mother when Jehangir was personally writing his own memoirs:

{
My views: {Link}
He writes - On his birthday, he used to go to his mother's palace. A number of royal functions took place in the house of his mother Mariam-uz-zamani like Jahangir's solar weighing, Jahangir's marriage, and his son, Shehzada Parviz's wedding to daughter of Sultan Murad Mirza.

}


b. After Jehangir marches to Lahore following Khusrau’s rebellion, he writes : “I ordered Khurram to bring Her Majesty MUZ and my harem to me.”

When their entourage came nearer he writes - “I got on a boat and attained the happiness of paying homage and greeting my mother in the vicinity of a village named Dhar. After executing the rites of Korunish, Sajda ( prostration) and Taslim and after observing the formalities of the young owe the elders under the terms of the Genghis code and Timurid law….”-

The translator specifies that Jehangir performed the above three rites only to MUZ and then observed the formalities of greeting the other elders too.

** I was really struck by Jehangir doing Sajda to his mother, as far as I know in Islam Sajda is only done in front of god. So he obviously thought of her as God's representative on earth. (my interpretation)

{
My views:

Sajda - This position involves having the forehead, nose, both the hands, knees and all toes touching the ground together, and it is done before The Almighty in Islam, while praying.

Taslim -  It is the concluding portion of the prayer in Islam, here we recite - Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah ( this means "Peace and blessings of Allah be unto you") once while facing the right direction, and once while facing the left.

Those who watch the show Jodha Akbar(or any other show, for that matter) must have seen Akbar, while finishing his prayers, when he gets up from the position of Sajda, he turns to right and the other time he turns to left, while speaking some divine words. This is the same practice of Taslim.
}

c. During the plague of Agra when Jehangir was in Fatehpur Sikri, he says : “ On Jan 6, 1618 Her Majesty MUZ came from Agra to meet me and I attained the happiness of waiting on her. I hope that the shadow of her protection and affection will always be over the head of this supplicant.


d. DEATH OF MARIUM-UZ-ZAMANI : Despite so many tender references to her through out his memoirs her death is noted in two lines with no major expression of grief: " At this time news came from Agra that Her Majesty MUZ had passed away. It is hoped that God will inundate her in a sea of mercy. "

There can be many explanations for this but here are mine:

a. Jehangir was really sick by this time and had handed over the writing of his memoirs to as stated by Jehangir himself. It is anyone's guess that the writer could have expressed the events in his own interpretation.

b. He was in Ajmer when this happened and was facing a rebellion from Khurram at that time. He was REALLY SHAKEN by this event as is evident by the sharp change in the tone of his writings after Khurram’s rebellion.

c. By this time Nur Jehan’s hold on him was complete! It is unclear whether Jehangir was even in his senses most of the time or whether Nur Jehan controlled all that was written in his memoirs.

{
My Views:
Mariam-Uz-Zamani Begum passed away in 1623. At this time, Jahangir was NOT writing his memoirs. His health was very low. He had assigned this work to another historian in 1622 itself, and hence this 2-line reference about her death is the one given by that historian.
}

 4. 
RUQAYYA SULTANA BEGUM: She is mentioned exactly twice in the entire memoirs by Jehangir.


a. The First time she is mentioned as the person who raised Khurram .

“ I gave a garden left in Agra by Shah Quli Khan who had no heir to Hindal Mirza’s daughter Ruqayya Sultan Begum, the respected wife of my exalted father. My Father entrusted her with my son Khurram and she loved him a thousand times more than if he had been her own”.


NOTE: 
Nowhere does he talk about his own personal feeling for Ruqayya Begum although he undoubtedly appreciated her for raising Khurram.


b. Second time she is mentioned in that famous trip to Kabul.

On the internet we are lead to believe that Jehangir and Shah Jehan both accompanied Ruks for a pilgrimage to Kabul.

I was wonder struck then at the powers of Ruqayya Begum. NOTHING CAN BE MORE MISLEADING THAN THIS STORY.

In the Jehangirnama he narrates the entire sequence of events by saying:

"After the question of Khusrau’s rebellion was settled and he was in custody, Jehangir organized a HUNTING TRIP to Kabul which he says was the land of his forefathers. By the way, he took his entire Harem and Khusrau (Shackled!) and Shah Jehan with him. After touring the gardens made by many of his relatives ( including Hamida Banu Begum), On the fourth or 5th day he visits Babur’s grave and this is what he says: “ Ruqayya Sultan Begum, Mirza Hindal’s daughter had not yet visited her father’s grave but on this day she did”.


So folks! 

It was Ruqayya Begum who went along with the entire harem for a hunting trip to Kabul NOT that Jehangir took her especially for a pilgrimage to Kabul.


5. 
SALIMA SULTAN BEGUM: She is also mentioned twice in his memoirs:

a. First time she is referred to is when he got news of her death. While he expresses no personal grief on her death it is evident he respects this lady a lot.

He describes her as - “She possessed all good qualities. Among women the combination of such talent and capability is rare.”


b. He narrates an account of a Attar invented by Nur Jehan’s mother and says that Salima Sultan Begum was present and named it Jehangiri Attar. He goes on to say “ May God Bless her soul.”

{
My Views:
This Ittar(Perfume) was invented by Asmat Begum, who was fond of these perfumes. No doubt, Nur Jahan Begum also had a liking for perfume, which she shared with her mother(Asmat Begum). The moment this perfume was brought to Jahangir's notice - Salima Begum was present at that place, she gave a name to it - "Ittar-i-Jahangiri".
}


6. 
JEHANGIR AND THE AMERIS: 

I was very disappointed with Jehangir in that he completely disowns his Rajput roots. While he makes many references to his paternal grandparents and even grand aunts, he only refers to the Man Singh, Bhagwan Das etc. as loyal servants of the court.

Of Raja Bharmal he writes - “In correctness, Allegiance and courage he was truly outstanding among his people.

No mention that he was talking about his own grandfather. This has led to many speculations that Jehangir was not born of Raja Bharmal’s daughter.


{
My Views:

This case is very interesting. Raja Bharmal died in 1574, when Jahangir was only 5 years old. But, still Jahangir has praised him to the sky high limits, and not Man Singh. 
This can be due to 2 reasons as far as i think - 

i. Raja Bharmal was held in high regard by Akbar, OR

ii. Man Singh, though, was a brave/successful and distinguished general cum Navratan of Akbar, but Man Singh was the one who was ALSO thought to be guilty of supporting Khusrau in his open rebellion, by Salim. BUT, NO evidence was found against Raja Man Singh. Though, Khan-i-Khanan Abdur Rahim was punished/humiliated and even Mirza Aziz Koka was tried & thought to be executed, but Man Singh was simply transferred away to Bengal.

Though, there are select references in Jahangirnama, like - when Jahangir mentions that he sent a "jewel studded waist sword"(mark of honor) to Raja Man Singh in Bengal, later. 

He mentions that - "I made Raja Man Singh who was one of the greatest and most trusted noblemen of my father.......ruler of the province of Bengal."

}


7. 
JEHANGIR AND BIGOTRY

I was taken aback by his many references to Hindus as infidels, “ Blighted infidels” etc. I felt, I was reading Aurangzeb's chronicles at some points.. The only time he sounds conciliatory was when he talks about Jadrup.

All in all Jehangir was a complex person . His Memoirs were a stark reminder as to why I idolize and respect Shehanshah Jalaludin Mohammad Akbar so much!!! I am sorry but Jehangir was better than the ones who followed him but no match for Akbar.

{
At first instance, it may appear reading these lines that Jahangir was a bigot. I too, agree he was NOT Akbar. He was also, not a gifted writer like Abu'l Fazl to use camouflaged language. But, he was the best among all the successors of Akbar as far as religious tolerance is concerned. It was "normal" for him to address "others" as infidels(don't get me wrong friends), because this word in simple sense means - "NON-Believer". I think he refers those people as non-believers who were NOT from his religion. His memoirs do not reflect that he hated Hindus. Aurangzeb was a different man altogether, as we saw in these two posts.
Aurangzeb's Succession to Mughal Throne | An alternate Story
Aurangzeb -  An Assessment


He respected a Hindu Saint - Jadrup and held him in high regard. According to Jahangir, it was Jadrup who worshiped the "True God". Jahangir visited his hermitage many times. He even called his Vedantic philosophy as equal to that of Sufism. I was amazed to see this comparison. Interestingly, this saint Jadrup was "seen" by Akbar also, in his last years.

Jahangir has explained the Festival of colors(Holi) celebrated by Hindus(he does not call them infidels here). The most striking thing about him, i found was, his most minute understanding of Hindu culture. He writes - " It is a maxim of the Hindus that no good deed can be thoroughly performed by men in the social state without the partnership of the presence of a wife, whom they have styled the half of a man(ardhangini).

I wonder how come he had the knowledge of these minute Hindu rituals and religious know-how.

}

"



Here is a rare picture of Jahangir and Akbar shared by Sunram on the blog. Here, Jahangir is holding the picture of Akbar in his hands.





EndNote:
This was a brief review of Jahangirnama with regards to his mother and other relatives. We can have more discussions here. 


Article Category : Mughals(Akbar)


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39 comments:

  1. Abhay and Preeti


    Thank you so much for a beautiful panoramic view of how Jehangir viewed his mother vis-a-vis his step mothers and foster mother. :) It was a pleasure reading this post.


    I am sure that though he must have loved his foster mother a lot, it could not have been more than his own mother. Generally, such flowery, poetic language was used in those days and only the core should be considered and the statement should not be taken at face value is what I feel.


    The Mughals had tremendous respect for their mothers, even those who had simply nursed them for a time, and remained grateful to them for the rest of their lives. They included these noble women and their families in their own imperial family, often through official position and marriage and even constructed mausoleums for them.


    This is something that should inspire the present generation which tends to disregard the contribution of women, esp mothers, in their progress.

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  2. Thanks abhay,preeti for sharing your views .It was very interesting and informative.The amount of respect and regards he hold for his mother is palpable through his writings.What intrigues me more is the way everytime muz is recorded be it her seal(pitcher symbol) or her title or jahangirs respect for her it always conveys her purity and divinity.She should have been a remarkable person to have been held in such a high regard by everyone .

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  3. Yes, Priya. No wonder, she received the title of Wali Ni'mat from Akbar early on. She was a divine soul. :)

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  4. what a post 'tis iz. amazing collection of information. not a bit of doubt abt d regard of salim 4 his mother. sijdah nd taslim r done 2 allah nd not 2 anyone other than 'tis. u guys made my day. thank u.

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  5. Thank you Abhay and Preeti for some selective pieces from Jahangirnama and your independent assessments on them :)....It makes for one delightful, informative reading about Salim as a personality and his relationship with others (especially the high regard he had for his mother MUZ, his foster-mother and other mothers)....Would love to know more about this much-awaited child, next king to Akbar... :)

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  6. Whoa! I wake up this sunday morning to this wonderful surprise Abhay. Thanks for making a separate post on my writings. I am honored. Thank you for your thoughts in red. This weeks read of the Jehangirnama was fascinating to me. I encourage all to read as much as you can of his writings. Jehangir's style is very candid and relaxed compared to the Akbarnama which is much more formal and difficult for me to read.

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  7. Glad you liked it Pallavi. His dealings with his inlaws and Nur Jehan were also amazing. He practically worshipped Nur Jehan

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  8. I Knew you would like it Iqra, I was thinking of you when I read about him doing Sajda to his mother. I was incredibly moved by this gesture. What a sight it must have been.

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  9. Thanks Radhika, and yes the Mughals have really kept their mothers on a pedestal. I love that about them

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  10. thanks Priya and Radhika, Apparently according to Timrizi, this name was given to her shortly after her marriage as a name change rather than a title I believe

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  11. It is sad to see history being twisted beyond redemption on internet. Why is everyone so adamant upon Ruqaiyya glorification? I just can't get it.


    Jahangir's words on his mother's death don't evoke much emotion because at that time he was warring with Khurram and was so sick that even riding his horse was too great an effort for him. Also, most probably he stopped writing his memoirs himself by that time.


    Jahangir adored Man bai and must have blamed Khusrau, Man Singh for her demise. Jahangir didn't publicly try to defame Man Singh (probably because he was afraid of someone ;-)) and never touched his position in court. But he dealt Man Singh other personal blows like: setting aside Man Singh's first choice for Amber heir and marrying his granddaughter.

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  12. Preeti


    Why doesn't the fact that Jahangir worshipped Nur Jahan move me, like Akbar's love for HK? May be because Nur Jahan always conjures the image of a shrewd manipulator who possibly "controlled" her husband through stratagem rather than love. :(


    Yes, he was chivalrous to a fault. :) I had mentioned here how he had accepted (when he need not have or rather should not have) a robe of honor from his mother-in-law out of sheer respect.

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  13. Preeti


    Does the last sentence reflect the kind of parenting Jahangir had and the kind of parenting Shah Jahan had?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Sav,


    Pls explain the last bit - "marrying his granddaughter". I didn't get it. *confused*

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  15. Radhika, Jehangir married jagat singhs ( Man singh's son) daughter. marraige took place in MUZ 's house. Man singh sent 60 elephants as dowry LOL

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  16. Jahangir married Man Singh's granddaughter after he came to the throne. This marriage took place at the MUZ palace. Man Singh was miffed about this match but couldn't say anything. Most probably Jahangir took this decision to marry a much younger Ameri princess just to spite her grandfather.

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  17. I would say yes radhika, but same can be said about akbar's three sons who turned out to be drunks. However, I would rather have a secular drunk than a pious murderer who wipes out his entire clan to ascend the throne. So yes I would take MUZ upbringing any day to Ruqayya's

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  18. Rightly said. They were princes of a well established dynasty. And bound to have their vices. But were secular and didn't kill each other for throne. Tensions existed between the brothers and father since 1590s. But none faced each other in a war. They consciously avoided a direct confrontation despite their own set of nobles and in-laws backing them. Unlike the future generations of Mughal emperors.

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  19. so true SavTruth!!! The earlier Mughals had a decency and familial loyalty that was mising in the latter Mughals.
    BTW can you explan your comment above about Jehangir bypassing Man Singh's choice for Amer's Heir? Don't know about that

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  20. OMG, Sav, Preeti!!! How did MUZ agree to this???

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  21. Preeti


    Whatever faults Akbar's sons had, they never opposed him to his face or wrote against him.

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  22. Preeti


    I think Man Singh wanted Jagat Singh's son to be the heir, since Jagat Singh died early. But another son of Man Singh was made the king by Jahangir after Man Singh's death. Man Singh's choice (grandson) was given the kingdom of Garha to rule.


    I read this a long time back. I don't remember if it was Jai Singh who was Man Singh's choice.

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  23. Exactly Radhika! see my comment above . I also think Akbar's son's were better than Shah Jehan. Thank god Akbar and MUZ were not alive to see their entire progeny wiped out by Khurram. My only regret is that MUZ was alive when Khusrau was killed. Radhika, was extremely ill in the end. Jehangir has made a couple of references to her illness towards the end.

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  24. Hmm, Radhika when I read this in the Jehangirnama I did not think much of it. After all the marrying young princesses was common at that time. Akbar did it too. I did not realize that Man singh did not want this alliance.
    Also Radhika, I wonder why Jehangir did it. It is said that he did not marry much for alliances. Rather he chose his brides based on their beauty...so I really don't know

    ReplyDelete
  25. Radhika, If you get a chance read Prof. E.B Findly's book Nur Jehan: Empress of India. It is a very balanced, well researched and fair account of Nur Jehan. She also talks a lot about MUZ and her shipping trade. There is more to Nur Jehan than her shrewd manipulations. Findly, contends despite Nur Jehan;s flaws her relationship with Jehangir was extremely tender and intimate and very unusual for the times. Jehangir was at the height of his power and she was already middle aged when she married him....yet he never took another wife in the remaining 16 yrs of his reign. Given his reputation for womanizing this is remarkable. She was a trader, did a lot of charity especially for young female orphans, built spectacular gardens and was a great Fashionista so to speak. English accounts of her are mixed but several of them state she was balanced and far easier to deal with than the unpredictable Jehangir. True she had a very dark side to her especially her dealings about Khusrau ( for which I can't forgive her) but she was powerful and ran the kingdom efficiently. Now if she were male, we would have called her an effective ruler ... but she was a woman so she is reviled for her vices. Just my POV radhika, 16th century India was very cruel to a widow... especially one who had caught the eye of the emperor. She clawed her way to the top and for that I have to give hr credit.
    ** All in all I wish she never came into Salim's life. If so may be it would have been Khusrau who would have succeeded Jehangir and Mughal History would have been very different

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  26. Why I'm shocked, Preeti, is not because of age or that he did it to spite MS. Man Bai was his wife and her brother's granddaughter was like his own granddaughter, isn't it? That's why I am shocked how MUZ allowed this? Was Man Bai alive then?

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  27. Preeti,


    She tried her best to protect Khusrau but failed in the end. May be she knew that this would happen. Anyway she had already seen Salim ill-treating Khusrau. :(

    ReplyDelete
  28. Preeti


    It's not only about Khusrau.


    I somehow cannot understand how Jahangir slided downhill after marrying Nur. He was in no position to marry anyone else, as he was rapidly disintegrating.


    Nur's family benefited a lot from her position and this family misused their power to even manipulate the imperial family and their relationships and who the next heir would be.


    She used her own daughter as a pawn to net a future emperor whom she could control.


    To a large extent, her machinations may have been responsible for Khurram's revolt and the way he did away with his brothers.


    She became quite egotistical, which is never a good sign for king or queen.


    I don't think that if she had not come in Jahangir's life, Khusrau may have been the next emperor. This is because Jahangir was himself against his son.

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  29. Nope Man Bai died when Akbar was king. Jehangir spends a lot of time talking about her death and how devastated he was. He apparently adored her and probably felt really guilty...don't know.

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  30. ** About your last line... Jeahngir may not have wanted Khusrau but Khusrau had a lot of support. MUZ, Salima Begum, Shakrunissa, Man Singh...ect. I feel things would have been different

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  31. Abhay and Preeti, thank you for an excellent write-up. Superb inputs Preeti.


    I am touched on reading the manner in which Jehangir paid salutations to his mother MUZ. It proves that he loved her and held her in high esteem. It is also clear that the both Jehangir and Akbar revered their foster mothers whom they associated with, during the formative years of their lives.


    At the same time, it also upsets me to see historical facts being distorted and several viewers across India and the world, believing all the nonsense they watch on television, to be the truth.


    I am extremely thankful to Abhay for this blog . It is educating an ill-informed but enthusiastic person like me, and increasing my curiosity to learn more about the life and times of the Mughals and Rajputs.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Thanks Charu, I learned so much reading the Jehangirnama. You are right about the distortion of historical facts on the show. It is the series of events on the show with Ruks and Salim that prompted me to read the Jehangirnama for my self. Also IF was full of comment on how Salim was so close to Ruks, more so than his own mom...some even said that the Jehangirnama states that Akbar loved Ruquayya so much that he never denied her anything....this is an outright lie Charu as Jehangir never said anything like this. There is only one source that says this and it is " the Twentieth wife" and fictional novel!!! I really think the creatives of this show ar also following this storyline. I am so tempted to post my readings on the forum but know the post will be shut down.

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  33. Thanks for clarifying. so apparently Jehangir and Man Singh had a troubled relationship till the end. Not surprised given Man Singh's support for Khusrau. It appears Jehangir had a real hard time getting along with Akbar's Navratnas and loyalists.

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  34. Yup. Maha Singh was the son of Jagat Singh and Jai Singh was Maha Singh's son. Jai Singh ascended Amer throne after Bhau Singh's death in 1621, at mere age of 10. Bhau Singh had died childless and Maha Singh had died in 1617 due to alcoholism :-\

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  35. Preet and Abhay, thank you both so much for this valuable post. It is detailed and very informative. Really appreciate your hard work.

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  36. I also Read this Preet. Man Sigh was totally against this marriage but Jehangir was unstoppable.

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  37. Preet, in one way we should Thank Serial Ruks. We wanted to find the real truth..

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  38. Preet, U can always post this in IF, under Historical thread and discussions. People do read and the post will not be shut down. Please do post in that thread yaar.

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  39. Iqra - Check my reply below. Due to some technical issues, my comment has not appeared in the "Recent Comments" section. :)

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