Nur Jahan

Nur Jahan (born Mehr-un-Nissa, 31 May 1577 – 18 December 1645) was the twentieth (and last) wife of the Mughal emperor Jahangir.

Sometimes she would sit in the balcony of her palace, whle the nobles would present themselves, and listen to her dictates. Coin was struck in her name... [and] on all Farmans also receiving the Imperial signature, the name of "Nur Jahan"

Quotes

• On the grave of this poor stranger, let there be neither lamp nor rose,
  Let neither butterfly's wing burn nor nightingale sing.
  • epitaph on Nur Jahan's tomb, translated by Wheeler Thackston, quoted in "Nur Jahan", p. 275

Quotes about Nur Jahan

• Fate had decreed that she should be the Queen of the World and the Princess of the Time.
  • Iqbal Nama-i-Jahangiri of Mutamad Khan, edited by H. M. Elliot & John Dowson, also quoted in "Nur Jahan", p. 19

• I saw now the faction, but was irresolute what to do... [for I feared that] the Power of a wife, a sonne, and a favorite, would produce revenge.
  • Thomas Roe, quoted in The Embassy of Sir Thomas Roe to the Court of the Great Mughal, edited by William Foster. also quoted in "Nur Jahan", p. 43

• Day by day her influence and digniy increased... No gramt of lands was conferred upon any woman except under he seal... Sometimes she would sit in the balcony of her palace, whle the nobles would present themselves, and listen to her dictates. Coin was struck in her name... [and] on all Farmans also receiving the Imperial signature, the name of "Nur Jahan", the "Queen Begum", was jointly attached. [Until] at last he authority reached such a pass that the King was such only in name.
  • Iqbal Nama-i-Jahangiri of Mutamad Khan, edited by H. M. Elliot & John Dowson, also quoted in "Nur Jahan", p. 43

External links

• Iqbal Nama-i-Jahangiri of Mutamad Khan, edited by H. M. Elliot & John Dowson.
• Ellison Banks Findly: Nur Jahan, Empress of Mugahal India, Oxford University Press, New York, 1993