Who is jahangir

Two years after the marriage the couple were blessed with a son and named him Khusrau Mirza. The wedding was considered to be a political event as Udai Singh after surrendering his territory to Akbar had promised to give his daughter for the wedding which was considered to be a sign of loyalty towards the emperor. Jagat Gosain was considered to be one of his beloved wives.

She was known for her beauty, intelligence, wit, and courage. The couple was blessed with three children of which two daughters died while they were infants. On July 7, , he went on and married Malika Shikhar Begam who was the princess of Kashgar, and also married the daughter of Raja Rai Singh in the same month. He married Sahib Jamal in October who later gave birth to two children - a son named Sultan Parviz and a daughter who died while she was young.

Later he married the Rajput princess of Jaisalmer known as Malika Jahan. Zohra began, the daughter of Mirza Sanjar Hazara was married by Jahangir in October and the following year he married Karamnasi Begum who was the princess of Mertia. On January 11, , he married Kanwal Rani and then followed up with another marriage with the daughter of Hussain Chak of Kashmir. Jahangir then married Khas Mahal on June 28, who became the empress when Jahangir ascended the throne.

His life wife was Mehr-un-Nisa also known as Nur Jahan who became his twentieth wife and she was his favorite wife. Nur Jahan had the wielded influence over the administration of the Mughal empire and was considered very powerful at the court. She had a big influence on Jahangir and thereby had a direct influence on the affairs of the empire. She was very actively involved in the political and military affairs of the empire.

She was also very well known for her ability to lead the armed forces whenever required. Jahangir was very good at strategizing and strengthening the Mughal empire but Jahangir was very much interested in arts, especially painting. During his reign of 25 years, the emperor commissioned many paintings which included several portraits of himself.

Because of his interest in paintings, the Mughal paintings flourished and it provided an opportunity for many artists to show their talent to the emperor and empress. Jahangir was greatly influenced by European paintings and architecture. Jahangir also took advice from various English ambassadors to oversee the paintings.

He encouraged many artists in his court to paint his real-life portraits, the birds, animals, and flowers. His father, Akbar, transformed the Mughal kingdom into an empire, and his reign is often considered an epoch in itself. Jahangir's son Shahjahan built the tomb that Tagore famously described as a 'teardrop on the cheek of time', and was sometimes upheld as Akbar's true heir. Jahangir, on the other hand, has the reputation of a weak man, at best: an alcoholic with an eye for art and greed for pleasure, controlled by a powerful wife.

But far from being a disinterested prince and insignificant ruler, Jahangir showed tremendous ambition and strength throughout his life. Jahangir placed his son, Prince Khurram, in command of his army in and ordered him to lead a number of campaigns against Rajput forces in Mewar and Kanga, and the Deccani sultanates of Ahmadnagar, Bijapur, and Golkonda.

The long siege of Kanga was brought to a successful end in This was the most notable military achievement of Jahangir's reign, prompting him to visit the place of conquest and build mosques there. The complete success of the Mughal army over the forces of Ahmadnagar was not possible, however, owing in part to the strength of the Deccan kingdom and in part to the inferiority of Mughal weapons.

Not only did Ahmadnagar defy the Mughal advance, but successful opposition came from an able Abyssinian named Malik Ambar, a former slave, who prepared for a war by training the mountaineers of Maharasthra in guerrilla tactics later perfected by the great Hindu ruler Shivaji to the despair of Emperor Aurangzeb.

But the Deccan was far from conquered. The most important development in the first half of Jahangir's reign had been the rise of his favorite wife Nur Jahan "Light of the World" and the emergence of this third son Khurram whose mother was a Rajput princess. Nur Jahan was a lady of great energy and many talents.

Because of her, Persian poets and artists, architects, and musicians flocked to the Mughal court at Agra. She became an effective political power in India.

But Shah Jahan was the leading contender for his father's mantle, and Nur Jahan resented his growing influence.

Nur Mahal's first step was simply to persuade the suggestible Jahangir that Shah Jahan should leave court, get away from the center of affairs, and return to military service against rival kings in the Deccan. Shah Jahan accepted the commission in ill grace, and took with him Khusrau, who had remained popular despite his rebellion and had a strong claim to the throne.

Hearing that Jahangir's health was worsening and that his death was imminent, Shah Jahan's first act was to kill this brother, who would otherwise have become the center of a rival faction. In , Shah Jahan marched in open rebellion toward Agra. At Nur Mahal's behest an imperial army set out to track down Shah Jahan's forces, but the shrewd prince evaded his pursuers rather than meet them at a military disadvantage.

The rebellious Shah Jahan was chased around southeast India for three years before finally agreeing to return to his father's fold. Meanwhile, Jahangir held an impressive court. For one thing, he was fond of religious discourse. Once again, Hindu festivals like Rakhi, Dasahra, etc.

Because of his father, Jahangir had come in contact with the Jesuits at an early age and treated them with great courtesy. He was too good a Muslim and too proud a Mughal, however, to convert to Christianity as they had hoped. The veneration he showed to the paintings of Jesus and Mary was due to his passion for works of art. Though in the spirit of the times there were incidents of fanaticism, for the most part Jahangir followed the policy of Akbar in showing general tolerance for Christianity and contributing large sums for the erection of churches.

Soon the Jesuit mission at the Mughal court assumed the character and functions of an embassy with the intention of outplaying the English and furthering the interests of the Portuguese. But Portuguese power, owing to its contempt for orientals, was already on the decline.

The English seized the opportunity and made a significant impression on Jahangir. English trade was then secured. Though the emperor was impressed, the Portuguese effectively prevented Hawkins from gaining any tangible success from his mission. In , came the aforementioned Sir Thomas Roe, England's first official ambassador to India, who tried to secure from the Mughal ruler a trade agreement for the young East India Company. The Portuguese had a head start in the lucrative business of exporting calicoes and indigo from India, and the Dutch also were ahead of the English.

Though Roe failed to enter into any agreement with Jahangir, he secured some privileges for the English trading company that made it a factor in Indian politics. Roe's accounts provide valuable insight into the royal court. A notable military success of Jahangir's reign was the capture of the strong fortress of Kangra in the northeast Punjab on November 16, But this event, which Jahangir found cause for exultation, was quickly followed by disasters and rebellions which continued until he died.

Alienated by the intrigues of his wife Nur Jahan, his son Shah Jahan rose in rebellion against him. Facing Persian pressure from the northwest and the defection of Shah Jahan within the heart of the empire, Jahangir's situation was grave. Though Shah Jahan's rebellion ended in futility, it caused substantial damage to the empire. Jahangir's reign was noted for architectural works. When his chief minister Itimad-ud-daulah died in , his daughter, the powerful Nur Jahan, commissioned the construction in white marble of his exquisite tomb at Agra which was finished in Unlike the much larger Taj Mahal, with which it ranked in quality, the appeal of the tomb depended on its decoration.

It looked like a brilliant casket, bejewelled with various styles of inlay. Its two major innovations—the extensive use of white marble as a material and inlay as a decorative motif—were to become the distinguishing features of the greatest period of Mughal architecture.

The high quality of both paintings and coins during Jahangir's reign was a direct result of the emperor's personal interest. Having grown up at Fatehpur-Sikri in the busy days of Akbar's studio, he was a keen student of technique and claimed to be able to tell which master had painted the eye and eyebrow in a face and which the rest of the portrait.

In addition, he seems to have invented and commissioned from his artists a new style of political allegory in art which, however self-congratulatory and vain, provided some of the most magnificent paintings of the period. One such picture claims to celebrate a new spirit of peace with his Persian neighbor, Shah Abbas.