32 Facts About Nur Jahan

Nur Jahan's pre-eminence was in part made possible by her husband Jahangir's addiction to hunting, alcohol and opium and his frequent ill-health.

Nur Jahan was born as Mehr-un-Nissa in Kandahar, present-day Afghanistan, into a family of Persian nobility and was the second daughter and fourth child of the Persian aristocrat Mirza Ghiyas Beg and his wife Asmat Begum.

Nur Jahan became well-versed in Arabic and Persian languages, art, literature, music and dance.

In 1594, when Nur Jahan was seventeen years old, she married her first husband Ali Quli Istajlu.

Nur Jahan later joined the Mughal army and served under the Emperors Akbar and Jahangir.

Some have suspected Jahangir of arranging Sher Afgan's death because the latter was said to have fallen in love with Nur Jahan and had been denied the right to add her to his harem.

Nur Jahan served as lady-in-waiting to the Dowager Empress for four years.

One variation recounts that they were in love when Nur Jahan was seventeen years old, but their relationship was blocked by Emperor Akbar.

Nur Jahan was thirty-four years old at the time of her second marriage and she would be Jahangir's twentieth and last legal wife.

Jahangir's affection and trust in Nur Jahan led to her wielding a great deal of power in affairs of state.

Jahangir's addiction to opium and alcohol made it easier for Nur Jahan to exert her influence.

Nur Jahan's father was at that time, a diwan to an Amir-ul-Umra, decidedly not a very high post.

Nur Jahan's fortunes took a turn for the better when she married Jahangir.

Nur Jahan was able to convince her husband to pardon her father and appoint him Prime Minister.

Furthermore, to ensure her continued connections to the throne and the influence which she could obtain from it, Nur Jahan arranged for her daughter Ladli to marry Jahangir's youngest son, Shahryar.

Nur Jahan was fond of hunting and often went on hunting tours with her husband and was known for her boldness in hunting ferocious tigers.

Nur Jahan is reported to have slain four tigers with six bullets during one hunt.

Nur Jahan ordered the ministers to organize an attack on the enemy in order to rescue the Emperor; she would lead one of the units by administering commands from on top of a war elephant.

Nur Jahan was the first choice of Nur Jahan for the marriage of her daughter, Ladli Begum as he was the favorite of common people who desperately wanted to see him on the throne and was highly backed by the revered people of the Mughal Court owing to his exceptional capabilities and talent.

Prince Khurram resented the influence Nur Jahan held over his father and was angered at having to play second fiddle to her favourite Shahryar, his half-brother and her son-in-law.

Nur Jahan corresponded with Kosem Sultan, the most powerful Valide Sultan and regent of the Ottoman Empire.

Nur Jahan attempted, with the support of the Ottomans and the Uzbeks, to form a coalition against the Safavids.

Afraid to lose her powers and influence in the Mughal court if Shah Nur Jahan would succeed her husband, she backed her son-in-law, Shahryar Mirza, who she believed could be easily manipulated thus retaining influence in the Mughal court.

Nur Jahan wished for her daughter, Ladli Begum, to become Empress after her.

Nur Jahan was put under house arrest by her brother on the orders of new Emperor Shah Jahan and spent the remainder of her life confined in Lahore with her young widowed daughter, Ladli Begum, and her granddaughter.

Nur Jahan was granted an annual amount of 2 lakhs rupees by Shah Jahan.

The tomb served as the inspiration for the Taj Mahal, unarguably the zenith of Mughal architecture, the construction of which began in 1632 and which Nur Jahan must have heard about before she died.

Nur Jahan is buried at her tomb in Shahdara Bagh in Lahore, which she had built herself.

In 1620, Nur Jahan commissioned a large "sarai" in Jalandhar district twenty-five miles southeast of Sultanpur.

Nur Jahan built the Pattar Masjid at Srinagar, and her own tomb at Lahore.

Nur Jahan was very creative and had a good fashion sense, and she is credited for many textile materials and dresses like nurmahali dress and fine cloths like Panchtoliya badla, kinari, etc.

Nur Jahan is credited with popularizing farsh-i-chandani, a style of sandalwood colored carpeting.