Learned women of extraordinary
ability, Nur Jahan has a special
significance of Indian history. The natural consequence of her marriage
to Jahangir in 1611 and her ability was seen in the form of her cooperation in
administrative matters . The emperor had also given her the
right of sovereignty and rule. Sometimes she used to give a darshan like the
emperor and people would attend and listen to her orders. Coins were minted in
her name. On all such decrees which required the signature
of the emperor, the name of Nur Jahan Begum was also written simultaneously. Mutmid
Khan has written that Nur Jahan's sovereignty had reached such an extent that
the emperor remained an emperor in name only. Mutmid Khan has also written that
Jahangir used to declare repeatedly that I had handed over the dominion to Nur
Jahan and that I wanted nothing more than a ser of wine and a half-ser of kebabs
.
Sir Thomas Roe came to India in 1615 AD. He mentions the Nur Jahan faction in the court. Dr.
Beni Prasad has divided the influence of Nur Jahan into two periods. The first
period was till 1611 AD in which her parents were alive and they limited Nur Jahan. The second
period lasted from 1622 to 1627 AD. During this period Jahangir had become incapacitated
and the Nur Jahan group was facing the opposition .
First period ( 1611-1622
AD) Rise of Junta
Emperor conferred the title of
Badshah on Nur Jahan. To strengthen her faction, Nur Jahan gave high
posts to her supporters and weakened her
opponents. This led to the formation of two parties in the court. Dr. Beni
Prasad says that one party was a supporter of Nur Jahan and the other was a
supporter of Khusrau. Nur Jahan's supporters were given high mansabs . Mansab
of Itmad- ud - Daulah which was 2000/5000 in 1611
AD. 7000/5000 was done in 1616 AD. Asaf Khan's mansab which was 500/100 in 1611
AD was increased to 5000/3000 in 1616 AD. Abraham Khan was given the mansab of 2000
in 1616 AD and was appointed
the Subedar of Bengal. The mansab of Khurram was 10000/5000 in 1610
AD, which was increased to 30000/200000
in 1617 AD. Mahabat Khan,
Khan-e-Azam and Shahzada Parvez were demoted. Mahabat
Khan, who was opposed to female influence in the administration, was sent to Kabul . Dr. Beni Prasad has written that,
“It helped Nur Jahan,
Itmad-ud-Daulah and Asaf Khan had an alliance with Yuvraj
Khurram . For the next ten years this group of four highly qualified, actually
ruled the empire."
Second Period ( 1622-1627
AD) Breakdown of Junta
In 1621 AD, Jahangir became ill. This worried Khurram more. Staying
in Agra, he wanted to take the administration in his own hands due to the ill
health of the emperor. Anxiety and suspicion were growing between Nur Jahan and
him. So when the emperor ordered him to go to Kandahar, he
refused. Shah Jahan thought that Nur Jahan is doing this work to increase
Shahryar and eradicate him. So he rebelled. The rebellion lasted for four years and Mahabat Khan
skillfully suppressed the rebellion of Khurram. The south slipped out of his
hands and he had to send his two sons Dara and Aurangzeb to the court as bail.
This was the great success of Nur Jahan .
Noorjahan worried about Jahangir 's declining health, Asaf Khan
deftly presented the problem of Mahabat
Khan's rebellion. Actually Asaf khan started
working in favor of his son-in-law
Khurram. His aim
is Mahabat Khan had to be separated from Parvez so that both would
become weak and the path of his son-in-law would be paved. Asaf Khan Asked Mahabat Khan
for an account of Bengal's loot and elephants. unfortunately Mahabat
Khan kept thinking that this was the work of the Nur Jahan who now wants to
crush him. Mahabat Khan revolted but his aim was only to keep the emperor under
his control. But he was only a capable soldier and he could not understand the
political tricks that were being played by Asaf at that time. So he
failed and had to run away. Asaf Khan defeated his sister Nur Jahan in
diplomatic tact. Nur Jahan from 1622 to 1627 AD Asaf Unable to understand Khan's deviousness. As soon
as Jahangir died in 1627 AD, he revealed his policy openly. He made Khusrau's son
Davar Baksh the nominal emperor and wrote to Khurram to reach Agra soon. He
defeated Shahryar in the battle, in which Shahryar was killed.
In fact, the basis of Nur Jahan's prestige and power was the emperor . As soon
as Jahangir died, the whole building of his power collapsed. Shah Jahan kindly
gave him pension. Nur Jahan and his daughter Ladli Begum spent the rest of
their lives as widows in Lahore where Jahangir was buried.
According to Dr. Beni Prasad, She had formed the group and emperor Jahangir remained only a nominal emperor and the power of governance was in her hands. Many scholars including Nurul Hasan do not accept this. It is believed that her influence in the first period was constructive. But in the second period she was motivated by narrow interests and started increasing the unfit Shahryar as compared to Shah Jahan. Due to feminine jealousy, She chose Shah Jahan and Mahabat . Khan's powers were crushed. Dr. Ishwari Prasad has written that, because of Nur Jahan, Jahangir was immersed in luxury and he neglected the duties of his office. He further wrote that , "Nur Jahan's influence on the state was not entirely good. Her limitless attachment to power, her feminine jealousy, her clever tricks to make her husband slave, all caused troubles that disturbed the peace of the empire. But the opinion that Nur Jahan had formed the faction is based on European sources (Sir Thomas Roe). Mutmid Khan has not mentioned it. According to R. P. Tripathi, the high mansabs given to Nur Jahan 's father and brother were due to their merit, there was no favoritism in them. The titles, mansabs that Shah Jahan also received were also due to his merit. After the rebellion, Nur Jahan did not oppose the pardon to Shah Jahan. Different factions of the nobles used to live in the Mughal court, this was not a new thing.
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