Nurjahan (1577–1645)

Empress of Mughal India. Name variations: Noor Jahan or Jehan; Nur Mahal or Nourmahal; Mehr-on-Nesa, Mehrunnisa, Mehr-un-nisa, Mihm-un-Nisa, Mehrunissa, Mehrunnissa or Mihr-ur-Nisa. Born Mehr-un-nisa in 1577 in Qandahar, Persia (Iran); died 1645 in Lahore, India (now in Pakistan); dau. of Mirza Ghiyas Beg (literary artist in Tehran) and Asmat Begum; studied Persian culture and language as well as tradition and languages of adopted country, India; m. Ali Quli (Sher Afghan or Afkun), 1594 (died 1607); m. Prince Salim (1569–1627), later Jahangir, 4th Mughal emperor of India (r. 1605–1627), in 1611; children: (1st m.) Ladili Begum or Ladli Begum.

Brilliant political and military strategist, architect, and diplomat, who had absolute control in the Mughal court, married Emperor Jahangir (1611) and was a loving stepmother to his children from other wives, especially Prince Khurram, later the builder of the Taj Mahal as Emperor Shah Jahan; within 1st 6 months of her marriage, assumed the reins of the empire, made easy by the emperor's excessive love of drinking and opium, and by her perceptiveness and charm; quelled several revolts by planning and executing military campaigns; left an indelible mark on art, architecture, fashion, poetry, and cooking—an imprint so memorable that after 4 centuries Indians still recognize their debt to her; her legacy can be seen in the spectacular mausoleums, gardens, and mosques, or in the current fashion of women's clothing, or even in the menus of Mughalai restaurants in India and US; her name is attached to 2 magnificent buildings: her father's mausoleum in Agra and her husband's tomb in Lahore; a prolific garden designer, designed the Noor Afshan (Light Scattering), the Noor Manzil (Abode of Light) and Moti Bagh (Garden of Pearls), all in Agra, and the Shah Dara (Royal Threshold) in Lahore, which surrounds her husband's tomb; ordered the construction of inns or sarais; had mosques constructed, the most outstanding of which is the Shahee Masjid (Imperial Mosque) in Srinagar, Kashmir; left some of her favorite embroidery patterns in the trellis and lattice work on the buildings; a poet, was a patron of other women poets whose works survive; collected a vast number of paintings from European merchants; buried in a tomb of her own design; her legend has reached mythological proportions.

See also Ellison Banks Findly, Nur Jahan: Empress of Mughal India (Oxford U. Press, 1993); and Women in World History.