Empress

by Ruby Lal

  Sonya Rhea Mace’s invitation to join a team of art scholars to study the newly acquired bequest at the Cleveland Museum of Art turned out to be a rewarding experience for me. During the two years when we met on several occasions to absorb the richness of the CMA Mughal collection, I watched closely how art historians touched paintings, how they microscopically looked at every leaf, every border, each feature. A special thanks to Sonya and Marcus Fraser, and to Cathy Bankaim, Pedro Carvalho, and Mohsen Ashtiany. Molly Aitken looked at Nur images repeatedly and shared her ideas. Navina Haidar, Susan Stronge, Catherine Asher, and Robert Skelton have over the years offered valuable insights on art historical materials. Had Walter Melion not been enthralled by Nur Jahan Loading the Musket, not just holding it, as he said repeatedly during the Emory faculty trip to China in 2012, I wouldn’t have recast a whole chapter around this portrait. I chew on that conversation repeatedly.

  Thanks especially to Hossein Samei for help with translating abstruse Persian prose and poetry, and to Devin Stewart and Vincent Cornell, for conversations on Islamic sovereignty. Abdullahi An-Naim of the Emory Law School spent hours discussing the uncertainty around the Friday sermons in parts of the Islamic world. I acknowledge the Emory administration, especially Michael Elliott and Carla Freeman for their support. A fellowship from the Emory Research Council for Arts and Sciences made possible the completion of this book.

  August 2016 at the Ring Lake Ranch, Wyoming, was a turning point in the writing of this book. While I couldn’t go to Kashmir, I saw the high Alpine appeal that the Mughals would have felt. Special thanks to Andy Blackmun and Amanda Verheul for their hospitality, and for sharing the spectacular hidden history of the Native American petroglyphs. Thanks to Leah for leading us on the long walks through the dizzying mountains. I spent glorious autumn days in September 2017 at the Tool Drop Forge Residency, Hudson, New York, savoring Nur Jahan’s spectacular history, doing the final touches. Special thanks to the director, Katharine Daugherty, for her interest in this book.

  Parts of this book were presented at a variety of venues. My gratitude to the organizers and the participants: to Sekhar Bandhopadhyay and Michael Gillan and the Australian Association of South Asian Studies, as well as the University of Victoria, Dunedin, and Canter-bury (New Zealand); Almut Hoefert and Matthew Mesley, and the University of Zurich; Don Reitzes, the Georgia State University, and Adrian Bailey and Clara Wing-Chung Ho, the Hong Kong Baptist University; Ron Sela, Indiana University; Laurie Patton, Middlebury College; Rudrangshu Mukherjee, Ashoka University; Khushru Irani, the Loft, Pune; Anne Murphy, the University of British Columbia; and Michael Calabria, St. Bonaventure University.

  Special thanks to the Emory South Asia librarian, Ellen Ambrosone, for chasing obscure references, and for help with locating images and contacts for permissions. When I couldn’t find manuscript reproductions or books, Marie Hansen of Emory Interlibrary Services somehow made them available. The following museums, libraries, and institutions were outstanding in their support and services: the American Institute of Indian Studies (Delhi); the Archaeological Survey of India (Agra); the Aga Khan Foundation (Boston and Geneva); the Cleveland Museum of Art (Cleveland); Harvard Art Museum (Boston); the Victoria & Albert Museum (London); the British Library; the library of the School of Oriental and African Studies (London); and the Rampur Raza Library (Rampur). Thanks also to Aevitas Creative Management, the literary agency that represents my work.

  Huge thanks to many colleagues who went out of their way in helping me locate historical materials, and facilitated visits to libraries, museums, and Mughal sites. Rukhsana David put me in touch with Sheikh Mansoor, the grandson of the great painter Haji Muhammad Sharif—the man who in the 1960s painted the empress in her sovereign glory. I am grateful to Rukhsana and to Mr. Mansoor for generously giving me permission to reproduce two paintings. Purnima Mehta, director, AIIS (Delhi), aided my visit to the Rampur Library, and helped with permissions. Mr. R. K. Singh of the Archaeological Survey of India (Agra) arranged several private tours of the Agra Fort, Nur’s Ram Bagh, and the Baby Taj. The tour guides in Agra shared heart-gripping stories of Nur Jahan. Thanks to Shahzad Ahmad in Lahore for the interviews; to Anandi Salinas, Juana McGhee, and Tarje Lacy at Emory for technical support; and to Myron McGhee for the author photograph. My undergraduate and graduate students amaze me with their intellectual rigor. I owe thanks for research assistance to Malaika Gutekunst, Sidharth Medakkar, Sayali Bapat, and Faiza Rahman.

  Bridget Wagner Matzie is a dream agent. I gave up writing this book at one point, but she didn’t let me. I can’t thank Bridget enough for her rock-solid support and for her deep care for my intellectual endeavors. As Judy Stone combed through each line of this book, she urged me to ponder over questions that I had overlooked. Carefully and sensitively, she listened to the debates on the lure of the archive, and what constitutes the grounds of history writing. Huge thanks, Judy, for the time and generous attention you gave this project, and for your abiding solidarity. I owe much gratitude to Alane Mason, my editor at Norton, for her wisdom, her faith in me—and for fine-tuning the final work, giving it a refined architecture. Thanks to Ashley Patrick for abundant sustenance that she offered during the production process. She not only helped with permissions but sent scores of email cheer when I was exhausted by the legalities. And what a thoughtful job she did in reading the final manuscript. I am grateful to the Norton production, marketing, and publicity teams, especially to my publicist, Erin Sinesky Lovett.

  I acknowledge the affection of my women friends: Lynne Huffer, Leslie Harris, Mary Odem, Rosemary Magee, Maggie Kulyk. My yoga friends, Efrosini (Max) Mandelis, Sue Hunter, Lynda Hill, Atlanta enthusiasts and food activists, formed the Empress Club! I thank them for asking me to read unbaked chapters of this book.

  My siblings, parents, partner, and nieces encouraged my preoccupations: I thank Guddan, Reena, Prabhakar—Gyan especially, for sharing many Nur moments—and Fanny, Aashna, and Ananya, superstar nieces, for embracing Nur Jahan.

  A particular thanks to my mother, for that delicious storytime, and for long chats across the seas. I hope she—and my father—will be pleased to see this Queen of Queens.

  Ruby Lal

  Atlanta, March 2018

  NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION AND TERMINOLOGY

  There is no standard system for transliteration from Persian into English. I have used the modified version of the IJMES (International Journal of Middle East Studies) system developed and used by Layla S. Diba and Maryam Ekhtiar for their edited volume, Royal Persian Paintings. The Qajar Epoch, 1785–1925 (New York: I. B. Tauris, 1998). In my narrative I have retained the common English form of all well-known names of persons, places, and Persian texts. Thus: Baburnama and Akbarnama, rather than Baburnameh and Akbarnameh; Agra rather than Agreh; and Begum/Beg rather than Bigum/Biyg. Translation of Persian manuscripts and books, unless noted otherwise, is mine.

  The original spellings have been retained in quotations. As a result, certain names appear with different spellings in my text, on the one hand, and in some quotations, on the other. In citations throughout the book, all information included in square brackets is mine.

  A note on terminology: There are no words in Persian, the chief language of the Mughal court, that translate precisely as “emperor and empress” or “king and queen”; these are titles sometimes used by Europeans in Nur’s day to describe Mughal monarchs, by those who later translated Mughal chronicles and court documents, and by modern-day English-speakers. The official titles of the Mughal ruler we’d call emperor or king included a variety of terms in a variety of languages. Jahangir, for example, was called in Persian Padshah (Great King) and Shahanshah (King of Kings), and in Arabic Al-Sultan-al-Azan (The Great Authority). In 1616, Jahangir bestowed on his wife the Persian name Nur Jahan Begum; begum was an honorific reserved for eminent wives and respected elder women. Later, Nur would issue imperial edicts as co-sovereign, an unprecedented act for a woman, using the official signature in Persian,
Nur Jahan Padshah Begum. She was also referred to by the Perso-Arabic term malika, or queen. For the purposes of this book, I refer to Nur Jahan as empress.

  KEY BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS

  ABDUR-RAHIM KHAN-I KHANAN (D. 1626)*

  Translator of the Baburnama from Chaghatai Turkish to Persian, versatile Hindi poet and an able general, Abdur-Rahim was the son of Akbar’s guardian and mentor, Bairam Khan, and stepson of Salimeh Begum. He employed Sher Afgan, Nur Jahan’s first husband, during a campaign in Sind. Nobles whom Shah Jahan wooed to his side during his rebellion included Abdur-Rahim. Eventually that alliance broke and Abdur-Rahim returned to the imperial camp.

  ABUL-HASAN, PAINTER (B. 1588–89)

  Son of the Persian painter Aqa Riza, Abul-Hasan studied closely with his father, and as a mature painter was most active at the court of the fourth Mughal, Emperor Jahangir. He came in contact with a wide range of artists, played masterfully with ideas of light and composition, and painted some remarkable portraits, including those of the Mughal empress Nur Jahan and emperor Jahangir. In 1618, the emperor awarded him the title Nadir uz-Zaman—Zenith of the World or Wonder of the Age.

  AKBAR (1542–1605)

  Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Akbar, born in October 1542 in Amarkot (now in Sindh province, Pakistan) was one of the greatest emperors of India. Son of Hamideh Banu Begum and the second Mughal king Humayun, Akbar succeeded to the throne at the age of thirteen. A contemporary of Elizabeth I, he reigned for four decades, extending Mughal power over the greater part of India and securing the northwest frontier by recapturing Kabul and Kandahar. A humanist, he remained dedicated to Islam, and took an active interest in other religions and denominations. His court drew world attention and attracted a wave of aristocrats and creative people from Persia, Afghanistan, and Central Asia. At the heart of Akbar’s success was his pluralist outlook.

  ARJUMAND BANU (1593–1631)

  The niece of Nur Jahan, and the daughter of Nur Jahan’s brother Asaf Khan, Arjumand married the third son of Emperor Jahangir, Mughal prince Khurram (later known by his regnal name, Shah Jahan). He conferred upon her the title Mumtaz Mahal, the Elect of the Palace. She bore fourteen children, including Jahanara Begum (Shah Jahan’s favorite daughter). Arjumand died in Burhanpur in the Deccan during the birth of her fourteenth child. Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal—meant to represent her house in paradise—as a mausoleum for her.

  ASAF KHAN (1569–1641)

  Son of the eminent Mughal courtier, the Persian Ghiyas Beg, he was named Abul-Hasan at birth. Mughal Emperor Jahangir elevated him as Asaf Khan, the name by which he is remembered. His younger sister was Empress Nur Jahan, and his daughter, Arjumand Banu, married Prince Khurram/Shah Jahan. Asaf Khan held several stellar courtly positions under Jahangir. After the emperor’s demise in 1627, he was instrumental in securing the accession of his son-in-law Shah Jahan.

  ASMAT BEGUM (D. 1621)

  She was the granddaughter of Aqa Mulla Dawatdar (Ink-Stand Holder) Qazwini, one of the chief courtiers of the Persian monarch Shah Tahmasp. Asmat’s family and that of Ghiyas Beg, her husband, had intermarried extensively. In the late 1570s, she accompanied her husband and two sons and a daughter from Iran to India. Pregnant with her fourth child at the time, she gave birth to Mihr un-Nisa, the future Mughal empress Nur Jahan, outside Kandahar. Jahangir records Asmat as a lively and large-spirited woman in his Jahangirnama.

  BABUR (1483–1556)

  The first Mughal king, Babur—poet, wanderer, and the author of the Baburnama—descended from Central Asian heroes, Chingiz Khan (1167–1227) on his mother’s side, and Timur (1336–1405) on his father’s. Babur’s paternal grandfather parceled out his empire to his sons. It was over these possessions, provinces controlled by uncles, or cousins of varying degrees, that Babur fought with close and distant relatives for much of his life. During a protracted struggle for the coveted city Samarqand, Timur’s capital, Babur lost the territory his father bequeathed to him. By about 1504, he was driven to Kabul, and eventually in 1526 defeated Ibrahim Lodi of Delhi and inaugurated the Mughal rule.

  DAI DILARAM

  Dilaram nursed Nur Jahan when she was an infant, and stayed with the empress all through her life, becoming prominent as a harem officer. No records give specifics of her life and therefore it cannot be determined with certainty whether she left Iran at the same time as Asmat and Ghiyas and helped with Nur’s birth on the way. Dilaram, variously called Dai Dilaram and Dilarani in historical records, became the superintendent of the female servants of the palace during Nur and Jahangir’s co-sovereignty, although no date for this appointment is to be found in the records.

  DAWAR BAKHSH (1603–1628)

  His name means “God Given,” and Dawar became famous in Mughal history as the king with the shortest reign, following the death of his grandfather, Jahangir. The eldest son of Prince Khusraw (the eldest son of Jahangir), he became a pawn in the political game around the Mughal throne in 1627. Asaf Khan declared Dawar the emperor, a stopgap arrangement to counter the claims of Nur Jahan, who wanted her son-in-law Shahryar as the king. Asaf thereby ensured the succession of Shah Jahan.

  FARID BHAKKARI

  He served in several provinces of the Mughal Empire in financial and revenue capacities, as well as a news reporter. He notes being in the retinue of Mughal officers, and in Jahangir’s Kashmir camp in 1619. In 1631, he was with Mahabat Khan, and in 1642, he joined the expedition against the chief of the Punjab hills. He was the author of a pioneering biographical dictionary of nobles, scholars, and other influential Mughals. Bhakkari’s work, the Dhakhiratul Khawanin, completed in 1650, is a rare compilation of non-official facts, and was a major source for the eighteenth-century Maathir-Ul-Umara, the biographical dictionary of Mughal nobles.

  GHIYAS BEG (D. 1622)

  Famous in history as I’timad ud-Daula, the Pillar of the State, an honor conferred upon him by his son-in-law, Jahangir, Ghiyas Beg was one of the most distinguished Persian nobles of the Mughal Empire. Born in Tehran, he belonged to a distinguished family of poets and high officials. After the death of his father in 1576, Ghiyas Beg migrated to India. The third Mughal emperor, Akbar, enrolled Ghiyas into imperial service, and thus began his Indian career. His fortunes increased massively during the reign of Akbar’s son and successor Jahangir, who in 1611 married Ghiyas’s daughter Nur Jahan and appointed him as his chief minister. Ghiyas Beg died near Kangra in 1622. Nur Jahan commissioned a burial place, unprecedented in style and concept, for Asmat and Ghiyas, on the right bank of the Yamuna River.

  GULBADAN BEGUM (1523–1603)

  Gulbadan Begum, the daughter of Babur, traveled to Agra from Afghanistan at the age of six and a half, after her father had made substantial conquests in that region. An unusual witness to the emerging Mughal monarchy from its inception in the early conquests of Babur to its majesty in the reign of Akbar, she recorded what she had seen in her memoir, the Ahval-i Humayun Badshah (literally, conditions in the time of Humayun Badshah). The Ahval, a unique piece of writing, the only example of prose by a Mughal woman, is the best document on Mughal domestic life, and the character of the empire as it was taking shape. As an elderly woman, in 1578, Gulbadan led the senior women of Akbar’s harem for a pilgrimage to Mecca, braved the hazards of treacherous seas and unknown territories—including a year at Aden in the Red Sea after their ship was wrecked.

  HAMIDEH BANU BEGUM (1527–1604)

  It is difficult to precisely chart Hamideh Banu’s family tree, but sources suggest that she was a descendent of a renowned saint. Prominent as the revered mother of Emperor Akbar, Hamideh fits well the trajectory of Mughal women who animated the royal circles with their presence, support, and wisdom born of age. She married Humayun, the second Mughal king of India, at Pat in the summer of 1541, and gave birth to Akbar in 1542 while the royals were in exile. Hamideh surfaces frequently in the Mughal sources, especially in the Akbarnama. She sought forgiveness on behalf of Prince Salim, future Jahangir. She did not join the party of senio
r women pilgrims that Gulbadan Begum led, and likely stayed back to support Akbar.

  JADRUP

  Jadrup was a noted Vaishnavite ascetic of high acclaim. With his guidance, Emperor Jahangir came to believe that the Vedantic philosophy of Hindus and the Sufi thoughts of Muslims were similar. The emperor followed Jadrup and met him whenever he could. Jahangir writes about these meetings in his memoir and gives fascinating details of the space of their gatherings, the discussion, and the decorum. A fine painting from Jahangir’s court depicts the meeting between Jadrup and the emperor.