Nūr Jahān Baygum (1577–1645), Queen of India, Poet of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
Nūr Jahān Baygum was one of the beloved and powerful wives of Nūr al-Dīn Jahāngīr (1569–1627), the Mughal emperor of India, and the first lady of his harem. Her date of birth is recorded as 1577.1Abū Sufyān, Nūr Jahān Baygum shakhsīyat aur kārnāme [Nūr Jahān Baygum: Personality and oeuvre] (Dilhī: Farogh-i Urdū Bhawan [National Council for the Promotion of Urdu Language], 2013), 4. Her original name was Mihr al-Nisā, and she was born into an esteemed family of Iranian descent. After marrying Jahāngīr, she was first given the title Nūr Mahal and later Nūr Jahān Baygum.2Nūr al-Dīn Muhammad Jahāngīr Gūrkānī, Tuzuk-i Jahāngīrī [Autobiography of Jahāngīr], Martaba Mīrzā Muhammad Hādī Mu‘tamid al-Khidmat (Lucknow: Navāl Kīshor, n.d.), 157; Nūr al-Dīn Muhammad Jahāngīr Gūrkānī, Jahāngīr′nāmah or Tuzuk-i Jahāngīrī, ed. Muhammad Hāshim (Tehran: Bunyād-i Farhang-i Īrān, 1359/1980), 181; Navāb Samsām al-Dawlah Shāhnavāz Khān, Ma‘āsir al-umarā [The works of the rulers], ed. Mawlavī ‘Abd al-Rahīm (Kolkata: Urdū Guide, 1888), 1:131; and Mu‘tamad Khān Bakhshī, Iqbāl′nāmah Jahāngīrī, Mawlānā Mawlavī Muhammad Rafī‘ Sāhib Fāzil Dīvband (Allāhābād: Shānti Press, 1931), 60. Her ancestors, prior to their migration to India, held cultural, political, and governmental positions during the Safavid period in Iran,3Zabīh Allāh Safā, Tārīkh-i adabiyāt-i Īrān [History of Iran’s literature], 5th ed. (Tehran: Firdaws, 1369/1990), 5, section 1:479–81; and Badr al-Sādāt ‘Alizādah Mughaddam, “Nigāhī bih jāygāh-i khāndān-i I‘timād al-Dawlah Tihrānī dar dawrah-yi Jahāngīr Taymūrī,” in Majallah-yi Mutāli‘āt-i Tārīkh-i Islām [Journal of historical studies of Islam] 5, no. 17 (1392/2013): 93–116. which they continued to hold later in India.4Gūrkānī, Tuzuk-i Jahāngīrī , 21; Bakhshī, Iqbāl′nāmah-yi Jahāngīrī, 58; Shaykh Ahmad ‘Alī Khān Hāshimī Sandīlavī, Tazkirah-i makhzan al-ghāra‘īb [Biography of the treasury of wonders], ed. Muhammad Bāqir (Lahore: Punjab University, 1968), 1:584 and 5:2066. Nūr Jahān was born in Dasht-i Bakwā5Gūrkānī, Tuzuk-i Jahāngīrī , 21; and Shāhnavāz Khān, Ma‘āsir al-umarā, 1:129. or Dasht-i Afrūz6I‘nāyat Allāh Shahrānī, Zanān-i barguzīdah-yi khāvar′zamīn [Notable women of the East], ed. Burhān al-Dīn Nāmiq (Kabul: Qīzīl Chūpān, 2016), 155. near Qandahār during her family’s migration to India.7‘Atā, Zanān-i sukhansarā dar pūyah-yi adab-i Darī [Literary women in Dari literature] (n.p.: Matba‘ah Dawlatī, 1365/1986), 39. Her father was I‘timād al-Dawlah, Mīrzā Ghiyās al-Dīn Muhammad (d. 1621)8Shāhnavāz Khān, Ma‘āsir al-umarā, 1:129. and her mother was I‘smat al-Nisā Baygum (d. 1620),9Sayyīd Ahmad Kāzimī, Nūr Jahān, ed. Sayyīd Maqbūl Husayn Vasl Bilgrāmī (Lucknow: Maqbūl al-Matābi‘ Nazīrābād, n.d.), 20; and Ira Mukoty, Daughters of the Sun (New Delhi: ALEPH, 2018), 159. the daughter of Mīrzā‘Alā al-Dawlah Āqā Mullā10Gūrkānī, Tuzuk-i Jahāngīrī, 21; and Shāhnavāz Khān, Ma‘āsir al-umarā, 1:127. and the aunt of Mīrzā J‘far Āsif Khān Qazvīnī.11Ahmad Gulchīn Ma‘ānī, Kāravān-i Hind [India’s caravan] (Mashhad: Āstān-i Quds Razavī, 1369/1990), 2:1464. In some sources, her father’s name has been equivocally written as Khvājah Ayās.12Navāb Sadīq Hasan Khān, Sham‘-i anjuman [The candle of the gathering], ed. Muhammad Kāzim Kahdū’ī (2nd ed.,Yazd: Dānishgāh-i Yazd, 1394/2015), 749; Thomas William Beale, Miftāh al-tavārīkh [Biographical dictionary] (Lucknow: Nawāl Kīshor, 1867), 214; Pīr Ghulām Hasan Khūyhāmī(Khuihami), Tārīkh-i Hasan dar bayān-i tārīkh-i sīyāsī-i Kashmīr [Hasan’s political history of Kashmir] (Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Government, 1911), 2:59; and Sa‘īd Nafīsī, “Adabiyāt-i Fārsī dar Hindūstān” [Persian literature in India], Armaghān 10, no. 8–9 (Ābān–Āzar 1308/November–December 1929): 615.
Figure 1: Jahangir and Prince Khurram Entertained by Nur Jahan ca. 1640-50 Mughal dynasty Reign of Jahangir Opaque watercolor, ink and gold on paper. Accessed via : https://asia-archive.si.edu/object/F1907.258/
After the death of his father and due to a series of misfortunes, Khvājah Ghiyās al-Dīn Muhammad immigrated to India with his wife, daughter, and two sons.13Shāhnavāz Khān, Ma‘āsir al-umarā, 1:128; Abū Sufyān, Nūr Jahān Baygum shakhsīyat aur kārnāme, 4; and Mukoty, Daughters of the Sun, 159. Advancing gradually, he first became affiliated with noble households,14Gūrkānī, Tuzuk-i Jahāngīrī, 21. and during the time of Jahāngīr, was given the title I‘timād al-Dawlah (trusted by the state).15Shāhnavāz Khān, Ma‘āsir al-umarā, 1:129; Bakhshī, Iqbāl′nāmah Jahāngīrī, 58–59. Until the end of Jahāngīr’s life, I‘timād al-Dawlah remained a member of the elite and the emperor’s confidant.16Gūrkānī, Tuzuk-i Jahāngīrī, 364. Ghiyās al-Dīn was not a poet but he had studied classical poetry and was very skilled in composition. Additionally, he was also an expert in the shikastah style of calligraphy.17Gūrkānī, Tuzuk-i Jahāngīrī, 21.
Nūr Jahān’s education consisted of religious teachings and the Koran as well as calligraphy, mathematics,18‘Abd al-Hayy Ibn Fakhr al-Dīn al-Hasanī, Nuzhat al-khavātir va bahjat al-masāmi‘ va al-navāzir [The delight of thoughts and the joy of listening and observing], ed. Sharaf al-Dīn Ahmad (2nd ed., Haydarābād Deccan: Ottoman Encyclopedia, 1976), 5:442. literature,19Sayyīd Sabāh al-Dīn ‘Abd al-Rahmān, Bazm-i Taymūrīyah [The Timurid banquet], Mawlavī Mas‘ūd ‘Alī Sāhib Nadvī (A‘zamgarh: Matba‘ Ma‘ārif, 1948), 443. archery, and horseback riding.20Sayyīd Ahmad Kāzimī, Nūr Jahān, 29; Abū al-Fakhr Mawlavī Shaykh ‘Āshiq Husayn Sīmāb Sidīqī al-Vārisī Akbarābādī, Savānih-i Nūr Jahān [The incidents of Nūr Jahān’s life], ed. Riyāz al-Dīn (Agra: Abū al-‘Alāʼī Buk Ḍipo, 1920), 15; Annemarie Schimmel, Dar qalamruv-i khānān-i Mughūl [The empire of the Great Mughals], Farāmarz Najd Samī‘ī (Tehran: Amīr Kabīr, 1386/2007), 183; and Mukoty, Daughters of the Sun, 158. Jalāl al-Dīn Akbar Shāh (1555–1605) had his daughters educated by the wife of Ghiyās al-Dīn, hence, Nūr Jahān received the same education as the emperor’s daughters.21‘Alī Akbar Mushīr Salīmī, Zanān-i sukhanvar: az yak hizār sāl pīsh tā imrūz kih bih zabān-i pārsī sokhan goftah-and [Women poets-orators: From one thousand years ago until today] (Tehran: ‘Alī Akbar ‘Ilmī, 1335/1956), 2:355; Sayyīdah Khvurshīd Fātimah Husaynī, “Nūr Jahān: sukhanvar-i Fārsī” [Nūr Jahān: the Persian writer], Tahqīqāt-i Fārsī [Persian studies] 1 (1996): 181; and Muhammad al-Dīn Sāhib Fawq, Hayāt-i Nūr Jahān va Jahāngīr [The life of Nūr Jahān and Jahāngīr] (Lahore: Hāfizābādī, 1904), 16. Unfortunately, the identity of Nūr Jahān’s teachers , especially her literature teachers, are unknown. It is therefore difficult to assess the level of her literary studies and her poetic talent.
Nūr Jahān had a free hand in running the affairs of the country. Except for the sermons, all governmental matters were conducted in her name, including the coins that Jahāngīr minted bore her name.22‘Abd al-Sattār Qāsim Lāhūrī, Majālis-i Jahāngīrī [Jahāngīrī gatherings], ‘Arif Nawshāhī and Mu‘īn Nizāmī (Tehran: Mīrās-i Maktūb, 1385/2006), 211–12; and Shāhnavāz Khān, Ma‘āsir al-umarā, 1:132; and Bakhshī, Iqbāl′nāmah-yi Jahāngīrī, 60. Being the closest person to him,23Gūrkānī, Jahāngīr′nāmah, 151; and Gūrkānī, Tuzuk-i Jahāngīrī, 131. she was involved in some of the political clashes over the choice of an heir.24Shāhnavāz Khān, Ma‘āsir al-umarā, 1:146 and 2:625; Muhammad Sālih Kanbū, ‘Amal sālih (Shāh Jahān′nāmah), Ghulām Yazdānī, Vahīd Qurayshī (2nd ed., Lahore: Majlis Taraqī Adab, 1967), 1:134, 161–75, and 2:381; al-Hasanī, Nuzhat al-khavātir, 5:443; Riyāz al-Islām, Tārīkh-i ravābit-i Īrān va Hind dar dawrah-yi Safaviyah va Afshāriyah [History of the Perso-Indian relations in the Safavid and Afsharid eras], eds. Muhammad Bāqir Ārām and ‘Abbās′qulī Ghaffārī′fard (Tehran: Amīr Kabīr, 1373/1994), 131–38 and 141–43. There are opposing views regarding her personality. Some have praised her as good-natured, depicting her as compassionate towards the helpless, the poor, and the orphans,25Iqbāl′nāmah-yi Jahāngīrī, 60–61. while others have accused her of being conspiratorial and power-hungry.26‘Amal sālih, 1:134 and 161–75; Navvāb Mīrzā Nasr′allāh Khān Fadā’ī Ispahānī, Dāstān-i turktāzān-i Hind [The story of India’s pillagers], ed. and trans. Qavīm (Tehran: Muhammad ‘Fardīn, Urdībihisht 1341/May 1962), 305; Āftāb Asghar, Tārīkh′navīsī-i Fārsī dar Hind va Pākistān-i Taymūriyān-i buzurg [Persian historiography in India and Pakistan during the Great Timurids] (Lahore: Khānah-i Farhang-i Īrān, November 1985), 202; and Tawfīq Hāshimpūr Subhānī, Nigāhī bih tārīkh-i adab-i Fārsī dar Hind [A look at the history of Persian literature in India] (Tehran: Intishārāt-i Dabīr′khānah-yi Shawrā-yi Gustarish-i Zabān va Adabiyāt-i Fārsī, 1377/1998), 381, 383. According to Jahāngīr’s notes, however, the reign of Shāh Jahān (r. 1628–58) marked the beginning of some turmoil and corruption due to her meddling with the lands.27Gūrkānī, Jahāngīr′nāmah, 394. She owned a big library with collections of valuable books.28Zuhrah Qadīrī, ‘Alī Akbar Ja‘farī and ‘Alī Akbar Kajbāf, “Zanān-i darbār-i Gūrkāniyān-i Hind va naqsh-i ānān dar gustarish-i zabān va adab-i Fārsī” [Women at the Gūrkānī court of India and their role in the spread of Persian language and literature], Fasl′nāmah-yi Kāvush′nāmah 21, no. 44 (Spring 1399/2020): 29. After being relieved of political duties, she devoted herself to books, poetry, and literature.29Abū al-Qāsim Hālat, Shāhān-i shā‘ir [King Poets] (Tehran: ‘Ilmī, n.d.), 295. Nūr Jahān’s activities in different fields, especially in the political arena, depict her as the most active woman in the history of the Mughals in India.30Schimmel, Dar qalamruv-i khānān-i Mughūl, 183; and Farībā Pāt and Maryam Istājī, “‘Āmiliyat-i zanān dar munāsibāt-i sīyāsī va nizāmī darbār-i Gūrkāniyān-i Hind” [Women’s role in the political and military relationships at the court of Indian Gurkanis], Nāmah-yi Farhangistān vīzhah′nāmah-yi shibhah′qārah [The Quarterly Journal of Iranian Academy of Persian Language and Literature, special issue on the Subcontinent] 19, no. 2 (Spring and Summer 1400/2021): 121.
Biographers have exaggerated her beauty31Shīr ‘Alī Khān Lūdī, Mir′āt al-khayāl [Mirror of imagination], ed. Hamīd Hasanī (Tehran: Rawzanah, 1377/1998), 66; Munshī Ahmad Husayn Sahar Kākūrvī, Ā’īnah-i hayrat [Mirror of wonders], Yūsuf Bayg Bābāpūr and Mas‘ūd Ghulāmiyah (2nd ed., Qum: Nashr Majma‘ Zakhāyīr-i Islamī, 1391/2012), 33; Durgā Parshād, Hadīqah-yi ‘ishrat [Garden of pleasure] (Lucknow: Matba‘-i Dabdabah-i Ahmadī, 1898), 56; Habīb Allāh Āmūzgār, Maqām-i zan dar āfarīnish [The place of woman in the creation] (2nd ed., Tehran: Iqbāl, 1355/1956), 202; and Abū Sufyān, Nūr Jahān Baygum shakhsīyat aur kārnāme, 6. describing her as having unrivaled eloquence, fine taste, sharp intellect, and wisdom.32Shāhnavāz Khān, Ma‘āsir al-umarā, 1:131. Moreover, many clothing, accessories, and ornaments customary in India are known to have been her innovations.33‘Abd al-Qādir Badā’ūnī, Muntakhab al-tavārīkh [Selected histories], ed. Ahmad ‘Alī Sāhib (Tehran: Anjumān-i Āsār va Mafākhir-i Farhangī [Society for the Appreciation of Cultural Works and Dignitaries], 1380/2001), 2:271; Shāhnavāz Khān, Ma‘āsir al-umarā, 1:132; Rahm ‘Alī Khān Īmān, Muntakhab al-latāyif, Husayn ‘Alīzādah va Mihdī ‘Alīzādah (Tehran: Tahūrī, 1386/2007), 609; and Mawlavī ‘Abd al-Bārī Sāhib Āsī, Tazkirah-yi al-khavātīn [A biography of women], ed. Bābū Kisrī Dās Sāhib Seth (Lucknow: Navāl Kīshor, n.d.), 275; and Āmūzgār, Maqām-i zan dar āfarīnish, 203. What remains of her life as the most significance aspect, however, is her distinct poetic talent.
The poetry of Nūr Jahān has been discussed together with the literary status of her husband, Nūr al-Dīn Jahāngīr, himself a poet,34Gūrkānī, Tuzuk-i Jahāngīrī, 77, 100, 112, 150, 193, 235, 243, 246, 287. critic, and connoisseur of poetry35Lāhūrī, Majālis-i Jahāngīrī, introduction, 29, 55, 62, 63, 76, 249; Ghulām Muhammad, “Sukhanvarān-i Fārsī′gūy’i sarzamīn-i Hind dar ‘ahd-i mughūlān-i Gūrkānī” [India’s Persian writers at the time of the Gurkani Mughals], Majallah-yi Dānishkadah-yi Adabiyāt va ‘Ulūm Insānī Dānishgāh-i Tehrān [Journal of the Faculty of Literature and Humanities of Tehran University] 158–59, no. 994 (Shahrīvar 1380/August 2001): 505–6. known for his poetic improvisations.36Lāhūrī, Majālis-i Jahāngīrī, 139; Yamin Khān Lahūrī, Tārīkh-i shi‘r va sukhanvarān-i Fārsī dar Lāhūr [History of poetry and Persian writers in Lahore] (Karāchī: National Publishing House, 1971), 258–59; Muhammad, “Sukhanvarān-i Fārsī′gūy’i sarzamīn-i Hind dar ‘ahd-i mughūlān-i Gūrkānī,” 505–6. His critique of poetry was grounded in knowledge, as evidenced in many parts of the Jahāngīrī gatherings (Majālis-i Jahāngīrī).37Lāhūrī, Majālis-i Jahāngīrī, 139, 204, 233. Jahāngīr’s era is considered the peak of Persian literature in India.38Muhammad Sābir, “Awzā‘-i shibhah′qārah dar dawrān-i Taymūriyān” [The subcontinent under the Timurids], Nāmah Pārsī 7, no. 3 (Pāyīz 1391/Autumn 2012): 205; Asghar, Tārīkh′navīsī-i Fārsī dar Hind va Pākistān-i Taymūriyān-i buzurg, 205; al-Islām, Tārīkh-i ravābit-i Īrān va Hind dar dawrah-yi Safaviyah va Afshāriyah, 253. Given Nūr Jahān’s power and influence at Jahāngīr’s court, it is surprising that very little is mentioned about her in his notes.39Muhammad Ibrāhīm Bāstānī Pārīzī, “Yāddāsht′hā-yi khusūsī-yi rūzānah-yi Jahāngīr” [The private journal of Jahāngīr], Yaghmā 5, no. 3 (Khurdād 1331/May 1952): 130. Additionally, in the Jahāngīrī gatherings, which details his nocturnal meetings with poets, there is no mention of Nūr Jahān, even though parts of the work were written after his marriage to Nūr Jahān. The last meeting was the night of 19 Ramadan 1020/25 November 1611.
The improvisations of Jahāngīr and Nūr Jahān, especially her sharp memory and repartee, are mentioned in numerous books40Kākūrvī, Ā’īnah-i hayrat, 34–41; R. P. Massani, Court poets of Iran and India (Bombay: New Book Company, 1938), 166; Parshād, Hadīqah-yi ‘ishrat, 9–10; Muhammad Afzal Sarkhūsh, Kalamāt al-shu‘arā [Words of poets], edited by ‘Alī Rizā Quzvah (1st print, Tehran: Kitābkhānah, Mūzih va Markaz-i Asnād-i Majlis-i Shawrā-yi Islāmī [Library, Museum and Document Center of the Iranian Parliament], 1389/2010), 61. and narrated in stories. Such quick- wittedness is not unprecedented in Persian poetry. Although the possibility of her repartee is not far-fetched,41Khūyhāmī(Khuihami), Tārīkh-i Hasan, 2:485; Muhammad Qudrat Allāh Gūpāmavī, Tazkirah-yi natāyij al-afkār [Biography of the results of thoughts] (15th print, Bombay: Bombay Sultanī Printing, 158; Salīmī, Zanān-i sukhanvar, 2:363–66; Harūmal Sadārangānī, Pārsī′gūyān-i Hind va Sind [Persian poets of India and Sindh] (Tehran: Bunyād-i Farhang-i Īrān, 1355/1975), 50–52; Māgah Rahmānī, Pardah′nishīnān-i sukhangūy [Secluded writers] ([Kābul]: Anjuman-i Tārīkh-i Qamrah, 1958), 40–42; Shiblī Nu‘mānī, Shi‘r al-‘ajam yā tārīkh-i shu‘arā va adabiyāt-i Īrān [Poetry of Iran or the history of poets and Iranian literature], Sayyīd Muhammad Taqī Fakhr Dā‘ī Gīlānī (2nd print, Tehran: Dunyā-yi Kitāb, 1363/1984), 3:7; ‘Abd al-Rahmān, Bazm-i Taymūrīyah, 443; Muhammad, “Sukhanvarān-i Fārsī′gūy’i sarzamīn-i Hind dar ‘ahd-i mughūlān-i Gūrkānī,” 507–9. as Gulchīn Ma‘ānī has shown, such stories seem to have been fabricated by anonymous individuals and found their way into writing. Given that Jahāngīr and Nūr Jahān occasionally drew upon poets such as Hāfiz42Kākūrvī, Ā’īnah-i hayrat, 38–39; Lahūrī, Tārīkh-i shi‘r va sukhanvarān-i Fārsī dar Lāhūr, 260. and Banā’ī43Īmān, Muntakhab al-latāyif, 154–55; Kishān Chand Ikhlās, Tazkirah-yi hamīshah bahār [Biography of everlasting Spring], Vahīd Qurayshī (Karāchī: Anjuman-i Taraqqī-yi Urdū-yi Pākistān, 1973), 245. in their sessions of capping verses and repartee, if not all, at least some of the accounts are fictional. Gulchīn Ma‘ānī in the Caravan of India (Kāravān-i Hind) considers all such accounts fictitious and believes that in these fabrications, verses by other poets have been attributed to Nūr Jahān.44Ma‘ānī, Kāravān-i Hind, 2:1465. He even demonstrates that the epitaph on Nūr Jahān’s tombstone, which is attributed to her (“On the graves of us strangers, there is no light, no flower / no butterfly burning, no sound of a nightingale”) is from the divan of Tajallī Kāshī.45Ma‘ānī, Kāravān-i Hind, 2:1465. He also discloses the names of two other poets, Haydarī Hamadānī46Ma‘ānī, Kāravān-i Hind, 2:1465. and Hakīm Hāziq,47Ma‘ānī, Kāravān-i Hind, 2:1265. whose poetry have been attributed to Nūr Jahān.
Nūr Jahān’s power at the court facilitated other poets’ entrance to the court,48Muhammad, “Sukhanvarān-i Fārsī′gūy’i sarzamīn-i Hind dar ‘ahd-i mughūlān-i Gūrkānī,” 506. namely May Kalāl who was introduced to the court by her.49‘Alī Qulī Vālah Dāghistānī, Riyāz al-shu‘arā [Garden of poets], edited by Sayyid Muhsin Nājī Nasrābādī (1st print, Tehran: Asātīr, 1384/2005), 4:2160; Sarkhūsh, Kalamāt al-shu‘arā, 178–79; Īmān, Muntakhab al-latāyif, 616–17; Muhammad, “Sukhanvarān-i Fārsī′gūy’i sarzamīn-i Hind dar ‘ahd-i mughūlān-i Gūrkānī,” 506; Zuhūr al-Dīn Ahmad, Naqd-i shi‘r-i Fārsī dar Pākistān va Hind [Criticism of Persian poetry in Pakistan and India] (Islāmābād: Markaz-i Tahqīqāt-i Fārsī-i Īrān va Pākistān, 1995), 65. She frequently rewarded poets50Mutribī al-Asam Samarqandī, Nuskhah-yi zībā-yi Jahāngīr [The beautiful manuscript of Jahāngīr], edited by Ismā‘īl Bayg′jānūf and Sayyīd ‘Alī Mūjānī (1st print, Qum: Kitāb′khānah-i buzurg-i hazrat-i Āyat′allāh al-‘Uzmā Mar‘ashī Najafī, 1377/1998), 270. and was known as an expert in poetry. She critiqued the works of Kalīm Kāshānī (980–1061/1572–1650), especially the verse: “I melted with shame, water does not melt / I wonder how the world managed to melt me.”51Husayn Qulī Khān ‘Azīmābādī (‘Āshiqī), Tazkirah-yi nishtar-i ‘ishq [Biography of the lancet of love], edited by Sayyīd Kamāl Hāj Sayyid Javādī (1st print, Tehran: Mīrās-i Maktūb, 1391/2012), 2:1360; Lūdī, Mir′āt al-khayāl, 72; Nu‘mānī, Shi‘r al-‘ajam, 3:173; ‘Atā, Zanān-i sukhansarā dar pūyah-yi adab-i darī, 41; Salīmī, Zanān-i sukhanvar, 2:365; Muhammad, “Sukhanvarān-i Fārsī′gūy’i sarzamīn-i Hind dar ‘ahd-i mughūlān-i Gūrkānī,” 508. The surprising point is that this verse cannot be found in any of the print copies of the Dīvān-i Kalīm.52Abū Tālib Kalīm Hamadānī, Dīvān, introduction, correction and annotations by Muhammad Qahramān (Mashhad: Āstān-i Quds Razavī, 1369/1990); Tālib Kalīm Kāshānī, Kulliyāt-i ash‘ār, edited by Mihdī Sadrī (1st print, Tehran: Hamrāh, 1376/1997), 2. vol.; Abū Tālib Kalīm Kāshānī, Dīvān, correction by H. Partaw Bayzā’ī (Tehran: Khayyām, n.d.). Furthermore, some recent53Beale, Miftāh al-tavārīkh, 215. and modern54‘Abd al-Rahmān, Bazm-i Taymūrīyah, 444; Muhammad, “Sukhanvarān-i Fārsī′gūy’i sarzamīn-i Hind dar ‘ahd-i mughūlān-i Gūrkānī,” 508. writers have wrongly linked this verse to Tālib Āmulī (987–1036/1579–1626), the poet laureate of Jahāngīr’s court.
Among the poems ascribed to her or recorded under her name in the tazkirahs,55Tazkirah-yi Kāzim, manuscript, Majlis-i Shawrā-yi Millī, number 588,901; Parshād, Hadīqah-yi ‘ishrat, 63–64; Āsī, Tazkirah-yi al-khavātīn, 277; Āftāb Rāy Lakhnavī, Tazkirah-yi riyāz al-‘ārifīn, edited by Sayyid Hisām al-Dīn Rashīdī (Lahore: Markaz-i Tahqīqāt-i Fārsī-i Īrān va Pākistān, 1977), 301; Āsī, Tazkirah-yi al-khavātīn with calligraphy by Mīrzā Mihdī Shirāzī (n.p., November 1888), 167; Salīmī, Zanān-i sukhanvar, 2:365. there are some explicit, obscene, and lewd verses pertaining to the private lives of individuals. It is not implausible that others may have composed these verses and attributed them to her. Gulchīn Ma‘ānī introduces Badī‘ah Mutribah as the poet of one of these explicit and obscene verses.56Ma‘ānī, Kāravān-i Hind, 2:1469.
Interestingly, in the writings of her friends and acquaintances, such as those of Tālib Āmulī and of her husband Jahāngīr,57Bāstānī Pārīzī, “Yāddāsht′hā-yi khusūsī-yi rūzānah-yi Jahāngīr,” 130. there is no confirmation of her being a poet. Tālib Āmulī, in an ode58Tālib Āmulī, Kulliyāt-i ash‘ār-i malik al-shu‘arā Tālib Āmulī, edited by Tāhirī Shahāb (Tehran: Kitāb′khānah-yi Sanā’ī, 1346/1967), 44. and a fragment59Āmulī, Kulliyāt-i ash‘ār-i Tālib Āmulī, 124. eulogizing Nūr Jahān, mentioned only once the power of her oratory,60Āmulī, Kulliyāt-i ash‘ār-i Tālib Āmulī, 44. listing her characteristics such as chastity,61Āmulī, Kulliyāt-i ash‘ār-i Tālib Āmulī, 44, 125, 144. munificence, benevolence, kindness,62Āmulī, Kulliyāt-i ash‘ār-i Tālib Āmulī, 44. power,63Āmulī, Kulliyāt-i ash‘ār-i Tālib Āmulī, 45, 125. religiosity, beneficence, and compassion,64Āmulī, Kulliyāt-i ash‘ār-i Tālib Āmulī, 125. but he did not mention her poetic expertise or eloquence. Thereupon, the probable reason for her name not being mentioned among poets, despite her high political position, could be intentional, perhaps due considerations that writing poetry may be below her lofty position, or because Nūr Jahān had no fame as a poet in her lifetime.
Her immediate circle aside, the first commentary on her poetry appears in Mir′āt al-khayāl (Mirror of imagination, 1690) fifty years after her death. Without a separate entry dedicated to her and under the bibliographical entry of Qāsim Khān, Shīr ‘Alī Khān Lūdī mentions her as someone who engaged in “poetic debates (munāzirah) and poetry symposiums (mushā‘irah)” with Qāsim Khān.65Lūdī, Mir’āt al-khayāl, 66. Lūdī extols her beauty and natural talent and describes her with wittiness, eloquence, poetic acumen, and sharpness. Likewise, in writing about the life of Kalīm (Kāshānī/Hamadānī), Lūdī discusses her critique of Kalīm’s poetry.66Lūdī, Mir’āt al-khayāl, 72. Toward the end of the book and at the beginning of the biographies of female poets, while talking about the life of Mihrī Hiravī, he refers to two verses by Nūr Jahān, accrediting them as famous and reputable among poets.67Lūdī, Mir’āt al-khayāl, 278–79. It is not clear why Lūdī did not include Nūr Jahān’s life as a separate entry. Moreover, he was not only careless about the details relating to Nūr Jahān but he also made mistakes.68For example, the invention of perfume and rose water has been attributed to Nūr Jahān on page sixty-six of the Tazkirah-yi mir′āt al-khayāl, which is obviously not true. Nūr al-Dīn Jahāngīr (Gūrkānī, Tuzuk-i Jahāngīrī, 133–34; and Gūrkānī, Jahāngīr′nāmah, 154) and others following him (Shāhnavāz Khān, Ma‘āsir al-umarā, 1:132) clearly state that the creation of a kind of perfume called Jahāngīrī perfume was an innovation of Nūr Jahān’s mother. Muhammad Sālih Kanbū, the author of ‘Amal-i sālih (The right act) and a contemporary of Nūr Jahān, did not state either that she was a poet.69Wherever Nūr Jahān is mentioned in the index of the three volumes of ‘Amal-i sālih or Shāh Jahān′nāmah, it is related to her involvement in the state affairs. Kanbū did not discuss her poetry at all. What we read about Nūr Jahān in the new edition of the Javāhir al-‘ajāyib (The gem of wonders) by Fakhrī Hiravī (d. 970/1566) is not based on truth and is undoubtedly an addition.70Muhammad Fakhrī ibn Hiravī, Javāhir al-‘ajāyib [Gem of wonders, biographical anthology of female Poets in Iran and India], Mīnā Āqāzādah and Zahrā Ibrāhīm Ughlī Khayāvī (Tehran: Safīr–Ardahāl, 1392/2013), 44. Hisām al-Dīn Rashīdī correctly excluded this section in his edited version,71Sultān Muhammad Fakhrī ibn Muhammad Amīrī Hiravī, Rawzat al-salātīn va javāhir al-‘ajāyib [Garden of gings and gem of wonders] (known as Dīvān-i Fakhrī Hiravī), ed. Sayyid Hisām al-Dīn Rashīdī (Haydarābād: Sindhī Adabī Bord, 1968). since Fakhrī Hiravī had died before the birth of Nūr Jahān or during her childhood and could not have written about her. Following these two, approximately a hundred years after the death of Nūr Jahān, the writer of Ma‘āsir al-umarā described her as having an elegant taste and noted her penname as Makhfī (lit. secret), an error as explained further in this article.72Shāhnavāz Khān, Ma‘āsir al-umarā, 1:134.
Other biographers also described her as a discerning critic, learned in poetry, and quick to respond, but did not add any new insight to what was discussed above.73Qadīrī et al., “Zanān darbār-i Gūrkāniyān-i Hind va naqsh-i ānān dar gustarish-i zabān va adab-i Fārsī”, 16; Āsī, Tazkirah-yi al-khavātīn, 276–77; Sāhib Fawq, Hayāt-i Nūr Jahān va Jahāngīr, 30; Akbarābādī, Savānih-i Nūr Jahān Baygum, 30, 44–47. Some noted her talent and elegant taste74‘Atā, Zanān-i sukhansarā dar pūyah-yi adab-i darī, 44. and others regarded her versification, literary criticism, and repartee as superior among the women of her time.75Gūpāmavī, Tazkirah-yi natāyij al-afkār, 157. She has also been called eloquent and wise.76Īmān, Muntakhab al-latāyif, 609. The author of Hadīqah-yi ‘ishrat (Garden of pleasure) considers her poetry extremely delicate, praising the subtlety of her themes.77Parshād, Hadīqah-yi ‘ishrat, 62. Tawfīq Subhanī also emphasized her poetic nature.78Subhānī, Nigāhī bih tārīkh-i adab-i Fārsī dar Hind, 383. Each of these writers stressed her poetic skills, but none presented any clear analysis of her poetry. A contemporary scholar has also analyzed the poems attributed to her,79Husaynī, “Nūr Jahān: sukhanvar-i Fārsī,” 186–97. but the poems are certainly known to not be hers, as corroborated by Gulchīn Ma‘ānī’s research. Therefore, such conclusions are incorrect and unproductive.
Considering the above points, evaluating Nūr Jahān’s poetry and status as a poet is difficult, if not impossible. Only very few of her verses have survived, but even those are mixed with poems of Zayb al-Nisā (1638–1702),80Ma‘ānī, Kāravān-i Hind, 2:1265. whose compositions are also conflated with those of Makhfī Rashtī and Makhfī Khurāsānī.81Ma‘ānī, Kāravān-i Hind, 2:1265–71. Such confusions have led some to believe that Nūr Jahān’s penname was Makhfī82Shāhnavāz Khān, Ma‘āsir al-umarā, 1:134; Īmān, Muntakhab al-latāyif, 609; Muhammad ‘Alī Mudarris Tabrīzī, Rayhānat al-adab (4th print, Tehran: Khayyām Bookshop, 1374/1995), 5:264, 6:253; Ahmad Gulchīn Ma‘ānī, “Mu‘ammā-yi dīvān-i Makhfī” [The mystery of the dīvān of Makhfī], Honar va Mardum 172 (Bahman 1355/January 1977): 38; Rahmānī, Pardah′nishīnān-i sukhangūy, 40; Beale, Miftāh al-tavārīkh, 215; Shahrānī, Zanān-i barguzīdah-yi khāvar′zamīn, 56. and even to attribute the dīvān of Zayb al-Nisā to her.83Shahrānī, Zanān-i barguzīdah-yi khāvar′zamīn, 57.
While numerous manuscripts and anthologies (bayāz) of Zayb al-Nisā’s poetry exist in libraries around the world,84Anonymous, Markaz-i Tahqīqāt-i Zabān-i Fārsī dar Hind, Fihrist-i nuskhah′hā-yi khattī’i kitāb′khānah-yi shaw‘bah-yi tahqīq va ishā‘at-i Kashmīr va Hamīdiyah Bhopāl [Catalog of the manuscripts of the Library of the Department of Research and Publications of Kashmir and Hamīdiyah Bhopāl] (New Delhi: Markaz-i Tahqīqāt-i Zabān-i Fārsī dar Hind, 1986), 107–8; Muhammad Bashīr Husayn, ed. Fihrist-i makhtūtāt-i Shafī‘ [Catalog of the manuscripts of Shafī‘], Ahmad Rabbanī (Lahore: Punjab University, 1972), 180, 195; Sayyid ‘Alī Mūjānī, ‘Alī Bahrāmīyān, Jūrābayg Nazrīaf and Amīr′yazdān ‘Alī′mardān, eds. Fihrist-i nuskhah′hā-yi khattī’i Fārsī’i Anstītūy-i Khāvar′shināsī va Āsār-i Khattī’i Tājīkistān (Dushanbah) [Catalog of the Persian manuscripts of the Institute of Oriental Studies and Manuscripts of Tajikistan] (1st print, Qum: Kitāb′khānah-i Buzurg-i Hazrat-i Āyat′allāh al-‘Uzmā Mar‘ashī Najafī, 1378/1999), 2:33, 35, 43, 47, 52, 53, 54, 59, 61, 64, 68, 69, 71, 76, 110, 111, 112; Sayyid ‘Alī Mūjānī, ‘Alī Bahrāmīyān, Fihrist-i nuskhah′hā-yi khattī’i Fārsī’i Anstītūy-i Khavār′shināsī va Āsār-i Khattī’i Tājīkistān (Dushanbah) [Catalog of the Persian manuscripts of the Institute of Oriental Studies and Manuscripts of Tajikistan], edited by Amīr′yazdān ‘Alī′mardān, Yūnis Kirāmatī, Qudrat Īlchī Bayg and Bashīr Yāqmūrlī (1st print, Qum: Kitāb′khānah-i Buzurg-i Hazrat-i Āyat′allāh al-‘Uzmā Mar‘ashī Najafī, 1379/2000), 3:220, 225, 227, 229, 232, 259; Sayyīd ‘Alī Mūjānī and Jūrabayg Nazrīaf, edited by Amīr′yazdān ‘Alī′mardān, Sayyid Anvar Shākhmāruv, Yūnis Kirāmātī and Bashīr Yāqmurlī (1st print, Qum: Kitāb′khānah-i Buzurg-i Hazrat-i Āyat′allāh al-‘Uzmā Mar‘ashī Najafī, 1382/2003), 4:13, 15, 20; Sayyid Muhammad Bāqir Hujjatī, Fihrist-i nuskhah′hā-yi khattī’i kitāb′khānah-yi Dānishkadah-yi Ilāhīyāt va Mu‘ārif Islāmī’i Dānishgāh-i Tihrān [Catalog of the manuscripts of the Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, University of Tehran], edited Muhammad Taqī Dānishpazhūh (Tehran: Dānishgāh-i Tihrān, Day 1345/December 1966), 252; Muhammad Bashīr Husayn, Fihrist-i makhtūtāt-i Shīrānī [Catalog of Shīrānī’s manuscripts] (1st print, Lahore: Punjab University, 1968) 128; Vladimir Ivanov, Concise descriptive catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the Curzon Collection (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1926), 203; Charles Rieu, Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the British Museum (London, British Museum, 1881), II:702. and her collection of poetry has been published several times in the Subcontinent and Iran85‘Ārif Nawshāhī, Kitāb′shināsī-yi āsār-i Fārsī’i chāp shudah dar shibhah′qārah [Bibliography of Persian books published in the subcontinent] (1st print, Tehran: Mīrās-i Maktūb, 1391/2013), 3:1247–48. with an exaggerated number of fifteen thousand verses86Sadārangānī, Pārsī′gūyān-i Hind va Sind, 136; Qadīrī et al., “Zanān darbār-i Gūrkāniyān-i Hind va naqsh-i ānān dar gustarish-i zabān va adab-i Fārsī,” 24; ‘Abd al-Rahīm ‘Aqīqī Bakhshāyishī and Habībah ‘Aqīqī Bakhshāyishī, Zanān-i nāmī dar tārīkh, farhang va tamaddun-i Islāmī [Famous women in Islamic history, culture and civilization] (1st print, Qum: Daftar-i Nashr-i Navīd-i Islām, 1382/2004), 396. in her divan, there is rarely any trace of poems by Jahāngīr and Nūr Jahān in libraries world-wide. From Nūr Jahān’s poems, as far as could be determined from searching dozens of manuscript catalogues in various libraries worldwide, only a brief anthology of thirty-nine pages was found,87Husayn, Makhtūtāt-i Shafī‘, 195. which is quite unusual.
To sum up, Nūr Jahān was highly skilled in capping poetry and, owing to her education and literary knowledge, had memorized many poems and could recall and recite them when appropriate. On the other hand, given the small number of her extant verses, a proper assessment of her poetry and poetic talent is not possible. One can only talk decisively of her poetic prowess once a reliable copy of her poems is found, which would also shed light on the obscure aspects of her literary life.
Nūr Jahān Baygum spent a lonely life in isolation after the death of her husband, Nūr al-Dīn Jahāngīr.88Qurrat al-‘Ayn Haydar, “Nūr Jahān,” Nashrīyah-yi Halāl 2 (Bahman 1331/January 1953): 15; Surayā Fakhrī, “Nūr Jahān,” Nashrīyah-yi Halāl 17 (Ābān 1335/October 1956): 17; Āmūzgār, Maqām-i zan dar āfarīnish, 203. She died in 1645 at the age of seventy-four89Shāhnavāz Khān, Ma‘āsir al-umarā, 1:134. and was buried in a tomb about one kilometer west of the tomb of Jahāngīr.90Lāhūrī, Majālis-i Jahāngīrī, Introduction, 60. Her tomb is still standing.
