1 NOR JAHAN. 159
2 Thus the couplet was completed. The second line alludes to the
3 emperor’s fondness for wine and the permission to indulge in it, at Id after
4 the fast of Ramadan. . : ; ’
5 Being herself a poetess, she became a patroness of learning, especially in
6 those who were well skilled in the art of poetry, and always gave them
7 muuificent rewards.
8 Numerous stories are told of the love existing between Jahangir and
9 Nur Jahdn and of the incidents which led to it. One of these stories may
10 be here cited. It is said that Jahdngir, while yet a youth, was walking
11 about in a fancy fair, at which the ladies of the harem were present to’sell
12 the articles of their handicraft. The garden, coupled with the lovely articles
13 for sale, the beauty of the visitors and their holiday costumes, presented a
14 picturesque and lively scene, The prince held two pigeons in his hands,
15 and, taking a fancy to some pretty flowers, determined upon plucking some
16 of them. This necessitated his making over the pigeons to a bystander.
17 Nér Jahin happening to be near, the prince made over the pigeons to her,
18 placing one in each of her hands. After the prince had made his collection
19 of flowers, he asked Nur Jahan, then in the prime of her youth, for the
20 pigeons, but, to his surprise, he saw that she had only one. ‘The youthful
21 prince asked the girl what she had done with the other pigeon.
22 “Tt has flown away,” was the reply. “How?” inquired the prince half
23 excited, halfamazed. “So,” was the reply of the lovely girl, who forthwith set
24 the only pigeon in her hand at liberty. The gay and sprightly tone in which
25 the youthful lady expressed herself, and the winsome frankness and fascinating
26 simplicity of her manner had an enchanting effect on the mind of the prince.
27 Indeed Nur Jahdn’s success at the fair was- beyond all precedent, for a single
28 word from her lips had fetched for its price the heart of the future monarch
29 of India.
30 Niir Jahdén bore no children to Jahdngir. She had a daughter by her
31 first husband, Sher Afgan, called Lado Begum, whom she married to Shahir
32 Yar, the fourth son of Jahangir.
33 The emperor’s eldest son was Khusrow, who was still in confinement in
34 charge of Auna Rae, a Rajput. The second son, Perwaz, was a drunkard
35 like the father and his two uncles, Mordd and Danidl, who had both died of
36 excessive drinking. He was in command of the troops in the Dekkan. To the
37 third son Khurram, afterwards Shah Jahan, was married to Arjumand Bano
38 Begum, surnamed Mumtdz Mahal, the beautiful daughter of Asaf Khan, and
39 niece of Nur Jahan. He was a successful general, and had already distin-
40 guished himself in a war with the Rand of Udaipur in Marwar. It is worthy
41 of note that, after the defeat of the imperial troops in the Dekkan, under
42 the best Moghal generals, Prince Khurram, by his perseverance and valour,
43 succeeded in reducing to submission this powerful Hindu chief, The prince,
44 pursuing the policy of his illustrious grandfather, not only accepted the
45 offerings made by the Rand in token of submission, but, the moment that
46 chief made his salutation, raised him by the hand, seated him by his side
47 and treated him with the utmost consideration and respect. The whole of
48 the territory conquered in Marwar, since the days of Akber, was restored to
49 the Hees whose son was raised to the dignity of Amir in the imperial
50 court,
51 About this time Réjé Mdn Singh died in the Dekkan. The Raushnais
52 broke into rebellion, and the outbreak was suppressed on the death of their ®
53 Spiritual leader Ahddd, the grandson and successor of Bayazid. -
54 In the autumn of 1608 the emperor received at his court a British officer,
55 Anecdotes.
56 Her daughter Lado
57 Begum. .
58 The emperor’s family,
59 Victories of Shah
60 Jahan (prince Khur-
61 ram) in Marwar, 1613,
62 His moderation.
63 Death of Rajé Man
64 ingh.
65 Mission of Captain
66 Hawkins, 1608.
67 Captain Hag se JURD Sanco GHFTELBFaR/ otter om ig soxerelee HARB Gall com