Semester V

Internal Assessment

History of India VII (c.1600-1750)

Submitted By: Sejal Tandon

Roll No: 483
Submitted To: Dr. Sonali Mishra

The Only Exception: Nur Jahan in Mughal Portraitures

Jahangir’s reign foresaw an exemplary artistic flare, where he continued to maintain the
golden age of mughal art whilst introducing unique symbolic traditions to it. The Mughal
emperors believed the patronage of royal women to be a widespread practise and utilised their
ties to Timur and the Timurids to justify their control over India. Undoubtedly, women are
essential to maintaining the social and political order and Nur Jahan is a quintissential example
of the same. This essay seeks to analyse mughal portraitures of Nur Jahan from a gendered
perspective to understand her role in the Mughal harem. Do these paintings conform to gender
ideals or deviate from social roles, what do they tell us about the gender roles of yester-years as
well as how they hold up with today’s contemporary notions of gender ? Portraits of nobel
women in the Mughal period are a rarity but Nur Jahan’s portrayal is an even more exceptional
case in point.

Historically, when women got involved in issues outside the private sphere, they were
viewed as potentially hazardous. This narrative can be especially seen in the travel diaries of
Europeans like Francisco Pelsaert (1590-1630) and Peter Mundy (1596-1667). During Nur
Jahan's reign, Pelsaert, who had visited Jahangir's court, described the Queen as a "crafty wife of
humble family." They believed that with the help of her brother and father, she had seized control
of the empire, and he predicted she would spend lavishly to create serais and cement her
reputation as an accomplished architect. Pelsaert asserted that she would wait until Jahangir was
drunk before requesting approval for her plans. However, Nur Jahan contributed to the empire by
not just patroninisng architecture, but gaining the position of a financial advisor, and creating
power and influence in court favoured by Jahangir.

Women are frequently shown in Mughal paintings as idealised female figures rather than
as distinct individuals. However, historians say Nur Jahan's portraits are among the few examples
of naturalistic portraiture of a Mughal queen because of the numerous distinctive features of her
face in them. Nur Jahan: Portrait to be Worn as a Jewel painted by Abu'l Hasan and Nur Jahan,
Holding a Portrait of Jahangir by Bishandas are two portraits of her. In the first portrait, Nur
Jahan is seen against a pitch-black background. Her chest is painted with a small turn, but her
face is painted in profile. She is seen in mid-chest, with a coloured table painted below her,
where Nur Jahan is seen resting a hand. She accessorises with pearl earrings and a deeper tan
headscarf. A simple, black border with floral line designs surrounds the painting. In the latter,
Nur Jahan is shown holding a picture of Jahangir. In this portrait, Nur Jahan is seen in her
entirety. She is dressed in a long, sheer white dress with matching leggings that are vertically
striped in blue and white. She wears scarves in green and orange on her head and shoulders.
Jahangir is depicted in the portrait she is holding as an elderly man; this portrait was most likely
painted after Jahangir passed away because it is strikingly similar to the artwork of Jahangir
Holding a Portrait of Akbar, which was made not long after Akbar's demise where Jahangir is
depicted holding a miniature depicting an aged Akbar. Emperors like Jahangir and Akbar are
depicted with a nimbus, which symbolically conveys their divine right to reign, despite the
composition in this and other paintings being similar. Nur Jahan is never portrayed in this way
since she was an unofficial leader. The backdrop of Nur Jahan Holding a Portrait of Jahangir is
dark green and has two distinct borders. The first border has a golden edging and is black with
white flowers and gold foliage. The second border has a red border around it and a white
background with a red floral motif. Numerous characteristics of Nur Jahan are present in both
paintings, despite the modest differences between them. She is depicted as having long, straight
eyebrows, a slightly protruding chin, and long, straight nose. While some of her characteristics,
like her huge, almond-shaped eyes, are typical of Mughal ladies, others are unique.

The aforementioned painting focuses the role of Nur Jahan as the wife of an emperor and
her social role rooted in domesticity and marriage. The next paining however is particularly
peculiar. A singular figure is shown in a watercolour painting that is currently part of the
collection of the Rampur Raza Library in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, India. The figure is dressed in
diamonds, a turban, churidar-pyjamas and a golden musket. The person is posed in front of a
minimal, green background and is upright and commanding. This person gives the impression of
being a nobleman at first glance due to their posture, attire, and accessories. But upon closer
inspection, it becomes apparent that the figure is female given the faint hint of breasts, which is
supported by the title given to the work: Nur Jahan Holding a Musket. The matchlock musket,
which is the most exciting component in this painting, is highlighted by the use of the golden
yellow, which is emphasised by its colour, size, and placement. The weapon is an essential
accessory in the posed portrayal of the sniper, not just something to look at. Nur Jahan's patkas,
the ornamental design on her hat, the golden nath earring on her right ear, and her necklace are
all rendered in yellow. By visually tying the pistol to the turban, sash, and diamonds, the yellow
employed as a nod to gold highlights the value of the items—particularly the empress's gun and
jewellery. The red on the figure's palms and the soles of her feet, which denotes mehndi (henna)
and, along with the piece's title, is one of the few unambiguous indicators that it is a picture of a
lady, is the most remarkable of these elements. Last but not least, Abu'l Hasan subtly adds
volume to Nur Jahan's slippers by using a darker hue of vermillion on the bottoms of her shoes.
Her gender is also indicated by these slippers, as is seen from their aesthetic resemblance to
those worn by other female characters. There is also a belt holding a pouch for musket balls and
her horn of gunpowder.

Nur Jahan Holding a Musket, is a comparatively small work that was completed at the
Mughal court in Agra, India, during the rule of Emperor Jahangir (r. 1605–1627). It was created
on a 98 by 50 mm. paperboard and mounted on a folio. The only co-sovereign in the Mughal
Empire's history, Empress Nur Jahan (reigned 1611–1627), is depicted in this work. She attained
this position in 1611 by her union with Jahangir, his twentieth and final wife. The Nur Jahan
image is situated next to a second portrait of a male figure that is comparable to it in subject and
style on the shared recto side of a muraqqa' (an album of paintings). Schmitz and Desai believe
this male might be Jahangir's son, most likely Prince Khurram. One of Jahangir's favourite
portrait painters recognised for his naturalistic style of painting is the court painter Abu'l Hasan,
whose signature appears on the portrait. Jahangir bestowed Abu'l Hasan with the title Nadir
al-Zaman, which translates to "Wonder of the Age," in 1618 in honour of the painter's
extraordinary talents according to Ruby Lal. Although the painting has no known completion
date,we may easily date the painting to a period during the last nine years of Nur Jahan's rule
thanks to the title given to Abu'l Hasan and Shah Jahan's animosity toward Nur Jahan.
Jahangir’s memoir, the Jahangirnama contains important clues about Nur Jahan. Jahangir calls
his wife "a tiger-slayer" in two sections from his memoirs.This encouraging comparison, which
Jahangir penned between 1617 and 1620, as well as his desire in depicting current events,
corroborate the assertion that Nur Jahan was painted during a time when she was well-known
for being an active hunter and showcasing her prowess among the male courtiers.

Nur Jahan appears as a strong, assured figure in the Abu'l Hasan picture, dressed
androgynously, with a musket loaded. This portrayal stands out for two reasons. First of all, no
other Mughal portrait depicts a woman in this way. It appears to be the only existing portrait of
Nur Jahan that depicts her almost as a man. Second, and this is essential for the history of
Mughal female portraiture, this portrayal isn't congruent to how Nur Jahan is described in
Mughal stories. According to these tales, Nur Jahan was an empress whose best qualities were
beauty, grace, and maternal nature. On the other hand, Nur Jahan is portrayed by Abu'l Hasan as
a martial woman who purposefully and successfully hides her femininity. It is surprising that Nur
Jahan has not received more scholarly attention given its distinctive qualities and
thought-provoking imagery.

To add weight to this, it is evident that Jahangir hailed Nur Jahan as a military tactician in
his autobiography for her efforts to save him in 1626 after he had been captured by rebel
soldiers. Jahangir's riverside camp was unexpectedly attacked, and the emperor was captured by
the army of his own general, Mahabat Khan. Because she "wanted to display her woman's
courage to Mahabat Khan," Nur Jahan distinguished herself as a soldier while serving alongside
her granddaughter and the nurse of her granddaughter in her howdah, according to Mutamid
Khan in the Ikbalnama. In a poem by Mulla Kami Shirazi, the poet uses a similar depiction of
Nur Jahan, describing the empress as exercising "male courage" while gallantly riding to
Jahangir's aid and leading her troops from the elephant's back. The remark, "Emperor Jahangir
takes pride in her as she possesses the capacity to defeat even the heavens with her wise and
clever plans," is one of Kami Shirazi's many compliments to Nur Jahan. Hence, this watercolour
by Abu'l Hasan shows the empress’ bravery and military capability.

It is important to note that during Akbar’s reign, complex illustrations created for these
books frequently depict crowded, male-dominated events. Women were occasionally shown in
narrative pictures during Akbar's reign, frequently as romanticised, attractive figures, as may be
seen, for example, in the Tutinama. Moreover, when women appear in sixteenth-century Mughal
paintings, they frequently do so in relation to men or as secondary figures, such as dancers,
maids, or concubines. It is uncommon to find paintings in which a woman is given a prominent
position within the pictorial space, such as the mother or wife of an emperor. Thus, the
distinction and significance of Nur Jahan's portrait are then made more clear when viewed in
light of this artistic tradition: it is more the exception than the rule.

According to Sanjeev Srivastava, when Jesuits brought examples of European art to

Akbar's court, frequently in the form of religious prints, including illuminated manuscripts and
German and Flemish engravings by artists like Albrecht Dürer, as seen in the later works of
Abu'l Hasan, they also contributed a significant element to Mughal portraiture. The Mughal
replicas of the Christian Madonna and Goddess of the Hunt thus, this introduction sparked
aesthetic changes in the studio and a desire to portray female characters. Moreover, Jahangir’s
inclination towards naturalism and contemporary events led to the creation of individual
paintings such as Nur Jahan’s portraits.

Taking everything into account, Nur Jahan's cross-dressing was an acknowledgment of

the patriarchal court she so deftly opposed, not a submission to male authority ideas. In this
regard, Nur Jahan's cross dressing was was a show of dominance and prowess. Islamic art is full
of representations of emperors and other figures of the court, and many academic works have
examined these representations. On the other hand, representations of women have not gotten the
scholarly attention they merit; pieces of art like Nur Jahan have been relegated to history's
margins.
Paintings Discussed:

Fig 1. Nur Jahan: Portrait to be Worn as a Jewel by Abu’l Hasan, 1620

Fig 2. Nur Jahan holding a portrait of Jahangir by Bishandas ,1627

Fig 3. Nur Jahan Holding a Gun By Abul- Hasan, 16th c

 (Rampur Raza Library)

Bibliography
1. Findly, Ellison Banks. Nur Jahan: Empress of Mughal India. Oxford: Oxford University
Press: 1993.
2. Jahangir, The Jahangirnama: Memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India. Translated and
edited by Wheeler McIntosh Thackston. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
3. Lal, Ruby. Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan. New York: W.W. Norton &
Company, 2018.
4. Pelsaert, Francisco. Jahangir’s India, the Remonstrantie of Francisco Pelsaert. Translated
by W. H. Moreland and P. Geyl. Delhi: Idarah-i Adabiyât-i Delli, 1972.
5. Srivastava, Sanjeev. Jahangir: A Connoisseur of Mughal Art. New Delhi: Abhinav
Publications, 2001.​
6. Schmitz Barbara and Ziauddin Ahmed Desai. Mughal and Persian Paintings and
Illustrated Manuscripts in the Raza Library Rampur. New Delhi Rampur New Delhi:
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, 2006. .