Nur Jahan

Nur Jahan (Persian: نور جهان‎‎; Urdu: نور جهاں‎; Pashto: نور جہاں‎) (alternative spelling Noor Jahan, Nur Jehan, etc.) (31 May 1577 – 17 December 1645) born Mehr-un-Nissa, was the twentieth but most beloved, and therefore most important consort of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir.

Born the daughter of a Grand Vizier (Minister) who served under Akbar, Nur Jehan was married at a young age to Sher Afgan, governor of Bihar, an important Mughal province. She was a married woman when Prince Jehangir, Akbar's eldest son, fell in love with her. Two years after Akbar died and Jehangir became Emperor, Sher Afgan met his death on the battlefield. However, three more years were to pass before a grieving Nur Jehan consented to marry the Emperor Jehangir. Although Jehangir was deeply in love with Nur Jehan, their actual story bears no resemblance to the entirely fictional legend of Anarkali, a low-born dancing girl who, according to popular folklore and film-lore, had a tragic and doomed love affair with Jehangir. In fact, the relationship between Jehangir and Nur Jehan was even more scandalous in its time than the legend of Anarkali, for Nur Jehan was a married woman when the Emperor fell in love with her.