Let us deep in history today as 30th August is the 445th birth anniversary of the 4th Mughal Emperor Jahangir, whose original name was Nur-ud-din Mohammad Salim (Mohammad Salim), born on 30 August 1569 ruled from 1605 until his death in 7th November 1627. Jahangir was the eldest surviving son of Mughal Emperor Akbar and was declared successor to his father from an early age. Jahangir revolted in 1599 while Akbar was engaged in the Deccan. Jahangir was defeated, but ultimately succeeded his father as Emperor in 1605. Jahangir built on his fathers foundations of excellent administration, and his reign was characterized by political stability, a strong economy and impressive cultural achievements. Jahangir was fascinated with art, science and, architecture. From a young age he showed a leaning towards painting and had an atelier of his own. His interest in portraiture led to much development in this artform. The art of Mughal painting reached great heights under Jahangirs reign. Amongst the most highly regarded Mughal architecture dating from Jahangirs reign is the famous Shalimar Gardens in Kashmir. The worlds first seamless celestial globe was built by Mughal scientists under the patronage of Jahangir. Jahangir, like his father, was a proper Sunni Muslim with tolerance; he allowed, for example, the continuation of his fathers tradition of public debate between different religions. The Jesuits were allowed to dispute publicly with Muslim ulema (theologians) and to make converts. Jahangir specifically warned his nobles that they should not force Islam on anyone” as mentioned in the Quran. Jizya was not imposed by Jahangir. . Jahangir enjoyed debating theological subtleties with Brahmins, especially about the possible existence of avatars. Jahangir died in 1627 and was succeeded by Khurram, who took the imperial throne of Hindustan as the Emperor Shah Jahan. Jahangir is considered one of the greatest Mughal Emperors by scholars and the fourth of the Grand Mughals in Indian historiography. Much romance has gathered around his name, and the tale of his illicit relationship with the Mughal courtesan, Anarkali, has been widely adapted into the literature, art and cinema of India. In the 1939 film Pukar, Jehangir was portrayed by Chandra Mohan. In the 1953 film Anarkali, he was portrayed by Pradeep Kumar. In the 1960 film Mughal-e-Azam, he was portrayed by Dilip Kumar. Jalal Agha also played the younger Jahangir at the start of the film. In the 1988 Shyam Benegals TV Series Bharat Ek Khoj, he was portrayed by Vijay Arora
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 05:20:39 +0000