Jahangir

Jahangir or Jehangir (both: jəhän'gēr`), 1569–1627, Mughal emperor of India (1605–27), son of Akbar. He continued his father's policy of expansion. The Rajput principality of Mewar (Udaipur) capitulated in 1614. In the Deccan, Ahmadnagar was taken in 1616 and half of its kingdom annexed. In the northwest, however, the Persian ruler, Shah Abbas, retook (1622) Kandahar. In 1611, Jahangir married a Persian widow, Nur Jahan, and she and her relatives soon dominated politics, while Jahangir devoted himself to cultivation of the arts, especially miniature painting. He welcomed foreign visitors to his court, granting trading privileges first to the Portuguese and then to the British East India Company. Civil strife and court intrigues marked the last years of Jahangir's reign. Shah Jahan, his son, succeeded him.

Bibliography

See B. Prasad, History of Jahangir (1922).

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Jahangir

 or Jehangir

(born Aug. 31, 1569, Fatehpur, Sikri, India—died Oct. 28, 1627, en route to Lahore) Mughal emperor of India (1605–27). Though designated heir apparent, the impatient Jahangir revolted in 1599; his father, Akbar, nevertheless confirmed him as his successor. Like Akbar, Jahangir managed diplomatic relations on the Indian subcontinent adroitly, was tolerant of non-Muslims, and was a great patron of the arts. He encouraged Persian culture in Mughal India. During the middle portion of his reign, politics were dominated by his Persian wife (Nur Jahan), her father, and Jahangir's son Prince Khurram (the future Shah Jahan).

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Jahangir 

(also Jehangir; Persian, literally “conqueror of the world”; title as ruler). Born 1569; died 1627. Ruler of the state of the Great Moguls from 1605 to 1627. Son of Akbar.

Jahangir’s reign was marked by a weakening of central authority, an increase in the power and authority of the feudal jagirdars, and a flourishing of corruption. In 1613 he permitted the English East India Company to establish a trading station at Surat. In 1622 the Persians took the city of Kandahar, the “key” to the caravan trade, from the Moguls. Jahangir devoted little attention to affairs of state. His wife, Nur Jahan, had great political influence. Jahangir’s memoirs are entitled Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri.

WORKS

The Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, or Memoirs of Jahangir. London, 1909.

REFERENCE

Kennedy, P. A History of the Great Moghuls, or A History of the Badshahate of Delhi, vols. 1-2. Calcutta, 1908-11.