India: Empress Nur Jahan, wife of Emperor Jahangir, smoking a water pipe while fanned by a servant, Mughal miniature painting

Begum Nur Jahan (Persian/Urdu: نور جہاں ) (alternative spelling Noor Jahan, Nur Jehan, Nor Jahan, etc.) (1577–1645), also known as Mehr-un-Nisaa, was an Empress of the Mughal Dynasty that ruled much of the Indian subcontinent. She was an aunt of Empress Mumtaz Mahal, Emperor Shah Jahan's wife for whom the Taj Mahal was constructed.

Begum Nur Jahan was the twentieth and favourite wife of Mughal Emperor Jahangir, who was her second husband - and the most famous Empress of the Mughal Empire. The story of the couple's infatuation for each other and the relationship that abided between them is the stuff of many (often apocryphal) legends.

She remains historically significant for the sheer amount of imperial authority she wielded - the true 'power behind the throne', as Jehangir was battling serious addictions to alcohol and opium throughout his reign - and is known as one of the most powerful women who ruled India.

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Pictures From History

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GREAT MUGHALS