Nur-ud-din Muhammad Salim (Persian: نورالدین محمد سلیم), known by his imperial name Jahangir (Persian: جهانگیر), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until his death in 1627. His imperial name (in Persian), means 'conqueror of the world', 'world-conqueror' or 'world-seizer' (Jahan: world; gir: the root of the Persian verb gereftan: to seize, to grab).
Prince Salim, later Jahangir, was born on 31 August 1569, in Fatehpur Sikri, to Akbar and one of his wives Mariam-uz-Zamani, daughter of Raja Bharmal of Amber. Prince Salim succeeded to the throne on Thursday, 3 November 1605, eight days after his father's death. Salim ascended to the throne with the title of Nur-ud-din Muhammad Jahangir Badshah Ghazi and thus began his 22-year reign at the age of 36. Jahangir soon after had to fend off his own son, Prince Khusrau Mirza, when the latter attempted to claim the throne based on Akbar's will to become his next heirs. Khusrau Mirza was defeated in 1606 and confined in the fort of Agra. As punishment, Khusrau Mirza was handed over to his younger brother and was partially blinded and killed.
In 1622, Jahangir sent his son, Prince Khurram, to fight against the combined forces of Ahmednagar, Bijapur and Golconda. After his victory, Khurram turned against his father and made a bid for power. As with the insurrection of his eldest son, Khusrau Mirza, Jahangir was able to defeat the challenge from within his family and retain power.
In 1626, Jahangir began to contemplate an alliance between the Ottomans, Mughals and Uzbeks against the Safavids, who had defeated the Mughals at Kandahar. He even wrote a letter to the Ottoman Sultan Murad IV. Jahangir's ambition did not materialise, however, due to his death in 1627. |