The Enduring Legend of Anarkali
The literal meaning of legend, according to the Webster dictionary is any story coming down from the past, especially one popularly taken as historical though not verifiable. This definition can be aptly applied to a popular legend associated with the history of Mughal India namely the alleged romance of Prince Salim, later Emperor Jahangir (r.1605-1627) with a dancing girl and an inmate of the harem of Emperor Akbar (r.1556-1605) Anarkali. This episode has caught the imagination of many foreign travelers, fiction writers, journalists, dramatists and movie Mughals.
Early Accounts and Adaptations
The saga of Salim-Anarkali was first recorded by an English traveler William Finch in 1611. The story was repeated a few years later by another English traveler Edward Terry in 1625. In the nineteenth century this story was first related by Kanhiya Lal in his book Tarikh i Lahore(1884). Muhammad Din Fauq presented a fictionalized version of the episode in his play Anarkali (1890). S M Latif in his book Lahore (1892) narrated the story with a few more details. Fourteen years later Nur Ahmad Chishti presented a somewhat different version of the story in his book Tahqiqat i Chishti (1906) in 1923 the eminent Urdu playwright Imtiaz Ali Taj wrote his famous drama Anarkali. By this time the love story has caught the imagination of movie makers. The earliest film Love of a Mughal Prince was released in 1928. C Ramchandra’s film Anarkali was released in 1953. Bina Rai played Anarkali in this film. Another Anarkali film was released in Pakistan in 1958 with Nur Jahan in the lead role. Subsequently the most famous of all Anarkali films K. Asif’s iconic Mughal-e-Azam was released in 1960 with Madhubala and Dilip Kumar playing the lead role.
The Core Story: A Forbidden Romance
All the aforementioned accounts vary in detail but essentially relate the same story. It runs as follows: Anarkali was the daughter of a Persian merchant Ejaz. While travelling to India, Ejaz’s caravan was attacked by a band of robbers. Ejaz was slain and Anarkali fell into the hands of the robbers. When Raja Man Singh, the governor of Kabul, came to know about this event, he rescued the girl and sent her to Lahore where Emperor Akbar was residing at that time. The girl entered the harem of the Emperor who gave him the title of Anarkali because of her enchanting beauty. In the royal palace, the crown prince Salim fell in love with her and the couple developed intimate relations. When the matter was reported to Akbar, he regarded the affair as an infringement of his personal life as the girl belonged to his harem. One day Akbar found the girl smiling on an amorous suggestion by the prince during a music party in the shish mahal of Lahore fort where Anarkali was dancing. Akbar immediately ordered the arrest of Anarkali. When Salim attempted to make good his escape along with his beloved, they were seized by the palace guards and were produced before the Emperor who sentenced Anarkali to death. She was bricked alive in an upright position in a wall. The event took place in 1599 and since then the relations between the father and the son soured leading to Salim’s rebellion in the year 1600. After becoming the king, Salim, now known as Jahangir built a magnificent tomb over Anarkali’s grave in Lahore.
The Silence of Mughal Records
Needless to say that this story has stood the test of time but can hardly stand the test of history. First and foremost no contemporary or near contemporary Mughal historian has mentioned this episode. Abul Fazal, Nizamuddin Ahmad, Aarif Qandhari, Muhammad Muatmad Khan, Kamgar Ghairat Khan have referred to this episode. Even Badayuni who was always eager to find fault with Akbar and his courtiers or for that matter Khafi Khan who wasn’t an admirer of Jahangir are silent on this matter. Even Jahangir who was never shy of relating unfavorable facts about himself and has frankly admitted his faults and frivolities hasn’t written a single word about Anarkali in his autobiography Tuzuk i Jahangiri. Wala Daghistani who has recorded several stories of Jahangir’s romances hasn’t referred to Anarkali. All modern historians including Dr. Beni Prasad, author of History of Jahangir, are totally silent on this affair.
Analyzing Early European Narratives
Nineteenth and pre- nineteenth century accounts of Salim -Anarkali romance are based on dubious facts. William Finch has written about a fair monument for Shah Daniyal’s mother Anarkali, one of Akbar’s wives,in Lahore. He says that Shah Salim had an affair with her. When the king came to know of it, he caused her to be enclosed within a wall in his palace where she died. Finch further says that the present king in token of his love for Anarkali built a sumptuous tomb of stone in the midst of a four square garden.
Debunking the Daniyal Connection and Tomb Location
It goes without saying that Finch’s narrative is based on street gossip. His assertion that Anarkali was the mother of Prince Daniyal and that Salim had an affair with her who was his step mother is preposterous. According to Jahangir Daniyal’s mother was a royal concubine but neither Jahangir nor any other Mughal historian has mentioned this lady’s name. Jahangir has also written that Daniyal was born in September 1572 in Ajmer. Moreover the girl called Anarkali was sent to Lahore by Raja Man Singh sometime between 1585-1587 when he was the governor of Kabul 13 years after Daniyal’s birth. Hence the question of the girl concerned being the mother of Daniyal doesn’t arise. Then, if Anarkali was buried alive in a wall of the Lahore fort, why would Salim/Jahangir build her tomb in a place far away from the fort. But the monument called Anarkali’s tomb situated in a spacious garden still exists in Lahore.
Later Indian Accounts
Edward Terry who visited India almost five years after the arrival of Finch in Lahore has added some more spice to the story and writes that Akbar has threatened to disinherit the present king for abuse of his most favourite wife Anarkali but on his deathbed repealed it. But since there is no record of Terry ever visiting Lahore, it is obvious that he had either heard rumours about this episode or copied it from Finch’s narrative and added some more spice to give credibility to his story. Later writers added a few more facts to this episode. Kanhaiya Lal says that the real name of Anarkali was Nadira Begum and that she was a beautiful slave girl in the harem of Akbar. When the Emperor had gone on an expedition to the Deccan in 1599, she fell ill and died in Lahore. At the order of the Emperor a majestic tomb was erected in the midst of a spacious garden in Lahore. S M Latif writes that Anarkali’s real name was Nadira Begum or Sharfun-nisa and was a favourite girl of Akbar’s harem. One day while the Emperor was seated in the shish mahal with Anarkali attending him, he saw from the reflection in the mirror that she returned Prince Salim’s smile. Suspecting her of a criminal intrigue with his son, the King ordered her to be buried alive. Salim later built an impressive superstructure over her grave. Nur Ahmad Chishti writes that Nadira Begum alias Anarkali was killed due to a palace intrigue while Akbar was on an expedition to the Deccan. When the king returned to Lahore in November 1598 and heard the sad news of the demise of his favourite concubine Anarkali, he was very much grieved and ordered the erection of this tomb. He also writes that the tomb contains four graves, one of which is that of Anarkali and the remaining three are the graves of her fellow slave girls who had committed suicide after Anarkali’s death for fear of the king’s retribution for their alleged role in Anarkali’s murder.
The Enigmatic Anarkali Tomb: Architecture and Inscriptions
The monument known as Anarkali’s tomb still exists in Lahore in the midst of a Charbagh having a network of walkways, fountains, water channels enclosed by a perimeter wall with an imposing gateway and a series of rooms and cells. The tomb is octagonal in design measuring 44 feet by 30 feet and stands in the centre of a 2.5 feet high octagonal platform while the main edifice is crowned with a huge double dome. The tomb’s design and layout is this in conformity with the design used in the royal mausoleums of the Mughal period. Unfortunately the building has now lost its original character. The surrounding wall, the gateway, the garden and the decorative panels of the interior and exterior no longer exist owing to encroachment, misuse and poor repairs and renovation.
A Masterpiece of Mughal Craftsmanship
The most significant part of the building is the marble cenotaph. It is made of a block of pure marble of extraordinary beauty and workmanship. According to Eastwick, “it is one of the finest pieces of carving in the world”. On the top are inscribed the 99 attributes of God and on the side is engraved the following couplet:
Ta qayamat shukr goyam kardgare khwaish ra / Aah gar man baz beenam ruye yare khwaish ra
(Alas could I behold the face of my beloved once more / I would be grateful unto my God till the day of resurrection).
On the north side of the cenotaph below the 99 names of God is the inscription Majnoon Salim Akbar (the profoundly enamoured Salim son of Akbar). Below the couplet is inscribed 1008 (1599) in letters and figures which perhaps refers to the date of the death of the person who lies buried. On the west side of the cenotaph is inscribed dar Lahore (in Lahore) and above it is another date 1034 (1615) which probably is the date of the construction of the monument.
The carving of 99 attributes of Allah as well as the floral relief on the cenotaph reminds us of the style of carving employed by Jahangir’s favourite calligrapher Mir Abdullah Mushkin Qalam. We know that Jahangir’s inscription on Asoka’s pillar in Allahabad fort where the names of Allah are interspersed with those of his ancestors and the inscription on the black throne which Jahangir had got constructed on which verses praising the throne in floral background were engraved by Mir Abdullah Mushkin Qalam. Needless to say that the design and style of carving on the cenotaph was the work of Mir Abdullah Mushkin Qalam linking the mausoleum with Jahangir.
Challenging the Execution Date: A Chronological Discrepancy
However, the first date inscribed on the cenotaph 1008/1599 which is supposedly the date of the death of Anarkali adds to the mystique around the legend of Anarkali. Because in 1599 the alleged year of the execution of Anarkali both the Emperor and the Prince were far away from the scene. According to Abul Fazl, Akbar left Lahore for Agra on November 6, 1598 and from there proceeded to the Deccan on September 16, 1599 from where he never returned to Lahore. Around the same time Prince Salim was busy in the Mewar campaign from where he went to Allahabad. Thus both the main actors of the drama were absent from Lahore when Anarkali’s episode was supposed to have taken place. Moreover the Shish Mahal in the Lahore fort where Akbar is said to have noticed Anarkali exchanging glances didn’t exist in 1598. It was actually erected by Shahjahan in 1631, thirty three years after the occurrence of the event.
The Enduring Power of a Myth
Thus there is practically no evidence that there ever existed a slave girl named Anarkali in the harem of Akbar who was executed by the order of the Emperor for her alleged love affair with Prince Salim. It seems that the story has been built up gradually by successive writers on the basis of a casual mention of a street gossip recorded by a foreign traveller.
Whose Tomb Is It? Alternative Theories
But the question is whose tomb is it anyway or who lies buried in the so-called Anarkali’s tomb. The inscription on the cenotaph Majnoon Salim Akbar and more importantly the style of carving on the cenotaph indicate a strong link with Jahangir. The majesty and grandeur of the tomb also indicates that the person buried here must have been an important member of the Mughal family.
It has been suggested that the tomb in question is of Sahib-i- Jamal, one the favourite wives of Jahangir who died in Lahore in 1598. She was the daughter of a prominent noble Khwaja Hasan and her marriage with Salim had probably taken place in 1586. She was the mother of Prince Pervez who was born in Kabul on 2nd October 1589. Saheb-i-Jamal was a woman of extraordinary beauty and was very dear to Jahangir. The fact that she died in Lahore in 1598 makes it strongly possible that the person lying buried in the tomb is none other than Saheb-i-Jamal. Jahangir’s love for her is clearly evident from the epithet “Majnoon Salim Akbar” and the couplet engraved on the cenotaph.
Dr. Muhammad Baqar believes that Anarkali was originally the name of the garden in which the tomb was situated but with the passage of time, the tomb itself came to be known as that of Anarkali. He says that this garden is mentioned by Dara Shukoh in his biography of Mian Mir, Sakinat al-Aulia. Dara writes that the saint used to sit in this garden. He also mentions the existence of a tomb in the garden but doesn’t name it. In fact, a market located near the tomb on the Mall road is named Anarkali bazar after Anarkali.
The Tomb’s Later History
Unfortunately the tomb was desecrated during the Sikh and British rule in Punjab. In 1780, when three Sikh sardars occupied Lahore, the tomb was used as a police outpost where a band of Sikh soldiers remained encamped. Later Ranjit Singh gave the building to his son Kharak Singh for his residence. Subsequently it was allotted to Mr. Ventura, an Italian officer of the Sikh army who converted it into his private residence.
During British rule, the building was handed over to Christian missionaries who converted it into a church. The tomb was thoroughly desecrated. The marble cenotaph was removed from the main burial chamber to create more accommodation. The grave was opened and the mortal remains of the person buried was removed and exhumed elsewhere in order to have a clean and pure environment required for the church. The altar and other paraphernalia of the church was placed in the southeastern corner of the main hall. A Cross was fixed on the pinnacle.
A Monument Awaiting Its Fortune
In 1891, the church/tomb was handed over to the record and archives department of the government of Punjab. Since then constant repairs, white washing and additions and modifications have changed the entire fabric of the grand mediaeval monument. The state archives of Pakistani Punjab are still housed in the building waiting for its fortunes.
