Insaafe-e-janhageeri–Is there really any truth in it?

Besides having been the ruler of India (1605-1627), King Saleem Nuruddin Jahangeer, has more of a reputation in history as most judicious a person, as he was much more strict a man in the matters of rules and discipline. Whenever there is an honest and fair a judgement/ decision given by some court or top men in the administration, it is branded as Insaaf jahangeeri even now, an equivalent to Daniel’s judgement. There is a question mark raised by many, including myself, if it was really a fact or just some praise as a matter of sycophancy in his days as a ruler. The saying goes that, as per orders of the King, there was a gong fixed outside the palace, and whenever it was struck to create an alarm bell, he used to come out personally to attend to the grievance of the caller delivering his judgement on the spot. Once a bull struck his horns against the bell creating an alarm sound, and when the King saw the animal as a caller, he felt surprised. What he imagined was that the animal must have been ill treated some way or the other by his master. He called the master, and thrashed him giving an order to give a better treatment to the bull.

If the story so narrated is really true, how it is that so judicious a king like Janhageer was instrumental in getting Sher Afghan, husband of Nur Jahan (Mehrunnishan) killed. An inscription, as I saw it, written on Sher Afghan’s grave at Burdwan (West Bengal) is indicative of it. In fact, Janhangeer felt highly infatuated towards Nur Jahan, an extra-ordinarily beautiful a woman, and he wanted to procure her somehow or the other to satisfy his lust, hence this planned killing. Most judicious a King like Janhageer thus succeeded in his designs to get Nurjahan finally causing her a situation to marry him. It’s a different matter that she virtually ruled the country as a queen in later years. What a justice?

A few lines from my otherwise a big poem are given here:

Bada naam Ooncha hai insaaf mein jo

Janhageer ke faisle ko bhi dekha

Hawis jis ne apnee bujhane ke khhatir

Tha Mehru* ke baghhe mohabbat ko loota 

* Sher Afghan lovingly used to call Nur Jahan, his beloved wife, as ‘Mehru’.