A large empire rules over a quarter of the people on Earth deserves to be remembered, and this one is by some of it’s surviving architecture. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of tea and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
Pakistan was newly independent when this stamp was issued. What better way to celebrate the independence than by showing off relics of a long ago empire that the people might feel more connection to than their recent colonial memory. In the early days anything can seem possible and reminding of past greatness can be a good tool for that.
The stamp today is issue O47, a one and a half Anna stamp issued by Pakistan in 1954. It features the tomb of Jahangir, a Mughal Emperor from the 1600s. It was part of a 7 stamp issue celebrating the seventh anniversary of independence from Great Britain. The service overprint signifies the stamp was for official use. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $2.50 used.
The Mughal Empire stretched through much of current day India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan in the 14th and 15th centuries. The government was Sunni Muslim and the leaders were of mixed Indian and Persian decent. Hindu was allowed to be practiced and Hindu civil law governed them. Muslim law was only applied to Muslims. The empire is remembered for it’s architecture that was heavily influenced by the Persians. The Taj Mahal is the most famous example of such architecture.
Mughal Emperor Jahangir ruled in the 1600s and though he suffered a defeat at the Afghan city of Kandahar he succeeded in expanding the empire. His name means in old Persian, “conqueror of the world” He didn’t quite do that but a quarter of the world’s then population was in his realm. He had 18 wives the last of which was his and his subjects favorite. Upon the marriage, her second, she was given the name Nur Jahan. This means “light of the world.”
The Emperor Jahangir died in 1626 on his way back to his home in Lahore. Nur Jahan set out to build a Persian style tomb in the peaceful gardens of the home. She was interested in architecture and the result was an elaborate tomb with four minarets that displayed a resurgence in Timurid architecture at the time. The tomb faced Mecca and was decorated with Frescoes. It took 10 years to build. Jahangir’s third son became Emperor having murdered the two older sons. It was not a good time for Nur Jahan as she was confined to palace. She had backed the wrong son in the power struggle.
When Nur Jahan later died she was placed in a tomb nearby. Later the tombs was damaged by the Sikh Empire under Maharajah Rangit Singh. His occupying general lived at the tomb and took relics back to Punjab when they ran the area. Some believe the Sikhs even stole a dome off the tomb. British rule saw repairs made but a new railroad routed between the tombs of husband and wife dividing them. The site still exists and is a protected heritage site but some encroachment of the property was allowed.
Well my drink is empty so I will salute the architectural vision of Nur Jahan, the light of the world. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.