Aaj Ki Kahani. This time its a poignant love story, little known except to scholars. Well, the ASI display panel tells us that one of the tombs in Khusrau-Bagh is that of Shah Beghum , Khusraus mother, formerly a Rajput princess named ManBai. And the diary of her husband, Jehangir, tells us that she committed suicide - by swallowing poison, an overdose of opium. We know her to be high-strung, hyper, possibly depressive, poor lady. The cause for her suicide, as gravely recounted by her suitably subdued husband, is that she couldnt endure the tension between her husband and her son. This baap-beta animosity was to manifest in an appalling form. The beta was all that the baap wasnt. He was learned, sober, charismatic whereas the baap was moody, pampered, unbalanced, apt to fly into a passion and given to substance abuse, as wed say in our times. Even Akbar, Khusraus grand-dad, left ample hints of his preference for Khusrau as successor, jumping the imperial queue, as it were. A fraught situation, jealousy and mistrust on both sides, not improved by Khusraus bid to rebel against Jehangir. The rebellion was brutally crushed. As retribution Khusraus supporters were impaled on gibbets on both sides of the road and Khusrau, whod been brought back in chains, forced to walk between the rows of screaming men. As further punishment Jehangir had Khusrau blinded, thin wires being drilled into his eyeballs. Then, when the commands had been carried out, a fit of remorse assailed the fathers fond heart and he sent for his hakims to try and restore Khusraus vision. Their efforts were only marginally successful. Khusrau remained if not totally blind, then largely lightless all his life. Other indignities followed. Whenever Jehangir rode out in his royal cavalcade, Khusrau walked in chains at the rear. Once when Jehangir went on a long hunt he had Khusrau walled up in a tower. Through all these trials Khusraus only companion was his devoted wife, the daughter of Aziz Khan Koka. Jehangir had prompted that she was free to leave her husband but she refused, standing by Khusraus side in all his terrible troubles, nursing him, even getting herself walled in with him. However, with Jehangirs advancing mood-swings and distractedness, the situation in court changed. Prince Khurram - later Shah Jehan - developed imperial ambitions. The real authority behind the throne, Nur Jehan, always very jealous both of Khusrau and Khurram,, now did a U-turn and made Khusrau an offer. If he should marry her daughter by an earlier marriage, Ladli Bano, she, Nur Jehan, would not only relieve his distress but even sponsor his claim to the throne. Khusrau stubbornly refused. He said he did not want any relationship with any other woman. His wife had stood by him through all his suffering and she was the only one for him. And remember, that was a time when monogamy was definitely not the fashion, wives and well-stocked harems being the order of the day. Khusrau stayed adamant over a long period and even his wife, who feared for his life, begged him on bended knees to reconsider if he valued his safety.But Khusrau would have none of it. He paid a very heavy price for this single-minded fidelity to his woman. He was sent away to Burhanpur by Khurrams orders and was strangled by one of Khurrams henchmen. His body was brought to Agra and when all the common people began paying obeisance to him as to a pir, it was thought politically risky to bury him in Agra. So Khusraus body was brought to distant Allahabad and all through its journey Hindus and Muslims thronged to worship him as a holy being, setting up little shrines to him on the way - which Jehangir later demolished. Khusrau, the tragic prince, the might-have-been king, was laid to rest in our Khusrau Bagh.So why is Shah Jehans (formerly Khurrams) Taj Mahal called the monument of love? Mumtaz was only one of Shah Jehans many wives and even after her death Shah Jehan had liaisons with many other women. Wouldnt our Khusraus tomb have a far greater claim to being the monument raised in honour of love?You tell me.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Jun 2014 05:34:52 +0000
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