Thread by @shrikanth_krish

Cringe worthy tweet

This glorification of Jodha-Akbar is greatly overdone

One is not even sure her name was Jodha. Which was likely the name of Akbar's daughter in law and not his wife

(Contd..)

https://twitter.com/SanobarFatma/status/1187280418627715072

Akbar did have a Hindu wife of the Kachwaha clan, who was Jehangir's mother

But we are not 100% sure what was her name. She is known mostly through her Persian name "Mariam-uz-Zamani"

While it is claimed she remained Hindu, we do have a tomb for her in Agra

There is also a mosque built to commemorate her by Jehangir in Lahore - the Begum Shahi mosque, one of the older structures in the city

I think there is room to be sceptical about the supposed Hindu religiosity of "Jodha Akbar"

Not sure if Jehangir would have built a tomb and a mosque in her memory IF she were a devout Hindu

Now why is she called Jodha Akbar?

One is not sure

Perhaps the name originates from James Tod's casual reference to one "Jod Bae" in his "Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan" written in 1829

Here he is writing in Chapter 4 of his "Annals of Marwar"

"On the union of the imperial house (presumably Mughals) with that of Jodpoor, by the marriage of Jod Bae to Akbar, the emperor ...restored all the possessions he had wrested from Marwar"

I find this curious - as he is associating Akbar's wife, a certain Jod Bai with the house of Jodhpur

But elsewhere we understand that Akbar's wife Mariam uz Zamani hailed from Amber - the daughter of Raja Bharmal

So not sure why Tod is associating her with Marwar

At any rate Mariam Uz Zamani (or "Jodha Bai" of legend if you insist) was NOT Akbar's chief consort

Not the "empress"

That title went to Ruqaiya Sultan Begum, Akbar's senior wife

Who belonged to the Timurid clan. Born in Kabul and Akbar's first cousin

Jehangir, like his father, had many consorts. Some of whom were Hindu

One was Man Bai, who was Mariam uz Zamani's niece

Another was the veritable "Jodha Bai" - a princess of Jodhpur, who married Jehangir and went by the name "Jagat Gosain" and "Bilqis Makani"

But the most influential of his wives was neither Man Bai nor "Jodha Bai" but Nur Jahan, born in Kandahar of Persian lineage

So the Jodha Bai whom we celebrate was likely not Jodha Bai

And she clearly wasn't the principal consort of Akbar. Nor was the real "Jodha Bai" who married Akbar's son the principal consort of Jehangir