1888.] 
Shyamal Das — The Mother of Jahangir. 
71 
been used contemporaneously with each other. The probability there¬ 
fore is, that these earthen tombs may perhaps be as widespread as the 
megaliths are known to be. Those buried in these ancient Indian jars 
could only have been placed in a sitting posture, similar to that prac¬ 
tised by certain modern burying castes. It is certainly curious to find 
the same jars and a similar custom at the present day in Africa. A 
wider investigation might reveal a more widespread practice still pre¬ 
vailing in other countries. 
The Mother of Jahangir.—By Mahamahopadhyaya Kaviraja Shyamal 
Das, M. It. A. S., F. It. H. S., Court Poet and Historian , Udaipur. 
Translated from the Hindi by Babu Bam Prasad. 
“ It is curious that there should be any uncertainty about the name 
and family of Jahangir’s mother,” is the opening line of a paper by 
H. Beveridge, Esq., C. S., published in the Bengal Asiatic Society’s 
Journal, No. 3 for 1887, page 164. 
A careful perusal of the paper, instead of removing the uncertainty , 
gives rise to several fresh doubts and suspicions, which shall be treated 
in this paper, in the order inwhicli they occur. 
Q. 1. Was Jahangir’s mother a Hindu lady? 
This question must be answered in the affirmative, and of this 
reply proofs are given below. 
Q. 2. Was ignorance or prejudice the reason why the Muham¬ 
madan historians did not record the name of Jahangir’s mother ? 
There should be no wonder if they were guided by religious or 
national prejudice in withholding her name from their works, few of 
which are totally free from prejudice—a fact that needs no confirmation. 
Q. 3. Was a Jodh Bai Jahangir’s mother ? 
No. The only lady of Jodh’pur wedded to Akbar (Jahangir’s 
father) was Bufandwati, the daughter of Bao Mall Dev by his concubine* 
Tipu. She had been given away in marriage to Akbar by Chandra 
Sen, the son of Mall Dev; and she had no issue. 
Another Jodh’pur princess Man’mati, the daughter of Mota Baja 
Udai Singh, was married in the Samvat year 1645 (A. D. 1588) to 
Jahangir himself, who named her Jcigat Gosdyin or ‘ Mistress of the 
World.’ Prince Khnrram. afterwards the emperor Shah Jahan, was 
born of her. 
* The Hindu Rajas had no scruple in giving away girls of illegitimate birth 
in marriage to the Muhammadan emperors, who had not the least objection to 
accepting matches of this nature. 
