Starter quiz
- Mehr al-Nesā was born 1000 years ago.
- True
- False ✓
- Mehr al-Nesā's name meant 'sun among women' because...
- her family thought she was pretty
- her family thought she changed their fortunes ✓
- she came from a sunny place
-
- What tells us about Mehr al-Nesā's early life?
- newspapers
- diaries
- legends ✓
-
- Mehr al-Nesā’s family travelled to India because ....
- they were treated badly ✓
- they were wealthy
- they wanted a new home
-
- Legend says Mehr al-Nesā was found in the desert next to a...
- 'snake' ✓
- Mehr al-Nesā was given the best education.
- True ✓
- False
Exit quiz
- Mehr al-Nesā's husband was ...
- 'killed' ✓
- Mehr al-Nesā became a widow.
- True ✓
- False
- Emperor Jahāngīr offered Mehr al-Nesā and her daughter...
- money.
- protection. ✓
- food.
-
- When Emperor Jahāngīr and Mehr al-Nesā married, he had __________ wives.
- 20 ✓
- four
- 18
-
- What does Nūr Jahān mean?
- light of the sea
- light of the world ✓
- light of the universe
-
- Jahāngīr gave Nūr Jahān's brother and father important jobs in the court.
- True ✓
- False
Worksheet
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Presentation
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Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Growing up in India, Mehr al-Nesā married a Mughal official and together they had a baby daughter.
- However, her husband was killed after an argument with the local governor, and Mehr al-Nesā became a widow.
- At this time, widows were welcomed to the Mughal Emperor's court to keep his wives company.
- The emperor, Jahāngīr, had nineteen wives; when he saw Mehr al-Nesā he fell in love with her straight away.
- They married and she was given a new title, Nūr Jahān (Light of the World), and became his favourite wife.
Common misconception
Pupils may be confused by the emperor having 20 wives.
Explain to pupils that in some countries and some religions you can marry multiple people. However today in the UK, it is illegal to marry more than one person.
Keywords
Official - an official is someone who works for someone important like the Mughal Emperor
Widow - when someone becomes a widow, it means their husband or wife has died
Court - a court is a place where the emperor would gather and make decisions about the empire
Title - a person's title is a word such as ' Sir', ' Lord', or ' Lady' that is used in front of their name, or a phrase that is used instead of their name
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