Anarkali

Anarkali ( (Shahmukhi); Anārkalī ) (pomegranate blossom) was a legendary slave girl from Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. During the Mughal period, she was supposedly ordered to be buried alive between two walls by Mughal emperor Akbar for having an illicit relationship with the Prince Nuruddin Saleem later to become Emperor Jahangir. Due to the lack of evidence and sources, the story of Anarkali is widely accepted to be either false or heavily embellished. Nevertheless, her story is cherished by many and has been adapted into literature, art and cinema.

The Story of Anarkali

The Great Mughal emperor Akbar and his wife, Mariam-uz-Zamani, had a son named Prince Saleem (later Emperor Jahangir). He was a spoiled and rude boy and because of this, Akbar the Great sent his son away to the army for fourteen years to learn the discipline required to rule the empire. Finally, Akbar allowed this son to return to the main palace in Lahore. Since this day was one of great celebration, the harem of Akbar decided to hold a great Mujra (dance performance) by a beautiful girl named Nadeera, daughter of Noor Khan Argun. Since she was an exceptional beauty, "like a blossoming flower", Akbar named her as Anarkali (blossoming pomegranate).

During her first and famous Mujra in Lahore Prince Saleem fell in love with her and it later became apparent that she was also in love with him. Later, they both began to see each other although the matter was kept quiet. Later, however, Prince Saleem informed his father, Akbar, of his intention to marry Anarkali and make her the Empress. The problem was that Anarkali, despite her fame in Lahore, was a dancer and a maid and not of noble blood. So Akbar (who was sensitive about his own mother, Hamida Banu Begum, being a commoner) forbade Saleem from seeing Anarkali again. Prince Saleem and Akbar had an argument that later became very serious after Akbar ordered the arrest of Anarkali and placed her in one of the jail dungeons in Lahore.

After many attempts, Saleem and one of his friends helped Anarkali escape and hid her near the outskirts of Lahore. Then, the furious Prince Saleem organized an army (from those loyal to him during his fourteen years there) and began an attack on the city; Akbar, being the emperor, had a much larger army and quickly defeated Prince Saleem's force. Akbar gave his son two choices: either to surrender Anarkali to them or to face the death penalty. Prince Saleem, out of his true love for Anarkali, chose the death penalty. Anarkali, however, unable to allow Prince Saleem to die, came out of hiding and approached the Mughal emperor, Akbar. She asked him if she could be the one to give up her life in order to save Prince Saleem, and after Akbar agreed, she asked for just one wish, which was to spend just one pleasant night with Prince Saleem.

After her night with Saleem, Anarkali drugged Saleem with a pomegranate blossom. After a very tearful goodbye to the unconscious Saleem, she left the royal palace with guards. She was taken to the area near present-day Anarkali Bazaar in Lahore, where a large ditch was made for her. She was strapped to a board of wood and lowered in it by soldiers belonging to Akbar. They closed the top of the large ditch with a brick wall and buried her alive.

A second version of the story says that the Emperor Akbar helped Anarkali escape from the ditch through a series of underground tunnels with her mother only with the promise of Anarkali to leave the Mughal empire and never return. Thus it is not known whether Anarkali survived or not.

Another quite popular version states that she was immured alive in a wall.

== Anarkali's tomb == A tomb, thought to be that of Anarkali, is situated on the premises of the Punjab Civil Secretariat in Lahore, Pakistan and now houses the Punjab Records Office. Previously, it had been transformed into a Christian church by the British. A bazaar located nearby on The Mall Road is named Anarkali bazaar after Anarkali. It is one of the oldest surviving markets in Pakistan, dating back at least 200 years.

The mausoleum is an octagonal building covered with a dome. At each corner of the building is an octagonal turret surmounted with a kiosk. In olden times, this building was surrounded by a garden that had at its entrance a double-storeyed gateway but no trace of the garden survives. The building houses a monolithic sarcophagus. On the sarcophagus are inscribed 99 names of Allah and the Persian couplet:

تا قیامت شکر گویم کردگار خویش را آہ گر من باز بینم روئ یار خویش را tā qiyāmat shukr gūyam kardigāre khīsh rā āh! gar man bāz bīnam rūī yār-e khīsh rā I would give thanks unto my God unto the day of resurrection Ah! could I behold the face of my beloved once more

On the northern side of the sarcophagus are inscribed the words "مجنون سلیم اکبر" (majnūn Saleem Akbar, the one profoundly enamoured by Saleem, son of Akbar).

The sarcophagus also bears two dates, given in both letters and in numerals: 1008 Hijri (AD 1599-1600) on the eastern side of the sarcophagus and 1024 Hijri (AD 1615-16) on the western side.

Scholar Ahsan Quraishi mentions one more inscription in the tomb, that is said to have been destroyed by General Ventura, the French mercenary fighting for the Sikhs, who used the monument as his residence. The contents of this extinct Persian inscription can be translated as follows: "The innocent who is murdered mercilessly and who dies after enduring much pain, is a martyr. God considers him/her a martyr".

Legacy

Anarkali has been the subject of a number of Pakistani and South Asian films. The earliest is Loves of a Moghul Prince released in 1928. Bina Rai portrayed Anarkali in Anarkali, a 1953 Indian film. In Pakistan, another Anarkali film was released in 1958 with Noor Jehan in the lead role. Later on in 1960, K. Asif's Mughal-e-Azam was released in India with actress Madhubala in the role of Anarkali. Originally, only parts of the film were in colour. Mughal-e-Azam was re-released in 2004 as a completely colour film. Iman Ali also portrayed Anarkali in Shoaib Mansoor's short music video series on the theme Ishq (love) in 2003.

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