THE EMPRESS NUR JAHAN 81

vate purse. She must have portioned above five hun- dred girls in her lifetime, and thousands were grateful for her generosity. " So great was the influence of this Persian princess that Jahangir joined her name with his own on the coin- age, a conjunction unparalleled in the history of Mo- hammedan numismatics, although there is no real basis for the popular tradition that she issued the famous Zo- diacal Mohrs when the emperor appointed her mistress of the mint for a single day. Her unlimited dominion- over her husband, who loved her with a supreme devo- tion, is the more remarkable since she was no longer young when he married her in 1610, and Indian widows of thirty-four are usually widows indeed. This gifted woman, aided by her subtle brother, Asaf Khan, prac- tically ruled the empire during the greater part of Jahangir 's reign, much to his satisfaction; but although at first her influence kept him straight and benefited the empire, her overweening power, covetousness, and unscrupulous favouritism aroused bitter jealousies; and to the resulting intrigues were due the troubles that darkened the closing days of the self-indulgent em- peror, the weakening of the old martial spirit of the Moghuls, the corruption and cupidity of the court, and the rebellion of Jahangir 's son. His reign so far had been successful and curiously little disturbed. There had been hostilities with the rana of Udaipur, which were ended in 1614 by the military genius of Prince Khurram, the future Shah Jahan; and, in addition to temporary revolts in Bengal and elsewhere, there was