Nurmahalਨੂਰਮਹਿਲ

History

Nurmahal's name is its history: the town is named for Nur Jahan, the twentieth and most powerful wife of Emperor Jahangir, who is traditionally said to have been brought up here. On her orders, and under the supervision of Zakariya Khan, then governor of the Doab, the great serai was constructed between 1618 and 1621 — dated 1028 and 1030 Hijri in the Persian inscription over its western gate. Jahangir himself mentions halting at 'Nur-Saray' in his memoirs, describing the feast his queen laid on for him there.

The serai served the imperial highway between Delhi and Lahore for a century before the Mughal decline. The town passed through the plundering of Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah, was recovered by the Talwan Rajputs, came under the Sikhs of Jassa Ahluwalia's confederacy, and finally under the East India Company. Through it all the serai stood — so famous that 'Serai Noor Mahal' entered local speech as a byword for any grand building.

Geography & people

Nurmahal lies about 13 kilometres south of Jalandhar at roughly 230 metres above sea level, on the railway line between Phillaur and Lohian Khas. The 2001 census counted 12,630 residents. Punjabi is the everyday language. The town's grain market is among the busier in the district, and its railway station keeps it connected to the Doaba's main lines.

The serai's quadrangle — 140 cells around four sides, octagonal corner towers, a well and a mosque inside — is maintained by the Archaeological Department and remains the town's physical and emotional centre.

Places of interest

The Serai Nurmahal is the reason to come: the double-storied western Lahore Gate in red sandstone, its facade divided into panels of sculptured relief — angels, lotuses, elephants, horsemen, scenes of elephant fights and chaugan — with the Persian foundation inscription over the arch. Inside are the travellers' cells, the emperor's quarters, the well and the mosque. It is among the finest surviving Mughal serais in Punjab.

Notable people

Nurmahal's notable figure never lived here as an adult — she only grew up here, by tradition. Nur Jahan (1577–1645), the empress who effectively ruled the Mughal Empire in Jahangir's later years, gave the town its name and its monument. The town's modern distinction is quieter: a railway junction town and grain market whose Mughal serai still draws historians, architects and filmmakers — scenes of 'Jab Harry Met Sejal' were shot here.