We shall not, by historic doubt or cavil, attempt to dim the ethereal halo that has been shed round Noor Mahal by the muse of Moore; it is sufficient that she was adored by her husband during her life, and that after her death he erected to her memory the most exquisite monument that ever issued from the hand of man – the Taj Mahal – to this day the glory and despair of the architect, the lapidary, and the artist. It was in the reign of this monarch that Sir Thomas Roe, an English ambassador deputed by James the First, arrived at the Mogul Court, in the hope of securing protection to the English in their Indian commerce. His reception was courteous and magnificent; but his mission was productive of little or no effect.
Shah Jehan, or King of the World, succeeded his father Jehanghir, and extended the Mogul empire still further to the south; the people and country, during the progress of his arms, being delivered over to fire and sword. One hundred and fifteen towns and castles were taken in the course of a year; and the Rajahs or Kings of Beejapoor and Golconda were compelled to propitiate the Emperor by the most humiliating submission, renouncing their rank as sovereign princes, and receiving commissions from the Emperor as hereditary governors of their own dominions.
It was during this reign that the Portuguese, the first European settlers in India, appear upon the scene in an affair that would no otherwise deserve notice than as being the first instance in which the arms of the Mogul were
resolution; but it left her when she could no longer behold the object which marked the spot where her child lay; and she sank on the ground, refusing to proceed without the infant, thus early introduced to suffering. The father then returned to rescue his new-born daughter from an anticipated death by want and exposure, but was struck with horror on perceiving that she was in danger of perishing in a manner less lingering, but not less frightful. A huge snake had coiled itself round the body of the child, and was in the act of opening his jaws to devour her. The father uttered a wild cry; and the serpent, alarmed by so startling an invasion of the stillness of the desert, quitted its hold and glided to its retreat in the hollow of the tree. The father bore the rescued babe to her mother; and while relating the wonderful circumstances of her preservation, some travellers appeared, whose charity relived their wants, and preserved their lives.
