Nur Jahan: Did you mean...?

In the early 17th century, the Dutch and English East India Companies turned their eyes towards India, as part of their grand schemes to develop extensive trade networks across the Indian and China Seas. They were faced with two significant...

North American jackrabbit (hare) – lepus capensis – photographed by Shah Jahan. This would be the sort of jackrabbit featured in the Cheyenne story The Woodpecker's Mother-in-Law where the girl complains to the rabbit that "your eyes are...

The Mughal Empire ruled parts of the Indian Subcontinent for more than three centuries. In that time, it transformed India into what it is today. The Mughals came as outsiders from Central Asia who conquered India with steel and gunpowder...

In this short film, Emily Hannam discusses a pair of mid-seventeenth century paintings by the Mughal court artists Bichitr and Ramdas from the most famous South Asian manuscript in the Royal Collection, the Padshahnama (‘Book of Emperors’...

The Assassins (aka Nizari Ismailis), were a heretical group of Shiite Muslims who were powerful in Persia and Syria from the 11th century CE until their defeat at the hands of the Mongols in the mid-13th century CE. Secure in their fortified...

Franz Schubert (1797-1828) was an Austrian composer of Romantic music best known for his songs, symphonies, piano music, and chamber music. Schubert's career lasted only 15 years, but he was a prolific composer. Neither a conductor or virtuoso...

A minaret is a feature of Islamic architecture and is the place from where the call to prayer is sent out. They are also known as a manār or manāra in Arabic, meaning place of fire or light (nar or nur). According to scholars, the expression...

A picture depicting the failed attempted siege of Damascus in 1148 CE by the knights of the Second Crusade, which ultimately led the city to join hands with Nur ad-Din (sometimes also given as Nur al-Din, 1118 - 1174 CE).

The Upanishads are the philosophical-religious texts of Hinduism (also known as Sanatan Dharma meaning “Eternal Order” or “Eternal Path”) which develop and explain the fundamental tenets of the religion. The name is translated as to “sit...

A tomb is an enclosed space for the repository of the remains of the dead. Traditionally tombs have been located in caves, underground, or in structures designed specifically for the purpose of containing the remains of deceased human beings...