Emperor Jahangir and The Transformation of Mughal Empire – Part 6

In 1620, Emperor Jahangir visited Kashmir, where he saw a small brown dipper in a stream. He wanted to study its feet to understand the bird fully. His Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri records the effort in detail. The emperor wrote: “I saw the bird near the stream. … It can remain under water for a long time and dives in one place and comes out in another. I ordered two or three birds to be caught, because I was eager to know whether the birds had feet like chickens, or flat feet like ducks, or spread toes like land birds. Two birds were caught; one died immediately, while the other lived for one day. Their feet were not flat like those of ducks, so I asked Ustad Mansur to paint its likeness.”

Emperor Jahangir also kept two cranes in his collection during childhood. He named them Laili and Majnu. He ordered his bird keepers to record every change in their behavior and report it to him. When the cranes mated and laid eggs, he closely observed their behavior. He observed the female bird perched on the eggs at night, the male keeping guard in the area, and how they shared responsibilities. Once, a mongoose-like animal entered their territory. The male crane chased it away. After sunrise, he returned to the female, played with her briefly with his beak, and then took her place to incubate the eggs.

Emperor Jahangir also recorded the birth and growth of the chicks, the male carrying the young, their affectionate behavior and feeding habits. These detailed observations show his strong interest in animal behavior.