Petaled lake
An ancient queen’s discovery.
By Jim Long
December/January 2001
Jim Long welcomes readers’ questions or comments; you may e-mail
him directly at lcherbs@tri-lakes.net, or tour his gardens at
www.longcreekherbs.com.
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I’ve often read about the famous attar of
roses, but since it is almost as expensive as gold, I’ve never
actually bought any. Attar of rose is the essence, the actual oil
from the rose. I learned of its legendary beginning while traveling
in India this year. My friend and guide, Puneet, told me the
enchanting story of attar of roses.
In the early 1600s, Princess Nur Mahal was being courted by the
great Moughal Emperor Jahangir. He would do anything to please her.
One day, probably to test him, she asked that a small lake be
covered over with the weight of an elephant in rose petals.
So with great flourish and fanfare, Emperor Jahangir commanded
his servants to bring him the weight of an elephant in fragrant
roses and spread the petals over the lake. Once the roses had been
cast upon the waters, the Emperor would row a boat with the
princess, demonstrating his devotion to her.
Every day when the powerful Emperor asked what would please the
Princess that day, her request was the same.
After several days, Princess Nur Mahal noticed an oily film on
top of the water. Dipping her finger into the lake, the Princess
found that the oil had the highly concentrated fragrance of the
roses. She commanded her servants to soak up the oil with cotton
wool and wring it out into bottles for storage. Legend has it that
this was the first attar of roses.
In short succession, the Emperor’s other five wives each died
mysteriously and the Princess became the Empress, the only wife to
the Great Moughal. She came to be known by her new name, Nur Jahan,
and was the most powerful queen of the Moughal dynasty because of
her sharp management skills and her great beauty. Nur Jahan was the
first Queen in Indian history to have her name used on money, even
though her religion prohibited women from showing their faces or
displaying their names publicly.
Soon after becoming Empress, Nur Jahan arranged for her niece,
Mumatz Mahal, to be married to the Moughal’s son, Shaw Jehan, who
would later become the heir to the Moughal’s empire. The Empress
passed along her knowledge for making attar of rose to Mumatz
Mahal, who reportedly always wore the rose oil.