The love story of Salim and Anarkali is a story that every lover knows. The Mughal prince Salim falling for a courtesan Anarkali is the stuff that legends are made of. The relationship of Salim and Anarkali outraged the Mughal emperor Akbar so much that both father and son decided to go on war.
According to legend, Salim, the son of the great Mughal emperor Akbar, fell in love with a beautiful courtesan named Anarkali as a young prince. In childhood, Salim, of the Mughal Emperor the son Akbar, was very mischievous and stubborn. Akbar sent him to a distant military school to overcome his stubbornness. Salim returned home from Sainik School after 14 years after completing his training. When his education son and returned home, Akbar organized a big mujra (ceremony) in his palace. In order to increase the charm of that ceremony, he invited his favorite dancer Nadira. Nadira's real name was "Sharif Un Nissa". People praised her beauty and dance and gave her the title of Anarkali. Anarkali means the beauty bud. Anarkali was Akbar's favorite dancer. So he organized the dance performance of Anarkali in this ceremony.
At that ceremony, fascinated by became Anarkali's beauty and dance. He fell in love with her deeply. He started wanting her. But Anarkali tried to stay away from him. Because she was not just a dancer. Rather, she was also the main prostitute of that city. She knew very well what her status was. So she tried hard to stay away from him. But Salim did not leave her. He crosses all limits to meet her. Finally, Anarkali becomes refugee in Salim's love. Salim expressed his love openly. But Anarkali tried to hide her love as much as possible.
But such an intense love can't be concealed forever. The emperor could not digest the fact that his son was in love with an ordinary courtesan. Akbar did not easily digest that his son Salim is in love with a prostitute like Anarkali. Because, like everyone else Akbar also had a physical relationship with Anarkali. He started pressurizing Anarkali and devised all sorts of tactics to make her fall in the eyes of the young, love smitten prince. When Salim came to know of this, he declared a war against his own father. But the mighty emperor's gigantic army proves too much for the young prince to handle. He gets defeated and is sentenced to death.
This is when Anarkali intervenes and renounces her love to save her beloved from the jaws of death. She is entombed alive in a brick wall right in front of her lover's eyes. It is, however, said that she did not die. The tomb was constructed on the opening of a secret tunnel unknown to Salim. It is said she escaped through that tunnel and fled the place, never to return again. The heartbroken Salim lives on to become emperor Jahangir.
But he could never forget his one true love Anarkali, in his lifetime. Salim became a fractal lover after being away from Anarkali. Then after the death of Akbar, Salim became the Mughal emperor with new name Jahangir. While dying, Anarkali's name was on his lips. This is the love story of Salim Anarkali..
Historian Abdullah Chagatai partially supports that the tomb contains the grave of Jehangir's wife Saheb Jamal. With time, her name disappeared into oblivion and the local residents named it as the tomb of Anarkali based on the surrounding pomegranate gardens.
The mystery of Anarkali remains, but the size of the burial chamber and the presence of a grave inside the mausoleum, suggest that the deceased person was of a significance.
Thus ends the tragic love story of Salim and Anarkali. Even today, these two lovers are remembered by people and held in esteem by lovers all over; such exemplary their love was.
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