Noor

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Jehangir, Kajol, Karan Johar, Mughal, Mumtaz Mahal, My Name is Khan, Noor Jehan, Nur Jehan, Shahrukh Khan, Taj Mahal

Noor (also spelled Nur, Nor, or Nour, Arabic: نور‎, Hindi: नूर) is a lafz of Arabic origins meaning light.
An-Nur, meaning “the light” in Arabic, is also the 24th sura of the Qur’an.

In Dutch and Flemish, Noor can be a form of Eleonore cognate to the English name Eleanor, the first bearer of which was Eleanor of Aquitaine and is probably Occitan in origin

Nur Jahan (1577 –1645) born as Mehr-un-Nissa, was Empress of the Mughal Empire as the chief consort of Emperor Jahangir. A strong, charismatic and well-educated woman, she is considered to be one of the most powerful and influential women of the 17th century Mughal Empire. She was the twentieth and favourite wife of the Emperor Jahangir who ruled the Mughal Empire at the peak of its power and supremacy. The story of the couple’s infatuation for each other and the relationship that developed between them has been the stuff of many (often apocryphal) legends. As a result of her second husband’s, the Emperor Jahangir’s, serious battle with alcohol and opium addiction, Nur Jahan was able to wield a significant amount of imperial influence and was often considered at the time to be the real power behind the throne. She remains historically significant for not only the sheer political power she maintained (a feat no Mughal women before her had ever achieved) but also for her contribution to Indian culture, charity work, commercial trade and her ability to rule with an iron fist. She was the aunt of the Empress Mumtaz Mahal for whom the future Emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal. Furthermore she is the only Mughal empress to have her name struck in silver coins.

Noor Jahan was also the adopted stage name for Allah Wasai (1926 – 2000) who was a legendary singer and actress in British India and Pakistan. Her career spanned seven decades. She was renowned as one of the greatest and most influential singers of her time in South Asia and was given the honorific title of Malika-e-Tarannum (the queen of melody).
Born in a Punjabi family of musicians, Wasai was pushed by her parents to follow in their musical footsteps and become a singer but she was more interested in acting in films and graced the earliest Pakistani films with her performances. She has recorded about 10,000 songs in various languages of India and Pakistan including Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi and Sindhi languages. Along with Ahmed Rushdi, she holds the highest record of film songs in the history of Pakistani cinema. She is also considered to be the first female Pakistani film director. In 1957, Jahan was awarded the President’s Award for her acting and singing capabilities.

Source: Wikipedia

Noor-e-Khuda (meaning the light of God) was a popular song from the 2009 Bollywood movie, My Name is Khan, directed by Karan Johar, starring Shahrukh Khan and Kajol in the lead. Here is a link to the song: