20 coded messages of Akbar, Noor Jahan & Shah Jahan surface in Madhya Pradesh's Datia

BHOPAL: Akbar sends a blessing. Noor Jahan offers reassurance. Shah Jahan pines for a beloved. Their words travel not by horse or herald, but by pigeon — tucked into tiny tubes tied to birds’ legs, more than three centuries ago.Twenty cryptic Persian messages, each barely four square inches, have surfaced in a private collection in Madhya Pradesh’s Datia, close to the UP border about 360 km north of Bhopal. No names. No signatures. Just symbols, texts and clues to a secretive Mughal world.The messages were found in Datia resident Radha Vallabh Mishra’s collection during a recent Gyan Bharatam Mission survey by archaeologist Wasim Khan, associated with the state directorate of archaeology, archives and museums. Some are believed to have been sent directly by Akbar, Noor Jahan and Shah Jahan.Mishra, who has collected old books and rare objects for more than five decades, acquired them about 40 years ago from an antique seller in Agra for around Rs 200. He began connecting them to the Mughal period from their paper, motifs, symbols, the name “Chandra Bhan” and Hijri dates on some pages.Chandra Bhan, sometimes Chandra Bhan Brahman, was a Punjabi poet of Persian who served as secretary to Shah Jahan. Impressed by his Persian literature, calligraphy and poetry, the emperor entrusted him with maintaining his personal diary. His “Chahar Chaman” chronicles Shah Jahan’s rule.Written in coded Persian Ramz, messages were examined by Persian-language experts Noor Ishtiyaq of archaeology and museums directorate and Urdu poets Wajahat Shah and Latif Ahmad.Instead of royal names, they found three golden symbols — a square, candle and rose — associated with Akbar, Noor Jahan and Shah Jahan respectively. “These messages were placed inside tiny tubes tied to pigeons’ legs,” Khan said. Who received them remains a mystery.Pigeon post was no flight of fancy at Mughal court and the find dovetails with Abul Fazl’s “Ain-i-Akbari”, which records Akbar’s passion for pigeon-flying, or ishqbazi, and describes an aviary with more than 20,000 birds, including 500 select pigeons. It identifies Raṭh as a pigeon trained chiefly to carry letters.One message attributed to Shah Jahan dwells on a beloved’s beauty, down to a tiny mole on her face, before turning wistful — a dream surviving in the heart despite changing times. Noor Jahan’s is intimate and reassuring: “The hour has arrived; there is no need to worry; happiness, fulfilment and refuge await.” Akbar’s reads like a blessing, invoking grace, generosity and greatness and imagining life as a garden blooming through countless springs.But experts said what reads like poetry may conceal something else. In Ramz, a rose may not be a rose, and a blessing may carry a message hidden in plain sight. “Cryptography and communication have been a historic need. These letters are the evidence of our evolution,” said archaeology commissioner Madan Kumar Nagargoje. Four centuries later, pigeons are long gone. Their secrets have just landed.You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Bhopal | Silver Rate in Bhopal | Bank Holidays in Bhopal | Public Holidays in Bhopal | Petrol Price in Bhopal | Diesel Price in Bhopal | CNG Price in Bhopal | LPG Price in BhopalStay updated with the latest Bhopal news. Download the TOI App.