Zoological pioneer: was the Mughal Emperor Jahangir the first scientist to describe a Madagascan lemur?

ABSTRACT

The Mughal emperor Jahangir (reigned 1605–1627) was a knowledgeable naturalist with a keen interest in exotic fauna. In 1612 C.E. a strange primate was obtained from the Portuguese in Goa and brought to his court. The emperor’s written description of the animal and a contemporary painting suggest it was a lemur and therefore from Madagascar. Although many animals from the Moluccas and several from eastern Africa reached Jahangir, this is the only Madagascan animal to do so. Jahangir’s careful description of the animal and an illustration commissioned for his memoirs pre-date European scientific descriptions by a dozen years and reveal Jahangir as a fore-runner of comparative, descriptive zoology.

KEYWORDS:

• Mughal Emperor Jahangir
• lemurs of Madagascar
• Indian Ocean trade
• historical zoology

Acknowledgements

I acknowledge with gratitude the help of Rampur Raza Library, Rampur, U.P., India, in providing me with a high-resolution image of the Jahangirnama miniature of Jahangir receiving Muqqarab Khan. I thank Adela Alfonsi for her thoughtful and creative editorial help.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Peter J. Jarman, Emeritus Professor of the University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia, has studied the ecology and behaviour of mammals in Africa and Australia, and is investigating the wildlife shown in Mughal art.