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

Abstract

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.