following historic characters are real but used fictitiously : emperor akbar ( reined between 1556 to 1605 ) , crown prince saleem who subsequently became emperor jahangir in 1605 , anarkali ( dance girl and saleems lover ) , mehr-un-nisaa who subsequently became nur jehan after marrying jahangir , ali quli ( became sher afghan khan ) - first husband of mehr-un-nisaa , rana pratap , man singh , vasco da gama ( the portuguese sailor who discovered sea route to india in 1498 ) , qutbuddin- jahangirs foster brother and governor of bengal , ghiasa- qutbuddins sisters son , mirza ghiyas beg and asmat begum ( mehrs father and mother ) , todarmal ( akbars finance minister ) etc .