Shah Jahan (also
spelled Shah Jehan, Shahjehan, Urdu: شاه جہاں, Persian: شاه جهان) (January 5, 1592 – January 22, 1666) (Full title: His Imperial Majesty Al-Sultan
al-'Azam wal Khaqan al-Mukarram, Malik-ul-Sultanat, Ala Hazrat Abu'l-Muzaffar
Shahab ud-din Muhammad Shah Jahan I, Sahib-i-Qiran-i-Sani, Padshah Ghazi
Zillu'llah, Firdaus-Ashiyani, Shahanshah—E--Sultanant Ul Hindiya Wal Mughaliya,
Emperor of India ) was the
emperor of the Mughal Empirein the Indian
Subcontinent from 1628
until 1658. The name Shah Jahan comes from Persian meaning "King of the
World." He was the fifth Mughal emperor after Babur, Humayun, Akbar, and Jahangir. While young, he was favourite of his
legendary grandfather Akbar the Great. He is also called Shahjahan the
Magnificent. Besides being a descendant of Genghis Khan, Emperor
of Mongol Empire and Tamerlane, he is also a descendant of Emperor Charlemagne, the King of the
Franks, King of the
Lombards and the Emperor of the
Romans
Even while very young, he
was chosen as successor to the Mughal throne after the death of Emperor
Jahangir. He succeeded to the throne upon his father's death in 1627. He is
considered to be one of the greatest Mughals and
his reign has been called the Golden Age of the Mughals and one of the most
prosperous ages of the Indian civilization. Like Akbar, he too was eager to
expand his vast empire. In 1658 he fell ill, and was confined by his son Emperor Aurangzeb in the Citadel of Agra until his death in 1666. On the eve of
his death in 1666, he was one of the most powerful personalities on the earth
and his Mughal Empire spanned almost 750,000,000 acres
(3,000,000 km2) and he had in his empire the largest and most
prosperous capital as well as some of the most spectacular architectural
masterpieces in the world.
The period of his reign was
the golden age of Mughal
architecture. Shahanshah Shah Jahan erected many splendid monuments,
the most famous of which is the legendary Taj Mahal at Agra Delhi Kashmir , his
favourite summer residence. Surprisingly, a few of these gardens survive even
till date and attracts thousands of tourists every year.
Biography
Baadshah Shah Jahan was
born as Prince Shihab-ud-din Muhammad Khurram, on January 5, 1599 in Lahore , Pakistan Kabul
fort and redesigned buildings within Agra
Marriage
In 1607 CE (1025 AH), at
the age of fifteen, Khurram married Arjumand Banu Begum, the grand daughter of
a Persian noble, who was 14 years old at the
time.She was also the niece of the famous queen of Jehangir-Nur Mahal After
their wedding celebrations, Khurram "finding her in appearance and
character elect among all the women of the time," gave her the title Mumtaz Mahal (Jewel of the Palace).
Mumtaz Mahal had 14 children. Despite her frequent
pregnancies, she travelled with Shah Jahan's entourage throughout his earlier
military campaigns and the subsequent rebellion against his father. Mumtaz
Mahal was utterly devoted — she was his constant companion and trusted
confidante and their relationship was intense. She is portrayed by Shah Jahan's
chroniclers as the perfect wife with no aspirations to political power. This is
in direct opposition to how Nur Jahan had been perceived. She died an accidental death, while
giving birth to her 14th child. When Shah Jahan travelled to Balapur fort,
Burhanpur, mother of Mirza Azam and elder daughter of Shahzada Badi uz-Zaman
Mirza, alias Shah Nawaz Khan of the Safawi dynasty Dilrus Banu, wife of
Auranzeb along with Mumtaz and cousin/brother Shah Beg Khan, along with
military personnel - stayed three nights near Argaon at Hiwarkhed, before the
birth of their fourteenth child. Mumtaz died in Burhanpur in 1631 AD (1040 AH),
while giving birth to their fourteenth child. She had been accompanying her
husband while he was fighting a campaign in the Deccan Plateau. Her body was
temporarily buried at Burhanpur in a walled pleasure garden known as Zainabad
originally constructed by Shah Jahan's uncle Daniyal on the bank of the Tapti River
The intervening years had
seen Khurrum take two other wives known as Akbarabadi Mahal (d.1677 CE, 1088 AH), and Kandahari Mahal (b. c1594 CE, c1002 AH), (m.1609 CE,
1018 AH).
According to the official
court chronicler Qazwini, the relationship with his other wives "had
nothing more than the status of marriage. The intimacy, deep affection,
attention and favor which His Majesty had for the Cradle of Excellence [Mumtaz
Mahal] exceeded by a thousand times what he felt for any other. Several European chroniclers suggested
that Shah Jahan had an incestuous relationship with his daughter Jahanara
Begum. The French traveller Francois Bernier wrote, "Begum Sahib, the
elder daughter of Shah Jahan was very beautiful... but Lal pointed out that
Aurangzeb may have been involved in "magnifying a rumour into a
full-fledged scandal", and wrote: "Aurangzeb had disobeyed Shahjahan,
he had incarcerated him for years, but if he really helped give a twist to
Shahjahan's paternal love for Jahan Ara by turning it into a scandal, it was
the unkindest cut of all his unfilial acts." But no authentic proof says
that the great mughal had any such relationship.
Accession (Court)
Inheritance of power and
wealth in the Mughal empire was not determined through primogeniture, but by
princely sons competing to achieve military successes and consolidating their
power at court. This often led to rebellions and wars of succession. As a
result, a complex political climate surrounded the Mughal court in Shahzada
Khurram's formative years. In 1611 his father married Nur Jahan, the widowed
daughter of an Afghan Noble. She rapidly became an important member
of EmperorJahangir's court and, together with her brother Asaf Khan, wielded
considerable influence. Arjumand was Asaf Khan's daughter and her marriage to
Prince Khurrum consolidated Nur Jahan and Asaf Khan's positions at court.
Khurram's intense military
successes of 1617 CE (1026 AH) against the Lodi in the Deccan effectively
secured the southern border of the empire and his grateful father rewarded him
with the prestigious title 'Shah Jahan Bahadur' (Brave King of the World) which
implicitly sealed his inheritance. Court intrigues, however, including
Nur Jahan's decision to have her daughter from her first marriage wed Shah
Jahan's youngest brother and her support for his claim to the
throne led Khurram, supported by Muhabbat Khan, into open revolt against his
father in 1622.
The rebellion was quelled
by Jahangir's forces in 1626 and Khurram was forced to submit unconditionally. Upon the death of Jahangir in 1627,
Prince Khurram succeeded to the Mughal throne as Shah Jahan, King of the World,
the latter title alluding to his pride in his Timurid roots and his ambitious
the history.Shahanshah Shah Jahan's first act as
ruler was to execute his chief rivals and imprison his step mother Nur Jahan. This is allowed Shan Jahan to rule
without contention.
Administration of the Mughal Empire
Although his father's rule
was generally peaceful, the empire was experiencing challenges by the end of
his reign. In 1628, immediately after becoming Mughal Emperor, Shah
Jahan's forces were ambushed by Sikh rebels, the Emperor organized an assault,
which caused almost all the Sikhs, including Guru Hargobind and his mercenaries to flee. Shah Jahan repulsed the Portuguese inBengal, capturing the Rajput kingdoms
of Baglana, Mewar and Bundelkhand to the west and the northwest beyond
the Khyber Pass. He then
chose his 16 year old son Aurangzeb to
serve in his place and subdue the rebellion by the Bundela Rajputs led
by the renegade Jhujhar Singh. TheMughal Emperor Shah Jahan then chose his son Aurangzeb to
become the Subedar of Deccan and
ordered the annexation of Ahmednagar and the overthrow of the Nizam Shahi
dynasty.
Shah Jahan and his sons
captured the city of Kandahar in 1638 from
the Safavids, prompting the retaliation of the
Persians led by their powerful ruler Abbas II of
Persia, who recaptured it in 1649, the Mughal armies were unable to
recapture it despite repeated sieges during the Mughal–Safavid War.
Evidence from the reign of
Shah Jahan in the year 1648 states that the army consisted of 440,000 infantry, musketeers, and artillery men,
and 185,000 Sowars commanded
by princes and nobles.[16]During his reign the Marwari horse was introduced becoming Shah Jahan's
favorite and various MughalCannons were
mass produced in the Jaigarh Fort.[17] Under his rule, the empire became a
huge military machine and the nobles and their contingents multiplied almost
fourfold, as did the demands for more revenue from the peasantry. But due to
his measures in the financial and commercial fields, it was a period of general
stability — the administration was centralised and court affairs systematized.
The Mughal Empire continued to expand moderately during
his reign as his sons commanded large armies on different fronts.[18] Above all it is obligatory to mention
here that India became the richest centre of the arts, crafts and architecture
and some of the best of the architects, artisians, craftsmens, painters and
writers of the world resided in his empire, it is believed that the Mughal Empire had the highest gross domestic produce
in the world.
The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan had exchanged ambassadors
and documents with the Ottoman Sultan Murad IV, it was through these exchanges led
by the Mughal ambassador Sayyid Muhiuddin and his counterpart the Ottoman
ambassador Arsalan Agha, that Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan received Isa Muhammad Effendi and Ismail Effendi, two Turkish architects and
students of the famous Koca Mimar Sinan
Agha. Both of them later comprised among the Mughal team that would design and build the Taj Mahal.
