THE GREAT EMPERORS

Shah Jehan
Jehangir was succeeded by his second son Khurram in 1628.
Khurram took the name of Shah Jehan, i.e. the Emperor of the World. He
further expanded his Empire to Kandhar in the north and conquered most
of Southern India. The Mughal Empire was at its zenith during Shah
Jehan's rule. This was due to almost 100 years of unparalleled prosperity
and peace. As a result, during this reign, the world witnessed the unique
development of arts and culture of the Mughal Empire. During the reign
of Shah Jehan, Mughal architecture reached its supreme exuberance. He
chose marble as the chief medium for all his architectural undertakings.
Elaborate ornamentation, pietra dura, and creation of exclusive landscape
settings, are some important features of the buildings of this period.
Mumtaz Mahal - The Eternal Beauty
Shah Jahan with his entire entourage was out in the Meena Bazaar when he
first saw Arjumand Bano in the market. There she sat at her glass shop with
long golden hair blossoming on her shoulder touching her milky feet, her eyes
twinkling blue and the colour of her face was a perfect blend of sun, sea and
sky selling the silks and glass beads. Extremely gorgeous and fresh like a dew
drops, Arjumand bowled over young prince with her graceful looks. He bought
all the glass pieces from her shop and came back with a memorable image of
Mumtaz in his mind. Finally a beautiful love story begins. The passion and love
was equal on both sides. After some courage Khurram (addressed by his father
with love) after being crowned asked his father for his consent to marry
Mumtaz. But before giving their story the final conclusion they had to wait for
5 long years. In between these five years he married a Persian princess for
some political reasons. At last after a long wait of 5 years, in 1612 Khurram got
married to Arjumand Bano (named Mumtaz Mahal after marriage). At that
time he was 20 and Mumtaz was 19 years old. The marriage was a very lavish
affair, the best of its time. A huge procession of best musicians, dancers, court-
men made this wedding a grand affair. Finally they were tied in a sacred
courtship of never ending love.
 Shah jahan’s wife Mumtaz Mahal
After the death of his father Prince Khurram became the King and was given the name Shah Jahan.
As a showcase of his love Shah Jahan made lavish and grand palaces and forts for her. One of them is
Khas Mahal in Agra. She was a loyal Queen who stood beside her King at every moment. She even
use to accompany him to many battle ground. There was happiness all around. They were living a
very happy life. The year 1630 was the time when this love story came to an end with the pathetic
death of Mumtaz Mahal. Like any other battle time, Queen Mumtaz accompanied Shah Jahan who
was on a war in the Deccan area. She was pregnant during this expedition, and gave birth to their
14th child there. Because of much weakness she fell extremely ill after the birth of their child and
finally after 2-3 days she died. Before she took her last breath, she asked her husband to build a
monument that would symbolize their love. For almost 2 years the entire state went in mourning.
After 2 years Shah Jahan decided to pay tribute to her loving wife and to fulfill her last promise. For
his he decided to erect a monument that was and can never be built by anyone. For this he sent for
he famous Ustad Ahmad Lahauri who was the best of his time. He chose everything personally and
paid special attention to it. Like white marble was bought from Italy and the artisans were brought
rom all over India. This was the dream that Shah Jahan saw this was 'Taj Mahal' a tribute to his wife.
 Aurangzeb
The sixth ruler of Mughal Empire was Emperor Aurangzeb. He was the son of emperor Shah Jahan had his wife Mumtaz
Mahal. He was born on 3rd November, 1618. A devout Muslim, he strictly adhered to Islam and made sure that his kingdom
followed the same. He was not religiously tolerant like his ancestors and made Islamic law the foundation of reign. He destroyed
many Hindu temples and forced many non-Muslims to convert into Islam. Read this short biography to know more about the
life history of Mughal emperor Aurangjeb.

Aurangzeb retained the throne for almost 50 years. He spread the extent of Mughal Empire to the entire Indian sub continent
barring the southernmost tip of India. However, his constant battles and wars overextended the empire alarmingly and isolated
from the Rajput allies. The subjects and citizens showed resentment but no one had the power or strength to do a revolt. The
religious policies of Aurangzeb widened the gap between Hindus and Muslims. He had a very strong hand and is generally
considered to be the last successful Mughal emperor.

Aurangzeb was a simple man who led a pious life. He never touched alcohol and led a simple life. His predecessors were lavish
in their lifestyle and collected anything that was beautiful, precious and unique. Aurangzeb did not like architecture and not
many monuments are credited to him. Aurangzeb disliked music and banned any form of music or dance in his kingdom. Most
of his life was spent on the battlefield conquering territories and trying to conquer the Deccan.

Though Aurangzeb was an able warrior and fiercely protected his territories, his weakness was that he was too strict and cruel.
He never committed injustice and remained a just ruler. However, his state policies and way of ruling only angered the citizens
and they turned against him. His constant warfare and waging battles emptied his treasures and slowly the Mughal Empire
started to go towards its decline. By the time he reached 90 years of age, he realized he had committed many sins and led the
life of an ascetic. He died on 3rd March, 1707 and was buried in a modest tomb.
 Mughal Painting!!!...

The Mughal emperors introduced their own style of paintings with Persian
inspiration and added themes, colors and forms. Mughal paintings reflect an
exclusive combination of Indian, Persian and Islamic styles, which evolved in
India during the reigns of the Mughal emperors (in the 16–18 centuries).
Mughal paintings developed and flourished during the reigns of Akbar,
Jahangir and Shah Jahan. Mughal Paintings were rich in variety which
included portraits, events and scenes from the court life, wild life and
hunting scenes, and illustrations of battle fronts, some paintings also
depicted lovers in intimate positions.
Mughal painting was essentially a court art; it developed under the
patronage of the ruling Mughal emperors and began to decline when the
rulers lost interest. The subjects treated were generally secular, consisting of
illustrations to historical works and Persian and Indian literature, portraits of
the emperor and his court, studies of natural life, genre scenes etc.