Shah Jahan

Shahab-ud-din Muhammad Khurram[4] (Persian: ‫هاب لدینمحمد خرم‬ ‫ ;ش ‌ ا‬b. 5 January 1592
– 22 January 1666 d.),[6] better known by his regnal name, Shah Jahan (Persian: ‫ش اه‬
‫)جهان‬,[7] was the fifth Mughal emperor of India, and reigned from 1628 to 1658.[8]
Historian J. L. Mehta wrote that under Shah Jahan's reign, the Mughal Empire
reached the peak of its glory.[9] Although an able military commander, Shah Jahan is
best remembered for his architectural achievements. His reign ushered in the golden
age of Mughal architecture. Shah Jahan commissioned many monuments, the best
known of which is the Taj Mahal in Agra, in which is entombed his favourite wife,
Mumtaz Mahal. His relationship with Mumtaz Mahal has been heavily adapted into
Indian art, literature and cinema. He owned the royal treasury and several precious
stones such as the Kohinoor and has thus often been regarded as the wealthiest
person in history.Shah Jahan was considered the most competent of Emperor
Jahangir's four sons. Jahangir's death in late 1627 spurred a war of succession, from
which Shah Jahan emerged victorious. He executed all of his rivals for the throne and
crowned himself emperor on January 1628 in Agra, under the regnal title "Shah
Jahan" (which was originally given to him as a princely title). His rule saw many grand
building projects, including the Red Fort and the Shah Jahan Mosque.
Foreign affairs saw war with the Safavids, aggressive campaigns
against the Shia Deccan Sultanates,[10] conflict with the
Portuguese, and positive relations with the Ottoman Empire.
Domestic concerns included putting down numerous
rebellions, and the devastating famine from 1630-32.In
September 1657, Shah Jahan fell seriously ill. This set off a war
of succession among his four sons in which his third son,
Aurangzeb, emerged victorious and usurped his father's
throne.[11] Shah Jahan recovered from his illness, but Emperor
Aurangzeb put his father under house arrest in Agra Fort from
July 1658 until his death in January 1666.[12] He was laid to rest
next to his wife in the Taj Mahal. His reign is known for doing
away the liberal policies initiated by Akbar. Shah Jahan was an
Orthodox Muslim, and it was during his time that Islamic
revivalist movements like the Naqsbandi began to shape
Mughal policies.
He was the third son of the Mughal emperor Jahāngīr and the Rajput
princess Manmati. In 1612 he married Arjūmand Bānū Begum, niece of
Jahāngīr’s wife Nūr Jahān, and became, as Prince Khurram, a member of the
influential Nūr Jahān clique of the middle period of Jahāngīr’s reign. In 1622
Khurram, ambitious to win the succession, rebelled, ineffectually roaming
the empire until reconciled to Jahāngīr in 1625. After Jahāngīr’s death in
1627, the support of Āṣaf Khan, Nūr Jahān’s brother, enabled Shah Jahān to
proclaim himself emperor at Agra (February 1628).
5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666 d.),[6] better known by his regnal name, Shah Jahan
(Persian:‫)ش ـاـهـ جهـان‬,[7] was the fifth Mughal emperor of India, and reigned from 1628 to
1658.[8] Historian J. L. Mehta wrote that under Shah Jahan's reign, the Mughal Empire
reached the peak of its glory.[9] Although an able military commander, Shah Jahan is
best remembered for his architectural achievements. His reign ushered in the golden age
of Mughal architecture. Shah Jahan commissioned many monuments, the best known of
which is the Taj Mahal in Agra, in which is entombed his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
His relationship with Mumtaz Mahal has been heavily adapted into Indian art, literature
and cinema. He owned the royal treasury and several precious stones such as the
Kohinoor and has thus often been regarded as the wealthiest person in history.Shah
Jahan was considered the most competent of Emperor Jahangir's four sons. Jahangir's
death in late 1627 spurred a war of succession, from which Shah Jahan emerged
victorious. He executed all of his rivals for the throne and crowned himself emperor on
January 1628 in Agra, under the regnal title "Shah Jahan" (which was originally given to
him as a princely title). His rule saw many grand building projects, including the Red Fort
and the Shah Jahan Mosque. Foreign affairs saw war with the Safavids, aggressive
campaigns against the Shia Deccan Sultanates,[10] conflict with the Portuguese, and
positive relations with the Ottoman Empire. Domestic concerns included putting down
numerous rebellions, and the devastating famine from 1630-32.
Shah Jahān’s reign was notable for successes against the Deccan (peninsular Indian)
states. By 1636 Ahmadnagar had been annexed and Golconda and Vijayapura
(Bijapur) forced to become tributaries. Mughal power was also temporarily extended
in the northwest. In 1638 the Persian governor of Kandahār

Birth and backgroundShahab-ud-din Muhammad Khurram was born on 5 January

1592 in Lahore, in modern-day Pakistan, and was the seventh child and third son of
Prince Salim (later known as 'Jahangir' upon his accession).[14] His mother was a
Rajput princess from Marwar called Princess Jagat Gosaini (her official name in
Mughal chronicles was Bilqis Makani). The name "Khurram" (joyous) was chosen
for the young prince by his grandfather, Emperor Akbar, with whom the young
prince shared a close relationship.[14]When Khurram was born, Akbar ordered that
the prince be taken from his mother and entrusted to his grandmother Ruqaiya
Sultan Begum. She was Akbar's first wife and chief consort. Childless herself, she
had asked Akbar to let her bring up a future Mughal emperor.[15] Ruqaiya assumed
the primary responsibility for raising Khurram, and he grew up under her care.[16]
The two shared a close relationship. Jahangir noted in his memoirs that Ruqaiya had
loved his son, Khurram, "a thousand times more than if he had been her own
[son]."[17]
Administration of the Mughal EmpireShah Jahan at his Durbar, from the Windsor
Padshahnama, c. 1657Shah Jahan the Great MogulThrone of king Shah Jahan, Red Fort,
DelhiEvidence from the reign of Shah Jahan states that in 1648 the army consisted of
911,400 infantry, musketeers, and artillery men, and 185,000 Sowars commanded by princes
and nobles.His cultural and political initial steps have been described as a type of the
Timurid Renaissance, in which he built historical and political bonds with his Timurid
heritage mainly via his numerous unsuccessful military campaigns on his ancestral region
of Balkh. In various forms, Shah Jahan appropriated his Timurid background and grafted it
onto his imperial legacy.[41]During his reign the Marwari horse was introduced, becoming
Shah Jahan's favorite, and various Mughal cannons were mass-produced in the Jaigarh Fort.
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 their
citizens. But due to his measures in the financial and commercial fields, it was a period of
general stability—the administration was centralized and court affairs systematized.The
Mughal Empire continued to expand moderately during his reign as his sons commanded
large armies on different fronts. India at the time was a rich center of the arts, crafts and
architecture, and some of the best of the architects, artisans, craftsmen, painters and
writers of the world resided in Shah Jahan's empire. According to economist Angus
Maddison, Mughal-era India's share of global gross domestic product (GDP) grew from
22.7% in 1600 to 24.4% in 1700, surpassing China to become the world's largest.[42][43] E.
Dewick and Murray Titus, quoting Badshahnama, write that 76 temples in Benares were
demolished on Shah Jahan's orders.[44]