Shah Jahan

Shah Jahan

File:Shahjahan on globe.jpg "Shah Jahan on a globe" from the Smithsonian Institute
Birth name:	Ghiyas-ud-din Muhammad
Family name:	Timurid
Title:	Emperor of Mughal Empire
Birth:	January 5, 1592
Place of birth:	Lahore
Death:	January 22, 1666 (age 74)
Place of death:	Agra
Burial:	Taj Mahal
Succeeded by:	Aurangzeb
Marriage:	Akbarabadi Mahal (d. 1677) Kandahari Mahal (b. 1594, m. 1609) Mumtaz Mahal (b. 1593, m. 1612, d. 1631) Hasina Begum Sahiba (m. 1617) Muti Begum Sahiba Qudsia Begum Sahiba Fatehpuri Mahal Sahiba (d. after 1666) Sarhindi Begum Sahiba (d. after 1650) Shrimati Manbhavathi Baiji Lal Sahiba (m. 1626) Lilavati Baiji Lal Sahiba (m. before 1627)
Parents:	Father - Muslim Mughal Emperor Jahangir Mother - Hindu Rajput Princess Manmati
Children:	Jahanara Begum, daughter Dara Shikoh, son Shah Shuja, son Roshanara Begum, daughter Aurangzeb, son Murad Baksh, son Gauhara Begum, daughter

Shahabuddin Mohammed Shah Jahan (also spelled Shah Jehan, Shahjehan. Persian: شاه ‌جهان), January 5, 1592 – January 22, 1666) was the ruler of the Mughal Empire in the Indian Subcontinent from 1628 until 1658. The name Shah Jahan comes from Persian meaning "King of the World." He was the fifth Mughal ruler after Babur, Humayun, Akbar, and Jahangir.

After revolting against his father Jahangir, as the latter had revolted against Akbar, he succeeded to the throne upon his father's death in 1627. It was during his reign that the Mughal power attained its greatest prosperity. Like Akbar, he was eager to expand his empire. The chief events of his reign were the destruction of the kingdom of Ahmadnagar (1636), the loss of Kandahar to the Persians (1653), and a second war against the Deccan princes (1655). In 1658 he fell ill, and was confined by his son Aurangzeb in the citadel of Agra until his death in 1666.

The period of his reign was the golden age of Mughal architecture. Shah Jahan erected many splendid monuments, the most famous of which is the Taj Mahal at Agra, built as a tomb for his wife Mumtaz Mahal (birth name Arjumand Bano Begum); while the Pearl Mosque at Agra and the palace and great mosque at Delhi also commemorate him. The celebrated "Peacock Throne," said to have been worth millions of dollars by modern estimates, also dates from his reign. He was the founder of Shahjahanabad, now known as 'Old Delhi'.

Biography

Birth And Early Years

Shah Jahan was born as Prince Khurram Shihab-ud-din Muhammad was born in 1592 in Lahore as the third and favourite son of the emperor Jahangir, his mother being a Rajput Princess, known as Princess Manmati, who was Jahangir's third wife. The name Khurram - Persian for 'joyful' - was given by his grandfather Akbar. His early years saw him receive a cultured, broad education and distinguish himself in the martial arts and as a military commander of his father's armies in numerous campaigns - Mewar (1615 CE, 1024 AH), the Deccan (1617 and 1621 CE, 1026 and 1030 AH), Kangra (1618 CE, 1027AH).He was responsible for most of the territorial gains of his father's reign. He also demonstrated a precocious talent for building, impressing his father at the age of 16 when he built his quarters within Babur's Kabul fort and redesigned buildings within Agra fort.

Marriage

In 1607 CE (1016 AH) Khurrum had been betrothed to Arjumand Banu Begum, the grand daughter of a Persian noble, who was just 14 years old at the time. She would become the unquestioned love of his life. They would however, have to wait five years before they were married in 1612 CE (1021 AH). After their wedding celebrations, Khurrum "finding her in appearance and character elect among all the women of the time", gave her the title Mumtaz Mahal Begum (Chosen one of the Palace). 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). By all accounts however, Khurrum was so taken with Mumtaz, that he showed little interest in exercising his polygamous rights with the two earlier wives, other than dutifully siring a child with each. 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 favour which His Majesty had for the Cradle of Excellence [Mumtaz] exceeded by a thousand times what he felt for any other."

Accession

In the Mughal empire, inheritance of power and wealth was not determined through primogeniture, but rather by princely sons competing to achieve military success and consolidate power at court. This often led to rebellions and wars of succession. As a result, a complex political climate surrounded the Mughal court in Khurram's formative years. In 1611 his father married Nur Jehan, the widowed daughter of a Persian immigrant. She rapidly became an important member of Jahangir's court and together with her brother Asaf Khan, they wielded considerable influence. Mumtaz was Asif Khan's daughter and her 1612 marriage to Khurrum consolidated Nur Jahan and Asif Khan's positions at court.

Khurram's 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' (Lord of the World) which effectively sealed his inheritance. Court intrigues however, including Nur Jahan's decision to marry her daughter from her first marriage to Jahan's youngest brother and her support for his claim to the throne led Khurram, supported by Asaf 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, Khurrma succeeded to the Mughal throne as Shah Jahan, King of the World and Lord of the Auspicious Conjunctions, the latter title eluding to Jahan's pride in his Timurid roots.

Despite her frequent pregnancies, Mumtaz travelled with Jahan's entourage throughout his earlier military campaigns and the subsequent rebellion against his father. Mumtaz was utterly devoted — she was his constant companion and trusted confidant and their relationship was intense. Mumtaz is portrayed by 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.

Rule

Shah jahan's court

Although his father's rule was generally peaceful, the empire was experiencing challenges by the end of his reign. Shah Jahan reversed this trend by putting down a Muslim rebellion in Ahmednagar, repulsing the Portuguese in Bengal, capturing the Rajput kingdoms of Baglana and Bundelkhand to the west and the northwest beyond the Khyber Pass. Shah Jahan's military campaigns drained the imperial treasury. Under his rule, the state became a huge military machine and the nobles and their contingents multiplied almost fourfold, as did the demands for more revenue from the peasantry. It was however a period of general stability - the administration was centralised and court affairs systemised. Historiography and the arts increasingly became instruments of propaganda, where beautiful artworks or poetry expressed specific state ideologies which held that central power and hierarchical order would create balance and harmony. The empire continued to expand moderately during his reign but the first signs of an imperial decline were seen in the later years.

His political efforts encouraged the emergence of large centers of commerce and crafts — such as Lahore, Delhi, Agra, and Ahmedabad — linked by roads and waterways to distant places and ports. He moved the capital from Agra to Delhi.

Under Shah Jahan's rule, Mughal artistic and architectural achievements reached their zenith. Shah Jahan was a prolific builder with a highly refined aesthetic. He built the legendary Taj Mahal in Agra as a tomb for his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Among his surviving buildings — in addition to the Taj Mahal in Agra — are the Red Fort and Jama Masjid in Delhi, the Shalimar Gardens of Lahore, sections of the Lahore Fort and his father's mausoleum.

Legend has it that Shah Jahan wanted to build a black Taj Mahal for himself, to match the white one he reportedly loved much more.[1]. There is no reputable scholarship to support this hypothesis, however.[2][3][4].

Fate

Jahan's son Aurangzeb led a rebellion when Jahan became ill in 1657 CE (1067 AH) and publicly executed his brother and the heir apparent Dara Shikoh. Although Jahan fully recovered from his illness, Aurangzeb declared Jahan incompetent to rule and put him under house arrest in Agra Fort.

Jahanara Begum Sahib voluntarily shared his 8 year confinement and nursed him in his dotage. In January of 1666 CE (1076 AH), Jahan fell ill with strangury and dysentery. Confined to bed, he became progressively weaker until on January 31, he commended the ladies of the imperial court, particularly his consort of later year Akrabadi Mahal, to the care of Jahanara. After reciting the Kalima and verses from the Qu'ran, he died. Jahana planned a state funeral which was to include a procession with Jahan's body carried by eminent nobles followed by the notable citizens of Agra and officials scattering coins for the poor and needy. In the event, Auranqzeb refused such ostentation and Jahan's body was washed in accordance with Islamic rites, taken by river in a sandalwood coffin to the Taj Mahal and there was interred next to the body of Mumtaz Mahal.

Legacy

Shah Jahan built Taj Mahal over the tomb of his wife Mumtaj Mahal

Shah Jahan's legacy was one of the most profound of all the Mughals. A patron of the fine arts, he continued the Mughal patronage of painting, although his passion was architecture, with the highlight being undoubtedly the Taj Mahal. Painting during his reign reflected the serene prosperity that the Mughals enjoyed with many scenes reflecting Shah Jahan's interest in romance.

Notable structures associated with Shah Jahan

• Taj Mahal in Agra, India — tomb for his favorite wife in which he was also subsequently interred.
• Delhi Fort also called the Red Fort or Lal Quila (Hindi) in Delhi, India
• Large sections of Agra Fort
• Jama Masjid (Grand Mosque), Delhi
• Wazir Khan Mosque, Lahore, Pakistan
• Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque), Lahore, Pakistan
• Shalimar Gardens in Lahore
• Sections of the Lahore Fort, Lahore, Pakistan
• Jahangir mausoleum — his father's tomb
• Takht e Taus
• Shahjahan Mosque, Thatta, Pakistan

• There is a crater named after Shah Jahan on the minor planet 433 Eros. Craters on Eros are named after famous fictional and real-life lovers.

European accounts of Shah Jahan's personal life

Numerous accounts of Shah Jahan's personal life were recounted by contemporary European writers.

Shah Jahan's 'family'

Like all his ancestors, Shah Jahan's court included many wives, concubines, and dancing girls. Several European chroniclers noted this. Niccolao Manucci wrote that "it would seem as if the only thing Shahjahan cared for was the search for women to serve his pleasure" and "for this end he established a fair at his court. No one was allowed to enter except women of all ranks that is to say, great and small, rich and poor, but all handsome". When he was detained in the Agra Fort, Aurangzeb permitted him to retain "the whole of his female establishment, including the singing and dancing women." Manucci notes that Shah Jahan didn't lose his "weakness for the flesh" even when he had grown very old,. However, most of the European travelers in India had access to such information primarily through bazaar gossip.

Shah Jahan also had an affair with Farzana Begum, Mumtaz Mahal's sister. It was said that Farzana Begum's son was the son of Shah Jahan, and Manucci wrote, "as for myself, I have no doubt about it, for he was very like Prince Dara. According to Frey Sebastian Manrique, Shah Jahan violated the chastity of the wife of Shaista Khan with the help of his daughter, Shaista Khan was the brother of Mumtaz Mahal.

Allegations of incest

Several European chroniclers suggested that Shah Jahan had an incestuous relationship with his daughter Jahanara Begum. The European traveller Francois Bernier wrote, "Begum Sahib, the elder daughter of Shah Jahan was very beautiful... Rumour has it that his attachement reached a point which it is difficult to believe, the justification of which he rested on the decision of the Mullas, or doctors of their law. According to them it would have been unjust to deny the king the privilege of gathering fruit from the tree he himself had planted." Joannes de Laet was the first European to write about this rumour. Peter Mundy and Jean Baptiste Tavernier wrote about the same allegations.

However, the historian K.S. Lal pointed out that Aurangzeb may have been involved in "magnifying a rumour into a full-fledged scandal," and that "Aurangzeb had disobeyed Shahjahan, he had incarcerated him for years, but if he really helped give a twist to Shah Jahan's paternal love for Jahan Ara by turning it into a scandal, it was the unkindest cut of all his unfilial acts." He remarked that in "these circumstances, it is not. possible to say anything with finality."

See Also

• Agra
• Delhi
• Lahore
• Mughal architecture
• Muhammad Saleh Kamboh
• Nur Jahan

References

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
• Asher, Catherine Ella Blanshard. The New Cambridge History of India, Vol I:4 - Architecture of Mughal India (First published 1992, reprinted 2001,2003 ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 368. ISBN 0-521-26728-5. {{cite book}}: |format= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |origdate= ignored (|orig-date= suggested) (help)
• Padshah Nama, a book written by Abdul Hamid Lahori
• Shah Jahan Nama/Amal-i-salih by Inayat Khan/Muhammad_Saleh_Kamboh
• Nushka i Dilkhusha by Bhimsen
• Bernier, Francois, Travels in the Mogal Empire (1656-68), revised by V.A. Smith, Archibald Constable, Oford 1934.
• Tavernier, Jean Baptiste, Travels in India, trs. and ed. by V.Ball, 2 Vols. Macmillan, 1889, 1925.
• De Laet, Joannes, The Empire of the Great Mogol, trs. byHoyland and Banerjee, Bombay 1928.
• Peter Mundy. Travels of Peter Mundy in Asia, ed. R.C. Temple, Hakluyt Society, London 1914.
• Manucci, Niccolao, Storia do Mogor, Eng. trs. by W. Irvine, 4 vols. Hohn Murray, London 1906.
• Manrique, Travels of Frey Sebastian Manrique, trs. by Eckford Luard, 2 Vols. Hakluyt Society, London 1927.
• Lal, K.S. (1988). The Mughal Harem. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan. ISBN 81-85179-03-4. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Begley, W, The Symbolic Role of Calligraphy on Three Imperial Mosques of Shah Jahan, Kaladarsana, 1978, pp. 7 - 18
• Koch, Ebba. The Complete Taj Mahal: And the Riverfront Gardens of Agra (First ed.). Thames & Hudson Ltd. pp. 288 pages. ISBN 0500342091. {{cite book}}: |format= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |origdate= ignored (|orig-date= suggested) (help)

External links

• History of Islam in India at IndiaNest.com
• A Handbook to Agra and the Taj - Sikandra, Fatehpur-Sikri and the Neighbourhood by E. B. Havel (Project Gutenberg)
• Indian & Mughal History Discussions at History Forum
• 'The Man Of Marble' - Outlook India