SHAH JAHAN

SHAH JAHAN (1592–1666), Mughal emperor (1628–1658). Shah Jahan, whose reign has been dubbed the "Golden Age of the Mughals," was born in 1592 and was named Khurram ( Joyous). He was able, ambitious, and ruthless in youth, and was later renowned for opulence and magnificence, a "Great Moghul." He built the Jama Mosque in Delhi, the Pearl Mosque in Agra, and the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, as well as one of the most renowned buildings in the world, the Taj Mahal in Agra, which was built as a mausoleum for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, his partner in his government and the mother of fourteen of his sixteen children. Shah Jahan would be buried there next to her. In addition, he built a mausoleum for his father, Jahangir, and a new capital at Delhi, Shahjahanabad, completed in 1648, where he placed the gem-covered Peacock Throne in its Red Fort. Persian literature and art permeated Shah Jahan's court. His reign represents a return to Sunni Muslim orthodoxy, although he continued the Rajput Hindu alliance. He ordered a number of recently completed Hindu temples torn down, and his official court policy conformed to Shari?a laws. Muslim festivals were lavishly celebrated, and he resumed sponsorship of the hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca for his courtiers and faithful servants.

Shah Jahan continued the expansion of the Mughal empire, supervising campaigns, though not leading the armies personally. The Bundela campaign of 1635, led by his third son, Aurangzeb, marked the change of formerly tolerant Mughal religious policy and a reversion to orthodoxy, as a Hindu temple was demolished and a mosque built in its place, and forced conversions to Islam were ordered. In 1629 rebellion broke out in the south as Shah Jahan attempted to subjugate the Muslim Deccan states of Ahmednagar, Bijapur, and Golconda, remaining in the south until 1631. Ahmednagar was captured in 1632, but the war dragged on and the Mughals were driven out of Bijapur. Shah Jahan returned to the south in 1636, and Bijapur and Golconda were obliged to accept a peace that endured for two decades. The Mughals then aquired four more provinces: Khandesh, Berar, Telingana, and Daulatabad. The Mughals also attacked and defeated a number of states in the north, and Sind was brought more firmly under Mughal control.

In 1638 Shah Jahan captured Afghan Kandahar. From there, the Mughals moved on Balkh in Central Asia, occupying it in 1646. The following year, harassed by Afghan tribal raiders, the Mughal army returned to Hindustan, losing thousands in the mountain passes, the expedition a total failure. In 1649 Kandahar fell to the shah of Persia, and three major Mughal campaigns to recover Kandahar all failed.

Shah Jahan then became more retiring, delegating more of the responsibility for governing the empire to his eldest son, Dara Shikoh. In the north, Lesser Tibet was subdued in 1637 and Garhwal in 1656. Turning to the south again, in 1656, the Mughals captured Golconda, and in 1657 Bijapur and Kalyani. In 1657 Shah Jahan became ill, and a murderous war of succession began among his four sons. His third son, Aurangzeb, emerged victorious. He imprisoned Shah Jahan in his Agra palace, where he spent the last year of his life, confined to Agra Fort, from which he could view, but never visit, the Taj Mahal. When he died, he left an expanded and prosperous empire with some quarter million men under arms.

Roger D. Long

See alsoAkbar ; Aurangzeb ; Islam's Impact on India ; Jahangir

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Begley, W. E., and Z. A. Desai, eds. The Shah Jahan Nama of?Inayat Khan. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1990.

Eraly, Abraham. The Mughal Throne: The Saga of India's Great Emperors. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003.

Richards, John F. The Mughal Empire. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Saksena, Banarsi Prasad. History of Shah Jahan of Dihli. Allahabad: Indian Press, 1932.