5th Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan | Taj Mahal, Facts & Death

Summary

The Empire of the Mughals had passed from the great Emperor Akbar to his son, Jahangir. Jahangir was a rather hands-off emperor and left governing in the hands of his beloved wife, Nur Jahan. However, he was followed by the emperor, probably the most iconic of the Mughal emperors. Shahanshah Shahab ud-Din Muhammad Shah Jahan, the King of the World.

Shah Jahan Facts

Full Name	Shahanshah Shahab ud-Din Muhammad Shah Jahan
Born	5 January 1592 Lahore Fort, Lahore, Mughal Empire (Now Present in Pakistan)
Died	22 January 1666 Agra Fort, Agra, Mughal Empire, at the age of 74, (Now Present in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India)
Cause of Death	Fell ill
Parents	Jahangir > Jagat Gosain
Shahjahan Wifes	Qandahari Mahal > Akbarabadi Mahal > Fatehpuri Mahal > Lilavati Bai of Kharwa
Shahjahan Sons	Aurangzeb Alamgir > Dara Shikhoh > Shah Shuja > Murad Bakhsh > Sultan Ummid Baksh > Sultan Luftallah > Sultan Daulat Afza
Shahjahan Daughters	Jahanara Begum > Roshanara Begum > Gauharara Begum > Hur-un-Nisa > Huralnissa Begum > Husnara begum > Parhez Banu Begum > Purhunar Banu Begum > Shahzadi Surayya Banu Begum
Tomb	Taj Mahal, Agra
Shahjahan Time Period	1628 to 1658

Shah Jahan Early Life

On January 5, 1992, Emperor Akbar’s grandson was born here. Akbar happily took his grandson in his arms. And he was named Khurram, who went ahead and became famous in the whole world as Shah Jahan. Shah Jahan was fond of archery, horse riding, and sword fighting since childhood. But along with other things, he also took a great interest in studies. He had mastered many subjects.

Marriage

Shah Jahan was only about 14 years old when suddenly a beautiful woman entered his life whose name was Arjumand Banu Begum, who later became known as Mumtaz Mahal, and Shah Jahan, after her death, built such a building in her love, which became famous forever worldwide. Only after some time did Shahjahan marry Arjumand Banu Begum (Mumtaz Mahal). But yes, Shah Jahan did not forget his Sultanate’s responsibilities because he loved a woman like his father, Jahangir. Along with the love of Mumtaz Mahal, Shah Jahan used to focus excessively on all the works of his Sultanate, and this was the reason that after the death of Akbar when the next Sultan of the Mughal Sultanate became Jahangir, i.e., Shah Jahan, Jahangir made his son Shah Jahan the Sultanate.

He was given many big responsibilities, which Shah Jahan also performed very well according to the expectation of his father, Jahangir. In 1614, Jahangir sent his son Shah Jahan towards Mewar with an army of 12000 so that he could conquer Mewar. Shah Jahan had won Mewar with an army of 12000, proving his cleverness and bravery within a few days. Along with conquering Mewar, he also crushed the conspiracies happening in many areas of India against the Mughals.

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Shahjahan Rebel on Jahangir

Jahangir was very happy about his son Shahjahan’s cleverness and bravery, and Jahangir did. Asking his son gave him a new name to his son in 1617, and that was the name. Shah Jahan, the name by which his son became famous in the pages of history forever, but Shah Jahan seemed to have great success. By the way, in the mind of Shahjahan, the desire to become the emperor was awakening. But because Jahangir’s most beloved and closest wife, i.e., Nur Jahan, Jahan’s second son, who was also her son-in-law, Shahryar, wanted to make him the next Sultan and Jahangir could not deny anything to Nur Jahan.

That’s why Shah Jahan was facing the threat that after Jahangir, my brother Shaharyar would become the next Sultan of the Mughal Sultanate. Shah Jahan suddenly rebelled against his father, i.e., Jahangir. But this rebellion of Shah Jahan did not work. Within no time, Jahangir completely crushed the rebellion of his son Shah Jahan and Shah Jahan was beginning to feel threatened that the order to kill him could be issued at any time. That’s why he started writing apologies to his father, i.e., Jahangir. He also requested forgiveness by presenting his two most capable sons, Aurangzeb and Dara Shikoh, in the service of Jahangir. Jahangir forgave Shahjahan by taking pity on Shahjahan. Shahjahan returned to his palace and started living a normal life again.

Shahjahan Become an Emperor

Jahangir died after some time. Only after Jahangir’s death did the fight become the next Sultan of the Mughal Sultanate of the four sons of Jahangir, two daughters were already involved in Jahangir’s life, and now the fight for the Sultanate was left between the two of the four brothers. Shah Jahan and Shaharyar, but at the time of Jahangir’s death, Shah Jahan was in the Deccan, far away from Lahore. That’s why immediately after Jahangir’s death, Shah Jahan’s father-in-law, Asif Jahan, put his sister Nur Jahan under house arrest so that she could not help his son-in-law Shaharyar and Asif Jahan immediately sent this letter to Shahjahan that he should go towards Agra with speed. Come, And he left for Lahore with a big army where Shah Jahan’s second brother Shaharyar had already declared his kingdom. Shortly after declaring his kingship, Shah Jahan’s father-in-law, Asif, entered Lahore with a large army.

There was a fierce battle between Shaharyar’s army and Shahjahan’s father-in-law Asif’s army, and Shaharyar was defeated in this battle. Shaharyar was immediately taken prisoner and sent to Agra, and even before Shah Jahan reached, Shah Jahan’s rule was declared there. And on February 14, 1668, when Shah Jahan reached Agra, he was also crowned, and thus Shah Jahan became the fifth emperor of the Mughal Sultanate. After becoming the emperor, Shah Jahan married his stepmother, i.e., Jahangir’s dearest wife, Nur Jahan, who herself was against Shah Jahan becoming the Sultan. Fixed his stipend of 20,00,000. Shah Jahan ruled from 1628 to 1658. And this entire period passed with great peace and tranquility for the people living in India. You might be surprised to know that in Mughal history, only during the reign of Shah Jahan, the Mughals are considered the Golden Age.

Rebellions during the reign of Shah Jahan

Khan-i-Jahan Lodi Rebellion

Immediately after Shah Jahan’s coronation, there were rebellions. An Afghan nobleman named Khan Jahan Lodi had been the governor of Gujarat and some strips of land in Northern Deccan. He had sold this land to the rulers of Ahmadnagar in return for money. It was treason. He had also supported Shah Jahan’s brother Shahryar against him, so he obviously had to go.

Shah Jahan made up a great plan to arrest him. Shah Jahan promoted him, and the Mughal protocol dictated that he now had to appear before the emperor. He understood what Shah Jahan was up to and fled with his family to Ahmadnagar. With the support of the Sultan there, he invaded Mughal territory. Shah Jahan left the capital to face him. The Sultan of Ahmadnagar feared that Shah Jahan might attack him to punish him for supporting the rebels, so he withdrew his support. Khan Jahan Lodi was captured and executed by Shah Jahan.

Bundela Rajputs of Orchha, Jujhar Singh’s Rebellion

Another rebellion came from the Bundela Rajputs of Orchha. The Raja there, Raja Jhujhar Singh, had made some… unexplained gains during Jahangir’stime and Shah Jahan wanted answers for that. The Raja escaped and asked Shah Jahan for forgiveness which he granted. However, the Raja overstepped again when he laid siege to Fort Chauragarh, which belonged to a vassal of the Mughals.

The siege went so brutally that the Hindu Raja of the fort had his women commit Jauhar before he made a last stand and fought to the death. Shah Jahan was livid. Shah Jahan sent an army to bring Jhujhar Singh to justice. Now, here another theme in Indian Muslim History repeats. Jhujhar Singh inherited his title after his father died. His father, Raja Bir Singh, had a bit of a shaky claim to his title, which he had gained after assassinating Akbar’s close friend Abu’l Fazl on the orders of Jahangir.

Jahangir gave him that title when he became emperor. So, to legitimize himself, he built a grand temple. Shah Jahan ordered the destruction of this temple. Now, remember that the construction and destruction of this temple were done as political moves, not for religious reasons, and this has happened throughout Indian history. Even when Hindu kings attacked each other, temples were often destroyed to de-legitimize the other one’s claim.

Shahjahan captured Raja Jhujhar Singh’s two sons, and they accepted Islam; this was once again a political move. None of what Shah Jahan did here was an attack on Hinduism. It was all political. Since they weren’t Hindus, they were somewhat outcasts from their Rajput tribe and couldn’t claim their father’s titles. Jhujhar Singh himself was captured and killed by the tribe of the Raja whom he had besieged previously. With these rebels taken care of, Shah Jahan moved to restructure the empire.

1632 Bengal Policy

In 1632, he issued policies to fix up Bengal, which had, so far, been a mating ground of piracy and slavery conducted by everyone, including the Portuguese. He also wanted to bring renegade tribes into the Mughal fold. For this purpose, he established military garrisons all over the empire as the metaphorical stick while installing tribal leaders as Mansabdaars was the metaphorical carrot. Shah Jahan solidified the empire’s periphery with these acts and brought it under his control. Truly, the Mughal Empire was hitting its peak.

Shah Jahan is often imagined as the most…Mughal of the Mughal Emperors. Everything we imagine when we hear Mughal is usually associated with him. He was rich beyond anyone’s wildest imagination. His empire was safe and prosperous, so he did what everyone in his position usually did. He started creating the physical legacy of the empire. His father, Jahangir, had commissioned art and architectural projects, but Shah Jahan took it to a new height. Even before he became emperor, he had commissioned gardens, forts, and mosques everywhere; now, Shahjahan was building them up in the grandest ways he could imagine.

Architecture during Shahjahan Region

Many beautiful buildings were built in India during the time of Shah Jahan. Be it the Taj Mahal of Agra, the Jama Masjid of Delhi, or the Red Fort of Delhi, many buildings like this are famous worldwide. It was built by Shah Jahan only in today’s era. The area of Delhi, known as Old Delhi, was also built by Shahjahan, and its original and first name was also Shahjahanabad because Shahjahan built it.

Mumtaz Death

An event in June 1631 led to his most popular creation. His beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal died giving birth to the couple’s fourteenth child in the nineteenth year of their marriage. There’s a popular joke that Shah Jahan loved his wife so much that he never let her go on with an empty belly for long. He did love her very much. According to primary sources, the emperor isolated himself in a room for over a week and wept so much that he had to wear glasses. Another source says that a third of his beard and mustache became gray almost overnight with sorrow. Her body was taken to Agra, where she was buried. On top of her grave, Shah Jahan commissioned and built a monument today considered an everlasting symbol of eternal love, the Taj Mahal.

Shahjahan Peacock Throne (Takht-e-Taus)

Apart from this, Shahjahan also built a throne of his own. Shahjahan used to sit on it only. One peacock was made on both sides of this throne, and a diamond thread was kept in each beak. The special thing is that all four feet of it were made of gold, And it is known as Takhte Taus. Though the entire period of Shah Jahan’s reign passed with great prosperity, Shah Jahan got the biggest shock. When his most beloved wife, i.e., Mumtaz Mahal, passed away just two or three years after he became the emperor because Shah Jahan loved Mumtaz Mahal very much. That’s why he always used to cry after her death. After Mumtaz Mahal’s death, Shah Jahan also stopped wearing colorful clothes. He always wore white and simple clothes.

Shah Jahan also stopped holding his court after the death of Mumtaz Mahal. Due to crying a lot and always sorrowful, all the hairs on Shah Jahan’s head and beard started turning white. He had handed over all the work of his Sultanate to his vizier, and he was mostly busy building big buildings. But the surprising thing is the way Shahjahan fought with his brother to become the emperor, in the same way when he became bad, his four sons also fought to become the emperor, and he could see everything with his own eyes. I was watching something But was not able to do anything.

Taj Mahal

The beautiful building you are seeing right now is one of the world’s seven wonders, the Taj Mahal, located in India and was built. Emperor Shahabuddin Mohammed Shah Jahan of the Mughal Sultanate of India did not only build the Taj Mahal in India.

Rather, innumerable beautiful buildings like the Taj Mahal have been built. 80% of the beautiful buildings in India are like this. The strings of those buildings will be found connected to Shahjahan somewhere; either they must have been built by Shahjahan, or their beauty must have been enhanced.

Shah Jahan wanted to replicate Mumtaz Mahal’s palace in the heavens. It was completed in eleven years at the cost of the Taj Mahal 5 million rupees. To understand how much that was, the entire city of Old Delhi or Shahjahanabad, which Shah Jahan also built, cost only six million rupees. So, the Taj Mahal cost almost as much as an entire imperial capital city. Also, in 1646, the empire’s yearly expenditure was roughly 225 million rupees. You can get an idea of how crazy rich this empire was. Shah Jahan himself was involved in the design process.

The Taj Mahal itself shows Shahjahan and what he thought about himself. Babur, the empire’s founder, and Shah Jahan’s great-great-grandfather were buried in Kabul’s open sky. Humayun, his successor, was also buried, but later Akbar and one of his stepmothers built a huge mausoleum over his grave, and this was done to show that the empire was still prosperous even though Akbar was a minor and rebellions were everywhere. In simple words, it was a piece of political propaganda. Akbar and Jahangir were buried in simple graves with small tombs later constructed over them. The Taj Mahal returned to the style of Humayun’s tomb but much grander. Shah Jahan considered himself special.

Early military victories had made him incredibly arrogant as a Mughal emperor. The angel brought him a crown and jewels, and accessories. He called himself Sahib-e Kiran-e Thani, which means Second Lord of the Combination, the best royal title ever.

The Conjunction refers to the period conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, an event considered very blessed in Persian Astrology. People born at this time exhibit extraordinary abilities. If you’re wondering, the First Lord of the Conjunction was Shah Jahan’s ancestor Timur the Lame, although Timur never called himself that. There were other ways Shah Jahan wanted to relate to Timur. He also sent an invasion force into Central Asia in 1646 to confront the Mughals’ oldest rivals, the Uzbeks, and to conquer the lands once ruled by his ancestor, Timur.

Shah Jahan remodeled the forts at Agra and Lahore, which Akbar had built. He made them fit his idea of the monarch. For instance, since Akbar, the emperors had held audiences at an elevated balcony called Jharoka, literally above their court ministers and vassals. Shah Jahan increased the height of the Jharoka and built columns in the court to distinguish the various ranks of the vassals.

In Agra, he went so far as to orient the Jharoka according to the mosque at the court, so his Jharoka stood between the praying area and the Kaaba at Mecca, which Muslims should face while praying. Multiple contemporary sources call him the Qibla of his subjects. Qibla is where you face while praying. Although he wasn’t satisfied with just forts and tombs, Shah Jahan planned and built an entire city to his desire.

Jama Masjid

Jama Masjid is One of the Largest & most important mosques in India, built by Shah Jahan between 1650 and 1656. Jama Masjid is located in Old Delhi, India. Jama Masjid has two names, the first, which Shah Jahan gave, was Masjid-i-Jahan-Numa, and later it was called Jama Masjid among the general public. Jama Masjid is a beautiful mosque made of white marble and red sandstone. Jama Masjid has three big domes and two minarets made of white marble and black slate.

Red Fort (Lal Quila)

The Red Fort, also known as Lal Quila, was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the 17th century and is located in Old Delhi. The Red Fort was named after its red sandstone walls. Its main gate is Lahore Gate, in front of Chandni Chowk market. Many places are inside Red Fort, like Diwan-e-Aam, Diwan-e-Khas, Rang Mahal, and Salimgarh Fort.

The City of Shahjahanabad, Old Delhi

Shahjahanabad, or Old Delhi, was built between 1639 & 1648. Shah Jahan connected his family to the Delhi Sultanate by building this city in Delhi. At the center of the new city was the Red Fort, and at the heart of the Red Fort was the Peacock Throne. This throne was so wonderful in a display of luxury and laden with jewels and precious stones that it cost 10 million Rupees. Twice what the Taj Mahal cost. This display of wealth and absolute power is what European visitors brought back from India, resulting in the coinage of the term “mogul” from the Mughals.

All of this was built on stability and prosperity, which went back to Shah Jahan executing his brothers, nephews, and cousins when he became emperor to avoid future civil wars. But as luck would have it, what goes around comes. After all, Shah Jahan himself had tried to overthrow his father. In 1657, Shah Jahan fell ill, and it seemed like he would die. His favorite to succeed was his eldest, Dara Shikoh, but his other three sons, all governors of prominent regions, picked up the sword for their claim to the peacock throne.

Prince Aurangzeb governed the Deccan region of South India. Prince Shah Shuja governed Bengal in the east, and Prince Murad Bakhsh governed Gujarat in the south. They raised armies to attack the capital, which Dara Shikoh controlled in his sick father’s name. After a civil war of around a year, Aurangzeb came out on top despite Shah Jahan supporting Dara Shikoh, who was much less diplomatic and capable than Aurangzeb.

Shah Jahan and his beloved daughter Jahanara tried to negotiate with Aurangzeb, but due to his support of Dara Shikoh, Aurangzeb was not willing to listen. Due to his victory over the imperial army, Aurangzeb held all the cards. He imprisoned the old emperor in the Agra fort, where he lived for the next eight years, being able to see but never visit the Taj Mahal.

Battle of Samugarh

Shah Jahan had four sons, of whom the name of the eldest son was Dara Shikoh. Shahjahan used to love Dara Shikoh the most, and the next Sultan after him also wanted to make Dara Shikoh only, but the reason was that all the people living in the court were against Dara Shikoh. Because the religious ideas of Dara Shikoh were very wrong, he did not believe in any religion. Everything was equal in his eyes. That is why all the people living in Shah Jahan’s court did not want Dara Shikoh to become the next Sultan of the Mughal Sultanate. All the court people had started meeting Aurangzeb Alamgir internally so that we could make Aurangzeb Alamgir our next Sultan because Dara Shikoh used to stay with Shah Jahan in Delhi. The remaining three brothers used to live in different places.

Aurangzeb Alamgir was in Deccan, some were in Bengal, and some were in other areas. In 1657, when Shahjahan suddenly became ill and could not hold his court, Aurangzeb Alamgir accused Dara Shikoh of hiding the illness of our father Shahjahan because of gaining power, but Dara Shikoh rejected this charge. Declared false. Along with Aurangzeb Alamgir, most of the courtiers living in the Delhi court also believed that Dara Shikoh was hiding his father’s illness to gain power. For this reason, Aurangzeb Alamgir, one of his four brothers named Murad. Taking a large army with him, Dara set out against Shikoh.

There was a fierce battle between Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb’s army, and Dara Shikoh was defeated in this war with the defeat, Aurangzeb Alamgir was made the next Sultan. After that, another son of Shah Jahan named Shah Shuja also rebelled against Aurangzeb Alamgir, but Aurangzeb Alamgir was too strong for him, due to which gradually with great bravery and intelligence as well as the reason for the support of the people. Now the way was almost cleared for Aurangzeb Alamgir to become the emperor, and the sick Shahjahan was watching all his sons take up swords against each other from the fort of Lahore and was getting more and more sick day by day.

Shah Jahan Death

After becoming the emperor, Aurangzeb Alamgir had given many servants in the palace of Agra to serve his old father, Shahjahan. All those servants used to treat Shahjahan in the same way as is done with an emperor. Along with those servants and Shahjahan was his daughter named Jahanara. She also always lived in the same palace and used to serve her old and sick father. Shahjahan kept looking at his wife’s memory, Tajmahal. He was served very loyally by his beloved daughter, Jahanara until he died in 1666. Shah Jahn Fell ill and died.

Shah Jahan Tomb

Shah Jahan was buried beside his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, in the Taj Mahal. Despite being the story of one of India’s most powerful and rich rulers, the story of Shah Jahan is very human in many ways. His love and devotion for his wife is a relatable aspect of his life, and so is, in many ways, his arrogance and self-aggrandization. It’s teaching that such a powerful king who considered himself so special and above everyone else was humbled by his son and turned into an emperor without an empire and a mere prisoner.

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