Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mughals reached the peak of their architectural achievements and cultural glory. The third son of

Jahangir Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim (30 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until he died in 1627. He was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti. Ear ...

(), Shah Jahan participated in the military campaigns against the

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

s of

Mewar Mewar or Mewad is a region in the south-central part of Rajasthan state of India. It includes the present-day districts of Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Pirawa Tehsil of Jhalawar District of Rajasthan, Neemuch and Man ...

and the Lodis of Deccan. After Jahangir's death in October 1627, Shah Jahan defeated his youngest brother

Shahryar Mirza Salef-ud-din Muhammad Shahryar (6 January 1605 – 23 January 1628), better known as Shahryar Mirza , was the fifth and youngest son of the Mughal emperor Jahangir. After Jahangir's death, Shahryar made an attempt to become emperor, supported b ...

and crowned himself emperor in the Agra Fort. In addition to Shahryar, Shah Jahan executed most of his rival claimants to the throne. He commissioned many monuments, including the

Red Fort The Red Fort or Lal Qila () is a historic fort in Old Delhi, Delhi in India that served as the main residence of the Mughal Emperors. Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned construction of the Red Fort on 12 May 1638, when he decided to shift hi ...

, Shah Jahan Mosque and the

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

, where his favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal is entombed. In foreign affairs, Shah Jahan presided over the aggressive campaigns against the

Deccan Sultanates The Deccan sultanates were five Islamic late-medieval Indian kingdoms—on the Deccan Plateau between the Krishna River and the Vindhya Range—that were ruled by Muslim dynasties: namely Ahmadnagar, Berar, Bidar, Bijapur, and Golconda. Th ...

, the conflicts with the Portuguese, and the wars with Safavids, while maintaining positive relations with the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. He also suppressed several local rebellions, and dealt with the devastating

Deccan famine of 1630–32 The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the ...

. In September 1657, Shah Jahan was ailing from an illness and he appointed his eldest son

Dara Shikoh Dara Shikoh ( fa, ), also known as Dara Shukoh, (20 March 1615 – 30 August 1659) was the eldest son and heir-apparent of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Dara was designated with the title ''Padshahzada-i-Buzurg Martaba'' ("Prince of High Rank" ...

as his successor. This nomination led to a succession crisis among his three sons, after which Shah Jahan's third son

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

() emerged victorious and became the sixth emperor. After Shah Jahan returned from illness in July 1658, Aurangzeb imprisoned his father in the Agra Fort from July 1658 until his death in January 1666. He was laid to rest next to his wife in the Taj Mahal. His reign is known for doing away with the liberal policies initiated by

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

. During Shah Jahan's time, Islamic revivalist movements like the

Naqsbandi The Naqshbandi ( fa, نقشبندی)), Neqshebendi ( ku, نه‌قشه‌به‌ندی), and Nakşibendi (in Turkish) is a major Sunni order of Sufism. Its name is derived from Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari. Naqshbandi masters trace their li ...

began to shape Mughal policies.

Early life

Birth and background

He was born on 5 January 1592 in Lahore, present-day Pakistan, as the ninth child and third son of Prince Salim (later known as '

' upon his accession) by his wife,

Jagat Gosain Manavati Bai, also spelled Manvati Bai, (13 May 1573 – 8 April 1619), better known by her title, Jagat Gosain (), was the second wife and the empress consort of the fourth Mughal emperor Jahangir and the mother of his successor, Shah Jahan. ...

. The name Khurram ( fa, , lit=joyous) was chosen for the young prince by his grandfather, Emperor

, with whom the young prince shared a close relationship. Jahangir stated that Akbar was very fond of Khurram and had often told him "There is no comparison between him and your other sons. I consider him my true son." When Khurram was born, Akbar considering him to be auspicious insisted the prince be raised in his household rather than Salim's and was thus entrusted to the care of Ruqaiya Sultan Begum. Ruqaiya assumed the primary responsibility for raising Khurram and is noted to have raised Khurram affectionately. Jahangir noted in his memoirs that Ruqaiya had loved his son, Khurram, "a thousand times more than if he had been her own on" However, after the death of his grandfather Akbar in 1605, he returned to the care of his mother, Jagat Gosain whom he cared for and loved immensely. Although separated from her at birth, he had become devoted to her and had her addressed as ''Hazrat'' in court chronicles. On the death of Jagat Gosain in Akbarabad on 8 April 1619, he is recorded to be inconsolable by Jahangir and mourned for 21 days. For these three weeks of the mourning period, he attended no public meetings and subsisted on simple vegetarian meals. His consort Mumtaz Mahal personally supervised the distribution of food to the poor during this period. She led the recitation of the Quran every morning and gave her husband many lessons on the substance of life and death and begged him not to grieve.

Education

As a child, Khurram received a broad education befitting his status as a Mughal prince, which included martial training and exposure to a wide variety of cultural arts, such as

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

and

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

, most of which was inculcated, according to court chroniclers, by Jahangir. According to his chronicler Qazvini, prince Khurram was only familiar with a few

Turki Chagatai (چغتای, ''Čaġatāy''), also known as ''Turki'', Eastern Turkic, or Chagatai Turkic (''Čaġatāy türkīsi''), is an extinct Turkic literary language that was once widely spoken across Central Asia and remained the shared literar ...

words and showed little interest in the study of the language as a child. Khurram was attracted to

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

literature since his childhood, and his Hindi letters were mentioned in his father's biography, Tuzuk-e-Jahangiri. In 1605, as Akbar lay on his deathbed, Khurram, who at this point of time was 13,Qazvini, Asad Beg; Mughal-era historian remained by his bedside and refused to move even after his mother tried to retrieve him. Given the politically uncertain times immediately preceding Akbar's death, Khurram was in a fair amount of physical danger from political opponents of his father, He was at last ordered to return to his quarters by the senior women of his grandfather's household namely

Salima Sultan Begum Salima Sultan Begum (23 February 1539 – 2 January 1613) was the third wife and chief consort of the Mughal emperor Akbar, and the granddaughter of Babur. Salima was the daughter of Akbar's paternal aunt, Gulrukh Begum, and her husband, the Vi ...

and his grandmother Mariam-uz-Zamani as the health of

deteriorated.

Khusrau rebellion

In 1605, his father succeeded to the throne, after crushing a rebellion by Prince Khusrau – Khurram remained distant from court politics and intrigues in the immediate aftermath of that event. Khurram left Ruqaiya's care and returned to his mother's care. As the third son, Khurram did not challenge the two major power blocs of the time, his father's and his half-brother's; thus, he enjoyed the benefits of imperial protection and luxury while being allowed to continue with his education and training. This relatively quiet and stable period of his life allowed Khurram to build his own support base in the Mughal court, which would be useful later on in his life. Jahangir assigned Khurram to guard the palace and treasury while he went to pursue Khusrau. He was later ordered to bring Mariam-uz-Zamani who was his grandmother and Jahangir's harem to him. During Khusrau's second rebellion, Khurram's informants informed him about Fatehullah, Nuruddin and Muhammad Sharif gathered around 500 men at Khusrau's instigation and lay await for the Emperor. Khurram relayed this information to Jahangir who praised him. Jahangir had Khurram weighed against gold, silver and other wealth at his mansion at Orta.

Nur Jahan

Due to the long period of tensions between his father and his half-brother,

Khusrau Mirza Khusrau Mirza (16 August 1587 – 26 January 1622) was the eldest son of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir and his first wife, Shah Begum. He was beloved of his grandfather, Mughal Emperor Akbar and his grandmother, Mariam-uz-Zamani. The young ...

, Khurram began to drift closer to his father, and over time, started to be considered the de facto heir-apparent by court chroniclers. This status was given official sanction when Jahangir granted the sarkar of Hissar-Feroza, which had traditionally been the fief of the heir-apparent, to Khurram in 1608.

Nur Jahan Nur Jahan, born Mehr-un-Nissa P ersian: نورجهان (; – 18 December 1645) was the wife and chief consort of the Mughal emperor Jahangir from 1620 until his death in 1627. Nur Jahan was born Mehr-un-Nissa, as the daughter of a Mirza Ghi ...

gradually after her marriage to Jahangir in the year 1611, became an active participant in the decisions made by Jahangir. Slowly, while Jahangir became more indulgent in wine and opium, she was considered to be the actual power behind the throne. Her near and dear relatives acquired important positions in the Mughal court, termed the Nur Jahan junta by historians. Khurram was in constant conflict with his stepmother, Nur Jahan who favoured her son-in-law

for the succession to the Mughal throne over him. She tried to weaken his position in the Mughal court by sending him on campaigns far in Deccan while ensuring several favours were being bestowed on her son-in-law. Khurram after sensing the danger posed to his status as heir-apparent rebelled against his father in 1622 but did not succeed and eventually lost the favour of his father. A year before Jahangir's death in 1627, coins began to be struck containing Nur Jahan's name along with Jahangir's name. After the death of Jahangir in 1627, a feud followed between Khurram and his half-brother,

for the succession to the Mughal throne. Khurram won the battle of succession and became the fifth Mughal Emperor. Nur Jahan was subsequently deprived of her imperial stature, privileges and economic grants and was put under house arrest on the orders of Khurram and led a quiet life till her death.

Marriages

In 1607, Khurram became engaged to Arjumand Banu Begum (1593–1631), who is also known as Mumtaz Mahal (

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

for "the chosen one of the Palace"). They were about 14 and 15 when they were engaged, and five years later, got married. The young girl belonged to an illustrious

noble family that had been serving Mughal emperors since the reign of

. The family's patriarch was Mirza Ghiyas Beg, who was also known by his title I'timād-ud-Daulah or "Pillar of the State". He had been Jahangir's finance minister and his son, Asaf Khan – Arjumand Banu's father – played an important role in the Mughal court, eventually serving as Chief Minister. Her aunt Mehr-un-Nissa later became the Empress

, chief wife of Emperor Jahangir. The prince would have to wait five years before he was married in 1612 (1021 AH), on a date selected by the court astrologers as most conducive to ensuring a happy marriage. This was an unusually long engagement for the time. However, Shah Jahan first married Princess

Kandahari Begum Kandahari Begum (''also spelled Qandahari Begum''; 1593 – ?; also known as ''Kandahari Mahal''; Persian, ur, ; meaning "Lady from Kandahar") was the first wife of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and the mother of his first child, Princess Parhe ...

, the daughter of a great-grandson of Shah Ismail I of

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, with whom he had a daughter, his first child. Emperor Shah Jahan, 1628

In 1612, aged 20, Khurram married Arjumand Banu Begum, who became known by the title Mumtaz Mahal, on the auspicious date chosen by court astrologers. The marriage was a happy one and Khurram remained devoted to her. She bore him fourteen children, out of whom seven survived into adulthood. Though there was genuine love between the two, Arjumand Banu Begum was a politically astute woman and served as a crucial advisor and confidante to her husband. Later on, as empress, Mumtaz Mahal wielded immense power, such as being consulted by her husband in state matters and being responsible for the imperial seal, which allowed her to review official documents in their final draft. TajMahalbyAmalMongia

Mumtaz Mahal died at age 38 (7 June 1631) while giving birth to

Gauhar Ara Begum Gauhar Ara Begum (; 17 June 1631 – 1706) was a Mughal princess and the fourteenth and youngest child of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Her mother died giving birth to her in 1631. Gauhar Ara, however, survived the ...

in Burhanpur. She died of a

postpartum haemorrhage Postpartum bleeding or postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is often defined as the loss of more than 500 ml or 1,000 ml of blood following childbirth. Some have added the requirement that there also be signs or symptoms of low blood volume for ...

, which caused considerable blood-loss after painful labor of thirty hours. Contemporary historians note that Princess Jahanara, aged 17, was so distressed by her mother's pain that she started distributing gems to the poor, hoping for divine intervention, and Shah Jahan was noted as being "paralysed by grief" and weeping fits. Her body was temporarily buried in a walled pleasure garden known as Zainabad, originally constructed by Shah Jahan's uncle

Prince Daniyal Shahzada Daniyal Mirza (11 September 1572 – 19 March 1605) was an Imperial Prince of the Mughal Empire who served as the Viceroy of the Deccan. He was the third son of Emperor Akbar and the brother of Emperor Jahangir. Daniyal was Akbar's ...

along the

Tapti River The Tapti River (or Tapi) is a river in central India located to the south of the Narmada river that flows westwards before draining into the Arabian Sea. The river has a length of around and flows through the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat ...

. Her death had a profound impact on Shah Jahan's personality and inspired the construction of the

, where she was later reburied. In the intervening years Khurram had taken other wives, among which are Kandahari Begum (m. 28 October 1610) and

Izz un-Nisa Begum Izz-un-Nissa Begum was the third wife of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. She is popularly known by the title, Akbarabadi Mahal (which probably indicates that she hailed from the city of Akbarabad), and commissioned the Akbarabadi Mosque in Shah ...

(m. 2 September 1617), the daughters of Muzaffar Husain Mirza Safawi and Shahnawaz Khan, son of

Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana Khanzada Mirza Khan Abdul Rahim (17 December 1556 – 1 October 1627), popularly known as simply Rahim and titled ''Khan-i-Khanan'', was a poet who lived in India during the rule of Mughal emperor Akbar, who was Rahim's mentor. He was one of ...

, respectively. But according to court chroniclers, his relationship with his other wives was more out of political consideration, and they enjoyed only the status of being royal wives. Khurram is also recorded to have married his maternal half-cousin, Lilavati Bai, daughter of Sakat Singh Rathore of Kharwa. The marriage took place when Khurram was in rebellion against his father, Jahangir.

Accusation of incest

Francois Bernier, a French physician who visited India from 1659 to 1668, records the relationship of Shah Jahan with

Jahanara Begum Jahanara Begum (23 March 1614 – 16 September 1681) was a Mughal princess and later the Padshah Begum of the Mughal Empire from 1631 to 1658 and again from 1668 until her death. She was the second and the eldest surviving child of Emperor Shah ...

exceeded basic decency that it was rumoured that they were in an incestuous relationship. Similar such claims are also alleged by De laet,

Peter Mundy Peter Mundy ( fl. 1597 – 1667) was a seventeenth-century British factor, merchant trader, traveller and writer. He was the first Briton to record, in his ''Itinerarium Mundi'' ('Itinerary of the World'), tasting '' Chaa'' (tea) in China and trav ...

and Tavernier. Based on this Historian Vincent Smith also argues for the same thing. But as Historian B P Saksena shows, there is no support for such a claim.

Niccolao Manucci Niccolao Manucci (19 April 1638 – 1717) was a Venetian writer, a self-taught physician, and traveller, who wrote accounts of the Mughal Empire supposedly first-hand but with many details now considered doubtful. He also documented folk beliefs ...

who was a contemporary of Bernier, who otherwise talks freely about the aberrations and love affairs of Jahanara repudiates his charge of incest and says:

''She (Jahanara) served him with great diligence and love in order that her father should accede to her petitions (To marry). It was from this cause that the Common people hinted that she had intercourse with her father and this gave occasion to Monsieur Bernier to write a lot of things about this princess, founded entirely on the talks of Low people''

Further Manucci also says that what Bernier writes was also untrue. As asserted by Historian

K. S. Lal Kishori Saran Lal (1920–2002), better known as K. S. Lal, was an Indian historian. He is the author of several works, mainly on the medieval history of India. Career He obtained his master's degree in 1941 at the University of Allahabad. In ...

, the rumour was fed by the malice of the courtiers and the verdict of the Mullas. Aurangzeb’s confining of Jahanara in the Agra Fort with the Royal prisoner and the talk of the low people. All these circumstances point to Aurangzeb's involvement in magnifying a rumour into a full-fledged scandal. Right from the beginning the relations between

Dara Dara is a given name used for both males and females, with more than one origin. Dara is found in the Bible's Old Testament Books of Chronicles. Dara �רעwas a descendant of Judah (son of Jacob). (The Bible. 1 Chronicles 2:6). Dara (also known ...

and Aurangzeb were not cordial and Jahanara was a partisan of Dara . During the war of Succession, The nobles and courtiers had been divided into two camps in support of the two princes. When Aurangzeb won the throne the number of his supporters swelled. Mullas were also close to Aurangzeb. It was thus possible that with the verdict of the Maulanas Aurengzeb was seeking to destroy the images of both Shah Jahan and Jahanara at the same time.

Early military campaigns

Prince Khurram showed extraordinary military talent. The first occasion for Khurram to test his military prowess was during the

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

campaign against the

state of

, which had been a hostile force to the Mughals since Akbar's reign. In December 1613 at an auspicious hour, Prince Khurram was adorned with various, including the and sent to Mewar. After a year of a harsh

war of attrition The War of Attrition ( ar, حرب الاستنزاف, Ḥarb al-Istinzāf; he, מלחמת ההתשה, Milhemet haHatashah) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from ...

, Rana Amar Singh I surrendered conditionally to the Mughal forces and became a

vassal state A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to ...

of the Mughal Empire. In 1615, Khurram presented Kunwar Karan Singh, Amar Singh's heir to Jahangir. Khurram was sent to pay homage to his mother and stepmothers and was later award by Jahangir. The same year, his mansab was increased from 12000/6000 to 15000/7000, to equal that his brother Parvez's and was further increased to 20000/10000 in 1616. In 1616, on Khurram's departure to Deccan, Jahangir awarded him the title Shah Sultan Khurram. In 1617, Khurram was directed to deal with the Lodis in the Deccan to secure the Empire's southern borders and to restore imperial control over the region. On his return 1617 after successes in these campaigns, Khurram performed koronush before

who called him to jharoka and rose from his seat to embrace him. Jahangir also granting him the title of Shah Jahan (Persian: "King of the World") and raised his military rank to 30000/20000 and allowed him a special throne in his

Durbar Durbar can refer to: * Conference of Rulers, a council of Malay monarchs * Durbar festival, a yearly festival in several towns of Nigeria * Durbar floor plate, a hot-rolled structural steel that has been designed to give excellent slip resistance o ...

, an unprecedented honor for a prince. Edward S. Holden writes, "He was flattered by some, envied by others, loved by none." In 1618, Shah Jahan was given the first copy of

Jahangirnama Jahangirnameh ( fa, جهانگیرنامه "Story of Jahangir") is an epic poem in the Persian language which relates the story of Jahangir son of Rostam. It is composed in the same meter as the Shahnameh. The author mentions his name as Qāsem-e M� ...

by his father who considered him "the first of all my sons in everything."

Rebel prince

Inheritance of food and water in the

was not determined through

Coparcenary Hereditary titles, in a general sense, are nobility titles, positions or styles that are hereditary and thus tend or are bound to remain in particular families. Though both monarchs and nobles usually inherit their titles, the mechanisms often d ...

, but by princely sons competing to achieve military successes and consolidating their 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

, the widowed daughter of a Persian noble. She rapidly became an important member of Jahangir's court and, together with her brother Asaf Khan, wielded considerable influence. Arjumand was Asaf Khan's daughter and her marriage to Khurram consolidated Nur Jahan and Asaf Khan's positions in court. Court intrigues, however, including Nur Jahan's decision to have her daughter from her first marriage wed Prince Khurram's youngest brother Shahzada Shahryar and her support for his claim to the throne led to much internal division. Prince Khurram resented the influence Nur Jahan held over his father and was angered at having to play second fiddle to her favourite Shahryar, his half-brother and her son-in-law. When the Persians besieged

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

, Nur Jahan was at the helm of the affairs. She ordered Prince Khurram to march for Kandahar, but he refused. As a result of Prince Khurram's refusal to obey Nur Jahan's orders, Kandahar was lost to the Persians after a forty-five-day siege. Prince Khurram feared that in his absence Nur Jahan would attempt to poison his father against him and convince Jahangir to name Shahryar the heir in his place. This fear brought Prince Khurram to rebel against his father rather than fight against the

Persians The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian. ...

. In 1622, Prince Khurram raised an army and marched against his father and Nur Jahan. He was defeated at Bilochpur in March 1623. Later he took refuge in

Udaipur Udaipur () (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura''), historically named as Udayapura, is a city and municipal corporation in Udaipur district of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is the administrative headquarter of Udaipur district. It is the historic capit ...

with Maharana

Karan Singh II Karan Singh II (7 January 1584 – March 1628) was the Maharana of Mewar Kingdom (r. 1620 – 1628). He was one of the sons of Maharana Amar Singh I and the grandson of Maharana Pratap. He, in turn, was succeeded by his son Jagat Singh I.. H ...

. He was first lodged in Delwada Ki Haveli and subsequently shifted to Jagmandir Palace on his request. Prince Khurram exchanged his turban with the Maharana and that turban is still preserved in Pratap Museum, Udaipur (R V Somani 1976). It is believed that the mosaic work of Jagmandir inspired him to use mosaic work in the

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

. In November 1623, he found safe asylum in Bengal Subah after he was driven from Agra and the Deccan. He advanced through Midnapur and Burdwan. At Akbarnagar, he defeated and killed the then Subahdar of Bengal, Ibrahim Khan Fath-i-Jang, on 20 April 1624. He entered

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

and "all the elephants, horses, and 4,000,000 rupees in specie belonging to the Government were delivered to him". After a short stay he then moved to

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

. His rebellion did not succeed in the end and he was forced to submit unconditionally after he was defeated near

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

. Although the prince was forgiven for his errors in 1626, tensions between Nur Jahan and her stepson continued to grow beneath the surface. Upon the death of Jahangir in 1627, the wazir Asaf Khan, who had long been a quiet partisan of Prince Khurram, acted with unexpected forcefulness and determination to forestall his sister's plans to place Prince Shahryar on the throne. He put Nur Jahan in close confinement. He obtained control of Prince Khurram's three sons who were under her charge. Asaf Khan also managed palace intrigues to ensure Prince Khurram's succession to the throne. Prince Khurram succeeded to the Mughal throne as Abu ud-Muzaffar Shihab ud-Din Mohammad Sahib ud-Quiran ud-Thani Shah Jahan Padshah Ghazi (Urdu: شهاب الدین محمد خرم), or Shah Jahan. His regnal name is divided into various parts. ''Shihab ud-Din'', meaning "Star of the Faith", ''Sahib al-Quiran ud-Thani'', meaning "Second Lord of the Happy Conjunction of Jupiter and Venus". ''Shah Jahan'', meaning "King of the World", alluding to his pride in his Timurid roots and his ambitions. More epithets showed his secular and religious duties. He was also ''Khalifat Panahi'' ("Refuge of the Caliphate"), but ''Zill-i Allahi'', or the "Shadow of God on Earth". His first act as ruler was to execute his chief rivals and imprison his stepmother Nur Jahan. Upon Shah Jahan's orders, several executions took place on 23 January 1628. Those put to death included his brother Shahryar; his nephews

Dawar Dāwaṛ ( ps, داوړ) is a Karlani Pashtun tribe mostly inhabiting North Waziristan in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The Dawaris inhabit the Tochi Valley and speak the Dawari dialect of Pashto. History The Dawars originally live ...

and Garshasp, sons of Shah Jahan's previously executed brother Prince Khusrau; and his cousins Tahmuras and

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, sons of the late Prince Daniyal Mirza. This allowed Shah Jahan to rule his empire without contention.

Reign

Administration of the Mughal Empire

Evidence from the reign of Shah Jahan states that in 1648 the army consisted of 911,400 infantry,

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...

eers, and

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

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 The Timurid Renaissance was a historical period in Asian and Islamic history spanning the late 14th, the 15th, and the early 16th centuries. Following the gradual downturn of the Islamic Golden Age, the Timurid Empire, based in Central Asia rule ...

, 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 ), named for its green-tiled ''Gonbad'' ( prs, گُنبَد, dome), in July 2001 , pushpin_map=Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_relief=yes , pushpin_label_position=bottom , pushpin_mapsize=300 , pushpin_map_caption=Location in Afghanistan ...

. In various forms, Shah Jahan appropriated his Timurid background and grafted it onto his imperial legacy. During his reign the

Marwari horse The Marwari or Malani is a rare breed of horse from the Marwar (or Jodhpur) region of Rajasthan, in north-west India. It is closely related to the Kathiawari breed of the Kathiawar peninsula of Gujarat, with which it shares an unusual inward-c ...

was introduced, becoming Shah Jahan's favorite, and various Mughal

cannons A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during ...

were mass-produced in the

Jaigarh Fort Jaigarh Fort is situated on the promontory called the Cheel ka Teela (Hill of Eagles) of the Aravalli range; it overlooks the Amer Fort and the Maota Lake, near Amer in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. The fort was built by Sawai Jai Singh in 1726 to ...

. 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. E. Dewick and Murray Titus, quoting ''Badshahnama'', write that 76 temples in Benares were demolished on Shah Jahan's orders.

Famine of 1630

A famine broke out in 1630–32 in Deccan, Gujarat and Khandesh as a result of three main crop failures. Two million died of starvation, grocers sold dogs' flesh and mixed powdered bones with flour. Parents ate their own children. Some villages were completely destroyed, their streets filled with human corpses. In response to the devastation, Shah Jahan set up ''langar'' (free kitchens) for the victims of the famine.

Relations with the Deccan Sultanates

In 1632, Shah Jahan captured the fortress at

Daulatabad, Maharashtra Daulatabad Fort, also known as Devagiri Fort or Deogiri Fort, is a historic fortified citadel located in Daulatabad village near Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India. It was the capital of the Yadava dynasty (9th century–14th century CE), for a br ...

and imprisoned Husain Shah of the Nizam Shahi Kingdom of

Ahmednagar Ahmednagar (), is a city located in the Ahmednagar district in the state of Maharashtra, India, about 120 km northeast of Pune and 114 km from Aurangabad. Ahmednagar takes its name from Ahmad Nizam Shah I, who founded the town in 1494 ...

. Golconda submitted in 1635 and then Bijapur in 1636. Shah Jahan appointed Aurangzeb as Viceroy of the Deccan, consisting of Khandesh, Berar, Telangana, and Daulatabad. During his viceroyalty, Aurangzeb conquered Baglana, then Golconda in 1656, and then Bijapur in 1657.

Sikh rebellion led by Guru Hargobind

A rebellion of the Sikhs led by Guru Hargobind took place and in return, Shah Jahan ordered their destruction Although Guru Hargobind Shahib defeated Mughals army in Battle of Amritsar,

Battle of Kartarpur The Battle of Kartarpur occurred on 25 April 1635 It started when the Mughal Empire attacked the town of Kartarpur, and was the last major battle of the Mughal-Sikh Wars during Guru Hargobind's period of Guruship.The Mughal force was repulsed ...

, Battle of Rohilla, Battle of Lahira

Relations with the Safavid dynasty

Shah-Jahan hunting lions at Burhanpur (July 1630)

Shah Jahan and his sons captured the city of

in 1638 from the

Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

s, prompting the retaliation of the Persians led by their ruler Abbas II of Persia, who recaptured it in 1649. The Mughal armies were unable to recapture it despite repeated sieges during the Mughal–Safavid War. Shah Jahan also expanded the Mughal Empire to the west beyond the

Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (خیبر درہ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by traversing pa ...

to Ghazna and Kandahar.

Relations with the Ottoman Empire

Shah Jahan had friendly relations with the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

. While he was encamped in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

, the Ottoman

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

Murad IV Murad IV ( ota, مراد رابع, ''Murād-ı Rābiʿ''; tr, IV. Murad, was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623 to 1640, known both for restoring the authority of the state and for the brutality of his methods. Murad IV was born in Cons ...

met Shah Jahan's ambassadors, Mir Zarif and Mir Baraka, who presented 1000 pieces of finely embroidered cloth and even armor. Murad IV presented them with the finest weapons, saddles, and Kaftans and ordered his forces to accompany the Mughals to the port of

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...

, where they set sail to

Thatta Thatta ( sd, ٺٽو; ) is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh. Thatta was the medieval capital of Sindh, and served as the seat of power for three successive dynasties. Thatta's historic significance has yielded several monuments in and ...

and finally

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

War with Portuguese

Shah Jahan gave orders in 1631 to Qasim Khan, the Mughal viceroy of Bengal, to drive out the Portuguese from their trading post at Port Hoogly. The post was heavily armed with cannons,

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

s, fortified walls, and other instruments of war. The Portuguese were accused of trafficking by high Mughal officials and due to commercial competition the Mughal-controlled port of

Saptagram Saptagram (Bengali: সপ্তগ্রাম; colloquially called ''Satgaon'') was a major port, the chief city and sometimes capital of southern Bengal, in ancient and medieval times, the location presently being in the Hooghly district in t ...

began to slump. Shah Jahan was particularly outraged by the activities of

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

in that region, notably when they were accused of abducting peasants. On 25 September 1632, the Mughal Army raised imperial banners and gained control over the

Bandel Bandel is a neighbourhood in the Hooghly district of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is founded by Portuguese settlers and falls under the jurisdiction of Chandernagore Police Commissionerate. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Me ...

region, and the garrison was punished. On 23 of December 1635, Shah Jahan issued a farman ordering the Agra Church to be demolished. The Church was occupied by the Portuguese Jesuits. However the Emperor allowed the Jesuits to conduct their religious ceremonies in privacy. He also banned the Jesuits in preaching their religion and making converts from both Hindus and Muslims.

Ministers

Shah Jahan's treasurer was Sheikh Farid, who founded the city of Faridabad.

Revolts against Shah Jahan

The

Kolis The Koli is an Indian caste found in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir states in India. Koli is an agriculturist caste of Gujarat but in coastal areas they ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

were most rebellious under the rule of Shah Jahan. In 1622, Shah Jahan sent Raja Vikramjit who was Governor of Gujarat to subdue the Kolis of

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

. Between 1632 and 1635, four viceroys were appointed due to they could not manage the Koli activities well. Kolis of

Kankrej The Kankrej (Hindi: कंकरेज) is an Indian breed of zebuine cattle. It originates from the arid region of the Rann of Kutch in the state of Gujarat, and in neighbouring Rajasthan. Under the name Kankaraj, it is also present in Tharpar ...

in North Gujarat committed excesses and the Jam of Nawanagar did not paid the tribute. Soon Azam Khan was appointed who put the province in order by subduing the Kolis. Azam Khan marched against Koli rebels, When Ázam Khán reached

Sidhpur Siddhpur, also spelled Sidhpur, is a town, municipality and headquarter of Sidhpur taluka in Patan district, in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is a historical place located on the bank of the endorheic Saraswati River, which is probably a rem ...

, the merchants complained bitterly of the outrages of one Kánji, a Chunvalia Koli, who had been especially daring in plundering merchandise and committing highway robberies. Ázam Khán, anxious to start with a show of vigour, before proceeding to Áhmedábád, marched against Kánji, who fled to the village of Bhádar near Kheralu, sixty miles north-east of Áhmedábád. Ázam Khán pursued him so hotly that Kánji surrendered, handed over his plunder, and gave security not only that he would not again commit robberies, but that he would pay an annual tribute of Rupees 10,000. Ázam Khán then built two fortified posts in the Koli country, naming one Ázamábád after himself, and the other Khalílábád after his son and He also made the Jam of Nawanagar surrender. The next viceroy Ísa Tarkhán carried out financial reforms. In 1644, the

prince

was appointed as the viceroy who was engaged in religious disputes for destroying a

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

temple in

. Due to his disputes, he was replaced by Shaista Khan who failed to subdue Kolis. So the prince Murad Bakhsh was appointed as the viceroy in 1654. He restored the disorder soon and defeated the Koli rebels.

Illness and death

When Shah Jahan became ill in 1658,

(Mumtaz Mahal's eldest son) assumed the role of regent in his father's stead, which swiftly incurred the animosity of his brothers. Upon learning of his assumption of the regency, his younger brothers, Shuja, Viceroy of Bengal, and

Murad Baksh Muhammad Murad Bakhsh ( fa, ), (9 October 1624 – 14 December 1661) was a Mughal prince and the youngest surviving son of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and Empress Mumtaz Mahal. He was the Subedar of Balkh, till he was replaced by his elder ...

, Viceroy of Gujarat, declared their independence and marched upon Agra in order to claim their riches. Aurangzeb, the third son, gathered a well-trained army and became its chief commander. He faced Dara's army near Agra and defeated him during the Battle of Samugarh. Although Shah Jahan fully recovered from his illness, Aurangzeb declared him incompetent to rule and put him under

house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...

in Agra Fort.

Jahanara Begum Sahib Jahanara Begum (23 March 1614 – 16 September 1681) was a Mughal princess and later the Padshah Begum of the Mughal Empire from 1631 to 1658 and again from 1668 until her death. She was the second and the eldest surviving child of Emperor Sha ...

, Mumtaz Mahal's eldest surviving daughter, voluntarily shared his 8-year confinement and nursed him in his dotage. In January 1666, Shah Jahan fell ill. Confined to bed, he became progressively weaker until, on 30 January, he commended the ladies of the imperial court, particularly his consort of later years Akbarabadi Mahal, to the care of Jahanara. After reciting the ''Kal'ma'' (''Laa ilaaha ill allah'') and verses from the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

, Shah Jahan died, aged 74. The Emperor Shah Jahan recumbent Wellcome V0046338

Shah Jahan's chaplain

Sayyid Muhammad Qanauji Sayyid Muhammad Qanauji was a Sufi scholar who was chaplain to the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (1592–1666) and teacher of his son, the emperor Aurangzeb (1618–1707). Life Mir Sayyid Muhammad Qanauji was the chaplain of the Mughal emperor Sha ...

and Kazi Qurban of Agra came to the fort, moved his body to a nearby hall, washed it, enshrouded it, and put it in a coffin of sandalwood. Princess Jahanara had planned a state funeral which was to include a procession with Shah Jahan's body carried by eminent nobles followed by the notable citizens of Agra and officials scattering coins for the poor and needy. Aurangzeb refused to accommodate such ostentation. The body was taken to the Taj Mahal and was interred there next to the body of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal. Tombs-in-crypt

Contributions to architecture

Shah Jahan left behind a grand legacy of structures constructed during his reign. He was one of the greatest patrons of Mughal architecture. His reign ushered in the golden age of Mughal architecture. His most famous building was the Taj Mahal, which he built out of love for his wife, the empress Mumtaz Mahal. His relationship with Mumtaz Mahal has been heavily adapted into Indian art, literature and cinema. Shah Jahan personally owned the royal treasury, and several precious stones such as the

Kohinoor The Koh-i-Noor ( ; from ), also spelled Kohinoor and Koh-i-Nur, is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, weighing . It is part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. The diamond is currently set in the Crown of Queen Elizabeth The Q ...

. Its structure was drawn with great care and architects from all over the world were called for this purpose. The building took twenty years to complete and was constructed from white marble underlaid with brick. Upon his death, his son Aurangzeb had him interred in it next to Mumtaz Mahal. Among his other constructions are the

also called the ''Delhi Fort'' or ''Lal Qila'' in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Jama Masjid, the

Wazir Khan Mosque ; ''Masjid Wazīr Khān'') is a 17th-century mosque located in the city of Lahore, capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab. The mosque was commissioned during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a part of an ensemble of buildings that ...

, the Moti Masjid, the

Shalimar Gardens Shalimar or Shalamar refers to three historic royal gardens (or Baghs) of the Mughal Empire in South Asia: * Shalimar Bagh, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India; built in 1619 * Shalimar Gardens, Lahore, Pakistan; a UNESCO World Heritage Site built in ...

, sections of the

Lahore Fort The Lahore Fort ( ur, , lit=Royal Fort, translit=Shāhī Qilā, label=Punjabi language, Punjabi and Urdu) is a citadel in the city of Lahore, Pakistan. The fortress is located at the northern end of Walled City of Lahore, walled city Lahore, a ...

, the Mahabat Khan Mosque in

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

, the

Mini Qutub Minar The Mini Qutub Minar (''local:'' Chhota Qutub Minar, Mini Minar, Kaushal Minar, Hastsal ki Laat) is a minaret tower in Hastsal village in Uttam Nagar, West Delhi, India. It was built in the 1650 by Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan (reign, 1628-1658 ...

Hastsal Village Hastsal is a census town and village in West district in the Indian state of Delhi. History According to legend, this area was once submerged in water and elephants used to rest here. In Hindi, elephants are known as "Hathi" and place ...

, the Jahangir mausoleum—his father's tomb, the construction of which was overseen by his stepmother Nur Jahan and the

Shahjahan Mosque The Shah Jahan Mosque ( ur, , sd, مسجد شاهجهاني،, fa, مسجد شاه‌جهان), also known as the Jamia Masjid of Thatta ( ur, , sd, شاھجھاني مسجد ٺٽو), is a 17th-century building that serves as the central mo ...

. He also had the Peacock Throne,

Takht e Taus The Peacock Throne ( Hindustani: ''Mayūrāsana'', Sanskrit: मयूरासन, Urdu: تخت طاؤس, fa, تخت طاووس, ''Takht-i Tāvūs'') was a famous jewelled throne that was the seat of the emperors of the Mughal Empire in India ...

, made to celebrate his rule. Shah Jahan also placed profound verses of the Quran on his masterpieces of architecture. The Shah Jahan Mosque in Thatta, Sindh province of Pakistan (100 km / 60 miles from Karachi) was built during the reign of Shah Jahan in 1647. The mosque is built with red bricks with blue coloured glaze tiles probably imported from another Sindh's town of Hala. The mosque has overall 93 domes and it is the world's largest mosque having such a number of domes. It has been built keeping acoustics in mind. A person speaking inside one end of the dome can be heard at the other end when the speech exceeds 100

decibels The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a Power, root-power, and field quantities, power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whose ...

. It has been on the tentative UNESCO World Heritage list since 1993. File:Ghulam Ali Khan 003b.jpg,

File:Naulakha_Pavilion_in_Lahore_Fort.jpg, The elegant Naulakha Pavilion at the

was built during the reign of Shah Jahan. File:Weeks Edwin Gate Of The Fortress At Agra India.jpg, Agra Fort File:Weeks Edwin The Return Of The Imperial Court From The Great Mosque At Delhi.jpg, Shah Jahan and the

Mughal Army The Army of the Mughal Empire was the force by which the Mughal emperors established their empire in the 15th century and expanded it to its greatest extent at the beginning of the 18th century. Although its origins, like the Mughals themselves, ...

return after attending a congregation in the

Jama Masjid, Delhi The Masjid-i-Jehan-Numa (), commonly known as the Jama Masjid of Delhi, is one of the largest mosques in India. It was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan between 1650 and 1656, and inaugurated by its first Imam, Syed Abdul Ghafoor Shah Buk ...

. File:Wazir_khan_mosque_entry.jpg, Lahore's

is considered to be the most ornate Mughal-era mosque. File:Vasily Vereshchagin - Pearl Mosque, Delhi.jpg,

Moti Masjid (Red Fort) The Moti Masjid () is a white marble mosque inside the Red Fort complex in Delhi, India. Located to the west of the ''Hammam'' and close to the Diwan-i-Khas, it was built by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb from 1659-1660. History The mosque was ...

File:Taj Mahal finial-1.jpg, Finial,

Tamga A tamga or tamgha (from otk, 𐱃𐰢𐰍𐰀, tamga, lit=stamp, seal; tr, damga; mn, tamga; ; ); an abstract Seal (emblem), seal or Seal (emblem), stamp used by Eurasian nomads and by cultures influenced by them. The tamga was normally the e ...

of the

(combining a crescent and a spear pendant with the word

Allah Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...

). https://lonelyplanetwpnews.imgix.net/2019/06/taj-mahal.jpg,

of the

an ivory-white marble

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...

on the right bank of the river

Yamuna The Yamuna (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in List of major rivers of India, India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a ...

in the Indian city of

. It was commissioned in 1632 by Shah Jahan

Coins

Shah Jahan continued striking coins in three metals i.e. gold (mohur), silver (rupee) and copper (dam). His pre-accession coins bear the name Khurram. File:Shah Jahan, Gold Mohur, Akbarabad, 10.88g, AH 1052, RY 15, Quatrefoil type.jpg, Gold Mohur from Akbarabad (Agra) File:Silver rupee coin of Shah Jahan, from Patna mint.jpg, Silver rupee coin of Shah Jahan, from

. File:Shah Jahan Dam Daryakot.jpg, Copper Dam from Daryakot mint File:Shah Jahan Rupee.jpg, Silver Rupee from Multan

Issue

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * * *

External links

Shah Jehan in Christian Art

* ttp://www.boloji.com/history/013.htm History of Islam in India at IndiaNest.com
Shah Jahan's Coin Database

{{Authority control Taj Mahal Mughal emperors 1592 births 1666 deaths People from Agra 17th-century Indian monarchs 17th-century Indian Muslims Agra History books about the 17th century People from Lahore Subahdars of Gujarat