Shah Jahan
(1592–1666), Mughal emperor. The third son of Jahangir, Shah Jahan ascended the throne of the Mughal empire in February 1628 following bloody battles with his brothers, and remained throughout his reign a ruthless monarch. The Padshahnama, written by Abdul Hamid Lahawri, chronicles his reign of thirty-one years.
Shah Jahan's reign saw the empire reach new heights of magnificence. He amassed bullion, which financed his architectural projects in Delhi and Agra, including the Taj Mahal, a marble mausoleum commemorating his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal. The empire was simultaneously being torn apart by political infighting and internecine quarrels. The economic foundations of the country were undermined by heavy taxation, which contributed to the outbreak of appalling famines, such as that in Gujarat (1630–1631). He persecuted the Jesuits, and in 1632 ordered the destruction of all recently built Hindu temples. His move into the Deccan after 1630 saw early (albeit temporary) successes in the conquest of Bijapur, Golconda, and Ahmednagar. He also moved against the Portuguese, destroying their settlement in Hugli (1631). Shah Jahan spent the last eight years of his life in Agra Fort, where he was imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb, and it was there that he died in 1666 at the age of seventy-five.
Further Reading
Alam, M., et al., eds. (1998) The Mughal State, 1529–1750. Vol. 1. New Delhi: Oxford University Press Manoharlal.
Beach, Milo Cleveland, and Ebba Koch. (1997) The Padshahnama. London and New York: Sackler Gallery and Thames and Hudson.
Lal, Muni. (c. 1986) Shah Jahan. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House.
Marshall, D. N. (1993) The Mughal Empire. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.
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