At a glance
Era 9- Dates
- 1592-1666 CE; ruled 1628-1658 CE
- Who
- Mughal emperor of India's richest age, who built the Taj Mahal and a new capital at Delhi
- Era
- The Safavids & the Mughals
ProfileShah Jahan
Prince Khurram was born in Lahore in 1592, a grandson of Akbar and a son of the emperor Jahangir. He became his father's ablest general, and after his victories in the Deccan Jahangir gave him the title Shah Jahan, "king of the world". In his father's last years he fell out with the court and rose in revolt, but when Jahangir died in 1627 his supporters secured the throne for him, and he was crowned at Agra early in 1628.
His wife, Mumtaz Mahal, travelled with him even on campaign. In 1631, in the Deccan, she died giving birth to their fourteenth child. In her memory he built the Taj Mahal beside the river Yamuna at Agra. Work began around 1632. The white marble tomb, inlaid with flowers of coloured stone and framed with verses of the Quran, stands at the end of a garden laid out as an image of paradise.
His reign was the height of Mughal wealth. From 1639 he built a new capital at Delhi, Shahjahanabad, with the Red Fort at its heart and the great Friday mosque, the Jama Masjid, nearby. He held court on the jewelled Peacock Throne. But costly wars in Central Asia and over Qandahar brought little gain, and the taxes that paid for them weighed on the peasants.
In 1657 he fell seriously ill, and his four sons fought for the throne. Aurangzeb won, and in 1658 he confined his father in the fort at Agra. Shah Jahan lived there for eight more years, cared for by his daughter Jahanara, within sight of the Taj Mahal. He died in 1666 and was buried beside Mumtaz Mahal.
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Further reading
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