Shah Jahan the Fifth Mughal Emperor

Accession to the Throne 

Shah Jahan (1628-58) was in Deccan when his father Jahangir died in the month of October in 1627. At Lahore, Nur Jahan, one of the wives of Jahangir, proclaimed her son-in-law Shahryar as the emperor, while Asaf Khan, father of Mumtaz Mahal (Shah Jahan’s wife in whose memory Taj Mahal was built) put Dawar Baksh, son of Khusrav (brother of Shah Jahan), on the throne as a stop-gap emperor till the return of Shah Jahan to Agra from Deccan. When Shah Jahan arrived at Agra in February 1628, Dawar Baksh, the “sacrificial lamb’ was deposed and sent in exile to Persia. Asaf Khan defeated, captured and blinded Shahryar. Now decks were clear for Shah Jahan who ascended the Mughal throne at Agra in February 1628. However, Shah Jahan was paid back in his own coin when during his last days when two of his own sons were executed. 

Military Conquests of Shah Jahan 

The first three years of Shah Jahan’s reign were marked by the rebellions of the Bundela Chief Juhar Singh, son of Bir Singh Bundela and of Khan Jahan Lodi. After suppressing these rebellions, he ousted the Portuguese from Hugli and occupied it in 1632. The Nizam Shahi kingdom of Ahmadnagar was finally annexed to the Mughal empire. In 1636-37, Shah Jahan led from the front and himself arrived in the Deccan and compelled Bijapur and Golconda to accept the Mughal Suzerainty and pay annual tribute. Persia had captured Kandahar during the reign of Jahangir, but no attempt was made to recapture it till 1639. The opportunity came in 1639, when Ali Mardan Khan, the discontented Persian Governor of Kandahar, surrendered the fort to the Mughals without fighting. However, Shah Abbas II of Persia wrested Kandahar from the Mughals in 1649. Subsequently, Shah Jahan sent three expeditions to recover Kandahar, but all proved to be miserable failure. 

Last years of Shah Jahan 

The last years of Shah Jahan were spent in misery. In 1658, he was made prisoner by his son Aurangzeb who came out victorious in the terrible war of succession that took place among the sons of Shah Jahan. The war for succession continued till 1661 and in between 1658 and 1661 all the remaining sons were killed or executed. Shah Jahan passed the remaining years of his life in captivity. While in prison, he was badly treated by Aurangzeb. All his efforts for reconciliation ended in naught. At last he “bowed to the inevitable, and like a child that cries itself to sleep, ceased to complain”. Shah Jahan died at the age of seventy-four, on the 22nd January, 1966.

Estimate of Shah Jahan 

The reign of Shah Jahan has been described by many authorities as the ‘climax’ or ‘golden age’ of the Mughal empire. Mughal architecture under him reached its pinnacle. Several foreign tarvellers who visited India during his reign, have left a vivid account of his reign. Of these, two Frenchmen Bernier and Travenier and an Italian adventurer Manucci, the author of the Storio Dor Mogor, are worth mentioning.