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Showing posts with the label Jahangir

Remembering Guru Arjan on his death anniversary

Today is the death anniversary of Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru of Sikhism. Guru Arjan died in 1606 in Lahore (Pakistan).  Guru Arjan was executed by orders of fourth Mughal Emperor Jahangir , who ruled from 1605 to 1627. He was charged with treason because he had given shelter to Prince Khusrau at Tarn Taran, who had rebelled against his father Jahangir for the Mughal throne. Khusrau was captured, confined and subsequently killed by Shah Jahan (fifth Mughal emperor) in 1622.  Guru Arjan was at first fined by the Imperial Mughal power, but as he refused to pay the fine he was sentenced to death.

Shah Jahan the Fifth Mughal Emperor

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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 Si