Shah Jahan was a fearsome leader, but his obsession with opulence ultimately brought him down – as did his own sons.
Wikimedia CommonsA depicting of Shah Jahan sitting on the Peacock Throne . Note the encrust jewels on the elaborate stool .
Shah Jahan get to world power in 1627 when he ascended to the throne as the one-fifth in line of Mughal Saturnia pavonia . Jahan hoped to connect much of southern Asia in a Brobdingnagian Muslim empire at the height of Islamic influence at the time . He hold up the arts , including architecture , house painting , and piece of writing , and he expanded the orbit of the Mughals further than previously know .
Jahan learn at an former age that he needed military skill to bring home the bacon . He went out on his own and conquered territories in the name of the Mughals . When his begetter go in 1627 , Jahan was prim and quick to take the throne thanks to his military might .
Wikimedia CommonsA depiction of Shah Jahan sitting on the Peacock Throne. Note the encrusted jewels on the elaborate throne.
Unfortunately for Jahan , the need for military science was a lesson passed to Jahan ’s boy after in life . Mughal emperors oft had crises and bitter infighting with regards to successor to the throne where siblings often fought each other for power .
Shah Jahan’s Beginnings
Shah Jahan , whose name means “ King of the World , ” was born in what isnow Pakistanin 1592 . He came from a long line of successful Mughal emperor , include his grandfatherAkbar the Great , and was the third son of Emperor Jahangir .
At the old age of 15 , Jahan ’s parent betrothed him to Arjumand Banu Begum , a Persian princess whom he espouse five eld later in 1612 and upon whom he bestowed the title of Mumtaz Mahal , a name meaning “ Jewel of the Palace . ”
In the meantime , Jahan declared himself emperor at the beginning of his reign in 1627 . He had the reenforcement of one of his uncle , which boost the confusion in his family .
Wikimedia CommonsThe Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan’s final resting place.
Wikimedia CommonsThe Taj Mahal , Shah Jahan ’s last resting office .
His beloved married woman Mumtaz died giving parturition to the mates ’s 14th kid in 1631 . For the next 16 age , Shah Jahan spent a fortune building a glorious tomb , known as theTaj Mahal , both to honor his late married woman and as a way to facilitate his grief .
Qazwini , the prescribed lawcourt recorder , enunciate this of the couple :
Wikimedia CommonsThe Red Fort at Agra, one of Jahan’s many architectural wonders.
“ The intimacy , thick affectionateness , attention and favor which His Majesty had for the Cradle of Excellence ( Mumtaz ) exceeded by a thousand time what he felt for any other . ”
Military winner across the Mughal Empire expanded Jahan ’s scope following the death of Mumtaz Mahal . He conquered district to the southwest in India and then to the NE in Persia ( in modern - sidereal day Iran ) in the mid-1630s . thing were going well for the Mughal Empire .
Jahan ’s arrogance and love of computer architecture get him into trouble after his military successes . While he was busy conquering territories far from his chapiter of Agra , Jahan ’s four herculean sons , successful military leaders in their own right , kept their ambitions confining .
Wikimedia CommonsA depiction of Aurangzeb, the son of Shah Jahan who took over the Mughal Empire in 1658.
Wikimedia CommonsThe Red Fort at Agra , one of Jahan ’s many architectural wonders .
After military successes against the Persians in the 1630s , the Persians ask back territories they lost to the Mughal Empire in the late 1640s and other 1650s . Jahan ’s forces were adulterate too thinly . He could n’t hold the frontier , and he pulled back his capital from Agra to Delhi in 1648 .
Everywhere Jahan went , he renovated and rebuilt fort , palace , and abode . He built elaborate palaces , include the noted Red Fort at Agra and the Jami Masjid mosque , to show off his powerfulness on the Amerind subcontinent .
Jahan ’s haughtiness led to the belief that foam jewel were the way to show off true wealth . Renovations at forts and castle includedwalls encrustedwith gaudy gemstones . Jahan had six stool bequeathed to him from his forebears , but they were not enough .
He commissioned the famous Peacock throne , a resplendent professorship that had century of diamond , emerald , pearls and deep red . The room in which the Peacock throne sit had archways of silver and gold , and Jahan surround himself with silk carpets and beautiful tapestries .
The Son’s Takeover
This presentation of wealth , coupled with military losses , led to poor economical choices and failure .
Shah Jahan could no longer give to pay his soldiery and generals . The Saturnia pavonia fellseriously ill in 1658 . His four Logos , sensing an chance , moved in for a chance to rule the vast Mughal Empire with all of its wealth . All four gentleman were governors of Mughal states at the time of their father ’s illness .
Shah Jahan favor his son named Dara Shikoh , much to the chagrin of the other three brother . Unlike other monarchy where the sometime son mechanically becomes the heir to the crapper , Mughal emperors arise to ability establish on military art . ( Hence , Jahan became a large military strategian in his youth . ) Skikoh ’s three Brother , sensing that they would be leave out of any heritage , formed an alliance against Sikoh .
Wikimedia CommonsA delineation of Aurangzeb , the son of Shah Jahan who took over the Mughal Empire in 1658 .
Aurangzeb , the most politically savvy of Jahan ’s sons , had his father cop in 1658 . He feared his beginner would expedite Sikoh ’s ascension to the stool because of his illness , so the other brothers backed Aurangzeb ’s move .
A year later , Aurangzeb execute Sikoh to eliminate one possible competitor . The shrewd Word coiffure his pot on his brothers after his founder was under his control .
Aurangzeb formed an alliance with Murad and the two agreed to split their father ’s conglomerate when they win command of it . With the assist of Murad , Aurangzeb vote out Shah Shuja , the fourth Logos of Jahan , who retreated to Bengal . Aurangzeb had Murad executed for murder in 1661 , cuckold his initial alliance and agreement . That was two rivals down . The third , Shah Shuja , was killed by local rulers in Burma .
Aurangzeb seized power in 1658 , terminate his male parent ’s sovereignty , and then solidify his position three age later . Jahan remained under mansion stoppage in Agra even though he recovered .
He go in 1666 under the care of his best-loved daughter , Jahanara Begum . Jahan was sink next to his wife in the Taj Mahal , where he was finally at repose . As the entrance to the world ’s most elaborate mausoleum United States Department of State , “ O individual , you are at rest . Return to the Lord in peacefulness with him , and he at peace with you . ”
Shah Jahan was at rest , but his imperium was not . Mughal influence waned before long after that and the British Empire took hold in India in the 1750s with theEast India Company . Without family infighting , the Mughal Empire could have been one of the world ’s greatest .
After learning about Shah Jahan , check out theseinteresting India fact . Then , say about four ofIndia ’s architectural wonder .
