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Emperor Shah Jahan was the fifth Mughal ruler of India. He was the son of Emperor Jahangir, and the grandson of Akbar the Great, the most important Mughal leader. He was born on January 5th, 1592 and he was named Khurram, which means “joyous” in Persian, because he was such a great joy to his grandfather and grandmother, who raised him. He took the throne at the age of 35 after his father died, and he adopted the name Shah Jahan, which means "Emperor of the World". It is said that during the reign of Shah Jahan, the Mughal Empire was at its greatest. He is best known for his building of the Taj Mahal to honor his wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
Shah Jahan was an efficient ruler who worked hard to expand the boundaries of the Mughal Empire. Shah Jahan was a devout Muslim and unlike his grandfather, Akbar, who studied and celebrated people of different religions, Shah Jahan was not tolerant towards Hindus. In the Mughal Empire, the emperors and nobles were usually Muslim, but the majority of the citizens were Hindu. He ordered that Hindu temples that were being constructed should be destroyed. This made him less popular among his subjects. He also discriminated against other religions and demolished Christian churches. Shah Jahan also attacked a Portuguese colony located near Calcutta, which was set up originally to convert the Indians to Christianity, and later became a major trading port for the Portuguese. The Portuguese were charged with crimes like kidnapping Mughal subjects and shipping them to Europe as slaves. The arrival of Europeans in India would later contribute to the decline of the Mughal Empire.
Shah Jahan was a lover of art and architecture and took care of even the smallest detail in any construction that he ordered. The most famous example of his architectural style is the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal was built in the memory of his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died while giving birth to his 14th child. She was his favorite wife and she accompanied Shah Jahan on all of
his military expeditions, and was a trusted confidante and advisor. When Mumtaz Mahal died, Emperor Shah Jahan was devastated. For two months, he did not come out of his room. When he did come out, it was said that he looked like he was 100 years old. He decided to built a mausoleum, or a tomb, in her memory. He was going to place the body of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal inside this tomb, which he wanted the whole world to admire.
The Taj Mahal took about 20 years to build. It is made of the finest white marble that was carefully cut and had to be hauled hundreds of miles from where it was mined to the site of the Taj Mahal. The entire structure is richly decorated. Precious stones like rubies and emeralds were put into the outside walls, and the walls were decorated with verses from the Quran. When the lamps were lit at night, the gems would gleam in the darkness. It was said to be the most beautiful sight in the world. Unfortunately, Shah Jahan spent too much money building the Taj Mahal. He spent money that could
have been better used to benefit the people of his empire. When the TajMahal was finished, he laid the body of his wife inside. He planned to build another tomb out of black marble for himself on the opposite side of the river, which would the the exact mirror image of the monument he built for his wife. Shah Jahan believed that this black version of the Taj Mahal would be his mausoleum when he died.
Before this could happen, Shah Jahan became involved in a battle of succession to the throne. Shah Jahan had already indicated that he wanted his son, Dara Shikoh, to succeed him as Mughal emperor. Another son, Aurangzeb, however, had other plans. Interestingly, the Mughal Empire did not practice primogeniture, or the practice that the first-born son is automatically going to be the next leader, which we often see in Europe. Instead, in the Mughal Empire, any son born the emperor, regardless of birth order or which wife he was born to, could become the next emperor. This meant that wars of succession occurred often.
Aurangzeb imprisoned his own father in the Agra Fort, in a room overlooking the Taj Mahal. Aurangzeb then murdered his own brothers, andanyone else he believed would threaten his claim to the throne. Aurangzeb had killed his rivals and imprisoned, his father, and so he named himself emperor. He would be the last significant Mughal emperor before its decline.
From his prison room, Shah Jahan could gaze upon the beautiful building he had created in the memory of Mumtaz Mahal. He died of illness a few years into his imprisonment, as his son continued to rule the empire. Shah Jahan was buried in the Taj Mahal, in a tomb next to his beloved wife.
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