Potted History (Jun 07) - Shah Jahan (1628-1658)

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As with our Current Topics pages, here we take a brief monthly look at Indian history. We will try not to cover the best known event or try to be too obscure and welcome suggestions (or corrections)

The prince Khurram became Shah Jahan or ‘King of the World' when he ascended the throne in 1628 at the age of 35 succeding his father Jahangir (Akbar). He is best known as the creator of the Taj Mahal as a monument to his beloved wife Mumtaz.

Whilst remembered as a far sighted leader, an able commander with a strong sense of justice and patron of buildings, temples and gardens, he was less successful than either his father or son, Auzangreb.

During his reign Shah J ahan, continued his father's policy of expanding his empire by pressing southward against the independent Muslim Sultanate of the Deccan . Most of his expansion expeditions were unsuccessful but the campaign of 1636 forced the state ruled by Adil Shah to acknowledge Mughal dominance and his son, the young prince Aurangzeb, was appointed viceroy and commander-in-chief of Mughal forces in the Deccan .

Now linked forever with the Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan completed several other key buildings of architectural note. On his accession, the fort at Agra was renovated to include three major courts, the congregational mosque at Agra, completed in 1648 under the patronage of the emperor's daughter Jahanara, was built and the Red Fort was created as the centre point of his empire when he moved the capital to Delhi. The new city was a massive project and was designed and laid from 1639-1648 by Ahmed Lahwari and the architect Hamid. The Red Fort or Lal Qala, twice the size of the fort at Agra was named after the high, red sandstone wall that surrounded the white marble palaces. From Shah Jahan to the end of the Mughal line the famous Red Fort was heart of the empire and the principal residence of the emperors also housing the central administrative machinery of the empire, a military garrison, an arsenal, the imperial treasury and artisan & essential commodity factories (karkhaneh).

Earlier in his reign he had preferred Agra, where on a bend on the left bank of the Yamuna River he is remembered for creating the mausoleum to Mumtaz-ul-Zamani, his preferred wife and mother of 14 children; seven of whom survived. Some people claim that Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal as a monument to himself and others that it is a much older Shiva Temple pillaged and converted to a tomb. (see below)

 

The expenditures resulting from frontier expansion and grand architecture, were expensive and the empire suffered financial difficulties.

 

As is not uncommon in many a royal lineage, Shah Jahan's four sons, Dara Shukoh, Shah Shuja, Aurangzeb, and Murad Bakhsh, grew up in an atmosphere of bitter rivalry from an early age, even though they were all children, Mumtaz. Dara Shukoh was Shah Jahan's favorite and his heir was a man of broad intellectual interests, as a Sufi and a religious eclectic. In 1657, Shah Jahan became seriously ill and the expectation of a vacant throne inflamed the sibling rivaly further. All four sons made desperate bids for the throne although only Dara Shukoh, who was 42 years old, and Aurangzeb, who was 39 were ever likely to succeed.

Aurangzeb, was well educated, knowledgeable in the traditional spectrum of Islamic studies, and strict in his religious orthodoxy with an acute sense of political realism and a fierce appetite for power. Aurangzeb's superior military talent and administrative skills won over the more likable personality of Dara Shukoh.

Aurangzeb easily outclassed his brothers in the bid for power. In the summer of 1658, Aurangzeb held a coronation durbar, or reception, in the Shalimar-Bagh outside Delhi on the Karnal road and in the summer of 1659 a second and more glorious ceremony was performed in the Red Fort when Aurangzeb became the new emperor and assumed the title of Alamgir (World Conqueror).

Shah J ahan's 30-year reign, did not end well. He could only helplessly watch the serious outbreak of hostility among his sons and the emergence of Aurangzeb as the undisputed victor led to the father's imprisonment in the Agra fort. It is said that he died, tended by his eldest daughter J ahanara, with his eyes fixed on the Taj Mahal which was clearly visible from his death bed. Shah J ahan was buried beside his dead queen, Mumtaz Mahal.

The Taj Legend

Readers may have notice a discrepancy as Shah Jahan's wife is referred to as both Mumtaz-ul-Zamani and Mumtaz Mahal. The legend requires her to be named Mumtaz Mahal to allow the twist to Taz Mahal and then Taj Mahal.

Mumtaz-ul-Zamani was Shah Jahan's wife, bore children and will probablt remain one of the best known women in Indian History. She was likely to be amongst a harem of up to 5,000 women and no clear record exists of her death. There are no clear records of the construction of the Taj Mahal and there is evidence that it may have been a Hindu Shiva Temple dating from the 12 th Century. The Indian Archealogical Survey have been accused of burying vital evidence to preserve the tourist industry and the ‘World Heritage Status'. Whatever the case, the truth will out eventually. It is very probable that Mumtaz-ul-Zamani is buried in the Taj Mahal and it is a very grand and beautiful sight and should be protected at all cost.

For a detailed argument on the Taj Mahal as a Shiva Temple , see “ Tajmahal The True Story” by Shri P.N. Oak