Shah Jahan I
Shah Jahan I (Shahjahan) (Shah Jahan the Magnificent) (Shihab al-Din Shah Jahan I) (Prince Khurrem) (Shahab-ud-din Muhammad Shah Jahan I) (Al-Sultan al-'Azam wal Khaqan al-Mukarram, Abu'l-Muzaffar Shihab ud-din Muhammad, Sahib-i-Qiran-i-Sani, Shah Jahan I Padshah Ghazi Zillu'llah) (Shah Jehan) (Shahjehan) (b. January 5, 1592, Lahore, India - d. January 22, 1666, Agra, India). Mughal emperor (r.1628-1657). In 1632, he compelled the kingdoms Ahmadnagar, Golkonda and Bijapur in the Deccan to submit. In 1657, his son Aurangzib defeated his three brothers, imprisoned his father and ascended the throne. Shah Jahan I had the Taj Mahal built at Agra over the remains of his wife Mumtaz Mahall and ordered the famous Peacock Throne to be constructed, which took seven years in the making.
Shah Jahan was the fifth Mughal emperor. Born Khurram Shihab al-Din Muhammad, the third son of Jahangir, he is better known as Shah Jahan. Shah Jahan is often considered the Mughal political and cultural apogee. As a prince he displayed great military talent. Until 1622, he was favored as the heir apparent. Frustrated by attempts to designate Shahryar as Jahangir’s successor, the prince Shah Jahan rebelled in 1623. Pardoned by Jahangir, Shah Jahan succeeded to the throne in 1628 and adopted titles that emphasized his Timurid ancestry. The initial years of Shah Jahan’s reign were marked by regional rebellions, including renewed conflict in the Deccan. Most difficulties were quickly suppressed, but the Deccan troubles persisted. In 1636, Shah Jahan appointed Prince Aurangzeb viceroy of the Deccan and pursued an increasingly aggressive policy against the Deccani rulers and the Maratha leader Shivaji, temporarily maintaining firm authority there. Less successful was Shah Jahan’s attempt to regain territories in Afghanistan, including Qandahar and Balkh, regarded as the Mughal homeland, thus affecting Indian trade and fresh recruitment of Central Asian Muslims into the Mughal army.
When Shah Jahan became ill in 1657, his four sons vied for the throne. Although Shah Jahan recovered, Aurangzeb seized power, imprisoning his father in the Agra Red Fort until his death nine years later. Many feel that Shah Jahan was an extremely orthodox Muslim. However, his orthodoxy is more apparent in his state policy than in his personal belief, for he favored Dara Shikoh, his son with mystical leanings, and continued to recruit Hindus into the Mughal army. A keen patron of architecture, Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal (a tomb for his wife) and a new city of Delhi, called Shahjahanabad, which included the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid.
Shah Jahān was the third son of the Mughal emperor Jahāngīr and the Rajput princess Manmati. Marrying in 1612 Arjūmand Bānū Begum, niece of Jahāngīr’s wife Nūr Jahān, he became, as Prince Khurram, one of the influential Nūr Jahān clique of the middle period of Jahāngīr’s reign. In 1622 Shah Jahān, ambitious to win the succession, rebelled, ineffectually roaming the empire until reconciled to Jahāngīr in 1625. After Jahāngīr’s death in 1627, the support of Āṣaf Khan, Nūr Jahān’s brother, enabled Shah Jahān to proclaim himself emperor at Agra (February 1628).
Shah Jahān’s reign was notable for successes against the Deccan states. By 1636, Ahmadnagar had been annexed and Golconda and Bijapur forced to become tributaries. Mughal power was also temporarily extended in the northwest. In 1638 the Persian governor of Kandahār, ʿAlī Mardān Khan, surrendered that fortress to the Mughals. In 1646 Mughal forces occupied Badakhshān and Balkh, but in 1647 Balkh was relinquished, and attempts to reconquer it in 1649, 1652, and 1653 failed. The Persians reconquered Kandahār in 1649. Shah Jahān transferred his capital from Agra to Delhi in 1648, creating the new city of Shāhjahānābād there.
Shah Jahān had an almost insatiable passion for building. At his first capital, Agra, he undertook the building of two great mosques, the Motī Masjid (Pearl Mosque) and the Jāmiʿ Masjid (Great Mosque), as well as the superb mausoleum known as the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is the masterpiece of his reign and was erected in memory of the favorite of his three queens, Mumtāz Maḥal (the mother of Aurangzeb). At Delhi, Shah Jahān built a huge fortress-palace complex called the Red Fort as well as another Jāmiʿ Masjid, which is among the finest mosques in India. Shah Jahān’s reign was also a period of great literary activity, and the arts of painting and calligraphy were not neglected. His court was one of great pomp and splendor, and his collection of jewels was probably the most magnificent in the world.
Indian writers have generally characterized Shah Jahān as the very ideal of a Muslim monarch. But though the splendor of the Mughal court reached its zenith under him, he also set in motion influences that finally led to the decline of the empire. His expeditions against Balkh and Badakhshān and his attempts to recover Kandahār brought the empire to the verge of bankruptcy. In religion, Shah Jahān was a more orthodox Muslim than Jahāngīr or his grandfather Akbar but a less orthodox one than Aurangzeb. He proved a relatively tolerant ruler toward his Hindu subjects.
In September 1657 Shah Jahān fell ill, precipitating a struggle for succession between his four sons, Dārā Shikōh, Murād Bakhsh, Shah Shujāʿ, and Aurangzeb. The victor, Aurangzeb, declared himself emperor in 1658 and strictly confined Shah Jahān in the fort at Agra until his death.
Shah Jahan exemplified one of the highest points in the Mughal Empire but also foreshadowed its downfall through the succession of emperors in the Mughal line. With his accession and downfall at the hands of his sons aside, Shah Jahan can clearly be seen as a leader who changed the landscape of India dramatically in the course of his reign; when you take into consideration that the legacy that brought him down as well as his great accomplishment, Shah Jahan gives us a great wealth of knowledge into the internal workings of an empire that was built from conquering, violence, and tolerance while alluding to the unstable hierarchy and the right to power in the Mughal Empire. He came to power through violence and betrayal and was ultimately brought down by the same means, exacerbating the legacy of the Mughals.
Nevertheless, Shah Jahan left behind a grand legacy of structures constructed during his reign. He was a patron of architecture. His most famous building was the Taj Mahal, now a wonder of the world, which he built out of love for Mumtaz Mahal. Its structure was drawn with great care and architects from all over the world were called for this purpose. The building took twenty years to complete and was constructed entirely from the white marble. Upon his death, his son Aurangazeb had him interred in it next to Mumtaz Mahal. Among his other constructions are Delhi Fort also called the Red Fort or Lal Qila (Urdu) in Delhi, large sections of Agra Fort, the Jama Masjid (Grand Mosque), Delhi, the Wazir Khan Mosque, Lahore, Pakistan, the Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque), Lahore, the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, sections of the Lahore Fort, Lahore, the Jahangir mausoleum — his father's tomb, the construction of which was overseen by his stepmother Nur Jahan and the Shahjahan Mosque, Thatta, Pakistan. He also had the Peacock Throne, Takht e Taus, made to celebrate his rule.
A famous Seamless celestial globe was produced in 1659-1660 AD (1070 AH), by the Sindhi Astronomer Muhammad Salih Tahtawi of Thatta with Arabic and Persian inscriptions.
There is a crater named after Shah Jahan on the asteroid 433 Eros. Craters on Eros are named after famous fictional and real-life lovers.
Shihab al-Din Shah Jahan I see Shah Jahan I
Shahjahan see Shah Jahan I
Shah Jahan the Magnificent see Shah Jahan I
Shihab al-Din Shah Jahan I see Shah Jahan I
Prince Khurrem see Shah Jahan I
Shahab-ud-din Muhammad Shah Jahan I see Shah Jahan I
Shah Jahan was the fifth Mughal emperor. Born Khurram Shihab al-Din Muhammad, the third son of Jahangir, he is better known as Shah Jahan. Shah Jahan is often considered the Mughal political and cultural apogee. As a prince he displayed great military talent. Until 1622, he was favored as the heir apparent. Frustrated by attempts to designate Shahryar as Jahangir’s successor, the prince Shah Jahan rebelled in 1623. Pardoned by Jahangir, Shah Jahan succeeded to the throne in 1628 and adopted titles that emphasized his Timurid ancestry. The initial years of Shah Jahan’s reign were marked by regional rebellions, including renewed conflict in the Deccan. Most difficulties were quickly suppressed, but the Deccan troubles persisted. In 1636, Shah Jahan appointed Prince Aurangzeb viceroy of the Deccan and pursued an increasingly aggressive policy against the Deccani rulers and the Maratha leader Shivaji, temporarily maintaining firm authority there. Less successful was Shah Jahan’s attempt to regain territories in Afghanistan, including Qandahar and Balkh, regarded as the Mughal homeland, thus affecting Indian trade and fresh recruitment of Central Asian Muslims into the Mughal army.
When Shah Jahan became ill in 1657, his four sons vied for the throne. Although Shah Jahan recovered, Aurangzeb seized power, imprisoning his father in the Agra Red Fort until his death nine years later. Many feel that Shah Jahan was an extremely orthodox Muslim. However, his orthodoxy is more apparent in his state policy than in his personal belief, for he favored Dara Shikoh, his son with mystical leanings, and continued to recruit Hindus into the Mughal army. A keen patron of architecture, Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal (a tomb for his wife) and a new city of Delhi, called Shahjahanabad, which included the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid.
Shah Jahān was the third son of the Mughal emperor Jahāngīr and the Rajput princess Manmati. Marrying in 1612 Arjūmand Bānū Begum, niece of Jahāngīr’s wife Nūr Jahān, he became, as Prince Khurram, one of the influential Nūr Jahān clique of the middle period of Jahāngīr’s reign. In 1622 Shah Jahān, ambitious to win the succession, rebelled, ineffectually roaming the empire until reconciled to Jahāngīr in 1625. After Jahāngīr’s death in 1627, the support of Āṣaf Khan, Nūr Jahān’s brother, enabled Shah Jahān to proclaim himself emperor at Agra (February 1628).
Shah Jahān’s reign was notable for successes against the Deccan states. By 1636, Ahmadnagar had been annexed and Golconda and Bijapur forced to become tributaries. Mughal power was also temporarily extended in the northwest. In 1638 the Persian governor of Kandahār, ʿAlī Mardān Khan, surrendered that fortress to the Mughals. In 1646 Mughal forces occupied Badakhshān and Balkh, but in 1647 Balkh was relinquished, and attempts to reconquer it in 1649, 1652, and 1653 failed. The Persians reconquered Kandahār in 1649. Shah Jahān transferred his capital from Agra to Delhi in 1648, creating the new city of Shāhjahānābād there.
Shah Jahān had an almost insatiable passion for building. At his first capital, Agra, he undertook the building of two great mosques, the Motī Masjid (Pearl Mosque) and the Jāmiʿ Masjid (Great Mosque), as well as the superb mausoleum known as the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is the masterpiece of his reign and was erected in memory of the favorite of his three queens, Mumtāz Maḥal (the mother of Aurangzeb). At Delhi, Shah Jahān built a huge fortress-palace complex called the Red Fort as well as another Jāmiʿ Masjid, which is among the finest mosques in India. Shah Jahān’s reign was also a period of great literary activity, and the arts of painting and calligraphy were not neglected. His court was one of great pomp and splendor, and his collection of jewels was probably the most magnificent in the world.
Indian writers have generally characterized Shah Jahān as the very ideal of a Muslim monarch. But though the splendor of the Mughal court reached its zenith under him, he also set in motion influences that finally led to the decline of the empire. His expeditions against Balkh and Badakhshān and his attempts to recover Kandahār brought the empire to the verge of bankruptcy. In religion, Shah Jahān was a more orthodox Muslim than Jahāngīr or his grandfather Akbar but a less orthodox one than Aurangzeb. He proved a relatively tolerant ruler toward his Hindu subjects.
In September 1657 Shah Jahān fell ill, precipitating a struggle for succession between his four sons, Dārā Shikōh, Murād Bakhsh, Shah Shujāʿ, and Aurangzeb. The victor, Aurangzeb, declared himself emperor in 1658 and strictly confined Shah Jahān in the fort at Agra until his death.
Shah Jahan exemplified one of the highest points in the Mughal Empire but also foreshadowed its downfall through the succession of emperors in the Mughal line. With his accession and downfall at the hands of his sons aside, Shah Jahan can clearly be seen as a leader who changed the landscape of India dramatically in the course of his reign; when you take into consideration that the legacy that brought him down as well as his great accomplishment, Shah Jahan gives us a great wealth of knowledge into the internal workings of an empire that was built from conquering, violence, and tolerance while alluding to the unstable hierarchy and the right to power in the Mughal Empire. He came to power through violence and betrayal and was ultimately brought down by the same means, exacerbating the legacy of the Mughals.
Nevertheless, Shah Jahan left behind a grand legacy of structures constructed during his reign. He was a patron of architecture. His most famous building was the Taj Mahal, now a wonder of the world, which he built out of love for Mumtaz Mahal. Its structure was drawn with great care and architects from all over the world were called for this purpose. The building took twenty years to complete and was constructed entirely from the white marble. Upon his death, his son Aurangazeb had him interred in it next to Mumtaz Mahal. Among his other constructions are Delhi Fort also called the Red Fort or Lal Qila (Urdu) in Delhi, large sections of Agra Fort, the Jama Masjid (Grand Mosque), Delhi, the Wazir Khan Mosque, Lahore, Pakistan, the Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque), Lahore, the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, sections of the Lahore Fort, Lahore, the Jahangir mausoleum — his father's tomb, the construction of which was overseen by his stepmother Nur Jahan and the Shahjahan Mosque, Thatta, Pakistan. He also had the Peacock Throne, Takht e Taus, made to celebrate his rule.
A famous Seamless celestial globe was produced in 1659-1660 AD (1070 AH), by the Sindhi Astronomer Muhammad Salih Tahtawi of Thatta with Arabic and Persian inscriptions.
There is a crater named after Shah Jahan on the asteroid 433 Eros. Craters on Eros are named after famous fictional and real-life lovers.
Shihab al-Din Shah Jahan I see Shah Jahan I
Shahjahan see Shah Jahan I
Shah Jahan the Magnificent see Shah Jahan I
Shihab al-Din Shah Jahan I see Shah Jahan I
Prince Khurrem see Shah Jahan I
Shahab-ud-din Muhammad Shah Jahan I see Shah Jahan I
No comments:
Post a Comment