Mughal Empire Shahjahan

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Shahjahan (1628 - 1658)

  • He was bom on 15th January, Thursday, 1592, at Lohore; ­
  • He was brought up by Akbar՚s childless wife Ruqaiah Begum;
  • He was close to Noorjahan up to 1622, but she wanted Shahriyar to succeed;
  • After Jahangir՚s death, Asaf Khan claimed Dwar Baksh; - son of Khusuo as the emperor, while Shahriyar assumed the royal title at Lohore; ­
  • He was defeated by Dwar Baksh and fled, but was captured and blinded; ­
  • Asaf Khan summoned Shah Jahan from Banarsi;
  • ShahJahan ascended the throne on 24th February, 1628 and assumed the title -ABUL-MUZAFFAR SHAIBUDDIN MD. SAHIB-I-KIRAN-i-SANI;
  • Shahjahan executed his brothers and nephews;
  • In 1628, Jujhar Singh - son of Raja Bir Singh Dev-the Bundela chief rebelled;
Illustration: Shahjahan (1628 - 1658)
  • Shahjahan suppressed this rebellion and Jujhar Singh surrendered;
  • Relations with Portuguese:-
  • Portuguese had secured the grant of the sight of Hoogly in 1537;
  • Later they started their activities in Chittagong; ­
  • Shahjahan started a ruthless campaign against them; ­
  • There were 2 reasons for these attacks:-
  • Plunder of a village in Dhaka in East Bengal;
  • Complain made to Kasir Khan (Governor of Dhaka) by a Portuguese merchant named Alfonso; Relations with Qandhar:-
  • Relations with Persia broken down due to the occupation of Qandhar, towards the end of Jahangir՚s reign; ­­
  • Shah Jahan tried to revive the relation;
  • Qandhar was important to the Mughals strategically because of:-­
    1. Sindh Frontier;
    2. Trade Routes:
  • Ali Mardan Khan was the Persian Governor of Qandhar;
  • After 1648, Shahjahan became aggressive towards Qandhar and sent 3 expeditions towards it-1649,1652 and 1653; ­­
  • Mughals could not capture the fort;

DECCAN EXPEDITION

  • In 1632, Asaf Khan was succeeded by Mahabat Khan, as the commander of Deccan expedition;
  • In 1632, the Portuguese were ousted from Hoogli and captured it;
  • In 1633, Daulatabad fort was captured;
  • ⚹In 1636, Mandu was captured and Aurangzeb (18 yrs.) became the viceroy of Deccan; ­
  • Deccan consisted of 4 provinces - Khandesh, Berar, Mandu and Telangana;
  • Aurangzeb tried to crush Bijapur and Golcunda;
  • He had 3 other sons who were posted at 3 different places:-
    1. Shuja-Bengal;
    2. Murad-Gujarat;
    3. Aurangzeb-Deccan;

Personality of Shahjahan:-

  • His wife was Mumtaz Mahal and the Taj Mahal is built in her memory;
  • He also built the ‘peacock throne’ and Agra fort;
  • He was an excellent callig-raphers and patronized Hindu poets like - Sunder Das, Chintamani, Kavindra-charya;
  • Also patronised several musicians like - Lai Khan (Son-in-law of Tansen) , Jagannath (gave the title Mahakavi rai) .
  • He took great welfare measures against famine in Gujarat, Kashmir and Punjab; ­
  • He built Alms names in Burhanpur, Ahemadabad and Surat;
  • Started 10 free kitchens in Punjab;
  • His reign witnessed 10 famines
  • He built Shahjahanabad and lived here in 1648;
  • He also built NAHAR-i-FAU;
  • He also prohibited the killing of animals on Thursdays and Sundays; ­
  • He re-started the Hijra era;
  • There was enormous influence of the Sufis, during his reign; ­

WAR of SUCCESSION

  • Dara was the most favoured child by his father;
  • He was 43 years, when the war of succession started;
  • Other 3 sons were the governors of different states:-­
    1. Shuja of Bengal;
    2. Aurangzeb of Deccan;
    3. Murad of Gujrat;
  • Of the 3 princes, Shuja was the first to have crowned himself and to march towards Delhi from Bengal;
  • Murad followed suit in December and formed an alliance with Aurangzeb; ­
  • Suleman Shuko-eldest son of Dara, along with Raja Jai Singh, was against Shuja;
  • He killed his revenue minister ALIQAQI and Sacked the city of Gujrat; ­
  • Murad started from Ahemdabad on 7th March, 1658 and joined Aurangzeb at Dipalpur on the 24th of April;
  • On 5th May, 1658, in the Battle of Dharmat-14 miles south-west of Ujjain-Aurangzeb defeated Jaswant Singh;
  • On 8th June, 1658, in the battle of Samurgarh - 8 miles east of Agra fort - Dara Shikoh was defeated;
  • Aurangzeb took possession of Agra fort; ­
  • In the meantime Aurangzeb realized that Murad was gaining popularity; ­
  • He was immediately arrested and sent to Salimgarh; ­
  • He was confined to Gwalior and the beheaded;
  • Dara had marched to Lahore when he heard the capture of Agra by Aurangzeb;
  • In the meantime, Aurangzeb was formally crowned as the emperor, on 31st July, 1658, at Delhi;
  • Aurangzeb was the 3rd son of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal; He was born at Dohad in 1618;