Shah Jahan – Reign of the Fifth Mughal Emperor

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Shah Jahan enjoyed the support of experienced administrators and advisors, including his father-in-law Asaf Khan, who had loyally served the previous Emperor.

Shah Jahan revived his grandfather Akbar's policy of pressing southward against the independent Muslim Sultanate of the Deccan. This was one of the few successful military campaigns waged by Shah Jahan with almost all his other expansion expeditions proving to be unsuccessful.

The expenditures resulting from his failed attempts at frontier expansion, as well as his insatiable appetite for new and grand architecture, were significant factors the empire's eventual descent into financial crisis.

During the early years of his reign, Shah Jahan preferred Agra to Delhi as a place of residence. This preference is reflected in his selection of Agra as the site for a number of building ventures including the world's most famous and beautiful mausoleum, Taj Mahal.

Shah Jahan was exceedingly able – although somewhat less so than his grandfather Akbar and less conscientious than his son Aurangzeb. Endowed with all the qualities required of a medieval Muslim ruler, he was a brave and competent commander; a generous master who treated his servants with respect, dignity and affability; and a far-sighted leader with a strict sense of justice.

He was the founder of the modern city of Delhi, the original name of which is Shahjahanabad.

Although his father's rule was generally peaceful, the empire was experiencing challenges by the end of his reign.

Shah Jahan reversed this trend by putting down a Muslim rebellion in Ahmednagar, repulsing the Portuguese in the Bengal, capturing the Rajput kingdoms of Baglana and Bundelkhand to the west, and the kingdoms of Bijapur and Golconda in the Deccan and the northwest beyond the Khyber Pass.

His military campaigns drained the imperial treasury. Under his rule, the state became a huge military machine and the nobles and their contingents multiplied almost fourfold, so did the demands for more revenue from the peasantry.

A patron of the fine arts, he continued the Moghul patronage of painting, although his passion was architecture, with the highlight being undoubtedly the Taj Mahal. He was a prolific builder with a highly refined aesthetic. Painting during his reign reflected a serene prosperity that the Moghuls enjoyed with many scenes reflecting Shah Jehan's interest in romance.

He was an active patron of palaces and mosques and in 1638, two years after becoming Emperor he moved his capital from Agra to a city in Delhi. Known as Shahjahanabad, the new capital city was laid out under the Emperor command between 1639 and 1648.

During his reign, the Mughals penetrated deeper into the Deccan and the successful campaign in 1636 brought the state under Mughal dominance. He then returned north to concentrate on his new capital at Shahjahanabad, while his son, the young prince Aurangzeb, was appointed viceroy and commander-in-chief of Mughal forces in the Deccan.

After reigning 30 years he became desperately ill and the word spread, erroneously, that he had died. This sparked a save power battle between his sons for the throne. His third son, Aurangzeb, emerged victorious having killed two brothers with the fourth fleeing into exile.

Shah Jahan, having been a mere spectator at the savage contest, was then imprisoned by in the Agra fort for the remaining eight years of his life.

He was tended by Jahanara, his eldest daughter, throughout his imprisonment. And, according to legend, on his death-bed, he kept his eyes fixed on the Taj Mahal which was clearly visible from his place of confinement. Laid in a separate tomb alongside his beloved Mumtaz Hahal, the Taj Mahal became the final resting place of Shah Jahan.