Shah Jahan and his wife

Shahbuddin Mohammed Shah Jahan (also spelled Shah Jehan, Shahjehan.), 1592 - January 22, 1666, was the Mughal Emperor of India. Shah Jahan means "ruler of the world" in Persian. During his reign, Shah Jahan built the world-famous Taj Mahal for his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal (a Persian, legendary to be beautiful, with transparent skin like glass, who died in childbirth and was the mother of the famous Emperor Aurangzeb).

In his early years, he received good religious and cultural education in the court and was familiar with martial arts. Believing in the Sunni teachings of Islam and being pious. He helped his father lead the army. In 1622, he raised an army in an attempt to seize his father's throne. After defeat, he was displaced for seven years. After his father died in 1628, he proclaimed himself emperor in Agra. During his rule, he strengthened centralization of power, expanded the army, put down the rebellion in the Duchy of Deccan, and appointed his son Orangzeb as governor of Deccan. In 1631, he ordered the governor of Bangladesh to suppress the Portugal people there. In 1636, the annexation of Ahmed Nagr forced the rulers of the Gorkunda and Bijepur regions to submit themselves to pay tribute. He had a long war with the Safavid Empire of Persia and fought for Afghanistan. In 1638, heavy troops were sent to force Ali Mardan Khan, governor of Kandahar, Persia, to surrender. In 1646, Badakhshan and Balkh were occupied.

Shah Jahan fell seriously ill in 1657, and several of his sons began to seize power. His second son, Shah Shuja, declared himself emperor of Bengal, and Aurangzeb began to challenge his father and Crown Prince and brother Dara Shikoh. Although Shah Jahan later recovered and gave Dara Shikoh full support, and Dara Shikoh also defeated Shah Shuja, who was king in Bengal, Aurangzeb eventually defeated Dara Shikoh. Dara Shikoh planned to regroup and fight Aurangzeb again, but his men betrayed him and handed him over to Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb beheaded his brother for heresy and gave the head to their father Shah Jahan. Aurangzeb even killed his other brother, Murad Baksh, even though this brother supported Aurangzeb during the war between Aurangzeb and Dara Shikoh.

After Aurangzeb came to power, Shah Jahan was placed under house arrest in a room with a view of the Taj Mahal in Agra Fort. During his five years in detention, Shah Jahan was accompanied only by his eldest daughter, Jahanara Begum. According to legend, Shah Jahan was thirsty for water, and Aurangzeb made him drink ink.

Shah Jahan died in Agra Fort in 1666 and was buried with his wife Mumtaz Mahal in the Taj Mahal Mausoleum.

At the end of the rule of Shah Jahan's father Jahangir, the Mughal Empire began to face a series of challenges, and Shah Jahan successfully responded to these challenges and stabilized the situation. He suppressed a Muslim rebellion in Ahmednagar; repelled the Portugal in Bangladesh; annexed the Rajipt dynasties Baglana and Bundelkhand in the west; occupied the Bijapur and Golconda dynasties in the Deccan Plateau; and moved his power across the Khyber Pass in the northwest. But Shah Jahan's militarism drained the empire's finances-under his rule, the Mughal Empire became a large military machine, and the number of military aristocrats and troops expanded almost fourfold, causing a sharp increase in the burden on farmers. Despite this, during the rule of Shah Jahan, the Mughal Empire expanded again despite lack of financial resources.

Another benefit of Shah Jahan's rule was the emergence of major commercial and handicraft centers, such as Lahore, Delhi, Agra, and Yamedabad, which were closely connected to ports and other distant places by land and water transportation.

In terms of religion, they adhere to Sunni teachings, promote Islamic law, improve legal systems at all levels, support the Sufi Nakshbandiye Order, hire its elders as religious assistants, and grant its churches and mosques with Wakf Land. He changed the religious tolerance policy of Akbar's time, discriminated against and persecuted Hindus, especially against Catholicism, and did not allow churches to be built. During his rule, the economy developed, the treasury was full, and Islamic culture developed. He invested heavily in building palaces, tombs, and mosques, bringing the architectural art of the dynasty to a high level. The majestic and ornate tomb built in Agra in 1653 for his beloved concubine Taj Mahal, can be called the "pinnacle of Mughal architecture" and still exists today. In 1656, the Delhi Palace and Jami Mosque were built in Red Fort in Delhi. The renovated Agra Castle and Bedrooms were solemn and solemn. The tombs of Humayoun and Akbar were repaired, and the New Delhi City was expanded.

During the rule of Shah Jahan, the artistic and architectural achievements of the Mughal Empire reached their peak. He built the famous Taj Mahal in Agra for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, the Red Fort in Delhi, and the famous Shalimar Gardens in Lahore Castle.