MUGHAL EMPERORS OF INDIA - SHAHJAHAN

Shahjahan (1628 – 1658)

• Shahjahan’s policy of annexing the Deccan was quite successful. Ahmednagar was annexed while Bijapur and Golconda accepted his overlordship.• In 1639, Shahjahan secured Kandahar and immediately fortified it.• Aurangzeb’s second term as Viceroy in Deccan began in 1653 and continued till 1658. Aurangzeb built an effective Revenue System there (Murshid Kuli Khan was his dewan there).• Last 8 years of his life were very painful, as there was a brutal war of succession among his four sons – Dara, Shuja, Aurangzeb and Murad. Dara was his favourite but Aurangzeb was the ablest.• Ultimately, Aurangzeb took control and he was made the prisoner in the Agra Fort, being looked after by his daughter, Jahan Ara, till his death in 1666.• His reign is considered the ‘Golden Age of the Mughal Empire’• Taj Mahal, the eternal love monument is located in Agra. Shah Jahan commissioned its construction as a mausoleum lor his favourite wife, Arjumancl Bano Begum, better known as Mumtaz Mahal, in 1631.