Jahangir & Shah Jahan: Nur Jahan, Taj Mahal & Mughal Splendour

PT8.1.4 · Mughal Empire · Jahangir & Shah Jahan

Jahangir (r. 1605–1627): The Connoisseur Emperor

Nur-ud-din Muhammad Salim, who took the imperial title Jahangir ("World-Seizer") on accession in 1605, was born in 1569 as the answer to Akbar's prayers at the dargah of Sheikh Salim Chishti at Fatehpur Sikri — hence his pre-regnal name Salim. His reign (1605–1627) was marked by relative military inactivity at the personal level (generals conducted most campaigns), an extraordinary passion for painting and natural history, and the dominant political role of his wife Nur Jahan.

Jahangir instituted the celebrated Zanjir-i-Adl (Chain of Justice) — a golden chain hung from a post near the Agra fort, with a bell attached. Any petitioner who felt wronged by a court official could ring the bell and demand direct imperial justice. Though possibly more symbolic than practical in operation, it became one of the most famous symbols of Mughal justice.

Nur Jahan: The Power Behind the Throne

Mehr-un-Nisa (1577–1645) married Jahangir in 1611 and received the title Nur Jahan (Light of the World). She was the daughter of Itimad-ud-Daula (Mirza Ghiyas Beg), a Persian emigré who served as Jahangir's chief minister (Diwan). Her brother Asaf Khan married his daughter (Mumtaz Mahal) to Prince Khurram — creating a Persian family network at the highest levels of the Mughal court.

Nur Jahan exercised political power in a manner unprecedented for a Mughal empress. Her name appeared on coins jointly with Jahangir — the only Mughal empress to be so honoured. She issued farmans (imperial orders) in her own name. She appointed governors and controlled access to the emperor during Jahangir's periods of illness and opium addiction. Contemporary sources describe her as the real ruler. The political clique she formed — herself, her father Itimad-ud-Daula, and her brother Asaf Khan — is called the "Nur Jahan Junta" by historians.

The Persian architect Itimad-ud-Daula's Tomb at Agra — built by Nur Jahan for her father (1622–28 CE) — is architecturally revolutionary: it is the first Mughal building entirely encased in white marble (earlier Mughal buildings used red sandstone with white marble inlay). It is also the first to use pietra dura (stone inlay with semi-precious stones) extensively — a technique that Nur Jahan introduced from Iran and which Shah Jahan would perfect in the Taj Mahal.

Thomas Roe and the English East India Company (1615)

Sir Thomas Roe arrived at Jahangir's court in 1615 CE as the official ambassador of King James I of England and the English East India Company (EIC). He spent three years at the Mughal court (1615–1619), seeking a trade treaty and commercial privileges. He famously failed to obtain a formal treaty but secured informal permissions for English trading posts.

Thomas Roe's embassy is important for UPSC for two reasons: (1) it marks the beginning of formal diplomatic relations between England and the Mughal Empire; (2) Roe's detailed journals and letters are a major primary source for Jahangir's court. His observation that the Mughal Empire was too powerful to be challenged militarily at this stage, and that commercial advantage rather than political intervention was the correct British strategy, influenced EIC policy for decades.

Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri: Jahangir's Memoirs

Jahangir wrote his own memoirs — the Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri (also called Jahangirnama) — in Persian. Like Babur's Baburnama, it is characterised by candour and detailed personal observation, including remarkable descriptions of flowers, birds, and animals (Jahangir's natural history observations are of scientific quality), accounts of court intrigues, and frank assessments of people including his own sons. The Tuzuk is our primary source for Jahangir's reign.

Jahangir and Mughal Painting

Jahangir was the greatest patron of painting among all the Mughal emperors. He could, he claimed, identify a painting's authorship even when the work was divided — attributing individual faces or figures to different artists. Under his patronage, Mughal painting reached a distinctive peak in portrait painting and naturalist studies of animals, birds, and flowers.

Key painters of Jahangir's era: Ustad Mansur (received the title Nadir-ul-Asr — Wonder of the Age — for his naturalist paintings; his studies of the Siberian crane, turkey, and Himalayan flora are of scientific precision), Abul Hasan (received the title Nadir-uz-Zaman — Wonder of the Time), and Bishandas (sent to Persia to paint the Safavid court). The Jahangirnama itself contains illustrated plates.

Shah Jahan (r. 1628–1658): The Architect Emperor

Shahab-ud-din Muhammad Khurram, who ruled as Shah Jahan (King of the World), acceded to the throne in 1628 after winning the war of succession against his brothers. His reign is considered the peak of Mughal cultural and architectural achievement. The Mughal court under Shah Jahan was the richest in the world — the Peacock Throne alone was valued at the equivalent of hundreds of millions of modern dollars.

Shah Jahan's military campaigns: he lost Kandahar to the Safavids (1649) despite three expensive attempts to recapture it; he conducted the Deccan campaigns, absorbing more of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate. But it is architecture, not conquest, that defines his legacy.

The Taj Mahal (1632–1653)

The Taj Mahal at Agra is the mausoleum of Arjumand Banu Begum, known as Mumtaz Mahal (Ornament of the Palace) — Shah Jahan's favourite wife and the mother of fourteen of his children. She died on 17 June 1631 CE at Burhanpur during the birth of her fourteenth child, Gauhar Ara Begum. Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632 CE. The main mausoleum was completed c. 1643 CE; the full complex (gardens, gateway, mosque, jawab) was completed by 1653 CE.

Shah Jahan's Other Major Monuments

Peacock Throne (Takht-i-Taus)

The Peacock Throne (Takht-i-Taus) was built between 1628 and 1635 under Shah Jahan's direction by the jeweller Be-badal Khan. It was a raised platform throne of solid gold set with 26,733 gems including the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond, the Timur ruby, and multiple other priceless stones. Two peacocks with spread gem-set tails flanked the canopy. Its value was estimated at over 100 million rupees at the time — more than the cost of the Taj Mahal.

The Peacock Throne was seized by the Persian conqueror Nadir Shah when he sacked Delhi in 1739 CE under the later Mughal ruler Muhammad Shah "Rangeela." Nadir Shah also took the Koh-i-Noor diamond to Iran. After Nadir Shah's assassination in 1747, the throne was broken up; a later Qajar Persian throne is sometimes called "Peacock Throne" but is not the Mughal original.

War of Succession and Shah Jahan's Imprisonment

Shah Jahan fell gravely ill in 1657 CE. His four sons — Dara Shikoh (eldest, in Delhi; Sufi-inclined, Qadiri order; translated Upanishads as Sirr-i-Akbar), Shuja (Bengal), Aurangzeb (Deccan), and Murad (Gujarat) — immediately began competing for power. Aurangzeb, the most capable military commander, forged a temporary alliance with Murad, defeated the imperial forces under Dara Shikoh at the Battle of Samugarh (1658), entered Agra, and imprisoned Shah Jahan in Agra Fort. Shah Jahan spent his last eight years (1658–1666) as Aurangzeb's prisoner, able to see the Taj Mahal from his window. He died in January 1666 and was buried beside Mumtaz Mahal.