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Shah Jahan

Peacock Throne

He is considered to be one of the greatest Mughals and his reign has been called the Golden Age of Mughals. Like Akbar, he was eager to expand his empire. The chief events of his reign were the destruction of thekingdom of Ahmadnagar (1636), the loss of Kandahar to the Persians (1653), and a second war against the Deccan princes (1655).

 The name Shah Jahan comes from Persian meaning "king of the world." He was the fifth Mughal ruler after Babur, Humayun, Akbar, and Jahangir. While young, he was a favourite of Akbar. Even while very young, he could be pointed out to be the successor to the Mughal throne after the death of Jahangir. He succeeded to the throne upon his father's death in 1627.

 The name comes from the shape of a throne, having the figures of two peacocks standing behind it, their tails being expanded and the whole so inlaid with sapphires, rubies, emeralds, pearls and other precious stones of appropriate colors as to represent life, created for the Mughal Badshah Shah Jahan of India in the 17th century, which was in his imperial capitalDelhi's Public audience hall, the Diwan-i-Am. Shah Jahan had the famous Koh-i-noor diamond placed in this throne.

 The French jeweller Tavernier, who saw Delhi in 1665, described the throne as of the shape of a bed (a "takhteh" or platform), 6 ft. by 4 ft., supported by four golden feet, 20 to 25 in. high, from the bars above which rose twelve columns to support the canopy; the bars were decorated with crosses of rubies and emeralds, and also with diamonds and pearls. In all there were 108 large rubies on the throne, and 116 emeralds, but many of the latter had flaws. The twelve columns supporting the canopy were decorated with rows of splendid pearls, and Tavernier considered these to be the most valuable part of the throne. Estimates of its value varied between Rs. 40 million (Bernier) and Rs. 100 million (Tavernier).

Nader Shah invaded the Mughal Empire in 1738, and returned to Persia in 1739 with the original Peacock Throne as well as many other treasures taken from the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah.

Mumtaz Mahal
Mumtz Mahal (April, 1593 - 17 June 1631) meaning "beloved ornament of the palace" is the common nickname of Arjumand Banu Begum, an Empress of India during the Mughal Dynasty. She was born in Agra, India. Her father was the Persian noble Abdul Hasan Asaf Khan, the brother of Empress Nur Jehan (who subsequently became the wife of the emperor Jahangir). She was religiously a Shi'aMuslim. She was married at the age of 19, on 10 May 1612, to Prince Khurram, who would later ascend the Peacock Throne as Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan I.

She was his third wife, and became his favorite. She died in Burhanpur in the Deccan (now in Madhya Pradesh) during the birth of their fourteenth child, a daughter named Gauhara Begum. Her body remained at Burhanpur for 23 years until the Taj was completed. Only then was her coffin shifted to Agra. Her body was then buried in the Taj Mahal in Agra.

Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal (also "the Taj") is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage.

 While the white domed marble mausoleum is its most familiar component, the Taj Mahal is actually an integrated complex of structures. Building began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, and employed thousands of artisans and craftsmen. The construction of the Taj Mahal was entrusted to a board of architects under imperial supervision including Abd ul-Karim Ma'mur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer

Shahjahanabad
Delhi went into something of an eclipse from the time of Humayun's Delhi to the accession of Shahjahan, the great Mughal builder who in 1648 built Shahjahanabad, the seventh city of Delhi. Shahjahan's Delhi, is today more visible than all the Delhi's built before it. The scale on which he built was also more heroic, as can be seen from the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid. The celebrated poet Mirza Galib, maintained the same fervour and wrote: "If the world is body, Delhi is the soul". There can be no better attributes for a city.

Shahjahanabad was a walled city, and some of its gates and parts of the wall still stand. The romance of the bazaars of Delhi can be experienced at its best in and around Chandni Chowk and its by lanes. Shahjahanabad was secured and enclosed by about ten kilometer long well. Ten gates connected the city with the surrounding region. Lahore gate was the main entrance for the Red Port besides Delhi Gate. The Kashmere Gate, Calcutta Gate, Mori Gate, Kabul Gate, Faresh Khana Gate, Ajmere Gate and the Turkman Gate were the other major links of the city with the highways.

A system of Mohallas and Katras was developed to suit the homogenous community structure. Shahjahanabad who furnishes a fine example of secularism which distinguishes it from the bazars of many historic buildings and temples: The Lal Jain Mandir from the time of Shahjahan, Appa Gangadhar Mandir (Gauri Shankar mandir), the only temple built during Marathi dominion, Arya Samaj mandir (Dewan Hall), Baptist Chruch, Gurudwara Sisganj, Sunehri Masjid and west end terminus, the Fateh Puri Masjid. On 9th March, 1739 Nadir Shah defeated Mohammad Shah at Panipat and entered Delhi.

He massacred the inhabitants and took over almost the entire wealth Shahjahanbad, accumulated by the Mughals in India. The Peacock throne, priceless stones such as Koh-i-Nur and Darya-i-Nur, fine pieces of art, thousand of horses, camels, and elephants, and numerous books and manuscripts was carried among as booty.

Till the time the British moved the capital of their Indian Empire from Calcutta to Delhi, the city continued to be battered by invading armies, of the Marathas from the South and Nadirshah, the Persian Emperor, and Ahmad Shah Abdali, the Afghan from the north. All this, of course, was in addition to the bitter rivalries and intrigue which destroyed Delhi from within. However, immediately after attaining the freedom, Shahjahanabad revived its old pomp and splendour when the first President of free and Democratic India, Dr.Rajendra Prasad drove in State procession in Chandini Chowk on 5.2.1950.

Shah Jahan Mosque

The Shah Jahan Mosque was built in the reign of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. It is located in Thatta, Sindh province, Pakistan. It is included in the UNESCO World Heritageand has been to preserved since its entry. In the town of Thatta (100 km / 60 miles from Karachi) itself, there is famous Shahjahani Mosque with its beautiful architecture. This mosque was built in 1647 during the reign of Mughal King Shah Jahan, also known as the builder King.

The mosque is built with red bricks with blue coloured glaze tiles probably imported from another Sindh's town of Hala. The mosque has overall 100 domes and it is world's largest mosque having such number of domes. It has been built keeping acoustics in mind. A person speaking inside one end of the dome can be heard at the other end.

End Of Shah Jahan Reign

SHAH JAHAN, Mogul emperor of Delhi, the fifth of the dynasty. After revolting against his father Jahangir, as the latter had revolted against Akbar, he succeeded to the throne on his fathers death in 1627. It was during his reign that the Mogul power attained its greatest prosperity. The chief events of his reign were the destruction of the kingdom of Ahmadnagar (1636), the loss of Kandahar to the Persians (1653), and a second war against the Deccan princes (1655). In 1658 he fell ill, and was confined by his son Aurangzeb in the citadel of Agra until his death in 1666.

Shah Jahans life, which began in 1592 with happy ceremonies, wouldnt have ended in a more tragic way. He spent the last eight years of his life sequestered in a part of the Agra fort; only Jahanara, his sincere daughter was allowed to visit him. Yet His only consolation was that from his prison window, he could see his unique architectural work Taj Mahal, though he couldnt visit.

During those eight years, Shah Jahans soul had always yearned for visiting Taj Mahal where his beloved wife lay buried and it only rested when he followed her and was at last buried beside her. The period of his reign was the golden age of Indian architecture. Shah Jahan erected many splendid monuments, the most famous of which is the Taj Mahal at Agra, built as a tomb for his wife Mumtaz Mahal; while the Pearl Mosque at Agra and the palace and great mosque at Delhi also commemorate him. The celebrated Peacock Throne, said to have been worth 6,000,000 also dates from his reign; and he was the founder of the modern city of Delhi, the native name of which is Shahjahanabad.