Shah Jahan
Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal and was deposed by his own son. Born in 1592, the third son of Jahangir, he was named Khurram and given the title Shah Jahan, king of the world, after successful campaigns in the Deccan. He revolted against his father in 1622, was defeated, and was pardoned. He took the throne in 1628 and had his surviving brothers and nephews killed to secure it, which was the Mughal custom rather than an aberration. His reign is usually called the golden age of Mughal architecture. He moved the capital from Agra to a new city at Delhi, Shahjahanabad, and built the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid there; he built the Moti Masjid at Agra and the Peacock Throne, encrusted with the Koh-i-Noor and the Timur Ruby. Mumtaz Mahal, his wife of nineteen years, died in 1631 giving birth to their fourteenth child while accompanying him on campaign. The Taj Mahal was begun the following year and the mausoleum was largely complete by 1643, the whole complex by about 1653. The military record is thinner. He recovered Kandahar and lost it again, campaigned expensively in the Deccan and Central Asia, and the tax burden rose; a famine in the Deccan in the early 1630s killed very large numbers. He fell ill in 1657 and his four sons fought for the throne. Aurangzeb won, executed his brother Dara Shikoh, and imprisoned his father in Agra fort. He died there in 1666 after eight years, and was buried beside Mumtaz.
- Lived: 1592 CE – 1666 CE
- Nationality: Mughal
- Roles: ruler, patron
