Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

LURE - THRU THE AGES

his instructions his father-in-law Asaf Khan slew all other royal princes. In 1628 Khan Jahan Lodi, the governor of the Deccan, re- belled. Shah Jahan defeated him in 1629 and later killed him in 1631. There was another rebellion by the Hindu Orchha chief Jujhar Singh in Bundelkhand. After a prolonged campaign, he was defeated and killed in 1634. Two of Jujhar Singh's sons were converted to Islam, a third was put to death because he refused to convert. Many Hindu temples in Bundelkhand were wan- tonly desecrated and demolished. In the Deccan, Shah Jehan's forces cap- tured Daulatabad, the new capital of the Ni- zam Shahi kingdom. Bijapur and Golconda agreed to pay tribute. In 1638 Shah Jehan succeeded in reconquering Qandahan which had been lost during his father's reign. In 1632 Shah Jehan became involved in a dispute with the Portuguese of Hooghly in Bengal who were indulging in piracy and who had captured two Mughal slave girls. The Portuguese were forced to give up the slaves, pay a fine and 400 of them were im- prisoned when they refused to embrace Islam. In 1631 Shah Jehan's queen Mumtaz Mahal died at the age of 39 after giving birth to her fourteenth child. The couple enjoyed a happy life for about 19 years and she was his unfailing friend and adviser in the days of his adversity. Shah Jehan built the beautiful Taj Mahal in her memory which is even now the architectural wonder of the world. In 1657 Shah Jehan fell ill and rumours of his death circulated. This sparked off a war of succession among his four sons of whom Aurangzeb emerged successful. He became the emperor after killing all his brothers and making his father a prisoner in the Agra fort. He died as a prisoner in 1666 at the age of 74. Shah Jehan on the whole was an enlight- ened and tolerant ruler patronising poets and scholars of Sanskrit, Persian and Hindu. A lover of pomp and magnificence he commis- sioned the famous Peacock Throne and built the lovely Taj Mahal at Agra, a tomb for his queen Mumtaz Mahal. Shah Jehan's reign is famous for the qual- ity and quantity of Sanskrit writings that it produced. Dara Shukoh, Shah Jehan's eldest son, translated several Sanskrit works includ- ing the Bagavad Gita, the Upanishads and the Ramayana into Persian.

Aurangzeb b. 1618-d. 1707 reigned (1658-1707)

blinded, his followers were given brutal punishments. Jehangir imposed on the Sikh Guru Arjun a fine of two lakhs of rupees for having blessed Khusraw. On the Guru's refusal to pay, he was executed; this act permanently antagonised the Sikhs. One of the most important events of his reign was his marriage in 1611 to Mihr-un- nisa, the widow of Sher Afghan, who was killed fighting the governor of Bengal. She was given the title of Nur Jahan. Her beauty, charm, intelligence and creative activities soon made her dominate her husband. Nur Jahan's elder brother Mirza Abul- Hasan later given the title Asaf Khan was ap- pointed Master of the Household. In 1612 Asaf Khan's daughter Arjumand Banu Begum (later entitled Mumtaz Mahal) married Jahangir's third son, Prince Khuram, the fu- ture emperor Shah Jehan. Jehangir sent expeditions to subdue Rana Amar Singh of Mewar. In 1615 Amar Singh recognised Jehangir as his suzerain and all his territory in Mughal possession was restored, including Chitor which however was not to be fortified. In 1620 he conquered the hill state of Kanga with the sacred shrine of Jwalamukhi. In 1620-21 the ruler of Ah- madnagar in the Deccan was forced to sur- render extensive territories to the Mughals. In 1623 Prince Khusraw revolted against his father. He was totally defeated, later he was forgiven and made governor of Balaghat. In 1627, the imperial general Mahabat Khan rebelled against the emperor and put the emperor and the queen under his custody. After about two months Jehangir cleverly escaped from his captor. However, the em- peror's health was greatly impaired and he died in 1627, at Bhimbar in Kashmir. Jehangir wrote his memoirs called "Tuzuk''. It does not match Babur's for frank- ness and expression, but is nevertheless informative and reflects his deep appreciation of nature. During his reign Mughal painting and mu- sic reached high standards of development. He was a liberal Muslim, who continued his father's policy of religious toleration. He permitted the Jesuits at his court to build churches. Shah Jehan b. 1592-d. 1666 reigned (1627-58) One of the 4 sons of emperor Jehangir. His original name was Khurram. In 1622 he had his brother Khusraw strangled to death. Under

He was the third son of emperor Shah Jehan. After having disposed of his brothers he ascended to the throne in 1658. He trans- ferred the capital from Agra to Delhi and went through a hurried coronation there in 1658. After being enthroned as a staunch defender of Islam, he banned drinking, gam- bling and sexual immorality throughout his kingdom. He reversed the policy of religious toleration followed by his predecessors and imposed jizyah on non-Muslims. He imposed religious and social restrictions on Hindus. He ordered destruction of all Hindu temples and forbade building of new ones. He doubled the customs duties on Hindus and abolished them altogether in case of Muslims. He granted sti- pends and gifts to converts from Hinduism and offered them posts in public service, liberation from prison in case of convicted criminals and succession to disputed estates. This policy led to widespread revolts. The Jat peasants around Mathura and Agra re- volted in 1669, under their leader Gokula. . Gokula was captured and killed. His son and daughter were converted to Islam. In 1672 the Satnamis who were a sect of Hindu devotees around Namol, 75 miles south-west of Delhi revolted. They plundered mosques and es- tablished an independent government. Au- rangzeb crushed the rebellion. In 1675 Au- rangzeb had the ninth Sikh Guru Tegh Ba- hadur beheaded, which enraged the Sikhs. A still greater crisis was the Rajput rebel- lion caused by Aurangzeb's annexation of Jodhpur state and his seizure of its ruler's posthumous son, Ajit Singh, with the inten- tion of converting him to Islam. This rebel- lion spread to Mewar, and Aurangzeb him- self had to proceed to Ajmer to fight the Rajputs. The Rajputs were joined by the em- peror's third son, Akbar. Aurangzeb managed to isolate Akbar, who fled to the Deccan and then to Persia. The war with Mewar came to an end because Aurangzeb had to pursue Akbar to the Deccan, where the prince had joined the Maratha king Sambhaji. In the Deccan, Aurangzeb annexed Bijapur in 1686 and Golconda in 1687, then he concentrated his efforts to destroy the Ma- ratha kingdom but they proved so stubborn that even after nearly twenty years of struggle he failed to completely subdue them. Au- rangzeb died in 1707. Aurangzeb in his private life was an austere Muslim. He was a simple and pious