Person1592 – 1666

Shah Jahan

Also called: Shah Jahan I, Shahab-ud-din Muhammad Khurram

Fifth Mughal emperor (r. 1628–1658), builder of the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort of Delhi

Born Khurram, a son of the emperor Jahangir, he won distinction on campaign in the Deccan but later rebelled against his father before being forgiven, and took the throne in 1628. He commissioned the Peacock Throne and grand buildings such as the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort, bringing Mughal culture to its peak, though his campaigns in Central Asia and at Kandahar failed. When he fell ill in 1657 his sons fought over the succession; confined by Aurangzeb in Agra Fort, he died eight years later and was buried beside his wife in the Taj Mahal.

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1 related event

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1632 – 1653Building of the Taj Mahalmonarch
The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal, a white marble tomb at Agra, for his late wife Mumtaz Mahal — a masterpiece of Indo-Islamic architecture.

People who appear alongside

Mumtaz Mahal1593 – 1631
Wife of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, who died giving birth to their fourteenth child; the Taj Mahal was built in her memory

Themes this person appears in

Islamic Empires and the Atlantic World1500 – 1800
Three centuries in which the Ottomans of Suleiman I, the Mughals of Akbar and the Safavids of Abbas I flourished and then faltered, while across the Atlantic the slave trade and colonies transformed the Americas, leading to American independence