The Taj Mahal's builder spent his last eight years a prisoner of his son
Shah Jahan presided over the high point of Mughal architecture, raising the Red Fort and the Taj Mahal. Yet after a succession war among his sons, the victor, Aurangzeb, locked him inside Agra Fort in 1658. He stayed there until his death in 1666, then was buried beside the wife whose tomb he had built.
Born Khurram, meaning joyous, in Lahore in 1592, he was the third son of the future emperor Jahangir. His grandfather Akbar adored him, insisting he be raised in the imperial household and reportedly calling him his true son. As a child he preferred Hindi literature to Turki, and when Akbar lay dying in 1605 the boy refused to leave his bedside despite the danger around the court. Jahangir once had him weighed against gold and silver.
In 1607, at about 15, he became engaged to Arjumand Banu Begum, known later as Mumtaz Mahal, and married her five years later. It was a devoted partnership and a political one: as empress she sat in council, held the imperial seal and could issue her own orders. They had fourteen children, seven of whom reached adulthood. She died in Burhanpur in 1631, aged 38, after giving birth, and Shah Jahan was said to be paralysed by grief. Her tomb became the Taj Mahal.
His path to power was ruthless. As heir he clashed with his stepmother Nur Jahan, the real power behind the throne in Jahangir's later years, who backed another son. After Jahangir died in 1627, Shah Jahan defeated his youngest brother, crowned himself at Agra and had most rival claimants executed. As emperor he campaigned against the Deccan sultanates, fought the Portuguese and the Safavids, and faced the terrible Deccan famine of 1630 to 1632. He also moved away from the tolerant policies of Akbar.
History then repeated itself. Falling ill in 1657, he named his eldest son Dara Shikoh as successor, sparking a war among three brothers. Aurangzeb won, had his surviving brothers killed and, when his father recovered, kept him confined for the rest of his life.
Source: Shah Jahan
