Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb
ICSE Class 7 · History & Civics · Chapter 9
What this chapter covers
- Three emperors, one hundred years
- Jahangir: the emperor of justice
- Nur Jahan: the power behind the throne
- Jahangir as a patron of art and architecture
- Shah Jahan: the magnificent emperor
- Shah Jahan's patronage of architecture
- Aurangzeb: the last great Mughal
- Aurangzeb's religious policy
- Aurangzeb's Deccan policy
- Decline of the Mughal Empire
Key definitions
The Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri is the autobiography of Jahangir, written in Persian, in which he recorded the events of his reign, his hunts, his journeys and his observations of plants and animals.
A factory is a trading post where foreign merchants store goods and do business, not a place where goods are made.
A junta is a small group of people who together hold power in a state.
Patronage is the support, usually with money, protection and honour, that a ruler or rich person gives to artists, builders, poets and scholars.
A miniature painting is a small, finely detailed painting, usually made with natural colours on paper, meant to be held in the hand and looked at closely.
Pietra dura is a method of decoration in which thin pieces of coloured stones are cut to shape and fitted into hollows carved in marble, so that the design lies flat and smooth.
A war of succession is a war fought between rival claimants, often brothers, to decide who will inherit a throne.
Symmetry is the quality of a design in which the parts on either side of a central line are the same in shape, size and position.
A mausoleum is a large and grand building raised over a grave in memory of an important person.
A charbagh is a Persian-style garden divided into four equal parts by raised walkways and water channels.
Jizya is a tax that some Muslim rulers collected from their non-Muslim subjects in return for protection and freedom from military service.
The Deccan policy was the plan of Mughal emperors to bring the kingdoms of southern India under their control.
Key points
- Jahangir (1605–1627 CE) was known for his chain of justice, his memoirs, the peace with Mewar and his love of painting and gardens.
- Nur Jahan, married to Jahangir in 1611 CE, led a powerful group at court; coins bore her name, but her support for Shahryar led to Khurram's rebellion.
- Jahangir's reign was the high point of Mughal miniature painting, with artists such as Ustad Mansur, Abul Hasan and Bishandas.
- The tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah, built by Nur Jahan, was the first Mughal building fully in white marble with pietra dura.
- Shah Jahan (1628–1658 CE) won Ahmadnagar and the submission of Bijapur and Golconda, but failed in Kandahar and Central Asia.
- Shah Jahan's buildings use white marble, pietra dura, bulb-shaped domes, cusped arches and symmetry: the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort, the Jama Masjid of Delhi and the Moti Masjid.
- Aurangzeb won the war of succession in 1658 CE and imprisoned Shah Jahan in the Agra Fort until his death in 1666 CE.
- Aurangzeb ruled by the sharia, reimposed the jizya in 1679 CE and faced revolts by the Jats, Satnamis, Sikhs and Rajputs.
- His Deccan policy conquered Bijapur (1686 CE) and Golconda (1687 CE) but failed to defeat the Marathas, whose state Shivaji had founded.
- The empire declined because of religious and Deccan policies, wars of succession, weak successors, the jagir crisis, rising regional powers and an empty treasury.