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Shah Jahan: The Rise and Fall of the Mughal Emperor SHAH JAHAN, the sixth Mughal Emperor of India, is best remembered for getting the Taj Mahal constructed in tribute to his wife, Arjumand Banu, better known as Mumtaz Mahal. But this book by Fergus Nicoll throws light on other facets of the Emperor who ruled Hindustan for 32 years and proved himself as an astute general, a patron of arts and an able successor to his father, Salim Jahangir.
"Just as he had been forgiven by Akbar for his petulant attempts to create a rival kingdom, so Jahangir now hoped that Shah Jahan would accept his magnanimous forgiveness and reinstatement after a rebellion driven by youthful impetuosity. The appeal did not work." Shah Jahan wanted forgiveness on his own terms that were not acceptable to Jahangir and Queen Nur Jahan, who, in turn, did not want to encourage a rival camp within the kingdom. What strikes the reader through this work is the naked lust for power between immediate family members. As the sons grew, the kings, be it Akbar, Jahangir or Shah Jahan, had to be cautious. An impatient son in a hurry to become the Emperor of Hindustan could rise in revolt against his own father or an elder brother. Nicoll proves that no bond was strong and no relationship beyond vested interests. It is amazing to discover the machinations that went around in the palace. The queens complicated the issues by building parallel power platforms. They had their own coterie and thus, their own network of influence that at times changed the course of events. At the outset, Nicoll humbly admits that "it may seem impertinent for a European to take on the life of one of the most celebrated emperors of the subcontinent; foolhardy, too, for a writer with a modest grasp of Arabic and Sanskrit but with no Hindi and Urdu, let alone medieval Persian". Yet, the writer has done a fabulous job of researching on his subject. The work becomes all the more interesting and rich because it finely blends the life— histories of the various characters of that time, especially the times of Jahangir and Shah Jahan. Unlike Jahangir, Khurram Shah Jahan had to fight with his brother Khusraw Pervez and even his nephew Dawarbakhsh, the Fifth Mugal Emperor to capture the Mughal throne. It is here that the work of Nicoll surpasses contemporary writers dealing with the same subject. He has deftly dealt with ambitions of princes Pervez, Khusraw, Shahriyar and other prominent people in the court like Mahabat Khan, Asaf Khan, etc. After the bloody coup, once installed as Emperor, Shah Jahan wanted to follow the rule of primogeniture, in which the elder son was the successor to the father. But Nicoll deals as to how Shah Jahan’s son decided to follow in their father’s footsteps. "Their father’s own bloody path to the throne had shown that the only motto sufficient unto the battle ahead was "kill or be killed". Aurangzeb refused to accept Dara Shikoh as King and without mercy replied to a query regarding the fate of his brother in the event of the death of the Emperor, "I will do as my father did". The fratricidal war among the Mughals was an accepted fact in which nobles took sides after calculating their interests. The destinies of wazirs and nobles were tied to the destinies of their masters. Nicoll has explored this relationship with great dexterity and in detail. The bibliography is rich, maps are illustrated well and the pictures connect the readers to the text. Reading of the planning and consecutive building of the Taj Mahal is a treat. Of course, the love and affection of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal has attracted the author’s special attention. A work that is factually rich, facts that are woven interestingly into the life of Shah Jahan, one of the illustrious emperors of India.
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Unfortunately, Shah
Jahan followed his father in many a ways, one of them in rebelling
against his own father, Jahangir, as the latter had done against his
own father, Jalal-ud-din Akbar. Shah Jahan turned renegade, remained
in wilderness for six years and could become the Emperor only after
the death of Jahangir, and that too with the help of his
father-in-law, Asaf Khan, father of Mumtaz Mahal.