At the time of Jahangir’s death in October 1627, Shah Jahan was in the Deccan. At Lahore, Nur Jahan proclaimed Shahryar as the emperor,while Asaf Khan put Dawar Baksh, son of Khusrat on the throne as a stop-gap arrangement till the return of Shah Jahan to Agra from the Deccan.

When Shah Jahan arrived at Agra in February 1628, Dawar Baksh was deposed and Asaf Khan defeated, captured and blinded Shahryar. Now the way was clear for Shah Jahan who ascended the Mughal throne at Agra in February 1628.

The first three years of Shah Jahan’s reign were disturbed by the rebellions of the Bundela chief Juhar Singh and of Khan Jahan Lodi. After suppressing these rebellions, he ousted the, Purtuguese from Hugli and occupied it in 1632; the Nizam Shahi kingdom of Ahmadnagar was finally annexed to the Mughal Empire.

In 1636-37, Shah Jahan himself arrived in the Deccan and after a show of strength forced Bijapur and Golcunda to accept the Mughal suzerainty and pay annual tribute.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

In 1636 Aurangzeb, son of Shah Jahan, was appointed the Mughal viceroy in the Deccan. During his first term, he occupied this position for eight years (1636-44).

The territories in his charge were divided into four subahs: (a) Khandesh with its capital at Burhampur and stronghold at Asir­garh, (b) Berar with its capital at Eclichpur, (c) Telengana with its capital at Nanded and (d) Ah­madnagar, comprising the recently annexed por­tion of Nizamshahi territory.

Persia had occupied Kandahar during the reign of Jahangir, but no attempt was made to recapture it till 1638. The opportunity, however, came in 1639, when Ali Mardan Khan, the dis­gruntled Persian Governor of Kandahar, delivered the fort to the Mughals without fighting.

Similarly, taking advantage of internal rebellions in Balkh and Badakhshan and the unpopularity of the ruler of these states, Shah Jahan sent an ex­pedition under his son Murad in 1646 when the Mughal army occupied both these states.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

But only after a year (1647) the territories had to be returned to the original ruler, Nazar Muhammad. Taking advantage of this situation Shah Abbas II of Persia wrested Kandahar from the Mughals in 1649.

Subsequently, Shah Jahan sent three expedi­tions to recover Kandahar, but all proved to be miserable failures. “For years afterwards the Per­sian peril hung like a dark cloud on the western frontier of India.”

The second term of Aurangzeb’s viceroyalty in the Deccan began in 1653 and continued till 1658. His second viceroyalty occupies a permanent place in the history of land settlement in the Dec- can. He secured the services of a very competent revenue administrator named Murshid Quli Khan whom he appointed as his diwan.

For purposes of revenue administration Murshid Quli Khan divided the Mughal subahs into ‘low-lands’ and ‘high-lands’. Todarmal’s zabti system of survey and assessment was also extended to the Deccan with some changes suited to the local conditions. These measures led to improvement in agriculture and increase in the revenue in a few years.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

In 1656 Aurangzeb planned to annex Golcun­da. In this task Mir Jumla (whose actual name was Muhammad Sayyid), wazir of Golcunda, also col­luded. In February 1656, Aurangzeb laid siege of Golcunda and pleaded with the emperor to per­mit its annexation. Ultimately on the intervention of Dara Shikoh, urgent orders were issued to raise the siege of Golcunda.

Consequently, a second treaty was concluded with Golcunda in 1656. Mir Jumla, Aurangzeb’s principal associate in this ad­venture, joined the Mughal service. Similarly in 1657, the Adilshahi kingdom of Bijapur was at­tacked, and on the intervention of Shah Jahan and Dara Shikoh peace was made with Bijapur too. Meanwhile, Shah Jahan fell ill and a war of suc­cession seemed imminent. Aurangzeb directed his energies towards this.

At the time of Shah Jahan’s sickness in Septem­ber 1657, his eldest son Dara was at his bedside in Agra, Shuja was governor in Bengal, Aurangzeb was viceroy in the Deccan and the youngest Murad was governor in Gujarat. In the closing weeks of 1657, when Shah Jahan was on the way to full recovery, Shuja crowned himself in Bengal.

Murad did the same in Gujarat and then formed an alliance with Aurangzeb who was already mar­ching towards Agra. In February 1658, the forces of Murad joined him near Ujjain. The imperial forces sent to contain the combined forces of Murad and Aurangzeb were defeated in the battle of Dharmat, near Ujjain.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

After Dharmat, Aurangzeb marched towards Agra and in the en­suing battle at Samugarh, near Agra, the Mughal forces under Dara were decisively defeated and he fled from Agra. In June 1658, the fort of Agra also surrendered and Shah Jahan was made a prisoner. The echo of the war of succession con­tinued till 1661 and in between 1658 and 1661 all the remaining sons of Shah Jahan were killed or executed.

Shah Jahan passed the remaining years of his life till 1666 in captivity. Three most impor­tant factors responsible for the war of succession were: (a) Shah Jahan’s partisan attitude towards Dara; (b) old rivalry between Dara and Aurangzeb; and (c) Dara and Aurangzeb led two factions of the Mughal court, Dara representing liberalism and Aurangzeb the conservative ele­ments. Aurangzeb’s victory in the war of succes­sion was a victory of the conservative faction.

Many scholars regard the reign of Shah Jahan as the ‘climax’ or ‘golden age’ of the Mughal Em­pire. Mughal architecture under him reached its zenith. A large trade developed between India and Western Asia and Europe, which greatly con­tributed to the prosperity of the Mughal Empire.

Many foreign travellers, who visited India during the reign of Shah Jahan, have left a vivid account of his reign. Of these, two Frenchmen Bernier and Travenier and an Italian adventurer Manucci, the author of the Storio Dor Mogor, are especially noteworthy.