Tuesday 4 August 2015

During Shahjahan's reign ....

एक दुखी परिवार –  41

During Shahjahan's reign the Marwari horse was introduced becoming Shah Jahan's favorite and various Mughal cannons were mass-produced in the Jaigarh Fort. Under his rule, the empire became a huge military machine and the nobles and their contingents multiplied almost fourfold, as did the demands for more revenue from the peasantry.
But due to his measures in the financial and commercial fields, it was a period of general stability—the administration was centralized and court affairs systematized.

The Mughal Empire continued to expand moderately during his reign as his sons commanded large armies on different fronts. Above all it is obligatory to mention here that India became the richest center of the arts, crafts and architecture and some of the best of the architects, artisans, craftsmen, painters and writers of the world resided in his empire, it is believed that the Mughal Empire had the highest gross domestic produce in the world.

Rajput rebels
Shah Jahan annexed the Rajput confederates of Baglana, Mewar and Bundelkhand. He then chose his 16-year-old son Aurangzeb to serve in his place and subdue the rebellion by the Bundela Rajputs led by the renegade Jhujhar Singh.

Khan Dauran, a commander of the Mughal Army executed the rebel leader Jhujhar Singh and his son Bikramajit.

Relations with the Deccan Sultanates

Shah Jahan then chose Aurangzeb to become the Subedar of the Deccan and ordered the annexation of Ahmednagar and the overthrow of the Nizam Shahi dynasty.

Battle of Rohilla Battle of Amritsar (1634) Battle of Kartarpur.

Sikh rebellion led by Guru Hargobind

A rebellion of the Sikhs led by Guru Hargobind took place and in return Shah Jahan ordered the destruction of the Sikh temple in Lahore. Skirmishes were fought at Amritsar, Kartarpur and elsewhere.

Relations with the Safavid dynasty
Shah Jahan and his sons captured the city of Kandahar in 1638 from the Safavids, prompting the retaliation of the Persians led by their powerful ruler Abbas II of Persia, who recaptured it in 1649, the Mughal armies were unable to recapture it despite repeated sieges during the Mughal–Safavid War. Shah Jahan also expanded the Mughal Empire to the west beyond the Khyber Pass to Ghazna and Kandahar.

There was Surrender of Kandahar, following  the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan's successful capture of the city in the year 1638.


The Mughal Army besieged Kandahar's Safavid garrison.

Relations with the Ottoman Empire
While he was encamped in Baghdad, the Ottoman Sultan Murad IV is known to have met the Shah Jahan's ambassadors: Mir Zarif and Mir Baraka, who presented 1000 pieces of finely embroidered cloth and even armor. Murad IV presented them with the finest weapons, saddles and Kaftans and ordered his forces to accompany the Mughals to the port of Basra, where they set sail to Thatta and finally Surat.

Shah Jahan had exchanged ambassadors and documents with the Murad IV, it was through these exchanges led by the Mughal ambassador Sayyid Muhiuddin and his counterpart the Ottoman ambassador Arsalan Agha, that Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan received Mimar Yusuf, Isa Muhammad Effendi and Ismail Effendi, two Turkish architects and students of the famous Koca Mimar Sinan Agha. Both of them later comprised among the Mughal team that would design and build the Taj Mahal (read:- remodel or renovate).

Back home in Rajputana, dozens self proclaimed sovereigns of scattered States were claiming supremacy of valour against one another, the most powerful amongst them being only those who could boast of marital alliance with the Moguls. This did not necessarily mean relations with the apex level. The alliances qualified according to that which protocols permitted, with the only exception where the brides were picked up for their grandeur and beauty by those holding high offices in the Mughal empire. That turned Rajputana states to vie with each other in strengthening alliances, especially marital .
That is how without any conquest or battles, large areas falling outside its Kingdom, especially Rajputana were vicariously annexed by the Mughals in a designed manner under Jahangir onwards .

(Cont.     .)

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