Shah Jahan ruled the Mughal Empire from 1627 to 1658, during which time the empire reached its peak of prosperity. However, in 1658 Shah Jahan fell ill and was imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb in the Agra fort, where he remained until his death in 1666. During his reign, Shah Jahan commissioned many grand architectural works, most famously the Taj Mahal mausoleum in Agra built for his wife Mumtaz Mahal.

1. SHAH JAHAN(1592-1666)
Real name - named Khurram by his grandfather Akbar.
Born – in Lahore on Jan.5,1592
Died – 22 jan, 1666 at the age of 74 in Agra. Buried beside his wife in Taj
Mahal.
Accession to power - Came to power in 1627 at the age of 35 after a bloody
civil war, assassinating his brothers Khusrau and Parwiz and others desirous of
the throne – including two nephews and two male cousins.
Length of rule in India – 31 years, from1627 to1658. The last 8 years of his life
imprisoned in Agra fort by son Aurangzeb.
Father – Jahangir
Mother – Princess Manmati
Siblings – Three half-brothers - Khusrau, Parwiz and Shahriyar
Married – Inn 1612 married Nur Jahan’s niece Arjumand Bano [Mumtaz Mahal]
a Shia wife– devoted to her for 19 years till she died in 1631, giving birth to
the14th child.
Children – 14 children. 7 survived to adulthood. 4 sons and 3 daughters.
Among sons eldest was Dara Shukoh b 1615, Shah Shuja, Aurangzeb b Oct 23
1618, and Murad Baksh. The eldest Dara, was an aesthete who followed the
religious eclecticism of Akbar and Jahangir. Daughters Jahanara, Roshanara
and Gauharara. ..

2. Peacock Throne
The name comes from the shape of a throne, having the figures of
two peacocks standing behind it, their tails being expanded and the whole so inlaid with
sapphires, rubies, emeralds, pearls and other precious stones of appropriate colors as to
represent life, created for theMughal Badshah Shah Jahan of India in the 17th century,
which was in his imperial capitalDelhi's Public audience hall, the Diwan-i-Am. Shah
Jahan had the famous Koh-i-noor diamond placed in this throne.
The French jeweller Tavernier, who saw Delhi in 1665, described the throne as of the
shape of a bed (a "takhteh" or platform), 6 ft. by 4 ft., supported by four golden feet, 20
to 25 in. high, from the bars above which rose twelve columns to support the canopy; the
bars were decorated with crosses of rubies and emeralds, and also
with diamonds and pearls. In all there were 108 large rubies on the throne, and 116
emeralds, but many of the latter had flaws. The twelve columns supporting the canopy
were decorated with rows of splendid pearls, and Tavernier considered these to be the
most valuable part of the throne. Estimates of its value varied between Rs. 40 million
(Bernier) and Rs. 100 million (Tavernier).
Nader Shah invaded the Mughal Empire in 1738, and returned to Persia in 1739 with the
original Peacock Throne as well as many other treasures taken from the Mughal
emperor Muhammad Shah.

4. Mumtaz Mahal
Mumtāz Mahal (April, 1593 - 17 June 1631) meaning "beloved
ornament of the palace" is the common nickname of Arjumand Banu
Begum, an Empress of India during the Mughal Dynasty. She was born
in Agra, India. Her father was the Persian noble Abdul Hasan Asaf
Khan, the brother of Empress Nur Jehan (who subsequently became
the wife of the emperor Jahangir). She was religiously a Shi'aMuslim.
She was married at the age of 19, on 10 May 1612, to Prince Khurram,
who would later ascend the Peacock Throne as Mughal Emperor Shah
Jahan I. She was his third wife, and became his favorite. She died
in Burhanpur in the Deccan (now in Madhya Pradesh) during the birth
of their fourteenth child, a daughter named Gauhara Begum. Her body
remained at Burhanpur for 23 years until the Taj was completed. Only
then was her coffin shifted to Agra. Her body was then buried in the Taj
Mahal in Agra.

6. Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal (also "the Taj") is considered the finest example
of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements
from Persian, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. In 1983, the Taj
Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as "the
jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired
masterpieces of the world's heritage."
While the white domed marble mausoleum is its most familiar
component, the Taj Mahal is actually an integrated complex of
structures. Building began around 1632 and was completed around
1653, and employed thousands of artisans and craftsmen.The
construction of the Taj Mahal was entrusted to a board of architects
under imperial supervision including Abd ul-Karim Ma'mur Khan,
Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. Lahauri is generally
considered to be the principal designer

8. Shah Jahan Mosque
The Shah Jahan Mosque was built in the reign
of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. It is located
in Thatta, Sindh province, Pakistan. It is included in the
UNESCO World Heritageand has been to preserved since its
entry.
In the town of Thatta (100 km / 60 miles from Karachi) itself,
there is famous Shahjahani Mosque with its beautiful
architecture. This mosque was built in 1647 during the reign of
Mughal King Shah Jahan, also known as the builder King. The
mosque is built with red bricks with blue coloured glaze tiles
probably imported from another Sindh's town of Hala. The
mosque has overall 100 domes and it is world's largest
mosque having such number of domes. It has been built
keeping acoustics in mind. A person speaking inside one end
of the dome can be heard at the other end.

10. End Of Shah Jahan Reign
SHAH JAHAN, Mogul emperor of Delhi, the fifth of the dynasty. After revolting against his father
Jahangir, as the latter had revolted against Akbar, he succeeded to the throne on his father’s
death in 1627. It was during his reign that the Mogul power attained its greatest prosperity. The
chief events of his reign were the destruction of the kingdom of Ahmadnagar (1636), the loss of
Kandahar to the Persians (1653), and a second war against the Deccan princes (1655). In 1658
he fell ill, and was confined by his son Aurangzeb in the citadel of Agra until his death in 1666.
Shah Jahan’s life, which began in 1592 with happy ceremonies, wouldn’t have ended in a more
tragic way. He spent the last eight years of his life sequestered in a part of the Agra fort; only
Jahanara, his sincere daughter was allowed to visit him. Yet His only consolation was that from
his prison window, he could see his unique architectural work Taj Mahal, though he couldn’t visit.
During those eight years, Shah Jahan’s soul had always yearned for visiting Taj Mahal where his
beloved wife lay buried and it only rested when he followed her and was at last buried beside
her.
The period of his reign was the golden age of Indian architecture. Shah Jahan erected many
splendid monuments, the most famous of which is the Taj Mahal at Agra, built as a tomb for his
wife Mumtaz Mahal; while the Pearl Mosque at Agra and the palace and great mosque at Delhi
also commemorate him. The celebrated Peacock Throne, said to have been worth 6,000,000
also dates from his reign; and he was the founder of the modern city of Delhi, the native name
of which is Shahjahanabad.