SHAH JEHAN, 1e-hiin' (Pers., king of the ( ?-c.1665). The fifth of the Mogul em perors of Delhi. He was the third son of Jehan gir, and before his accession to the throne dis tinguished himself by victories over the Rajputs, the 'Mohammedan States of the Deccan. and the Afghans in the neighborhood of Kandahar. In 1623 Shah Jehau rebelled against his father when the latter, after the sudden death of his elder son Khusna (who was supposed to have been murdered by Shah Johan). declared Bulaki. Elms ru's son, heir to the throne. He sacked Agra and ravaged Bengal, but was defeated by Jehangir and forced to seek refuge in the Deccan (1625). On the death of the Emperor in 1627 Shah Johan returned, outwitted Bulaki, whose fate is a mys tery, and was proclaimed Padishah at Agra (1628), marking his accession by the murder of all the princes of his house whom he could seize. His reign was a stormy one, marked by intrigue and treachery. He alienated the native Hindu
rajputs from himself. and destroyed the Portu guese settlement of Hugli, near the present Cal cutta. He lost Kandahar and most of the Kabul territory, but, on the other hand, he gained the State of Ahmednagar, and made Bijapur and Gol conda in the Deccan pay him tribute. This period was the zenith of the Hindu Mohammedan archi tecture. Shah Jehan built at Agra the Mod Masjid or Pearl Mosque. as \yell as the famous Taj Mahal (q.v.), and founded the modern city of Delhi, which is still called Shahjehanabad by the Indian Mohammedans. He also con structed the celebrated peacock throne at Delhi. The closing years of his reign were embittered by the struggle of his four sons for the throne. Two of them, Aurungzebe lq.v.) and Murad, made common cause, marched on Agra, and, in 1658, imprisoned Shah Jehan, who died about 1665.