Talk:Shah Jahan

Genocide and incest

Can JASpencer provide references to his edits regarding Shah Jehan related genocide and incestuous relationships. Jay 06:53, 1 Jul 2004 (UTC)

I would like to second that request. AxelBoldt 20:46, 3 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Following content moved from article. It can be put back after discussion. Jay 18:48, 5 Jul 2004 (UTC)

"Although a grandson of the Muslim apostate Akbar the Great he was a firmly orthodox Muslim who initiated forty-eight military campaigns against non-Muslims in less than thirty years. Following the Ottoman practice, on coming to the throne in 1628 he killed all his male relatives except one who escaped to Persia. "

"In Benares during his reign 76 Hindu temples were destroyed, as well as Christian churches at Agra and Lahore. At the end of the three month siege of the Portuguese enclave of Hugh, he had ten thousand inhabitants massacred and four thousand were later killed after refusing to convert to Islam. "

"Shah Jahan had 5,000 concubines and also conducted affairs with his daughters Chamani and Jahanara."

Hi. The source I used was [[here|http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=4649]. A hostile article, but I tried to take out the factual statements. I will try and see if I have the source book and get any footnotes.

Dates and calendars

We’re showing his vital dates as January 5, 1592 – January 22, 1666. These seem to be using the Old Style calendar. The New Style equivalents would have added 10 days to both dates: January 15, 1592 and February 1, 1666 , .

Before I make any edits along these lines, does anyone disagree with the above? -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 16:14, 28 October 2011 (UTC)

This is Old Style calendar throughout the article. Do we want to check all articles on the 17th century on Old Style or New Style dates? Is there a guideline which one to use? Britain including her American colonies had not switched to New Style dates then, therefore most English histories of the time have Old Style.

I've checked Shah Jahan's birthday with the official chronicler Muhammad Amin Qazvini. He gives Shah Jahan's birthday in the Islamic calendar as the eve of 1st Rabi' al-thani 1000 of the Hijra, 10:28 pm. This gives AD 15th January 1592 New Style and AD 5th January 1592 Old Style, given that Islamic days start at sunset, and 1st Rabi' al-thani had already begun but 16th January, the corresponding day in conversion programs, had not. Same will be true with the date of his death, but please ask me that when I've completed the translation. Curryfranke (talk) 13:28, 25 January 2013 (UTC)

Now I've checked the death date too. 22nd January is Old Style as well. The exact date of Shah Jahan's death is not in his own chronicle (which I am translating), but in that of his successor "Alamgir" Aurangzeb. In the Ma’āsir-i ‘Ālamgīrī, the author notes in the chapter on Aurangzeb's seventh year of reign, i.e. 1076 of the Hijra:

"Early in the night of Monday the 26th Rajab, Shah Jahan succumbed to the disease and gave up the ghost."

Sāqī Musta‘idd Khān: Ma’āsir-i ‘Ālamgīrī, tr. Jadunath Sarkar, 2nd ed. Delhi 1986, p. 34.

26th Rajab 1076 AH gives 1st February 1666 AD New Style and 22nd January 1666 AD Old Style.

Date calculations can be done easily with the Swiss Calendar Converter,

Greetings, Curryfranke (talk) 12:50, 21 May 2015 (UTC)

Marriages

Can anyone provide historically accurate sources which mention Shahjahan to have more than 4 wives?

 Đõc §aмέέЯ  08:00, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

The sources I know (Qazvini, Lahori) rather suggest the opposite. Shah Jahan had three wives. He married "the well-starred girl of ... Muẓaffar Ḥusain Mīrzā Ṣafavī" (no name given) in October 1610, aged 17 (Qazvini fol. 44 b, my translation). Then he married Mumtaz Mahall on 10th May 1612 (New Style - Qazvini fol 48 b). Last, he married "the well-starred daughter of Shāhnavāz Khān" in September 1617 "on the order of His Majesty (Jahāngīr) Jannat-makānī to satisfy the mind of Khān Khānān and render him devoted" (Qazvini fol. 71 b). There is no mention of a marriage after that. Note also that only Mumtaz's name is given, and only she is showered with epithets like "The Second Mary" or "The holy character of angelic conduct" (Qazvini 42 a). The other wives are not mentioned any more after their marriage.

I'll have to read the chapter on Shah Jahan's manners and daily schedule again, think I found that Shah Jahan claimed to be chaste after Mumtaz's death. But I'd need more time than I have at the moment for wrestling with the warble and chimes of sentence garble and inner rhymes in 17th century Persian. Greetings, Curryfranke (talk) 13:30, 21 May 2015 (UTC)

Nur Jahan

...says nothing about the woman. It tells of how Jahan became closer to his father. Either change the section title or put something in there about her. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2602:301:779A:FC0:9E5:D63A:33BC:5B1F (talk) 17:13, 5 October 2016 (UTC)

Nur Jahan Section

The sub-section →Nur Jahan in Early Life section only mentions about both of them separately. The part that talks about him has nothing to do with Nur Jahan while the part about Nur Jahan doesn't seem to be associated with Shah Jahan.
I suggest/request that the sub-section to either be removed or mention incident(s) involving both of them. Manavati (talk) 13:14, 30 March 2022 (UTC)

Accusation of incest rewrite

There are many problems with this section.

1. mostly relies on Primary Sources.

2. Secondary Sources were written during the British Raj

3. Joannes de Laet, Peter Mundy and Tavernier mention the rumor of incest, but have never seen it in perion. The only contompery sources needed to be mentioned are Bernier and Manucci, who saw the relationships within the Royal Family.

Therefore I am rewriting this section as in the Jahanara Begum article. SKAG123 (talk) 05:06, 5 February 2024 (UTC)

Death place references Red Fort in Delhi, not the (Red) Agra Fort

In contrast to the article, the infobox points to Delhi's Red Fort as Shah Jahan's death place. But that is not in Agra. Something has to give. Kobzar1840 (talk) 15:18, 28 February 2026 (UTC)