Author: Dr Vaidehi Nathan
Publication: Organiser
Date: October 25, 2009
URL: http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=314&page=16
Shah Jahan: The Rise and Fall of the Mughal
Emperor, Fergus Nicoll, Penguin Books, pp 332, Rs. 899.00
Shah Jahan, the Mughal Emperor who was a "ruthless
political operator, who only achieved power by ordering the murder of two
brothers and at least six other relatives, one of them the legitimately crowned
Emperor Dawar Baksh… an enlightened despot, a king who dispensed largesse
to favoured courtiers but ignored plague in the countryside."
This is how Fergus Nicoll introduces Shah
Jahan, in his book Shah Jahan: The Rise and Fall of the Mughal Emperor that
academically scrutinises the life, time and reign of the Emperor.
It speaks volumes for the King's character
that in this detailed account of his 31 years of rule, one does not come across
a single act of goodness or kindness for the people. The official diary, maintained
daily diligently by a writer, extensively quoted by Nicoll does not give any
evidence that Shah Jahan was bothered about his subjects. Famines and plagues
visited the population at regular frequency. But the people had to pay the
rent fixed for them.
"The poor, by contrast, thronged every
village, highway and urban back-street across the entire empire," says
Nicoll. A Dutch trader in India at the time wrote, "If their villages
were unable to pay the full amount of rent, they could be sold - man, woman
or child - or charged with fomenting rebellion. For in Mughal India defaulting
was tantamount to treason." What a tragic picture. This when the emperor's
treasury was bursting and overflowing.
Nicoll gives a detailed account of the Emperor's
wealth at several places in the book. Here is one of them: "The fact
that Shah Jahan could spend five million rupees on his widow's tomb with such
nonchalance is an indicator of the vast wealth at his disposal." Together
the provinces brought "Shah Jahan's total income to nearly 190 million
rupees. Most of that money flowed directly into the imperial coffers as crown-land
revenue. The remainder was allocated at the emperor's discretion to 655 named
individuals: members of the royal family and the members of the nobility whose
fiefdom financed their private militias and lavish lifestyles." The author
goes on to further illustrate the emperor's wealth by comparing it to the
pitiable state of finances of his contemporaries in the West. For instance,
King Charles I in 1635 was struggling with a financial crisis, to maintain
his court at an annual budget of half a million pounds.
As could be expected the book is full of political
executions and mass murders. The supporters of political rivals are finished
off, their heads separated, lined up for display to act as warning. During
the reign of Shah Jahan's father Jahangir, the fifth Sikh Guru Arjun Dev was
executed and the possessions of his followers confiscated. The Guru, not a
supporter of any group had only accorded the routine hospitality to Prince
Khusraw, in the form of a tilak and spiritual advice when the latter came
calling on him. Khusraw (elder brother of Shah Jahan) was then rebelling against
his father. When taking the throne, the already incarcerated Khusraw's murder
was ordered by Shah Jahan.
The book elaborately describes the coming
up of Taj Mahal, right from the stage of conception. The Red Fort, Jama Masjid
and other structures by the Emperor have been penned extensively.
Shah Jahan, the man has got lost in this painstakingly
researched book. There is no account of his personal life, as a father, husband
(except that he loved Mumtaj Mahal to distraction and subjected her to annual
pregnancies) and a victim of his son's (Aurangzeb) political ambitions. Nicoll
has ignored records that show that Shah Jahan was incestuous and used both
his daughters Jahan Ara and Roshan Ara sexually and cruelly put to death their
lovers when caught.
Nicoll has glossed over the religious fanaticism
of Shah Jahan. His very anti-Hindu stances including the reintroduction of
jazia the tax on Hindus, though several Rajput kings were his vassals and
supplied money and men for his wars. The demolition of the ancient Vishwanatha
temple in Kashi was carried out by Shah Jahan. The incident is mentioned by
Nicoll in passing as a general demolition of temples in Benaras for "beautification"
of the city.
This book is an academic work, on an Emperor
who is taught in Indian history books as the 'builder of Taj Mahal and a man
who had an undying love for his wife.' Nicoll opens our eye to the King that
Shah Jahan was. Though the account on the social scene and the plight of the
people comes rather late in the book and is not very elaborate, it gives an
idea about the life of Hindus in Hindustan then. It of course only got worse
under 40 years of Aurangzeb's rule. That account would have to wait for another
book.
Fergus Nicoll has been a current affairs journalist
for the BBC since 1988 and is widely travelled. He received a generous grant
from the Society of Authors to work on the book. The book no doubt is the
result of labourious research of a committed academic mind.
(Penguin Books, 11, Community Centre, Panchsheel
Park, New Delhi-110 017.)
