Padshahnama

The Padshahnama (Persian: پادشاهنامه‎‎) (Chronicle of the Emperor) is a genre of works written as the official visual history of Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan’s reign. Most significant work of this genre was written by Abdul Hamid Lahori in two volumes.

History

Shah Jahan in his eighth regnal year asked Muhammad Amin Qazvini to write an official history of his reign and he completed his Padshahnama in 1636, which covers the first ten (lunar) years of Shah Jahan’s reign.

Jalaluddin Tabatabai wrote another Padshahnama, but the extant portion of the text covers only four years, from fifth to eighth regnal year of the emperor. The project was later given to Abdul Hamid Lahori, who wrote his Padshahnama in two volumes. The first volume of this work is based upon Qazvini’s work but has more details. The second volume covers the next ten (lunar) years of Shah Jahan’s reign. He completed his work in 1648. Lahori died in 1654. Muhammad Waris, a pupil of Lahori was given the responsibility to complete the task and his Padshahnama (completed in 1656) covers the rest of the period of Shah Jahan’s reign. His work was published by the Asiatic Society as the third volume of the Padshahnama of Lahori.

Shah Jahan

Shahabuddin Muhammad Shah Jahan (15 January 1592 – 31 January 1666) was the fifth Mughal Emperor of India from 1628 to 1658. Born Prince Khurram, he was the son of Emperor Jahangir and his Hindu Rajput wife, Taj Bibi Bilqis Makani (13 May 1573 – 18 April 1619).

He was chosen as successor to the throne after the death of his father in 1627. He was considered one of the greatest Mughals of the Timur family. Like his grandfather, Akbar, he was eager to expand his vast empire. In 1658, he fell ill and was confined by his son and successor Aurangzeb in Agra Fort until his death in 1666.

The period of his reign was considered the golden age of Mughal architecture. Shah Jahan erected many monuments, the best known of which is the Taj Mahal at Agra, built in 1632–1654 as a tomb for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal.

Early life

Born in January 1592, Shah ab-ud-din Muhammad Khurram was the third son born to Emperor Jahangir; his mother was a Rajput princess from Marwar called Princess Manmati (her official name in Mughal chronicles was Bilquis Makani). The name "Khurram" was chosen for the young prince by his grandfather, Emperor Akbar, with whom the young prince shared a close relationship.