Shah Jahan: Chahar Taslim and the Two Succession Wars

Shah Jahan’s reign began with a war between brothers for the throne. It ended the same way, with Shah Jahan himself locked away by his own son. This article covers both succession wars. It also covers the court ceremony that came to define his reign in between.

The First Succession War (1628) Need to Know

• Shah Jahan, born Prince Khurram, was the fifth Mughal emperor. He reigned from 1628 to 1658.
• After Jahangir’s death in October 1627, rival claimant Prince Shahryar held Lahore, backed briefly by Nur Jahan. Asaf Khan’s forces defeated him in January 1628.
• On 23 January 1628, Shah Jahan ordered the execution of Shahryar, his nephews Dawar Bakhsh and Garshasp, and his cousins Tahmuras and Hoshang. This was a standard Mughal pattern for clearing rival claimants.
• His reign is often seen as the peak of Mughal wealth and architecture. He built the Taj Mahal in memory of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, and founded Shahjahanabad, now Old Delhi. See MedHist0015 for the fuller architectural story.

Chahar Taslim and Court Ceremony Good to Know

• “Chahar Taslim” literally means “four-fold salutation.” It names a specific court gesture. A courtier placed the back of the right hand on the ground, then raised it while rising, ending with the palm on the crown of the head. This was repeated four times.
• Shah Jahan introduced Chahar Taslim to replace the earlier Sijda, or full prostration.
• Sijda was dropped mainly for religious reasons. Full prostration was considered owed to God alone in Islam, making the older ceremony theologically uncomfortable.
• This was a court-etiquette reform defining Shah Jahan’s reign and title. It was not part of the succession-crisis structure itself, though it reflects the same formal, ceremonial court culture his architecture also expressed.

Test Yourself

Please wait…

1. Shah Jahan was the fifth Mughal emperor. Between which years did he reign?

1556 to 1605

1605 to 1627

1628 to 1658

1658 to 1707

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The Second Succession War (1658-59) Great to Know

• Shah Jahan’s serious illness in September 1657 triggered a war among his own four sons: Dara Shikoh, Shah Shuja, Aurangzeb, and Murad Baksh.
• Dara’s forces were first beaten at the Battle of Dharmat (April 1658). They were then decisively defeated at the Battle of Samugarh (29 May 1658), where Aurangzeb and Murad Baksh’s smaller but more experienced combined army overcame Dara’s larger force.
• Aurangzeb had Shah Jahan imprisoned at Agra Fort from 1658 until his death in 1666. Murad Baksh was later executed at Gwalior Fort.
• Dara Shikoh himself fled after Samugarh and was later captured, then paraded through Delhi in chains. He was executed on 30 August 1659, on charges of apostasy tied to his syncretic religious writings. For his scholarship and the fuller story of his fall, see MedHist0015.
• Shah Jahan’s reign both began and ended with a succession war between brothers, a pattern repeated across Mughal generations.