Pakistan is a paradigm example of a failed state that has undergone an extremely dangerous form of radical Islamisation.
The Emperor on Death Bed
SHAH JAHAN, Mogul emperor of Delhi, the fifth of the dynasty. After revolting
against his father Jahangir, as the latter had revolted against Akbar, he
succeeded to the throne on his father’s death in 1627. It was during his reign
that the Mogul power attained its greatest prosperity. The chief events of his
reign were the destruction of the kingdom of Ahmadnagar (1636), the loss of
Kandahar to the Persians (1653), and a second war against the Deccan princes
(1655). In 1658 he fell ill, and was confined by his son Aurangzeb in the
citadel of Agra until his death in 1666.
Shah Jahan’s life, which began in 1592 with happy ceremonies, wouldn’t have
ended in a more tragic way. He spent the last eight years of his life sequestered
in a part of the Agra fort; only Jahanara, his sincere daughter was allowed to
visit him. Yet His only consolation was that from his prison window, he could
see his unique architectural work Taj Mahal, though he couldn’t visit.
During those eight years, Shah Jahan’s soul had always yearned for visiting
Taj Mahal where his beloved wife lay buried and it only rested when he followed
her and was at last buried beside her.
The period of his reign was the golden age of Indian architecture. Shah Jahan
erected many splendid monuments, the most famous of which is the Taj Mahal at
Agra, built as a tomb for his wife Mumtaz Mahal; while the Pearl Mosque at Agra
and the palace and great mosque at Delhi also commemorate him. The celebrated
Peacock Throne, said to have been worth 6,000,000 also dates from his reign; and
he was the founder of the modern city of Delhi, the native name of which is
Shahjahanabad.
