Shah Jahan

Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram was Jahangir's third son, blooded early in campaigns against Rajput kingdoms and Deccan rebels. When his father died in October 1627, he crushed his youngest brother Shahryar Mirza, crowned himself in the Agra Fort, and executed most rivals who might have claimed the throne. His reign brought the Red Fort, the Shah Jahan Mosque, and the Taj Mahal - where his favorite consort Mumtaz Mahal lies - alongside aggressive wars against the Deccan sultanates, clashes with the Portuguese and Safavids, and the grinding famine of 1630-1632. In September 1657, ill and certain of succession, he named his eldest son Dara Shikoh heir. The move triggered a three-way war; Aurangzeb won, executed his brothers including the crown prince, and in July 1658 imprisoned his recovered father in the same Agra Fort where Shah Jahan had once seized power. He died there in January 1666 and was buried beside Mumtaz Mahal in the tomb he'd built for her.