Page:History of India Vol 4.djvu/118

GOLD COIN OP SHAH JAHAH, A. H. 1066 (A. D. 1666-6). CHAPTER IV SHAH JAHAN THE MAGNIFICENT 1628-1658 A. D. T IKE his father, Prince Khurram, who ascended -L* the throne as Shah Jahan in January, 1628, was the son of a Rajput princess, a daughter of the rana of Marwar, and had more Indian than Moghul blood in his veins. From what has been recorded of his pre- vious history, as one " flattered by some, envied by others, loved by none," in Sir Thomas Roe's words, one is prepared to find a haughty, reserved man, wrapped in political intrigues, personally indifferent to creeds and scruples, and disposed to favour his mother 's race. In every one of these respects Shah Jahan refutes prophecy. All his former cold severity seems to have melted when once he had made a clean sweep of his rivals, and after his accession the new emperor was tho most accessible though the most stately of mon- arr'hs. He discontinued tho obnoxious ceremonial of 88