Historical fallacies: Shah Jahan’s Reign: period of golden Age

Abstract

Shah Jahan’s period (1627-1666 A.D) is known as the golden age of the medieval Indian history. All historian of modern age dedicated their energies to prove this fact that Shah Jahan was the master of the wealthiest Empire of the world. As far as the matter of wealth and territorial boundaries are concerned this is a fact that he ruled on the largest Empire of the world in Middle Ages. This Empire was the legacy of his father in which he did not contribute even a single inch. The wealth he had used for his personal aspirations must have been used for the welfare of the people. These questions are generally avoided by the historians. TajMahal, the seventh wonder of the world made the life of common people miserable because they had to pay many taxes for the satisfaction of architectural sense of Shah Jahan. This paper attempts to find out those realities which may challenge this myth.