This work aims to fill a gap in the history of the Chaghtal dynasty. The period covered by it extends from 1592 to 1657. The War of Succession followed the serious illness of Shahjahan.
Shahjahan is commonly portrayed as a gross voluptuary, 'cruel, treacherous, and unscrupulous.' Like other Asiatic rulers of his own and later age, he had little scruple in removing those, even of his nearest kin, who stood in his path, like them, he was not averse to sensual pleasures, but he was no idler; he had a high ideal of his kingly duties, and there is overwhelming evidence to prove that he led a strenuous life.'
Dr Saksena treats his subject with praiseworthy impartiality. Shahjahan, in his hands, is not 'the virtuous solve reign with hardly a blemish on his character depicted by contemporary Indian chroniclers, nor on the other hand, is he the monster of moral depravity described by some European travellers who have flavoured their pages with the scandalous gossip of the purlieus of the court.
Shahjahan's reign was the most glorious epoch in the Medieval period. There was peace and prosperity and all-around development of art and literature. The most gorgeous buildings were erected in this reign, and the most ambitious military campaigns were undertaken. But underneath this glittering array of pomp and magnificence, signs of decline are also noticeable, and the source of a large number of disastrous, tendencies which culminated in a crash after the death of Aurangzeb, may with justice be traced to the reign of Shahjahan