Question

Who among the following had shifted the capital of the Mughal empire from Agra to Delhi?
(A) Shah Jahan
(B) Aurangzeb
(C) Jahangir
(D) Humayun

Answer 1

Hint: This was done by a ruler in the year of \[1638\]. There has been a shift of capitals between Delhi and Agra years before this happened. In around \[1506\] another Sultan, named Sikandar Lodi was responsible for initially changing the capital from Delhi to Agra. That was followed by the emperor Akbar crowning the capital of the time’s Mughal empire as Agra, but later on the swap between Agra and Delhi was done again a few emperors later.

Complete answer:
Since the Delhi Sultanate, Delhi has been a significant center of Muslim influence, and as we know, mughal emperors have been ardent followers of the chishti sufi silsala, to the point where akbar constructed his capital around Salim Chisti's tomb, and in this case, the care home for the Nizammudin Auliya the chishti saint, it was located in Delhi, which must have been one of the ruler’s motivations to make such a shift.

Delhi was better linked to the northern and western borders, making control easier. This ruler also found Lahore as a possible replacement for Delhi. Initially, it was too crowded and boring to accommodate the time's most powerful empire.

So in\[1638\], Shahjahan made the decision to relocate his capital to Delhi. The key explanation for this was that Agra's streets were becoming too narrow for grand processions and ceremonies, and since Agra had long been the seat of mughal influence, it had become overcrowded. In Delhi, they were able to navigate more freely by Yamuna, and shifting could be done more easily via river road.

Consider option (A) Shah Jahan, is the correct answer since he ruled the Mughal empire in \[1638\] and caused the so-called changes in the capital of their empire, the reasons are mentioned above.
Observing options (B), (C) and (D) we can classify them as incorrect because the shift of capitals in this way was done in the year \[1638\] and these rulers of the Mughal Empire ruled either before this period or after.

Thus the correct answer is option ‘A’.

Note: They chose Delhi as their destination because it has long been a center of power in India and is home to many great saints. Due to his passion for architecture, the ruler funded the city's construction and had it designed in a semi-circle form using the Vaastu Shastra, with magnificent buildings influenced by Persian, Mughal, and Hindu styles.