Sultan Shah Jahan Begum was born in 1838 in July 29 in Islamnagar, Bhopal State, what is now Madhya Pradesh, India. She was the only surviving child of her parents, Sikandar Begum of Bhopal and her husband Jahangir Mohammed Khan. At the young age of six, she was recognized as the leader of Bhopal, although her mother held most of the power. Her mother acted as a regent until 1860 when the British recognized her as a ruler of Bhopal and Shahjahan has her titled removed. Upon her mothers death in 1868 though, Shahjahan once again took the throne, reigning until her death in 1901. During her reign, she improved the tax revenue system in the state and modernized the military’s arms, increasing their salaries as well. She also improved the police force, built a dam, undertook the first census in the state, and balanced the budget deficit by commissioning the farming of opium. She was also a patron of the arts, and an author herself, having been credited with the authorship of several books in Urdu. She is also responsible for beginning construction of one of the largest mosques in India - the Taj-ul-Masajid. Construction remained incomplete until 1971, when work was once again resumed. She also made donations towards the building of a mosque in the United Kingdom and a college, which would later become the Aligarh Muslim University. In her later years, she was a respected leader in a well run state. She was diagnosed with mouth cancer in 1901 and succumbed to the illness in June of that year, much to the despair of the public.