The Mughals lost Qandahar to the Safavid rulers of Persia, during the reign of Shah Jahan, in the year:

The Mughals lost the important fort and city of Qandahar (Kandahar) to the Safavid rulers of Persia in 1649, during the reign of Shah Jahan.

Why Qandahar mattered:

• Qandahar, in present-day southern Afghanistan, controlled the main trade and military route between India, Persia and Central Asia.
• Both the Mughals and the Safavids wanted to control it.
• It changed hands several times in the 16th and 17th centuries.

History of the conflict:

• Akbar took Qandahar in 1595.
• Under Jahangir, the Persian ruler Shah Abbas I captured it in 1622.
• In 1638, the Persian governor, Ali Mardan Khan, surrendered Qandahar to Shah Jahan, and entered Mughal service.
• In 1649, the Persian ruler Shah Abbas II recaptured it.

Shah Jahan's attempts to recover it:

• Shah Jahan sent three major expeditions to recapture Qandahar.
• In 1649 and 1652, Prince Aurangzeb led the sieges.
• In 1653, Prince Dara Shikoh led the siege.
• All three attempts failed, despite the large armies and heavy artillery used.
• The Mughal guns were not strong enough, and the Persians defended the fort well.
• The campaigns cost the Mughal treasury a great deal of money and damaged Mughal prestige.
• Qandahar was never recovered by the Mughals.

Shah Jahan's Central Asian campaign:

• In 1646-47, Shah Jahan also sent an army to conquer Balkh and Badakhshan in Central Asia, the homeland of the Timurids.
• The campaign failed because of the harsh climate, the hostility of the local people, and the difficulty of supplying the army.

About Ali Mardan Khan:

After joining the Mughals, he became a leading noble and an engineer; he built canals and supervised the building of the Shalimar Gardens of Lahore.

Why not the other options?

• ✗1622 was the year Shah Abbas I captured Qandahar under Jahangir.
• ✗1638 was the year the Mughals regained it.
• ✗1658 was the year of Aurangzeb's accession.