The culture of Shahjahanabad exhibited both courtly and popular aspects. To understand urban culture one must examine the entertainments of the common folk as well as the artistic activities of the great men. The dancing of young boys in the square in front of the palace-fortress and the religious celebrations at the tombs of sufi saints were just as important a part of the cultural life of the city as was the display of talent by poets, dancers, and singers in the audience halls of the imperial palace and the great amiri mansions.

Courtly culture

The high culture of the sovereign city focused, for the most part, on the courts of the emperors, princes, and great amirs. In Shahjahanabad the households of the great men constituted the salons of urban society, the places where the greatest poets, painters, musicians, calligraphers, and dancers displayed their talents. The great men themselves devoted a good deal of time and energy to the artistic aspects of their lives, perfecting a highly refined cultural idiom that included mastery of the arts both of peace and of war. They collected paintings, carpets, and manuscripts, built and decorated palaces, gardens, mosques, and tombs, and wrote poetry. They also displayed their skill at shooting and riding during hunts and tours, and they understood wrestling and hand-to-hand combat. For the Mughal nobility the arts of both peace and war were a necessary and integral part of everyday life.