Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

LURE - THRU THE AGES

Bahadur Shah 1707-1712 A.D.

Bahadur Shah), who as- cended the throne as Mo- hamad Saha. By 1722 both the Sayyid brothers were killed by him. During his rule prov- ince after province de- clared independence from Mughal rule. During his reign, Nadir Shah, the Persian ruler invaded India in 1739. The invader soon conquered Delhi where he butchered the citizens with savagery. His soldiers looted the city indiscriminately and three crores of rupees were

Original name Muhammad Mu'azzam, he assumed the title Bahadur Shah. According to J. N . Sarkar "Bahadur Shah had a mild and calm temper, great dignity of behaviour, and excessive and inconsiderate generosity of disposition ." It was during his reign that intrigues began to increase in the court. He released Sahu, the son of Sambhaji, and the grandson of Shivaji, who had been imprisoned since the time of Aurangzeb. He followed a policy of concili- ation with the Rajputs. He withdrew the Jizya and acknowledged the independence of Me- war and Marwar. Bahadur Shah died in Feb. 1712. After Bahadur Shah's death, the war of succession among his four sons was won by Jahandar Shah. The repeated interference of his mistress, Lai Kunwar, rapidly dislocated the administrative machinery, and he ruled for only one year. After a reign of 11 months, he was strangled in the fort of Delhi on the orders of Farrukhsiyar in 1713. Farrukhsiyar owed his elevation to the throne to the two Sayyid brothers, Husain Ali, deputy governor of Patna and Abdullah, governor of Allahabad, who began to exer- cise the real power in the state. Abdullah be- came the Wazir and Husain Ali the Com- mander-in-Chief of the army. Farrukhsiyar under the influence of some of his anti-Sayyid friends acted ungratefully towards his Sayyid ministers. Their resentment was so great that they deposed and blinded the Emperor and exe- cuted him in an ignominious manner. Rafi-ud-Darajat, Rafi-ud-Daula 1719 AD The Sayyid brothers now raised to the throne, two phantom Kings Rafi-ud-Darajat and Rafi-ud-Daula. Both suffered from con- sumption and died very soon. Farrukhsiyar 1712-19 Jahandar Shah 1712-13

realised by force from its helpless inhabitants. Nadir at last stopped his soldiers and left the city for his own country. The conqueror carried away all the Mughal Emperor's jew- els, including the famous Kohinoor diamond, the Peacock Throne and the celebrated illus- trated Persian manuscript on Hindu music written under the command of the Emperor Mohammad Shah. He also took with him 15 crores of rupees in cash, a vast amount of jewels, apparel, fur- niture and other valuable articles from the imperial store house, 300 elephants, 10,000 horses and the same number of camels. This invasion drained the tottering Mughal Empire of its wealth and the empire soon col- lapsed subsequently. He came to the throne at the age of 21. He favoured Javid Khan, his chief eunuch. Javid Khan came to be known as Nawab Bahadur and he dominated the whole of the admini- stration. In 1754 Ahmed Shah was deposed after Javid Khan had been assassinated. Ahmed Shah 1748-54

Shah Alam II 1759-1806

Original name Ali Gauhas, he was the son of Alamgir II. He did not go to Delhi for 12 years. From 1760-71 he was under the con- trol of the English. In 1764 he was defeated in the battle of Buxar and taken prisoner. In 1765 he gave the Diwana of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa to the English East India Com- pany. The latter promised to pay him an annual tribute of Rs 26 lakhs. The Company recognised him as the Mughal Emperor throughout his long reign; he remained a puppet in the hands of the ministers and the Marathas. He was blinded in 1788 and died in 1805.

Akbar II 1806-37

Son of Shah Alam II. He was a pensioner of the British. He was the head of the royal establishment in the Red Fort of Delhi and enjoyed the imperial title only by courtesy.

Bahadur Shah II 1837-57

He was allowed to retain the imperial title. However, due to his involvement in the mu- tiny of 1857, he was tried by the British and deported to Rangoon where he died in 1862. The Mughal dynasty ended with him. He was a gifted Urdu poet (pen name Zafar), Persian scholar and talented calligrapher.

Alamgir II 1754-59

He was 55 years old when he ascended the throne. He had no experience of administration or war. He was a puppet in the hands of his minister Imad-ul-Mulk. In 1759 Alamgir II was murdered at the instigation of Imad-ul- Mulk.

Nasirud-Din Muhammad Shah 1719-48 A.D.

The Sayyid brothers later appointed Rohsan Akhtar, son of Jahan Saha (the fourth son of