Jahandar Shah
Mirza Mu'izz-ud-Din Beg Muhammad Khan (10 May 1661 – 11 February 1713), better known by his title Jahandar Shah. the ninth Mughal emperor from 1712 to 1713. He was the son of Emperor Bahadur Shah I, and the grandson of Emperor Aurangzeb.
Portrait of Jahandar Shah, c. 1712, currently held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England
Prince Mu'izz-ud-din was born on 10 May 1661 in Deccan Subah to Prince Mu'azzam. His mother Nizam Bai, the daughter of Fatehyawar Jang, was a noble from Hyderabad. He was Muazzam's eldest son, and eldest grandson of reigning emperor Aurangzeb. Following Mughal tradition, his birth was grandly celebrated by the Mughal court.
During Aurangzeb's reign, he participated in military campaigning in the Deccan for three years, after which he was permanently shifted to northern India.
After Aurangzeb's death, Prince Mu'azzam won the ensuing succession struggle and in June 1707, ascended the throne as Bahadur Shah. Upon his father's accession, Mu'izz-ud-din was awarded the title Jahandar Shah, and made governor of Thatta and Multan. Through the course of Bahadur Shah's reign, Jahandar Shah would stay at the imperial court, like the other sons of Bahadur Shah, because the emperor had ascended the throne at an old age, and the princes wanted to be within close reach of the throne in case of his demise.
A war of succession began as Bahadur Shah I lay on his deathbed in 1712. The most powerful prince at the time of his death was his second son Azim-us-Shan, who had amassed significant resources as the subahdar of Bengal. Jahandar Shah was the weakest, with little-to-no military power or funds.
Unlike previous Mughal wars of succession, the outcome of this war was engineered by a noble, Zulfiqar Khan, the mir bakhshi and one of the most powerful figures in the Mughal empire. He built an alliance between Jahandar Shah, and his younger brothers Rafi-us-Shan and Jahan Shah, proposing to them that they could divide the empire between them upon victory (with Zulfiqar Khan serving as their common mir bakhshi). Azim-us-Shan was defeated and killed, following which Jahandar Shah broke the alliance and turned on his brothers, defeating them and killing them with the help of Zulfiqar Khan, emerging as the victor of the succession struggle.
Lal Kunwar
Mughal Army commander Abdus Samad Khan Bahadur being received by Jahandar Shah
Jahandar Shah was crowned on 29 March, 1712. His accession was not well-supported in the empire, and he was viewed as an illegitimate ruler. Hence, upon his coronation, Jahandar Shah moved to consolidate his authority by rewarding and promoting his supporters. He departed from previous Mughal succession practices by severely punishing the nobles who had supported his brothers in the succession, with several of them being executed. He also let the bodies of the defeated princes rot in the open for several days before their entombment, unlike previous emperors who had insisted on a proper burial.
With Jahandar Shah's accession, Zulfiqar Khan assumed the post of wazir. Due to Jahandar Shah's complete dependence on him, and the circumstances of his accession to the throne, effective power was wielded not by the emperor but by Zulfiqar Khan himself. This was the first occurrence in Mughal history that absolute power over the empire was wielded by an outsider to the dynasty. As the effective ruler during Jahandar Shah's reign, Zulfiqar Khan sought to establish amicable relationships with the Rajputs, Sikhs, and Marathas, and bring back peace in the empire. However, the empire's finances were deteriorating, continuing a trend that had begun with Jahandar Shah's predecessors, which decreased the empire's military effectiveness. The excessive power enjoyed by Zulfiqar Khan caused Jahandar Shah to conspire against him, creating political chaos.
During his reign, Jahandar Shah married tawaif Lal Kunwar, who was considered to be of lowly origins; she became his favoured wife, and subsequently her family gained unprecedent power and status. Jahandar Shah also indulged in feasts and entertainments. Contemporary chroniclers and later historians have pointed out such aspects of the emperor's personal life, and the cruelty meted to his opponents, as reasons behind the turbulence of his reign. However, recent scholars highlight other factors; Munis Faruqui emphasizes his political weakness as a prince, which set him up for failure as a ruler. We see that nobles had themselves became more self-interested around the time of Jahandar Shah's accession, and that the "cruelty" of his reign was their defense for siding with Farrukhsiyar, who deposed Jahandar Shah.
Jahandar Shah's accession invited the challenge of his nephew Farrukhsiyar, the son of Azim-us-Shan, who was based in Bengal. With little independent resources, he unsuccessfully attempted to find backing for his bid. He eventually found powerful support in the Sayyid brothers, Husain Ali Khan and Abdullah Khan, administrators of Azim-us-Shan who had been removed from their postings by Jahandar Shah.With their resources and political connections, Farrukhsiyar assembled a rebel army and advanced on the throne. The underpaid imperial army was defeated in battle near Agra in early 1713.
Upon defeat, Jahandar Shah fled to Delhi and sought refuge at the house of Zulfiqar Khan and his father Asad Khan. However, the two imprisoned him and turned him over to Farrukhsiyar, in hopes of securing his favour. Farrukhsiyar had both Jahandar Shah and Zulfiqar Khan executed, with Jahandar Shah being beaten to death and then beheaded on 11 February, 1713. Jahandar Shah's body was paraded around Delhi in parts, hanging upside down from two elephants. He was buried in Humayun's tomb.
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