Later Mughals (Shah Alam II)

Shah Alam II

Portrait of Blinded Shah Alam II

Source:- Wikipedia

Shah Alam II lived from 25 June 1728 – 19 November 1806, also known as Ali Gohar, or Ali Gauhar, was the 17th Mughal emperor and the son of Alamgir II. Shah Alam II became the emperor of a crumbling Mughal Empire, and as persian wording says his empire was from Delhi to Palam only.

Shah Alam faced many invasions, mainly by Ahmed Shah Abdali, which led to the Third Battle of Panipat (1761) between the Maratha Confederacy, and the Afghan Empire led by Abdali. In 1760, the invading forces of Abdali were driven away by the Marathas, led by Sadashivrao Bhau, who deposed Shah Jahan III, the puppet Mughal emperor of Imad-ul-Mulk, and installed Shah Alam II as the rightful emperor (1760 – 1772).

Shah Alam II was considered the only and rightful emperor, but he was unable to return to Delhi until 1772, under the protection of the Maratha general Mahadaji Shinde. He also fought against the East India Company at the Battle of Buxar (1764). In 1788, when he was a prisoner of Ghulam Qadir, he was blinded.

Shah Alam II authored his own Diwan of poems and was known by the pen-name Aftab. His poems were guided, compiled and collected safely.

Shah Alam also composed the famous book Ajaib-ul-Qasas, which is considered one of the earliest and most prominent books of prose in Urdu.

Early Life

Portrait of Young Ali Gohar

Source:- Bangla Newspaper

Ali Gohar was born as Aziz-ud-Din, son of the late Mughal Emperor Jahandar Shah, on 25 June 1728. However, unlike the majority of Mughal princes growing up in similar circumstances, he is not recorded to have become a decadent prince by the time his father became emperor, and therefore was naturally given high appointments in the course of his father's reign.

Upon his father's accession, he became the Wali al-Ahd (Crown Prince) of the empire, and became his father's principal agent, though almost all power lay in the Wazir Imad-ul-Mulk's hand. His quarrels with that amir, and fear for his own life, caused him to flee from Delhi in 1758.

Escape From Death 

Portrait of Imad-ul-Mulk

Source:- Wikipedia

Prince Ali Gauhar or  Emperor Shah Alam II, is the only son of his father Alamgir II. Prince Ali Gauhar's father had been appointed Mughal Emperor by Wizier Imad-ul-Mulk and Maratha Peshwa's cousin Sadashivrao Bhau.

Prince Ali Gauhar organized a army and made a daring escape from Delhi. He appeared in the Eastern Subah in 1759, hoping to strengthen his position by attempting to regain control over Bengal, Bihar and Odisha.

Very soon however, Najib-ud-Daula forced the usurper Imad-ul-Mulk to flee from the capital by gathering a large Mughal Army outside Delhi. He used the army to depose the recreant Shah Jahan III. Najib-ud-Daula and Muslim nobles then planned to defeat the Marathas by maintaining correspondence with the powerful Ahmad Shah Durrani. After Durrani decisively defeated the Marathas, he nominated Ali Gauhar as the emperor under the name Shah Alam II.

Bengal War

Mir Jafar in the Bengal war

Source:- Wikipedia

In 1760, after Shah Alam's army gainied control over areas in Bengal, Bihar and parts of Odisha, Prince Ali Gauhar and his Mughal Army of 30,000 intended to overthrow Mir Jafar and Imad-ul-Mulk after they tried to capture or kill him by advancing towards Awadh and Patna in 1759. But the conflict soon involved the intervention of East India Company.

The Mughals clearly intended to recapture Eastern Subah led by Prince Ali Gauhar, who was accompanied by a army consisting of persons like Muhammad Quli Khan, Kadim Husein, etc. Their forces were reinforced by the forces of Shuja-ud-Daula, Najib-ud-Daula and Ahmad Khan Bangash. The Mughals were also joined by Jean Law and 200 Frenchmen and waged a campaign against the British during the Seven Years' War.

Prince Ali Gauhar successfully advanced as far as Patna, which he later besieged with a combined army of over 40,000 in order to capture or kill Ramnarian, a sworn enemy of the Mughals. Mir Jafar was very feared and send his owns to retake Patna. Mir Jafar also asked for the aid of Robert Clive, but it was Major John Caillaud, who dispersed Prince Ali Gauhar's army in 1761 after four major battles including Battle of Patna, Battle of Sirpur, Battle of Birpur and Battle of Siwan.

After negotiations assuring peace Shah Alam II was offered by the British to meet Mir Qasim the new Nawab of Bengal. Mir Qasim soon had the Mughal Emperor as Subedar of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha, and agreed to pay an annual revenue of 2.4 million. Shah Alam II then retreated to Allahabad and was protected by the Shuja-ud-Daula, Nawab of Awadh from 1761 until 1764. Meanwhile, Mir Qasim's relations with the East India company began to worsen. He initiated reforms that withdrew the tax exemptions enjoyed by the East India Company, he also created firepower manufacturing factories at Patna with the sole purpose of improving the newly reformed Mughal Army.

Angered by these developments, the East India Company sought to remove Mir Qasim. East India Company forced Mir Qasim to leave Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. Mir Qasim on his part encouraged Shuja-ud-Daula the Nawab of Awadh and Shah Alam II to engage the British.

Wars with EIC

Battle of Buxar

Portrait of Shuja-ud-Daula

Source:- Mughal Archieves

The Battle of Buxar was fought on 22 October 1764 between the combined armies of Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal; Shuja-ud-Daula the Nawab of Awadh; the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II and the forces under the command of the East India Company led by

Hector Munro.The battle fought at Buxar, a town located on the bank of the Ganges river then within the territory of Bengal, was a decisive victory for the East India Company.

Treaty of Allahabad 

Shah Alam II granting diwani rights to EIC

Source:- Pinterest

Soon after the Battle of Buxar, Shah Alam II, the Emperor defeated by the British, sought their protection by signing the Treaty of Allahabad in the year 1765. Shah Alam II was forced to grant the Diwani (right to collect revenue) of Bengal (which included Bihar and Odisha) to the East India Company in return for an annual tribute of 2.6 million rupees to be paid by the company from the collected revenue. The company further secured the districts of Kora and Allahabad which allowed the East India Company to collect tax from more than 20 million people. The East India Company thus became the Imperial tax collector in the former Mughal province of Bengal (which included Bihar and Northern Odisha). The Company appointed a deputy, Nawab Muhammad Reza Khan to collect revenue on their behalf.

Return to Delhi

Darbar of Shah Alam II

Source:- Mughal Archieves

Shah Alam II stayed in the fort of Allahabad for six years. Warren Hastings, the head of East India Company got appointed as the first Governor of Bengal in 1774. This was the period of "Dual rule" where East India Company enacted laws to maximise revenue and the Mughal Emperor appointed Nawab looked after other affairs of the province. East India Company later discontinued the tribute of 2.6 million Rupees and later also handed over the districts of Allahabad and Kora to the Nawab of Awadh. In 1793 East India Company was strong enough and abolished local rule completely and annexed Bengal. Weakened Shah Alam II agreed to the East India Company, who advised him never to trust the Marathas.

In the year 1771 the Marathas under Mahadaji Shinde returned to northern India and even captured Delhi. Shah Alam II, by Mahadaji Shinde and left Allahabad in May 1771 and in January 1772 reached Delhi. Along with the Marathas they undertook to win the crown lands of Rohilkhand and defeated Zabita Khan, capturing the fort of Pathargarh with its treasure.

The emperor returned to the throne in Delhi in 1772, under the protection of the Maratha general Mahadaji Shinde.The emperor became a puppet of the Maratha whose Peshwa demanded tribute, which the Mughals are known to have paid so as to avoid any further conflict with the Marathas.

After killing Ghulam Qadir and restoring Shah Alam II to the throne, a Maratha garrison permanently occupied Delhi in 1788 and ruled on north India for next two decades until they were usurped by the East India Company in the Second Anglo-Maratha War.

Political Instability

Jats Rebellion

Jats rose in angered of religious policies pursued by Aurangzeb.The Jat kingdom of Bharatpur waged many wars against the Mughal Delhi and in the 17th and 18th century carried out numerous campaigns in Mughal territories including Agra.Mughals were defeated by Marathas in 1757; and Mughal possessions and territories were under the annexation of the Jats led by Suraj Mal.

During one massive assault, Jats sieged Agra in 1761, after 20 days on 12 June 1761 the Mughal forces at Agra surrendered to Jats.Jats plundered the city and carried the bounty, including the two great silver doors to the entrance of the famous Taj Mahal. which were carried off and melted down by Suraj Mal in 1764.

Suraj Mal's son Jawahar Singh, further extended the Jat power in Northern India and captured the territory in Doab, Ballabgarh and Agra.Jats kept Agra fort and other territories closer to Delhi under their control from 1761 till 1774 CE.

Sikhs Powers

Sikhs had been in long war against Mughal specially after beheading of the Sikh Guru - Guru Teg Bahadur by the Mughals. Due to this Sikhs rose once again in the year 1764 and overran the Mughal Faujdar of Sirhind, Zain Khan Sirhindi, who fell in battle and ever since the Sikhs raided and took the bounties from the lands as far as Delhi practically every year.

The Marathas took Delhi in 1771 before Shah Alam II arrived. Mirza Najaf Khan had restored a sense of order to the Mughal finances and administration and particularly reformed the Mughal Army. In 1777 Mirza Najaf Khan decisively defeated Zabita Khan's forces and repelled the Sikhs after halting their raids.

In 1778, after a Sikh incursion into Delhi, Shah Alam ordered their defeat by appointing, the Mughal Grand Wizier, Majad-ud-Daula marched with 20,000 Mughal troops against the Sikh army into hostile territories, this action led to the defeat of the Mughal Army at Battle of Muzzaffargarh and later at Battle of Ghanaur, due to the mounted casualties Shah Alam II reappointed Mirza Najaf Khan, who soon died of natural circumstances leaving the Mughal Empire weaker than ever.

In the year 1779, Mirza Najaf Khan carefully advanced his forces who successfully routed the treasonous Zabita Khan and his Sikh allies who lost more than 5,000 men in a single battle and never returned to threaten the Mughal Empire during the commander Mirza Najaf Khan's lifetime. Najaf Khan as prime minister, granted sovereign rights to the Sikhs as agreement.

Mughal empire disintegrated to such an extent that Shah Alam II was only left with Delhi city to rule. In 1783, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and Baghel Singh laid siege to the city. After entering Red fort, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia sat on the Mughal throne on behest of Baghel Singh and a title of Badshah Singh was given to him. Begum Samru requested Baghel Singh to show mercy on Shah Alam II. Baghel Singh accepted and stated his demands such as 30,000 of his troops to stay in Delhi and the Mughal Empire would pay for their maintenance. Other demands were the construction of at least 5 Gurdwaras and annual tax payment of 13.5%. 

The demands were agreed upon by Shah Alam II with a written agreement. Since Sikhs refused to accept authority of the Mughal court due to politics, Mahadji Shinde was given the regency with an agreement that Sikhs will not plunder the crown lands and they will be paid 1/3 of the Delhi revenue annually instead.

Death of the Emperor

Tomb of Shah Alam II

Source:- Wikipedia

Shah Alam II died of natural causes on 19 November 1806. His grave lies in the Moti Masjid, next to the dargah of the 13th century Sufi saint Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, in Mehrauli, Delhi. Also in the enclosure are the tombs of Bahadur Shah I (also known as Shah Alam I), and Akbar Shah II.