|
Bahadur Shah (Persian: بہادر شاه اول), also known as Muhammad Muazzam (Persian: محمد معظم) and Shah Alam (Persian: شاه عالم) was the seventh Mughal emperor of India and ruled from 1707 until his death in 1712. In his youth, he conspired to overthrow his father Aurangzeb, the sixth Mughal emperor, and ascend to the throne. Shah's plans were intercepted by the emperor, who imprisoned him several times. From 1696 to 1707, he was governor of Akbarabad (later known as Agra), Kabul and Lahore.
After Aurangzeb's death his eldest son by his chief consort, Muhammad Azam Shah, declared himself successor, but was shortly defeated in one of the largest battles of India, the Battle of Jajau and overthrown by Bahadur Shah. During the reign of Bahadur Shah, the Rajput states of Jodhpur and Amber were annexed again after they declared independence few years ago. Shah also sparked an Islamic controversy in the khutba by inserting the declaration of Ali as wali. His reign was disturbed by several rebellions, the Sikhs under the leadership of Banda Singh Bahadur, Rajputs under Durgadas Rathore and fellow Mughal Kam Bakhsh but all of them were successfully quelled. Bahadur Shah was buried in the Moti Masjid at Mehrauli in Delhi. |
