Alamgir II
| Alamgir II | |
|---|---|
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 14th Mughal Emperor of India |
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| Reign | 2 June 1754 - 29 November 1759 (5 years, 180 days) |
| Predecessor | Ahmad Shah Bahadur |
| Successor | Shah Alam II and Shah Jahan III |
| Spouse | 8 wives |
| Issue | |
| Mirza Abdullah Ali Gouhar Bahadur a.k.a. Shah Alam II Mirza Muhammad Ali Asghar Bahadur Mirza Muhammad Harun Hidayat Bakhsh Bahadur Mirza Tali Murad Shah Bahadur Mirza Jamiyat Shah Bahadur Mirza Muhammad Himmat Shah Bahadur Mirza Ahsan-ud-Din Muhammad Bahadur Mirza Mubarak Shah Bahadur 12 daughters |
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| Full name | |
| Aziz-ud-din Alamgir II | |
| House | Timurid |
| Father | Jahandar Shah |
| Born | June 6, 1699 Multan, Mughal Empire |
| Died | November 29, 1759 (aged 60) Kotla Fateh Shah, Mughal Empire |
| Burial | Humayun's Tomb |
| Religion | Islam |
Aziz-ud-din Alamgir II (عالمگير ۲) (1759 - 1699) was the Mughal Emperor of India from 3 June 1754 to 29 November 1759. He was the son of Jahandar Shah.
Aziz-ud-Din, the second son of Jahandar Shah, was raised to the throne by Imad-ul-Mulk after he deposed Ahmad Shah Bahadur in 1754. On ascending the throne, he took the title of Alamgir and tried to follow the approach of Aurangzeb Alamgir. At the time of his accession to throne he was an old man of 55 years. He had no experience of administration and warfare as he had spent most of his life in jail. He was a weak ruler, with all powers vested in the hand of his Wazir, Ghazi-ud-Din Imad-ul-Mulk. In 1756, Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded India once again and captured Delhi and plundered Mathura. Marathas became more powerful because of their collaboration with Imad-ul-Mulk, and dominated the whole of northern India. This was the peak of Maratha expansion, which caused great trouble for the Mughal Empire, already weak with no strong ruler.
The relations between Alamgir II and the usurping Vizier, Imad-ul-Mulk, by this time had gotten worse. Alamgir II was murdered by Imad-ul-Mulk and the Maratha leader Sadashivrao Bhau. Alamgir II's son Ali Gauhar escaped persecution from Delhi, while Shah Jahan III was placed on the throne.
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[edit] Early life and Succession to the Throne
Aziz 'ud-Din Beg Mirza was born on 6 June 1699 at Multan to prince Maaz-ud-Din, son of future Emperor Bahadur Shah I, while himself a future Emperor. After his father's defeat, he was imprisoned by Emperor Farrukhsiyar. Later the Emperor ordered him to be blinded, and this was done on 21 January 1714. Till 1754, the prince stayed in prison. In 1754, however, the usurping Vizier Imad-ul-Mulk realized that Aziz-ud-Din was well suited as an Emperor for his rule to continue. Therefore, on 2 June 1754, Aziz-ud-Din was given the title Alamgir II by the Wazir out of his own recommendation, for he wanted to follow the approach of Alamgir I.
[edit] Reign
[edit] Ahmad Shah Durrani
Moeen-ul-Mulk of Punjab had died in 1755. His widow Mughlam Begum now ruled Punjab and allied herself with Ahmad Shah Abdali. The Imad-ul-Mulk was furious and reached Sirhind with full force. There he commanded Adina Beg to depose the governoress and defeat Ahmad Shah, doing so he will gain the governorship of Punjab and Multan. On the other hand Ahmad Shah was himself invading. After some skirmishes Adina Beg fled and Punjab and Sirhind fell to Ahmad Shah (1756). In 1757, Emperor Alamgir II with courtiers, nobles, and the Royal Family went to Sirhind to meet Ahmad Shah, who demanded 9 million rupees. The Emperor and the rest said that they didn't have much.
Angered by the challenge posed by the Marathas, Ahmad Shah Durrani marched into Dehli, Mathura and Agra, inflicting major defeats upon the Maratha occupiers. After his brief victories he successfully gained the alliance of Najib-ud-Daula and vowed to protect the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II from any forms of aggression and caused the "apostate" Imad-ul-Mulk to flee. Although he did loot much of the countryside but returned his forces back to Afghanistan, after maintaining their hold on Punjab uptil Sirhind.[1]
[edit] Maratha Occupation of Punjab
After the Durrani invasion, Adina Beg Khan rose once again and, by allying himself with the Marathas, defeated Timur Shah, son of Ahmad Shah Abdali, and reoccupied Punjab and Multan. Alamgir II recognized him as the Nawab of Punjab and Multan and gave him the title of Jang Bahadur. However, Adina Beg died prematurely and then the Marathas took control of Punjab.
[edit] Death
The newly appointed Mughal Grand Vizier after Ahmad Shah Durrani's invasion was Najib-ud-Daula who consolidated the remains of the Mughal Empire by uniting distant Faujdars, Nawab's and Nizams into a common cause against the Marathas.
Fearing their wrath the deposed Imad-ul-Mulk consolidated himself with the Maratha leader Sadashivrao Bhau and launched an attack which lasted 15 days and caused the defeat of Najib-ud-Daula and drove North. Imad-ul-Mulk then feared that the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II would recall Ahmad Shah Durrani, or use his son Prince Ali Gauhar, to dispossess him of his new found power with the Marathas.
Therefore, Imad-ul-Mulk and Sadashivrao Bhau plotted to murder the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II and his family. A few Mughal Princes, including Ali Gauhar desperately managed to escape before assassination. In November, 1759, the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II was told that a pious man had come to meet him, Alamgir II, ever so eager to meet holy men, set out immediately to meet him at Kotla Fateh Shah, he was stabbed repeatedly by Imad-ul-Mulk's assassins.
In the year 1759, the Peshwa had reached the peak of power particularly when they helped assassinate the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II, and they even discussed abolishing the Mughal Empire and placing Vishwasrao on the throne in Delhi by bribing or deposing Imad-ul-Mulk.[2]
The Mughal Emperor Alamgir II's death was mourned throughout the Mughal Empire, particularly by the Muslim populace, who soon organized the Third Battle of Panipat, which avenged the death of Alamgir II and enthroned his bold son Shah Alam II in the year 1761.
[edit] Traits
Alamgir II was, by birth, a pious man. He never missed any prayer and occasionally attended the Khutba as well. A reason for this was his great-grand father, Alamgir's influence, who himself was a pious man. Thus because of these traits, he showed no qualities of a ruler, a reason for his succession to the throne.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Decline of Muslim States and Societies - Misbah Islam - Google Books
- ^ Elphinstone, Mountstuart (1841). History of India. John Murray, Albermarle Street. pp. 276.
- Decline of the Mughal Empire by Safdar Hiyat Safdar.
| Preceded by Ahmad Shah Bahadur |
Mughal Emperor 1754–1759 |
Succeeded by Shah Jahan III |
