Aziz-ud-Din Muhammad (6 June 1699 – 29 November 1759), better known as Alamgir II, was the fifteenth

Mughal Emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, who reigned from 3 June 1754 to 29 November 1759. He was the son of

Jahandar Shah Mirza Mu'izz-ud-Din Beg Muhammad Khan (10 May 1661 – 11 February 1713), more commonly known as Jahandar Shah (), was the ninth Mughal Emperor who ruled for a brief period in 1712–1713. He was the son of Bahadur Shah (Shah Alam), and the ...

. Born Aziz-ud-Din, the second son of

, was raised to the throne by

Imad-ul-Mulk Feroze Jung III or Nizam Shahabuddin Muhammad Feroz Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi also known by his sobriquet Imad-ul-Mulk, was the grand vizier of the Mughal Empire allied with the Maratha Empire, who were often described as a de facto ruler of the ...

after he deposed

Ahmad Shah Bahadur Ahmad Shah Bahadur , also known as Mirza Ahmad Shah or Mujahid-ud-Din Ahmad Shah Ghazi (23 December 1725 – 1775 AD), was the fourteenth Mughal Emperor, born to Emperor Muhammad Shah. He succeeded his father to the throne in 1748, at the age ...

in 1754. On ascending the throne, he took the title of Alamgir and tried to follow the approach of

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

(Alamgir I). 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 vizier,

. In 1756,

Ahmad Shah Durrani Ahmad Shāh Durrānī ( ps, احمد شاه دراني; prs, احمد شاه درانی), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (), was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is regarded as the founder of the modern Afghanistan. In July 1747, Ahm ...

invaded India once again and captured

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

and plundered

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...

. Marathas became more powerful because of their collaboration with

, 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. Relations between Alamgir II and his usurping vizier,

had now deteriorated. He was murdered by

. Alamgir II's son Ali Gauhar escaped persecution from Delhi, while Shah Jahan III was placed on the throne.

Early life

Alamgir II was born Aziz-ud-Din on 6 June 1699 at

Burhanpur Burhanpur'' is a historical city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative seat of Burhanpur District. It is situated on the north bank of the Tapti River and northeast of city of Mumbai, southwest of the state's capi ...

and was the second son of Muizz-ud-Din, the son of future Emperor Bahadur Shah (Shah Alam). His mother was a Rajput Princess, Anup Bai, with little clarity about her existence. Aziz-ud-Din was 7 when his great-grandfather

died in the Deccan. After the death of his grandfather,

Bahadur Shah I Bahadur Shah I (14 October 1643 – 27 February 1712), also known as Muhammad Mu'azzam and Shah Alam I. was the eighth Mughal Emperor who ruled from 1707 until his death in 1712. In his youth, he conspired to overthrow his father Aurangzeb, t ...

, and the war of succession that followed, his father,

, was defeated, by the next

Farrukhsiyar Farrukhsiyar or Farrukh Siyar () (20 August 16839 April 1719) was the tenth emperor of the Mughal Empire from 1713 to 1719. He rose to the throne after assassinating his uncle, Emperor Jahandar Shah. Reportedly a handsome man who was easily sw ...

. Aziz-ud-Din was then imprisoned in 1714 and released in 1754, by usurping Vizier

, he perceived Aziz-ud-Din as a frail personality who would not object his regime. Therefore, on 2 June 1754, Aziz-ud-Din was given the title ''Alamgir II'' by the vizier out of his own recommendation, as he wanted to follow the centralised approach of

Succession to throne

hired Maratha mercenaries to do his bidding and put all the imperial revenues into his own pocket and starved Alamgir II's family. He also persecuted Ali Gauhar, the elder son of Alamgir II. Since then, relations between Alamgir II and Imad-ul-Mulk's regime were so bad that the latter got him assassinated in November 1759.

Reign

After the emergence of Alamgir II the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

had impulsively began to re-centralize, particularly when many

Nawab Nawab (Balochi language, Balochi: نواب; ar, نواب; bn, নবাব/নওয়াব; hi, नवाब; Punjabi language, Punjabi : ਨਵਾਬ; Persian language, Persian, Punjabi language, Punjabi , Sindhi language, Sindhi, Urd ...

s sought the gratification of the

and his co-ordination regarding their resistance to the Maratha. This development was clearly unwelcome by

who sought to strengthen his authoritarianism with the undaunted support of the

Maratha The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

s. His Amir-ul-Umara and Mir Bakhshi continued to be Mirza Ashraf, the son of

Khan Dowran VII Khan Dowran VII ( fa, خان دوران; d. 1739), was a Mughal statesman and general in the eighteenth century. Originally Khwaja Asim, he was made Samsam ud-Daula(''Sword of the State'') Khan-i Dauran and was the Mir Bakhshi and Amir-ul-Umara. H ...

(a noble in the reign of Farrukhsiyar and Muhammad Shah).

Alliance with the Durrani Emirate

In the year 1755, the acclaimed Mughal

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

Moin-ul-Mulk Mian-Moin-ul-Mulk also known by his title Mir Mannu (died 1753) was the Mughal and later Durrani governor of the Punjab between 1748 and 1753. Early life Moin-ul-Mulk was the son of Qamar-ud-Din Khan, Grand Vizier of the Mughal Empire, and youn ...

died, his widow

Mughlani Begum Mughlani Begum also known as Murad Begum, ruled Punjab from Lahore for few years in 1753. She was known for playing her friends and foes against each other for her personal gains. She was the wife of Moin-ul-Mulk (Mir Mannu), who was Governor of ...

desperately sought the assistance of

to halt any succession struggle and to quell the

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

rebels in the eastern regions. Ahmad Shah Durrani and his forces then marched into

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

in the year 1756 and appointed his son

Timur Shah Durrani Timur Shah Durrani (; prs, ;), also known as Timur Shah Abdali or Taimur Shah Abdali (December 1746 – May 20, 1793) was the second ruler of the Afghan Durrani Empire, from November 1772 until his death in 1793. An ethnic Pashtun, he was the s ...

as the new viceroy at

, under the protection of the commander Jahan Khan and also placed

Adina Beg Adina Mirza Beg Khan ( pa, ; 1710 - 15 September 1758) was a Punjabi General and administrator who served as the last governor of Punjab of the Mughal Empire, including the provinces of Lahore and Multan. He was the last Nawab of Punjab, de fa ...

as the

Faujdar Faujdar is a term of pre-Mughal origins. Under the Mughals it was an office that combined the functions of a military commander along with judicial and land revenue functions. In pre-Mughal times, the term referred to a military officer but d ...

Doab ''Doab'' () is a term used in South Asia Quote: "Originally and chiefly in South Asia: (the name of) a strip or narrow tract of land between two rivers; spec. (with) the area between the rivers Ganges and Jumna in northern India." for the tract ...

. Ahmad Shah Durrani then plundered Sikh and Hindu inhabitants in the unstable and outlawed eastern regions of the

. He then marched towards Delhi, in October 1757, the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II with courtiers such as Shah Waliullah, nobles such as

Najib-ul-Daula Najib ad-Dawlah ( ps, نجيب الدوله), also known as Najib Khan Yousafzai ( ps, نجيب خان), was a Rohilla Yousafzai Afghan who earlier served as a Mughal serviceman but later deserted the cause of the Mughals and joined Ahmed ...

, and the imperial family went to meet

, whose forces then engaged the

s in combat and threatened to overthrow and execute the regime of

. Ahmad Shah Durrani's relations with the

, strengthened further when his son

was chosen as the suitor of Alamgir II's daughter Zuhra Begum. Ahmad Shah Durrani himself also married Hadrat Begum the daughter of the former Mughal Emperor

Muhammad Shah Mirza Nasir-ud-Din Muḥammad Shah (born Roshan Akhtar; 7 August 1702 – 26 April 1748) was the 13th Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1719 to 1748. He was son of Khujista Akhtar, the fourth son of Bahadur Shah I. After being chosen by the ...

. Ahmad Shah Durrani returned to

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

leaving his forces led by his son Timur Shah Durrani consolidating themselves inside the garrisons of

where they founded the

Zamzama The Zamzama Gun ( ur, , meaning "thunder" or "roar", sometimes written "Zam-Zammah" or "Zam-Zammeh") also known as ''Kim’s Gun'' or ''Bhangianwali Toap'' is a large-bore cannon. It was cast in about 1757 in Lahore (present-day Pakistan) du ...

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

with the assistance of Mughal

Metalsmith A metalsmith or simply smith is a craftsperson fashioning useful items (for example, tools, kitchenware, tableware, jewelry, armor and weapons) out of various metals. Smithing is one of the oldest list of metalworking occupations, metalworking o ...

s. He was supported by Mohammad Bahawal Khan II ( Nawab Amir of Bhawalpur) and

Muhammad Nasir Khan I The Khanate of Kalat ( bal, کلاتءِ ھانات) was a Baloch Khanate that existed from 1512 to 1955 in the centre of the modern-day province of Balochistan, Pakistan. Its rulers were Brahui speakers. Prior to that they were subjects of ...

(

Khanate of Kalat The Khanate of Kalat ( bal, کلاتءِ ھانات) was a Baloch Khanate that existed from 1512 to 1955 in the centre of the modern-day province of Balochistan, Pakistan. Its rulers were Brahui speakers. Prior to that they were subjects of ...

). File:Portrait of Ahmad-Shah Durrani. Mughal miniature. ca. 1757, Bibliothèque nationale de France.jpg,

. File:Temur-Shah.jpg,

Siege of Delhi (1757)

In July 1757, the Marathas led by

Raghunathrao Raghunathrao Bhat (a.k.a. Ragho Ballal or Ragho Bharari) (18 August 1734 – 11 December 1783) was the 11th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire for a brief period from 1773 to 1774. He was known among the Hindus for his extremely successful North-west ...

rejected the alliance established between the

Durrani Empire The Durrani Empire ( ps, د درانيانو ټولواکمني; fa, امپراتوری درانیان) or the Afghan Empire ( ps, د افغانان ټولواکمني, label=none; fa, امپراتوری افغان, label=none), also know ...

and the

, they were assisted by

and encamped 30 km opposite to the

Red Fort The Red Fort or Lal Qila () is a historic fort in Old Delhi, Delhi in India that served as the main residence of the Mughal Emperors. Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned construction of the Red Fort on 12 May 1638, when he decided to shift hi ...

and occupied all the villages by the Jamuna they began to besiege Delhi. The Marathas fought against Alamgir II's incumbent ''Mir Bakshi'' ("Paymaster")

along with his lieutenants Qutub Shah and Aman Khan and a

Mughal Army The Army of the Mughal Empire was the force by which the Mughal emperors established their empire in the 15th century and expanded it to its greatest extent at the beginning of the 18th century. Although its origins, like the Mughals themselves, ...

of 2,500 garrisoned inside the metropolis of Delhi. The angry Maratha set ferries ablaze and stopped food supplies from entering Delhi, while Najib-ul-Daula positioned his heavy artillery outside the vicinity of the

. Unable to gain any assistance from

, who was engaged in quelling various rebellions near

Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safēd ...

; Najib-ul-Daula surrendered after resisting the combined brigands of Maratha Confederacy for more than five months, he conceded defeat and withdrew to

Najibabad Najibabad is a town in the Bijnor district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, located near the city of Bijnor. It is a major industrial city and is well connected to all major cities of India by roadways via NH 119 and NH 74 respectively and ...

. When the Marathas entered Delhi the emperor Alamgir II and his royal family had somehow fled to

Bharatpur State Bharatpur State, which is also known as the Jat State of Bharatpur historically known as the Kingdom of Bharatpur, was a Hindu Kingdom in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. It was ruled by the Sinsinwar clan of the Hindu Jat ...

. The Marathas looted and plundered the city and the people of Delhi. Mosques and Shrines built by the Mughals were desecrated; and the

Peshwa The Peshwa (Pronunciation: e(ː)ʃʋaː was the appointed (later becoming hereditary) prime minister of the Maratha Empire of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati (the Maratha king); later, ...

conspired to place Vishwasrao upon the Mughal throne. Imad-ul-Mulk was reappointed ''Mir Bakshi'' and with the support of the Marathas. Not long after entering Delhi the Marathas encountered a

Jat The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and su ...

regiment sent by

Suraj Mal Suraj Mal (13 February 1707 – 25 December 1763) was a Jat ruler of Bharatpur in present-day state of Rajasthan. Under him, the Jat rule covered the present-day districts of Agra, Aligarh, Bharatpur, Dholpur, Etawa, Hathras, Mainpuri, M ...

who now began to claim sovereignty over Delhi. The Jat also plundered Delhi but soon afterwards made it possible for Alamgir II and the Mughal royal family to return to Delhi from Bharatpur. However, despite losing control of Delhi, Najib-ul-Daula and his associates, such as Qutub Khan and Abdus Samad Khan the Mughal

Sirhind Sirhind-Fategarh is a town and a municipal council in the Fatehgarh Sahib district in the Indian state of Punjab. Demographics In the 2011 census Sirhind-Fatehgarh had a population of 60852. Males constituted 54% of the population and female ...

, continued to challenge the Maratha Confederacy and its allies during confrontations at

Saharanpur Saharanpur is a city and a municipal corporation in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the administrative headquarters of Saharanpur district. Saharanpur city's name was given after the Saint Shah Haroon Chishti. Saharanpur is declared as on ...

and Shahabad Markanda. In response the Marathas sacked the inhabitants of

Taraori Taraori, or Tarori or Tarawari, as it is sometimes called in the local dialect, is a town (Municipal committee) in Nilokheri Tehsil of Karnal district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is situated off NH-44, 14 km north of Karnal. The n ...

Karnal Karnal ( is a city located in the state of Haryana, India and is the administrative headquarters of Karnal District. It was used by East India Company army as a refuge during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 in Delhi. The Battle of Karnal between ...

and

Kunjpura Kunjpura is a village in Karnal district, Haryana (prior to 1966 Punjab state), India, about 10 km northeast of Karnal city and about 130 km north of the national capital, Delhi. It is on the right bank (west bank) of the Yamuna Rive ...

. The Maratha attack upon Kunjpura triggered a military response by Ahmad Shah Durrani. Whose forces crossed the sacred rivers of India in search of their Maratha opponents.

Subjects opposing the Maratha Confederacy

In the year 1756, Alamgir II sympathised with the cause of his loyal

s of

Kurnool Kurnool is a city in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It formerly served as the capital of Andhra State (1953–1956). The city is often referred to as "The Gateway of Rayalaseema".Kurnool is also known as The City of Gem Stones. It also se ...

Cuddapah Kadapa (colonial spelled Cuddapah) is a city in the southern part of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located in the Rayalaseema region, and is the district headquarters of YSR Kadapa district. As of the 2022 Census of India, the city had a popula ...

and

Savanur Savanuru is a locality and taluk headquarters of Savanuru Taluk in Haveri District of Karnataka state, India. History Savanuru was one of the princely states of British India, under the Bombay Presidency, and later the Deccan States Agen ...

, when their assigned territories were ravaged and plundered until 1757 by the

chieftain

Balaji Baji Rao Baji Bajirao (8 December 1720 – 23 June 1761), also known as Nana Saheb I, was the 8th Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy in India. He was appointed as Peshwa in 1740 upon the death of his illustrious father, the Peshwa Bajirao I. During ...

Third Carnatic War (1757–1763)

Loss of Bengal

Alamgir II grieved the death of

Alivardi Khan Alivardi Khan (1671 – 9 April 1756) was the Nawab of Bengal from 1740 to 1756. He toppled the Nasiri dynasty of Nawabs by defeating Sarfaraz Khan in 1740 and assumed power himself. During much of his reign Alivardi encountered frequent Mar ...

the famous

Nawab of Bengal The Nawab of Bengal ( bn, বাংলার নবাব) was the hereditary ruler of Bengal Subah in Mughal India. In the early 18th-century, the Nawab of Bengal was the ''de facto'' independent ruler of the three regions of Bengal, Bihar, ...

, who annually pledged 5 million ''dams'' to the imperial court. His successor

Siraj-ud-Daula Mirza Muhammad Siraj-ud-Daulah ( fa, ; 1733 – 2 July 1757), commonly known as Siraj-ud-Daulah or Siraj ud-Daula, was the last independent Nawab of Bengal. The end of his reign marked the start of the rule of the East India Company over Be ...

was recognised as the next

, but he faced internal rivals who refused to consider the

Firman A firman ( fa, , translit=farmân; ), at the constitutional level, was a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in an Islamic state. During various periods they were collected and applied as traditional bodies of law. The word firman com ...

granted by Alamgir II to Siraj-ud-Daula. These internal conflicts would lead Siraj-ud-Daula to hastily annex

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

from the

English East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southe ...

, without the permission of the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II and

Salabat Jung Salabat Jung, born as Mir Sa'id Muhammad Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi on 24 November 1718, was the 3rd son of Nizam-ul-Mulk. He was appointed as ''Naib Subahdar'' (Deputy Viceroy) to his elder brother, Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung II, the Prime ...

. Siraj-ud-Daula was quickly defeated by Clive who recaptured

and defeated Siraj-ud-Daula during the

Battle of Plassey The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies on 23 June 1757, under the leadership of Robert Clive. The victory was made possible by the defection of Mir Jafar, ...

in the year 1757. After the annihilation of his entire army Siraj-ud-Daula fled and was killed by the forces of the treacherous

Mir Jafar Sayyid Mīr Jaʿfar ʿAlī Khān Bahādur ( – 5 February 1765) was a military general who became the first dependent Nawab of Bengal of the British East India Company. His reign has been considered by many historians as the start of the expan ...

. The deceased Siraj-ud-Daula's pretensions were criticised in the Mughal imperial court by Ghulam Husain Tabatabai, and Alamgir II refused to recognise

as the next

. In response to the imperial court's decision Mir Jafar thus consolidated and alliance with the manipulative

against the imperial family.

Authority in the Deccan

Throughout Alamgir II's reign French commandant de Bussy and Lally and their allies such as

and

Hyder Ali Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the att ...

greatly contributed to the advancement of forces in the Deccan opposed to the utter dominance of the

renegades, their achievements had earned them fame throughout the influential circles within the Mughal Empire. In the year 1756, Salabat Jung's forces utilised heavy muskets known as ''Catyocks'', which were attached to the ground, it was known to have fired more rapidly than a cannon. These new weapons would completely reverse fortunes of the Maratha rebels. Soon after the

, the French commander De Bussy, also entitled ''Saif-ud-Daula Umdat-ul-Mulk'' and ''Mansabdar of 7000'', by the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II. He captured the

Northern Circars The Northern Circars (also spelt Sarkars) was a division of British India's Madras Presidency. It consisted of a narrow slip of territory lying along the western side of the Bay of Bengal from 15° 40′ to 20° 17′ north latitude, in the pr ...

from the British along with his assistant Hyder Jung the "Vakil" (attorney) representing the French within the Mughal Empire and

. However the

were retaken by Forde in the year 1758 and De Bussy was recalled to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Fearing the worst Salabat Jung reconciled with the

and recognised their protectorate and was soon overthrown by his own brother

Nizam Ali Khan Mir Nizam Ali Khan Siddiqi, Asaf Jah II (7 March 1734 – 6 August 1803) was the 2nd Nizam of Hyderabad State in South India between 1762 and 1803. He was born on 7 March 1734 as fourth son to Asaf Jah I and Umda Begum. His official name is '' ...

Nawab of Bhopal

In the year 1758, the

Faiz Mohammad Khan Faiz Muhammad Khan Bahadur, (r.1742–1777) the third Nawab of Bhopal, was the son of Yar Muhammad Khan, the second Nawab of Bhopal (as a reagent), and the stepson of Mamola Bai a very influential Hindu wife of Y Muhammad and a direct descen ...

the

Nawab of Bhopal The Nawabs of Bhopal were the Muslim rulers of Bhopal, now part of Madhya Pradesh, India. The nawabs first ruled under the Mughal Empire from 1707 to 1737, under the Maratha Empire from 1737 to 1818, then under British rule from 1818 to 1947, an ...

was treacherously attacked by his step-mother

Mamola Bai Mamola Bai (1715-1795) was the Rajput wife of Yar Mohammad Khan the Nawab of Bhopal and step-mother of Faiz Mohammad Khan. She effectively ruled the Bhopal State for nearly 50 years, in name of her two stepsons Faiz ''Fāʾiz'' () is a male A ...

who suddenly besieged the Mughal garrison at Fortress of Raisen in 1758, according to the layout of the

s. The outraged Mughal Emperor Alamgir II, then issued a

supporting Faiz Mohammad Khan was the

the only chosen administrator of Raisen, the emperor also granted the title ''Bahadur'' to Faiz Mohammad Khan the Nawab of Bhopal. However the fort remained under the control of Mamola Bai and the renegade Nanasaheb Peshwa. The fortress of Raisen was quickly retaken by

in the year 1760, after the tragic assassination of Alamgir II and after

Sadashivrao Bhau Sadashivrao Bhau Peshwa (3 August 1730 – 14 January 1761) was son of Chimaji Appa (younger brother of Bajirao I) and Rakhmabai (Pethe family) and the nephew of Baji Rao I. He was a finance minister during the reign of Maratha emperor Chhatra ...

threatened to ravage

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

prior to the Third Battle of Panipat. It is believed that Faiz Mohammad Khan's Sepoy's were among those who had cut off the various supply routes of the Marathas just before the Third Battle of Panipat.

Nawab of Cambay

Najm-ad-Dawla supported British presence in

Cambay Cambay, Kambay or Khambhat was a princely state in India during the British Raj. The City of Khambat (Cambay) in present-day Gujarat was its capital. The state was bounded in the north by the Kaira district and in the south by the Gulf of C ...

. Turning much of his estate into an international "safe zone". Although it is likely that he too had to face threats from the Maratha climax.

"Nawab of Mysore"

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the sta ...

and his

Sepoy ''Sepoy'' () was the Persian-derived designation originally given to a professional Indian infantryman, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire. In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its oth ...

captured

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

from "Khande Rao of the

Maratha Confederacy The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Shi ...

". In honour of his achievements during the

Carnatic Wars The Carnatic Wars were a series of military conflicts in the middle of the 18th century in India's coastal Carnatic region, a dependency of Hyderabad State, India. Three Carnatic Wars were fought between 1744 and 1763. The conflicts involved n ...

, the king gave him the title "Nawab Haider Ali Khan Bahadur".

Zenith of the Maratha Confederacy

In 1758 the

s led by

occupied

after extracted an extortion of imperial wealth from

, together they conspired the overthrow of young

drove out Jahan Khan and

, the son and viceroy of

. Timur Shah Durrani and his forces were forced to retreat from

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

under the force of attacks from

s and

s. This victory made the belligerent Peshwa, grandiosely sack

and hype their intentions of placing

Vishwasrao Vishwasrao Bhat (22 July 1742 – 14 January 1761) was the eldest son of Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao of the Maratha Empire and also was the heir to the title of Peshwa. Vishwasrao had received training in administration and warfare from the age of ...

on the Mughal throne.

Assassination

Many of his actions had angered the people of India. Fearing a backlash in the summer of the year 1759 Prince Ali Gauhar escaped from

. Agitated by the daring escape

and

reckoned that Alamgir II was about to advance his son Prince Ali Gauhar, to dispossess and overthrow their regime. After detailed consideration Imad-ul-Mulk and an angry mob of various ethnic groups plotted to murder the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II and the assassinations of prominent members of his family in the winter of 1759.

According to legend

During his reign religious feuds became common among the individuals of the

Durbar Durbar can refer to: * Conference of Rulers, a council of Malay monarchs * Durbar festival, a yearly festival in several towns of Nigeria * Durbar floor plate, a hot-rolled structural steel that has been designed to give excellent slip resistance ...

, and communal duels between rivals became a common occurrence.

Aftermath

then personally chose the usurping, Shah Jahan III as the new

and began a campaign of plundering the

Jewels A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, a ...

and ornaments of the Mughal imperial court, he also defaced mosques, tombs and shrines that the Mughals had built in

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

and

, he then desecrated the imperial Moti Masjid and looted its exquisite jewelled decorations into booty for the ravaging

s. The defeat of Alamgir II's son-in-law,

by the

s in the year 1760, provoked the wrath of

, who launched a massive campaign gathering more troops than ever before. In response to

and

;

Najib-ud-Daula Najib ad-Dawlah ( ps, نجيب الدوله), also known as Najib Khan Yousafzai ( ps, نجيب خان), was a Rohilla Yousafzai Afghan who earlier served as a Mughal serviceman but later deserted the cause of the Mughals and joined Ahmed S ...

and his firm alliance of principal Muslim nobles in the

and

Ahmad Shah Abdali Ahmad Shāh Durrānī ( ps, احمد شاه دراني; prs, احمد شاه درانی), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (), was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is regarded as the founder of the modern Afghanistan. In July 1747, Ahm ...

recaptured Delhi and placed it under the nominal authority of

Shah Alam II Shah Alam II (; 25 June 1728 – 19 November 1806), also known by his birth name Ali Gohar (or Ali Gauhar), was the seventeenth Mughal Emperor and the son of Alamgir II. Shah Alam II became the emperor of a crumbling Mughal empire. His powe ...

. In the south

and his Mysore Army ferociously attacked the

. Meanwhile,

anticipated the collapse of the

and declared

Shuja-ud-Daula Shuja-ud-Daula (b. – d. ) was the Subedar and Nawab of Oudh and the Vizier of Delhi from 5 October 1754 to 26 January 1775. Early life Shuja-ud-Daula was the son of the Mughal Grand Vizier Safdarjung chosen by Ahmad Shah Bahadur. Unlike ...

his

Grand Vizier Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first ...

and

as his honorary ''Mukhtar Khas'' (Chief Representative). These developments eventually culminated into rise of religious and political loyalties that eventually clashed at the "Third Battle of Panipat" in the year 1761.

Foreign relations

Seven Years' War

In 1756, the Seven Years' War had broken out and Alamgir II was supported by various international belligerents of that war. It was the first global war in which the

Great Mogul The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers sty ...

had his involvement apart from the boundaries of India. Alamgir II initially involved in that war because the British were hasty in their attempts to conquer

Bengal Subah The Bengal Subah ( bn, সুবাহ বাংলা; fa, ), also referred to as Mughal Bengal ( bn, মোগল বাংলা), was the largest subdivision of the Mughal Empire (and later an independent state under the Nawabs of Ben ...

In 1755, De Bussy received letter from new

Alamgir II requesting French assistance to put down the

. Alamgir II asked if it was possible for De Bussy to dispatch a French contingent of 1000 strong to protect the

's capitol at

. Alamgir II also promised to pay a hefty sum for the maintenance of the French and even promised to settle disputes in the

in favour of the

French East India Company The French East India Company (french: Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales) was a colonial commercial enterprise, founded on 1 September 1664 to compete with the English (later British) and Dutch trading companies in the ...

. In 1757, Alamgir II had successfully achieved peace between the Durrani Emirate and the

. Alamgir II even secured a matrimonial alliance when Timur Shah Durrani married Gauhar Afroz Begam the daughter of the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II in February 1757 and

married

Hazrat Begum Hazrat Begum ( fa, حضرت بیگم; ps, حضرت بېګم; born 1740), also known as Hazrat Mahal and Sahiba Begum, was a Mughal princess, as the daughter of Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah. She was a wife of Ahmad Shah Durrani, the first emir o ...

the daughter of the former

in 1757. in the year 1751, the

Swedish East India Company The Swedish East India Company ( sv, Svenska Ostindiska Companiet or ''SOIC'') was founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1731 for the purpose of conducting trade with China and the Far East. The venture was inspired by the success of the Dutch East ...

was operating in Surat as a co-belligerent of Alamgir II. They were probably instrumental in assisting the first

Nawab of Junagadh Nawab of Junagarh or Junagadh refers to the now defunct ex-lineage of rulers of the princely Junagarh State in British Raj, nowadays Junagadh district in the state of Gujarat in India. There are still several forts and palaces in India which wer ...

. It is believed that Alamgir II even tried to reconcile the

and the

before his death in 1759.

Death

The newly appointed Mughal

after Ahmad Shah Durrani's invasion was

who tried to consolidate the remains of the

by uniting distant

's and

Nizam The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...

s into a common cause against the

s. Fearing their wrath the deposed

aligned himself with the

leader

and launched an counterattack against Najib-ud-Daula which lasted 15 days and resulted in the defeat of Najib-ud-Daula who was driven North.

then feared that the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II would recall

, or use his son Prince Ali Gauhar, to dispossess him of his newfound power with the

s. Therefore, Imad-ul-Mulk 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

's assassins. The Mughal Emperor Alamgir II's death was mourned throughout the

, particularly by the

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

populace. After the assassination of Alamgir II in 1759, the

under the sway of

had reached the peak of its short-lived power particularly when their involvement in the assassination had become eminent when he discussed abolishing the

and placing

on the throne in

by bribing or deposing

In popular culture

In the 2019

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

war epic

Panipat Panipat () is a historic city in Haryana, India. It is 95 km north of Delhi and 169 km south of Chandigarh on List of National Highways in India, NH-1. The three major battles fought in First Battle of Panipat, 1526, Second Battle of ...

, the character of Alamgir II was portrayed by S. M. Zaheer. In the 1994 TV series

The Great Maratha ''The Great Maratha'' is an Indian historical drama television series directed by Sanjay Khan and produced by Numero Uno International Limited. The drama aired on DD National. The series is based on the life of Mahadaji Shinde. The show compr ...

the character was portrayed by

Arun Bali Arun Bali (23 December 1942 – 7 October 2022) was an Indian actor who has worked in numerous films and television series. He played the part of King Porus in the 1991 period drama ''Chanakya (TV series), Chanakya'', Kunwar Singh in the Door ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alamgir Ii 1699 births 1759 deaths Mughal emperors People from Burhanpur