Mughal War Of Succession (1658–1659)

The Mughal war of succession of 1658–1659 was a war of succession fought between the four sons of Shah Jahan: Aurangzeb, Dara Shikoh, Murad Bakhsh, and Shah Shuja, in hopes of gaining the Mughal Throne. Prior to the death of Shah Jahan, each of his sons held governorships during their father's reign. The emperor favoured the eldest, Dara Shikoh, However, there was resentment among the younger three, who sought at various times to strengthen alliances between themselves and against Dara. Since there was no Mughal tradition of hierarchy , the systematic passing of rule, upon an emperor's death, to his eldest son. Instead it was customary for sons to overthrow their father and for brothers to war to the death among themselves.

Shah Shuja was victorious in the Battle of Bahadurpur. Shuja turned back to Rajmahal to make further preparations. He signed a treaty with his elder brother, Dara, which left him in control of Bengal, Orissa and a large part of Bihar, on 17 May 1658.

Aurangzeb defeated Dara twice (at Dharmat and Samugarh), caught him, executed him on a charge of heresy and ascended the throne. Shuja marched to the capital again, this time against Aurangzeb. A battle took place on 5 January 1659 at the Battle of Khajwa (Fatehpur district, Uttar Pradesh, India), where Shuja was defeated. Ultimately, Aurangzeb was victorious making him the 6th Mughal Emperor.Catherine Blanshard Asher, (1992
"Architecture of Mughal India – Part 1"
Cambridge university Press, Volume 1, Page 252.

Background

On 6 September 1657, Shah Jahan was ill with strangury and constipation. He failed to hold Jharokha Darshan and the shops were closed in the bazaars around Delhi. Dara Shikoh was assumed the role of regent in his father's stead, which swiftly incurred the animosity of his brothers. Seizing the opportunity to claim the throne, Prince Shah Shuja, who was the viceroy of Bengal and Orissa rebelled against his father and prince Murad Baksh crowned himself as emperor at Surat. However, as a contrast to both Shuja and Murad, Aurangzeb did not take the irrevocable step of crowning himself. Instead, he engaged in a busy secret correspondence with Murad, and, to a lesser extent, with Shuja. Letters written in cipher encased in bamboo tubes passed from runner to runner over special relay posts newly established between Ahmadabad and Aurangabad. Both of them agreed to a joint action against their brothers. As a result, they decided to divide the ruling Mughal land amongst themselves.(But this wasn't so as Aurangzeb was only seeking his brother's support for claiming the throne for himself and he would later execute Murad, typical of the Mughal fratricidal wars for the throne).
On September 6, 1657, Shah Jahan fell seriously ill, with his life hanging in the balance for some time. His eldest son, Dara Shikoh, who attended to him daily, took measures to control the flow of information to his three brothers— Shah Shuja in Bengal, Aurangzeb in the Deccan, and Murad Baksh in Gujarat—by halting courtiers on the roads. However, this only exacerbated the situation, leading to widespread rumors across the country. Many believed that the Emperor had already passed away, and that Dara was concealing this fact to pave his own path to the throne.

Subsequently, the inevitable war of succession began. Shuja and Murad declared themselves as Emperors in their respective provincial seats and started marching towards Delhi with their available troops. Aurangzeb, however, opted for a more subtle approach. He denounced Dara as an apostate from Islam and portrayed his own intentions as merely aiming to free his father from Dara's alleged harmful influence. Aurangzeb forged an alliance with his neighbor Murad, promising to combine their forces for the march to the capital.

Battle of Bahadurpur (1658)

When Shah Jahan recovered and was relocated to Agra, he was informed of the rebellious actions of his three sons. Since they had disobeyed his previous order to return to their respective provinces, he was easily persuaded by Dara to dispatch armies against them. The instructions given to these armies were to persuade or threaten the princes to return to their headquarters, resorting to force only if persuasion failed.

Two armies were dispatched against Aurangzeb and Murad, led by Jaswant Singh and Qasim Khan respectively. They departed from Agra on December 18th and 26th. The force sent against Shuja was nominally under Dara's eldest son, Sulaiman Shikoh, with Jai Singh serving as his guardian and aide.

Dara Shikoh dispatched his son Suleiman Shikoh and Jai Singh to confront his brother Shah Shuja, who held the Subahdari of Mughal Bengal. The battle took place at Bahadurpur near Varanasi in February 1658. The Mughal forces led by Suleiman and Jai Singh emerged victorious, compelling Shah Shuja to retreat to Bengal.

Suleiman's troops proceeded to plunder the entire camp. Shah Shuja's losses were estimated at 50 lakhs of rupees, with his chief minister, Mirza Jan Beg, suffering additional losses of six lakhs worth of property, along with horses and elephants. The fleeing prince swiftly set sail and traveled down the river, reaching Patna on February 19th. From there, he retreated to Munger (Monghyr), where he halted to prepare for a confrontation against his pursuers.

Through diligent efforts and daily oversight, Shah Shuja oversaw the construction of a two-mile-long wall stretching from the hill to the river, blocking the plain outside the city. This unexpected barrier brought Suleiman to a sudden stop. He hesitated, lingering at Jaipur for several days to secure a safe passage forward with the assistance of local zamindars. After marching 14 miles further east, he set up camp at Surajgarh, located 15 miles southwest of Munger, and took time to devise new plans.

Battle of Dharmat (1658)

After Shah Jahan's death, his son Aurangzeb proclaimed himself ruler and bestowed titles on his children. By April 3 he crossed the Narmada river towards Ujjain. On April 13 he learns that Murad was just near him and Aurangzeb summoned him to come fast and on the next day they camped at Dharmat by the western bank of the Gambhira River.

On 15 April 1658, when the rival hosts sighted each other. The battle began with the usual discharge of artillery, rockets, and muskets at long range. The distance gradually decreased, as Aurangzeb's army advanced slowly, keeping its regular formation. The Rajputs were soon engaged in a close hand-to-hand combat. The Rajputs densely packed within their narrow position, were severely galled by the barqandazes and archers of the princes’ army from front and flank, without being able to manoeuvre freely and give an effective reply. The guns and muskets fired at point-blank range, woefully thinned their ranks, but so impetuous was their onset that it bore down all opposition. Murshid Quli Khan, the Chief of Artillery, was slain after a heroic resistance and his division was shaken; but the guns were not damaged.

The Rajputs, being divided into many mutually antagonistic clans, could not charge in one compact mass; they were broken up into six or seven bodies, each under its own chieftain and each choosing its own point of attack. Thus the force of their impact was divided and weakened as soon as it struck the dense mass of Aurangzib's Van.

The Maharajah had chosen his position so badly that many of the imperialists standing on the uneven ground could not join in the fight, and many others could not charge by reason of their being cramped within a narrow space. Half the imperial Van, viz., the Mughal troops under Qasim Khan, rendered no aid to their Rajput comrades now struggling hard with Aurangzeb's Van, they were suspected of collusion with the enemy or of antipathy to the Rajputs. The charge of Jaswant's vanguard was not followed up. Aurangzeb's troops, who had parted before the rushing tide, closed again behind them, and thus cut off their retreat. Jaswant, too, was not the cool wise commander to keep watch on all the field and send reinforcements and the new development made his position untenable.

Without support or reinforcement arriving from their own army, the Rajputs were disheartened and checked. Mukund Singh Hada, their gallant leader, received an arrow through his eye and fell down dead. All the six Rajput chieftains engaged in the charge were slain. Hopelessly outnumbered now, assailed in front, right, and left, and cut off from their rear, the Rajputs were slaughtered. Aurangzeb's gunners, with their pieces mounted on high ground, concentrated their fire on the enemy's centre under Jaswant himself. At the sight of the annihilation of their brave vanguard and a triumphant forward movement on the part of Aurangzeb, desertion appeared in the Maharajah's ranks. Kai Singh Sisodia from the right flank of the Centre, and Sujan Singh Bundela and Amar Singh Chandrawat from the van, left the battlefield with their clansmen and returned home.

Even though the imperialists were close to defeat, there stood 2,000 Rathors under the banner of Marwar, ready to live or to die with their chieftain, besides many other Rajput and Mughal auxiliaries; and they offered a stubborn opposition. Iftikhar Khan, who bravely fought the reserves with his depleted forces, was slain.

With the Vanguard of Iftikhar Khan overwhelmed and the Mughal force under Qasim Khan kept aloof during the battle, Jaswant Singh fought valiantly for 4 hours even though he was wounded, his voice was a constant encouragement to his Rajput troops. According to Ishwardas, he chose the option of charging with his horse towards the strong fresh troops to get slain, but he was persuaded by Maheshdas and Askarandas to desist from it and took the reins of the horse from him.

Battle of Samugarh (1658)

After his defeat at the Battle of Dharmat, Dara Shikoh began to retreat towards Samugarh, about 10 miles (16 km) east of Agra, south of the Yamuna River, Aurangzeb and his army then flanked Dara’s fortified line along the Chambal River.

Shikoh ordered his cannons to start firing towards the army of Aurangzeb. Eventually, Murad Baksh and his Sowars began a swift charge into the far right flank of Dara Shikoh, commanded by Chatter Sal, without the orders of Aurangzeb. It is believed that Murad Baksh was a sworn enemy of Chattar Sal. They both fought ferociously on the battlefield as the Sowars of Murad Baksh and Murad Baksh killed Ram Singh Rautela.

When Dara Shikoh was informed about the death of Chattar Sal, Murad Baksh, the collapse of the Rajput infantry and the Deccan Sowars, he immediately pushed towards their aid alongside Khalilullah Khan. However, Due to Aurangzeb's heavy bombardment Dara Shikoh decided to join Khalilullah Khan in the Cavalry. Dara Shikoh’s army fled to Goindwal where Guru Har Rai had deployed his army, the Akal Sena, to prevent and delay Aurangzeb’s army from pursuing Dara Shikoh. When the battle ended Dara Shikoh and Khalilullah Khan fled towards Sulaiman Shikoh and Aurangzeb was declared the new Mughal Emperor.

Battle of Khajwa (1659)

After subduing two of his brothers, Dara and Murad, Aurangzeb assembled a massive army to confront his last remaining brother, Shah Shuja, in the Battle of Khajwa. This battle, which took place on January 5th, was primarily characterized by an intense artillery exchange, with cannon, rockets, muskets, and hand grenades being employed extensively by both sides. With the arrival of Mir Jumla, preparations on the imperial side were accelerated. On January 3rd, Aurangzeb, likely following Mir Jumla's counsel, organized his forces and assigned each division its designated position.

The battle ensued between Aurangzeb and Shah Shuja, resulting in the defeat of Shah Shuja's army, which subsequently surrendered as Shuja fled the battlefield. Determined to eliminate any potential threats to his claim to the throne, Aurangzeb pursued Shah Shuja relentlessly. Faced with bleak prospects and the fear of public execution if captured alive, Shah Shuja abandoned Bengal permanently and sought refuge in Arakan.

Coronation of Aurangzeb

Jahanara Begum Sahib, Mumtaz Mahal's eldest surviving daughter, voluntarily shared his 8-year confinement and nursed him in his dotage. In January 1666, Shah Jahan fell ill. Confined to bed, he became progressively weaker until, on 30 January, he commended the ladies of the imperial court, particularly his consort of later years Akbarabadi Mahal, to the care of Jahanara. Shah Jahan died on 22 January of that year, aged 74. Shah Jahan's chaplain Sayyid Muhammad Qanauji and Kazi Qurban of Agra came to the fort, moved his body to a nearby hall, washed it, enshrouded it, and put it in a coffin of sandalwood.

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Wars involving the Mughal Empire
Wars of succession involving the states and peoples of Asia
Conflicts in 1658
Conflicts in 1659
1658 in India
1659 in India
1650s in the Mughal Empire