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 Sayyid Brothers of Barha, he ascended the throne at the young age of 16, under their strict supervision. He later got rid of them with the help of Asaf Jah I – Syed Hussain Ali Khan was murdered at Fatehpur Sikri in 1720 and Syed Hassan Ali Khan Barha was fatally poisoned in 1722. Muhammad Shah was a great patron of the arts, including musical, cultural and administrative developments. His pen-name was Sadā Rangīla ''(Ever Joyous)'' and he is often referred to as "Muhammad Shah Rangila", also sometimes as "Bahadur Shah Rangila" after his grand father Bahadur Shah I.

Although he was a patron of the arts, Muhammad Shah's reign was marked by rapid and irreversible decline of the Mughal Empire. The Mughal Empire was already decaying, but the invasion by Nader Shah of Persia and the subsequent sacking of Delhi, the Mughal capital, greatly accelerated the pace. The course of events not only shocked and mortified the Mughals themselves, but also other foreigners, including the British.

Reign

On 29 September 1719, Muhammad Shah was given the title ''Abu Al-Fatah Nasir-ud-Din Roshan Akhtar Muhammad Shah'' and enthroned in the Red Fort. His mother was given an allowance of 15 thousand rupees monthly for her needs, but the Sayyid Brothers kept the new emperor under strict supervision.

The Mughal Grand Vizier Syed Hassan Ali Khan Barha and his brother the Mughal commander and chief Syed Hussain Ali Khan Barha were well aware that Asaf Jah I and his companions Zain ud-din Ahmad Khan intended to dissolve their administration. The Sayyid Brothers quickly nominated an amateur, Prince Muhammad Ibrahim, who proclaimed himself Mughal Emperor, but he was quickly defeated by the new loyalists of the young Muhammad Shah on 13 November 1720.

On 9 October 1720, Syed Hussain Ali Khan Barha, the commander and chief of the most elite Mughal Army, was assassinated in his encampment in Toba Bhim. The Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah took direct command of his forces. Asaf Jah I was then dispatched to gain complete control of six Mughal provinces in the Deccan, and Muhammad Amin Khan Turani was assigned as the Mansabdar of 8,000. He was sent to pursue the Mughal Grand Vizier Syed Hassan Ali Khan Barha, who was defeated at the Battle of Hasanpur by Muhammad Amin Turani, Khan-i Dauran, Sher Afkan Panipati, and Amin-ud-Din Sambhali. Hassan Khan Barha fought on the side opposing Khan-i-Dauran where the most danger was anticipated. He was captured by Muhammad Shah on 15 November 1720 and executed two years later. Previously the emperor had to fight Muhammad Ibrahim, but young Muhammad Shah defeated him on 13 November 1720. The fall of the Sayyid Brothers marked the beginning of the end of the Mughal Empire's direct control over its dominions in the Deccan.

In the year 1721, young Muhammad Shah married the daughter of the previously deposed Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar.

On 21 February 1722, Muhammad Shah appointed the Asaf Jah I as Grand Vizier. He advised Muhammad Shah to be "as cautious as Akbar and as brave as Aurangzeb". Asaf Jah I resigned his post as the Grand Vizier when Muhammad Shah expressed negligence towards his administration. Muhammad Shah was young and foolish, and allowed his favorites to make remarks about him, when he wore his Deccan clothing to court, such as: "''See how the Deccan monkey dances!''". His efforts were misrepresented and thwarted by the nobles close to the Emperor. When Asaf Jah I realized that he was not liked by the emperor, he decided to return to the Deccan. Asaf Jah I appointed commander Ewaz Khan as the master of the garrison at Aurangabad, and much of his logistical duties were carried out by Inayatullah Kashmiri. Asaf Jah I left the imperial court in disgust. In 1723 he set out on an expedition to the Deccan, where he fought Mubariz Khan, the Mughal Subedar of the Deccan, who kept the ravaging Marathas at bay. Mubariz Khan was a former ally of the Barha Sayyids, who was appointed by Muhammad Shah to kill Asaf Jah I. Taking advantage of Mubariz Khan's conventional weaknesses, Asaf Jah I defeated and eliminated his opponent during the Battle of Shakar Kheda. Asaf Jah I then established the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1725.

Muhammad Shah appointed Qamar-ud-Din Khan as Wazir in succession to the Nizam. However he was shortly dismissed in favour of Roshan-ud-Daulah Turrah Baz Khan, a native of Panipat, who was appointed the Wazir, in order to reduce the influence of the Turani family. The ears of the Emperor were possessed by the Amir-ul-Umara, Khan-i Dauran.

During this time, the Mughal-Maratha Wars (1728–1763) would cause irreparable devastation to the inhabitants of the ill-administered Mughal Empire. As the Mughal court of Northern India was hostile to Nizam-ul-Mulk and attempted to suppress his independence, the Nizam encouraged the Marathas to invade Malwa and the northern Indian territories of the empire in order to save himself from intentions of the Emperor. The Nizam, who considered the Maratha army as his own, says that he used the Marathas to his own advantage in the Maasir-i Nizami:

"I consider all this army (Marathas) as my own and I will get my work done through them. It is necessary to take our hands off Malwa. God willing, I will enter into an understanding with them and entrust the Mulukgiri(raiding) on that side of the Narmada to them."

Despite efforts to counter the rise of rebellions in 1724, by the Nawab of Awadh Saadat Ali Khan and the Mughal Subedar in Bangalore, Dilawar Khan (r.1726–1756), who established a well-protected bastion in the Malabar Coast. Muhammad Ali Khan the Mughal Faujdar of Rangpur and his stern ally Deena Narayan were ambushed out of Koch Bihar by Upendra Narayan a Hindu Bihari and Mipham Wangpo (r.1729–1736) the ruler of Bhutan. Ali Mohammed Khan had established the barons of Rohilakhand. The Nawab of Bhopal, Yar Muhammad Khan Bahadur, also ratified by the Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah in 1728, countered ceaseless raids by the Marathas in Malwa and nearly began to lose half of his territories in the year 1742.

Muhammad Shah eventually learned the skills of statesmanship after removing his three incompetent advisors, namely Koki Jee (his foster sister), Roshan-ud-Daula (his mercantile friend) and Sufi Abdul Ghafur of Thatta (his spiritual teacher).

In the Punjab region, the Sikhs were at war with Mughal Subedars, and the hit-and-run tactics of the Sikh warriors caused devastation. In Ajmer, Ajit Singh carved out a vast territory and allied himself with the renegade Marathas. While in the Deccan the Marathas had ruined Mughal fortifications and were already on the warpath. All this greatly contributed to the decline of the Mughal Empire.

In 1737, the Marathas under Baji Rao I annexed Gujarat, Malwa and Bundelkhand, and raided the Mughal capital Delhi.

In 1739, Nader Shah of Persia, lured by the wealth and weakness of the Mughals, took advantage of a rebellion on his eastern borders near Kandahar and initiated a campaign against the Mughal Empire capturing Ghazni, Kabul, Lahore, and Sindh. He then advanced against Muhammad Shah and defeated him at the Battle of Karnal. The Persians, having crushed the Mughal armies in less than three hours, marched upon and sacked Delhi, hoarding priceless treasures that were taken back to Persia. This event weakened the Mughals significantly, paving the path for more invaders and eventually the East India Company.

In 1748, Ahmad Shah Durrani of Afghanistan invaded the Mughal Empire. Heir apparent Ahmad Shah Bahadur, Grand Vizier Qamaruddin Khan and his son Moin-ul-Mulk better known as Mir Mannu, Intizam-ud-Daula and Safdarjung were sent with 75,000 men after the defeat of Shahnawaz Khan in Lahore. At the Battle of Manupur (1748), Durrani's 12,000 men were defeated, and he was forced to retreat. There was a great rejoicing for this event throughout the Mughal Empire.

Cultural developments

While Urdu

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