Successors of Mughals: The Later Mughals Modern History of India
The last powerful Mughal was Aurangzeb. The Early Mughals were Babar, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, and Aurangzeb. Mughal empire would continue to rule India till mid 19th century in its weak form.
The last Mughal emperor of India was Bahadur Shah Zafar. We are going to discover about the rule of these weak later Mughals in this blog.
Death of Aurangzeb and struggle for succession.
Three sons of Aurangzeb, Muazzam, Azam, and Kam Baksh started a long war of succession. The three sons were administrators of three different regions.
Muazzam wins and ascends as Bahadur Shah I (1707-1712).
Other names: Shah-i-Bekhabar or Shah Alam I.
Why was Bahadur Shan I called Shah-i-Bekhabar?
Khafi called him Shah-i-Bekhabar. Here is the reason.
He would grant large rewards and titles.
Pleases Sikhs and Marathas: Aurangzeb had displeased the Sikhs and the Marathas. But, Bahadur Shah I tried to regain their favor.
Sardesh Mukhi and Chauth: He allowed the Marathas to collect Sardesh Mukhi in the Deccan. He did not allow to collect Chauth.
Authority: He enjoyed real authority but was the last Mughal to do so. His death started another war of succession.
Kingmaker: The later Mughals were so weak because they enjoyed no authority. The kingmakers reduced the Mughals to de-facto rulers.
The first kingmaker was Zulfikar Khan. There was a party of Iranis in the Mughal court. Zulfikar Khan was the leader of this party.
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