Shah Alam II
Shah Alam II شاه عالم دوم | |
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Mughal emperors | ||||||||
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Shah Alam II ( Persian pronunciation:
Shah Alam faced many invasions, mainly by the
Shah Alam II was considered the only and rightful emperor, but he was unable to return to Delhi until 1772, under the protection of the
Shah Alam II authored his own Diwan of poems and was known by the pen-name Aftab. His poems were guided, compiled and collected by Mirza Fakhir Makin.[21]
Shah Alam also penned the famous book Ajaib-ul-Qasas, which is considered one of the earliest and most prominent books of prose in Urdu.
Early life
Ali Gohar was born to
Upon his father's accession, he became the
Escape from Delhi
Prince Ali Gauhar, afterwards Emperor Shah Alam II, had been the heir apparent of his father
Prince Ali Gauhar organized a militia and made a daring escape from Delhi. He appeared in the Eastern Subah in 1759, hoping to strengthen his position by attempting to regain control over Bengal, Bihar and Odisha.
Very soon however,
Bengal War
In 1760, after Shah Alam's militia gaining control over pockets in
The Mughals clearly intended to recapture their breakaway
Prince Ali Gauhar successfully advanced as far as Patna, which he later besieged with a combined army of over 40,000 in order to capture or kill Ramnarian, a sworn enemy of the Mughals. Mir Jafar was in terror at the near demise of his cohort and sent his own son Miran to relieve Ramnarian and retake Patna. Mir Jafar also implored the aid of Robert Clive, but it was Major John Caillaud, who dispersed Prince Ali Gauhar's army in 1761 after four major battles including Battle of Patna, Battle of Sirpur, Battle of Birpur and Battle of Siwan.
After negotiations assuring peace Shah Alam II was escorted by the British to meet
Angered by these developments, the East India Company sought to oust Mir Qasim. Court intrigues encouraged by the East India Company forced Mir Qasim to leave Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. Mir Qasim on his part encouraged Shuja-ud-Daula the Nawab of Awadh and Shah Alam II to engage the British.
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Maratha Confederacy in 1757, who assassinated Alamgir II and prominent members of the imperial family, within the Maratha controlled city of Delhi; Shah Alam II managed to escape to safety with the Nawab of Awadh.[25]
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Bengal War causing the eventual intervention of the East India Company.
Emperor from Allahabad
Shah Alam II was acknowledged as the emperor by the
Battle of Buxar
The Battle of Buxar was fought on 22 October 1764 between the combined armies of
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Shuja-ud-Daula served as the leading Nawab Vizier of the Mughal Empire, during the Third Battle of Panipat and the Battle of Buxar
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Nawab of Bengal, Mir Qasimdefected to Shah Alam II.
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Mughal Army.
Treaty of Allahabad
Soon after the Battle of Buxar, Shah Alam II, a sovereign who had just been defeated by the British, sought their protection by signing the Treaty of Allahabad in the year 1765. Shah Alam II was forced to grant the Diwani (right to collect revenue) of Bengal (which included Bihar and Odisha) to the East India Company in return for an annual tribute of 2.6 million rupees to be paid by the company from the collected revenue. Tax exemption status was also restored to the company. The company further secured the districts of Kora and Allahabad which allowed the East India Company to collect tax from more than 20 million people. The East India Company thus became the Imperial tax collector in the former Mughal province of Bengal (which included Bihar and Northern Odisha). The Company appointed a deputy, Nawab Muhammad Reza Khan to collect revenue on their behalf.
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Shah Alam II grantingBenares.
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A member of the East India Company enjoying a Durbar.
Absence from Delhi
Shah Alam II's absence from Delhi was due to the terms of the treaty he had signed with the British. But his son and heir apparent Prince
Bengal Famine
The
Return to Delhi
Shah Alam II resided in the fort of Allahabad for six years.
In the year 1771 the
The emperor returned to the throne in Delhi in 1772, under the protection of the
demanded tribute, which the Moguls are known to have paid so as to avoid any further conflict with the Confederacy.In the year 1787, an embassy of Vijay Singh from Jodhpur presented itself to the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II, bringing homage and the golden key of the Fortress of Ajmer.[31]
After killing Ghulam Qadir and restoring Shah Alam II to the throne, a Maratha garrison permanently occupied Delhi in 1788 and ruled on north India for next two decades until they were usurped by the East India Company in the Second Anglo-Maratha War.[32]
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The Royal Chamber in the Public Audience Hall in the Middle of Yazdah Darreh, with the Ruler, Alam Bahador Badshah, and the Great Commanders, a page from the Lady Coote Album.
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AMughal EmperorShah Alam II, dated 1776.
Reformation of the Mughal Army
One of his first acts was to strengthen and raise a new
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The newly reestablishedMughal Armyduring the reign of Shah Alam II.
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A Mughal infantryman.
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LargeMughal Armyencampments during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II.
Foreign relations
Shah Alam II, was well supported by Jean Law de Lauriston and 200 Frenchmen during his campaign to regain the Eastern Subahs (during the Seven Years' War). The brainchild of the campaign was Ghulam Husain Tabatabai, who had gained much administrative and military experience from both the French and the Dutch.
After Shah Alam II's defeat in the
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Pierre André de Suffren ally of Hyder Ali and also Shah Alam II.
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Hyder Ali was bestowed the title Shams ul-Mulk and Amir ud-Daula by Shah Alam II, his pro-French policies were a continuation of the Mughal Empire's policies during the Seven Years' War.
Jat victories
During one massive assault, Jats sieged Agra in 1761, after 20 days on 12 June 1761 the Mughal forces at Agra surrendered to Jats.[36] Jats plundered the city and carried the bounty, including the two great silver doors to the entrance of the famous Taj Mahal. which were carried off and melted down by Suraj Mal in 1764.[38]
Suraj Mal's son
Sikh Victories
Sikhs had been in perpetual war against Mughal intolerance specially after beheading of the Sikh Guru -
The Marathas
In 1778, after a Sikh incursion into Delhi, Shah Alam ordered their defeat by appointing, the
In the year 1779, Mirza Najaf Khan carefully advanced his forces who successfully routed the treasonous Zabita Khan and his Sikh allies who lost more than 5,000 men in a single battle and never returned to threaten the Mughal Empire during the commander Mirza Najaf Khan's lifetime. Najaf Khan as prime minister, granted sovereign rights to the Sikhs as agreement.[40]
In the year 1783, Farzana Zeb un-Nissa had saved Delhi from a possible invasion by a force of 30,000 Sikh troops, under Baghel Singh, Jassa Singh Ramgarhia and Jassa Singh Ahluwalia.
Mughal empire disintegrated to such an extent that Shah Alam II was only left with Delhi city to rule. In 1783,
Downfall
After the defeats at
The respect toward the house of Timur is so strong that even though the whole subcontinent has been withdrawn from its authority, that no ordinary prince ever intends to take the title of sovereign...and Shah Alam II is still seated on the Mughal throne, and everything is still done in his name.
Benoît de Boigne, (1790).
Prisoner of Ghulam Qadir
Nawab Majad-ud-Daula was followed by a known enemy of the Mughals, the grandson of
Client of Mahadji Shinde
Thankful for his intervention, he honoured
After killing Ghulam Qadir and restoring Shah Alam II to the throne, a Maratha garrison permanently occupied Delhi in 1788 and ruled on north India for next two decades until they were usurped by the East India Company following the Second Anglo-Maratha War in 1803.[32]
Second reign
The French threat in Europe and its possible repercussions in India caused the British to strive to regain the custody of Shah Alam II. The British feared that the French military officers might overthrow Maratha power and use the authority of the Mughal emperor to further French ambition in India.
Shah Alam II also corresponded with Hyder Ali and later with his son Tipu Sultan during their conflicts with the East India Company during the Anglo-Mysore Wars and was very well informed about the expansionist agenda of the British.
After the
Death
Shah Alam II died of natural causes on 19 November 1806. His grave lies in a marble enclosure adjoined to the
In popular culture
- In the 1994 Hindi TV series The Great Maratha, Shah Alam's character was portrayed by Rishabh Shukla.
Gallery
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Map of India in 1765, before the fall of Nawabs and Princely states nominally allied to the emperor (mainly in Green).
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Map of India in 1795, 11 years before the death of Shah Alam II
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BlindMughal Emperor Shah Alam II sits at throne of Delhi
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Silver rupee coins from the Bengal Presidency, struck in the name of Shah Alam II, Calcutta Mint.
See also
- Mirza Najaf Khan
- Shuja-ud-Daula
- Hyder Ali
- Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah
References
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- ^ Antoine Louis Henri de Polier; Polier (colonel de, Antoine-Louis-Henri) (1947). Pratul Chandra Gupta (ed.). Shah Alam II and His Court: A Narrative of the Transactions at the Court of Delhy from the Year 1771 to the Present Time. S.C. Sarkar and sons. p. 71.
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{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
- William Francklin (1798). The History of the reign of Shah-Aulum (Shah Alam), the present emperor of Hindostaun. Cooper & Graham, London.
- Shah Alam II (1728–1806)
- The Fall of the Moghul Empire of Hindustan – World Wide School
- Marathas and the English Company 1707–1800
Further reading
- Shah Alam Nama. Bibliotheca Indica. 1912. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2015.