Alamgir II, the second son of former Mughal emperor Jahandar Shah (reigned 1712–13), was raised to the throne in 1754 by his wazir Ghazi-ud-Din Imad-ul-Mulk after dethroning his
predecessor Ahmad Shah.
Known as Aziz-ud-Din
before he ascended the throne at the age of 55 years, Alamgir II had had practically no experience of administration
and warfare as he had spent almost all his life in jail. Such a ruler cannot
be expected to exert his independence and he became a virtual prisoner in the
hands of his wazir Ghazi-ud-Din who was now donning the mantle of Sayyid
brothers who raised and dethroned some Mughal emperors at their will.
An unprincipled Ghazi-ud-Din unsuccessfully tried to form an
anti-Maratha coalition. During Alamgir’s reign the Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah
Abdali invaded India for the fourth time in 1756. Delhi was "slandered and its unhappy
people again subjected to pillage".
Alamgir II’s tried to free
himself from the control of Imad-ul-Mulk. This worsened
the relationship between them. Consequently the Mughal emperor was put to death in 1759 by the latter’s
orders. Alamgir II was trapped to visit a saint by the associates of Imad-ul-Mulk and was stabbed to death by Balabash Khan, one of the Wazir's assassins. The pathetic condition of a Mughal emperor can be gauged from the fact
that his naked corpse was thrown down the banks
of the river Jamuna.
Comments
Post a Comment