After his death on the 27th February, 1712, Bahadur Shah I, son and successor of Aurangzeb, was succeeded by his son Jahandar Shah. Jahandar’s accession to the Mughal throne was not a smooth affair. In the war of succession that followed Bahadur Shah I’s death, he killed his brother Azim-us-Shan. His other brothers Jahan Shah and Rafi-us-Shan were also killed during the war of succession.
Jahandar Shah owed his accession to the throne to Zulfiqar Khan, son of Asad Khan. The father son duo was the important members of the Irani party of the later Mughal nobility. Zulfiqar Khan was made the chief minister and became supreme in the state.
Slave to the charms of his favourite mistress Lal Kunwar, Jahandar Shah became oblivious of his duties to the state. His brief reign was the heydays of the merrymakers. "In the brief reign of Jahandar", observes contemporary historian Khafi Khan, "violence and debauchery had full sway. It was a fine time for minstrels and singers and all the tribes of dancers and actors." Matters were made worse by the Zulfiqar Khan who was under the influence of his favourite named Subhag Chand and entrusted his most of his official work to him.
Jahandar Shah was not destined to be Mughal emperor for a long time. Farrukhsiyar, his nephew and Azim-us-Shan's son, with the help of Sayyid brothers, defeated him outside the city of Agra on the 10th January, 1713. Jahandar Shah fled to Delhi in a bullock cart where he was strangled to death in prison on Farrukhsiyar’s orders. Zulfiqar Khan also met the same fate.
Jahandar Shah lies buried in the Humayun’s tomb in Delhi.
Key Takeways
Jahandar Shah abolished the Zajiya tax which was imposed by Aurangzeb.
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