Alamgir II (1754-59)

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.

Rafi-ud-Daulah (Shah Jahan II ): Phantom Mughal Emperor

Rafi-ud-Daulah was one of the phantom kings raised to the Mughal throne by the powerful Sayyid Brothers, known as the King-makers in the Mughal history. He was proclaimed Mughal emperor on 6 June 1719 by them when the health of his predecessor Rafi-ul Darjat showed signs of decline.

Rafi-ud-Daulah, also known as Shah Jahan II, was also a mere puppet in the hands of Sayyid Hussain Ali Khan Barha, younger of the Sayyid brothers. He was not allowed to attend the Friday prayers. Not to speak of going out hunting he was not even allowed to enter into any conversation with any of the nobles.

During the reign of Rafi-ud-Daulah, a new claimant to the Mughal throne came in the form of Niku Siyar, who was declared ruler at Agra by a rival party opposed to Sayyid brothers. Niku Siyar was the son of Auragzeb’s rebel son Akbar. However, Niku Siyar was defeated and sent to prison where he had spent most of his early life.

Rafi-ud-Daulah died on 17 September 1719. He is buried near the shrine of Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki in Mehrauli in Delhi.

Rafi-ud-Darajat: Puppet Mughal Emperor

After the ninth Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar lost the confidence of the Sayyid brothers, known as the King-makers in the Mughal history, Rafi-ud-Darajat, son of Rafi-us-Shan (one of the sons of Bahadur Shah I), was elevated to the throne by them on 28 February 1719. He was a virtual prisoner in the hands of the powerful Sayyid Brothers who now wanted to “rule through imperial puppets.”

Rafi-ud-Darajat was addicted to drinking and as consequence his health began to show signs of decline fast. On his suggestion his elder brother Rafi-ud-Daulah was placed on the Mughal throne on 6 June 1719 by the Sayyid Brothers.

Rafi-ul Darjat died of consumption on 13 June 1719.

Later Mughal Emperor Jahandar Shah: Incompetent and Morally Depraved

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.

Akbar’s Conquest of Garah Katanga

In l564 Akbar sent Khwaja Abdu-Majid, better known as Asaf Khan, the governor of the Mughal province of Kara, to make a conquest of the kingdom of Garah Katanga, a territory, abounding in hills and jungles in the Gondwana region presently forming parts of the northern districts of the state of Madhya Pradesh. It had remained unconquered since the advent of Islam in India.

At this time the kingdom of Garah Katanga was being governed by a valiant lady of noble character Rani Durgavati, as the regent for her minor son, Bir Narayan. Durgavati was a princess of the famous Chandela kingdom of Mahoba, a powerful dynasty of India some five centuries earlier. Equipped with about 500 elephants and 20,000 horses this gallant Rajput lady met the Mughal forces between Garah and Mandala (now in the Jabalpur district). During the battle an arrow struck her. When she saw that she might be taken prisoner, she plunged a dagger into her stomach and died. The young ruler, Bir Narayan, fought bravely but was defeated and trampled to death by horses.

The enormity of the booty captured by the invaders in the form of jewels, gold, silver, and other stones can be gauged by the fact that it proved difficult to compute even the tenth part of it.

Baburnamah or Tuzuk-i-baburi of Babur

Babur, the first Mughal ruler, wrote his autobiography Baburnamah or Tuzuk-i-baburi in Turki or Turkish language which was his native tongue. Baburnamah, Wakai or Wakiat-i-Baburi, or Tuzak-i-Baburi as Babur's Memoirs are variously known, is the main source of information about his life and career.

According to Lane-Poole, "If ever there were a case when the testimony of a single historical document, unsupported by other evidence, should be accepted as sufficient proof, it is the case with Babur's Memoirs. No reader of this prince of autobiographers can doubt his honesty or his competence as witness and chronicler." 

On the instruction of Akbar, Baburnamah was translated into Persian in 1589 by one of his nobles, Mirza Abdur-Rahim, who was also Bairam Khan's son. Bairam Khan was the preceptor to Mughal emperor Akbar. It was translated into English for the first time by Leyden and Erskine in 1826. The second English translation was made in 1905 by Mrs. Beveridge.  Baburnamah was rendered into French by Pavet de Courteille in 1871.

Krishnadeva Raya, the Greatest Vijayanagar king

One of the greatest kings of India, Krishnadeva Raya raised the Hindu power of Vijayanagar to the zenith of its prosperity and glory. He belonged to the Taluva dynasty, one of the four main dynasties, combination of which is known as the Vijayanagar empire. A valiant and active warrior, he successfully fought all the wars he waged throughout his reign. It is said that had he lived longer, he might have driven the Muslims from the Deccan altogether. 

Krishnadeva Raya ruled from 1509 to 29. 

Of him, the Portuguese traveller Domingo Paes, who visited the Vijayanagar kingdom, writes in terms rarely used by a European traveller of an oriental king,: "He is the most learned and perfect king that could possibly be, cheerful of disposition and very merry; he is one that seeks to honour foreigners and receives them kindly; asking all about their affairs whatever their condition may be. He is a great ruler and a man of much justice, but subject to certain fits of rage . . . he is by rank a greater lord than any, by reason of what he possesses in armies and territories, but it seems that he has in fact nothing compared to what a man like him ought to have, so gallant and perfect is he in all things."

Military conquests of Krishnadeva Raya

Krishnadeva Raya at first made an onslaught on the feudatories in the central portion of his empire. He reduced the rebellious chief of Ummattur in Southern Mysore to obedience and captured the fortress of Sivasundram in 1511. In the following year he seized the Raichur doab. He chastised the Gajapati king Prataparudra of Orissa in 1513 and captured the fortresses of Udayagiri, Kondavidu and kondapilli.  He inflicted a crushing defeat on Isma'il 'Adil Shah of Bijapur on the 19th March, 1520. The Muslim sultanates of Gulbarga and Bidar were also defeated and the puppet Bahmani Sultan was restored to the throne. To commemorate the event, he assumed the title of 'Yavanarajya Sthapanacharya' or restorer of the Yavana kingdom.

Thus by his indomitable military prowess, Krishnadeva Raya extended the limits of the Vijayanagar empire to the greatest ever.

As a patron of art and architecture

Apart from the military laurels, Krishnadeva Raya’s personal accomplishments were no less remarkable. Himself a scholar, a musician and poet, he patronized poets, philosophers, and religious teachers and is known as Abhinava Bhoja. He wrote his magnum opus, Amuktamalyada, in Telugu. It is a work on polity. He is credited to have written five Sanskrit works. His court was adorned by the 'Ashtadiggajas', 'the eight elephants' (famous poets), whose contribution the world of Telugu literature is immense. His poet laureate, Peddana, was proficient in Sanskrit and Telugu and was honoured with numerous gifts. Krishnadeva Raya is called as the Andhra Pitamaha for his contribution to the Telugu literature. His reign is considered as the golden period of Telugu literature.

Krishnadeva Raya was also a great builder. The famous Hazara temple, dedicated to Lord Rama, was built during his reign. The temple is, according to Longhurst, "one of the most perfect specimens of Hindu temple architecture in existence".  He founded a new town Nagalapur which was razed to the ground after his death by Ibrahim Adil Shah as a retaliation for the treatment of Bijapur by the Vijayanagar monarch which has been mentioned earlier.

Krishnadevaraya was a great builder. He founded a town called Nagalapur named after his mother Nagalamba. He built several temples there.

As an Administrator

Krishnadeva Raya ranks very high as an administrator who introduced a number of innovations in the administration. "A crowned King," writes Krishnadeva Raya in his Amuktamalyada, "should always rule with an eye towards Dharma." He further says that "a King should rule collecting round him people skilled in statecraft, should investigate the mines yielding precious metals in his kingdom and extract the same, should levy taxes from his people moderately, should counteract the acts of his enemies by crushing them with force, should be friendly, should protect one and all of his subjects, should put an end to the mixing up of the castes among them, should always try to increase the merit of the Brahmanas, should strengthen his fortress and lessen the growth of the undesirable things and should be ever mindful of the purification of his cities..."

A detailed land survey and assessment was conducted during his reign. Krishnadeva Raya knew how to secure the goodwill of the people. He remitted a marriage tax because it was not popular.

Some facts about Krishnadeva Raya

• Vyasaraja was the rajguru or royal teacher of Krishnadeva Raya.
• Krishnadeva Raya was the first Vijayanagar ruler who concluded treaties with the Portuguese.
• The foreign travellers who visited Vijayanagar during Krishnadeva Raya’s reign were Domingo Paes and Duarte Barbosa.