page_title: Bahadur Shah I
section_title: During the reign of Aurangzeb
hierarchical_section_title: Bahadur Shah I / Early life / During the reign of Aurangzeb
caption_attribution_description: This painting, from an album complied for Shuja al-Dawla, a nawab of Oudh, was produced at the end of the period of Mughal greatness: Mughal power and wealth and hence artistic patronage and production peaked during the reigns of Akbar (r.1556-1605), Jahangir (r.1605-27), Shah Jahan (r.1628-57), and Awrangzib (r.1658-1707). Then, in 1739, the Iranian ruler Nadir Shah sacked Delhi, carrying back to Iran the riches of the Mughals – their library, treasury and even the fabled Peacock Throne. More than anything, this was a devastating psychological blow from which the Mughals never recovered. Source: p632, Chronicle of the World. Editor: Jerome Burne. Held by the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin.
context_page_description: Bahadur Shah, also known as Muhammad Mu'azzam and Shah Alam, was the seventh Mughal emperor of India, ruled from 1707 until his death in 1712. In his youth, he conspired to overthrow his father Aurangzeb, the sixth Mughal emperor, and ascend to the throne. Shah's plans were intercepted by the emperor, who imprisoned him several times. From 1696 to 1707, he was governor of Akbarabad, Kabul and Lahore.
  After Aurangzeb's death, his eldest son by his chief consort, Muhammad Azam Shah, declared himself successor, but was shortly defeated in one of the largest battles of India, the Battle of Jajau and overthrown by Bahadur Shah. During the reign of Bahadur Shah, the Rajput states of Jodhpur and Amber were annexed again after they declared independence a few years previously. Shah also sparked an Islamic controversy in the khutba by inserting the declaration of Ali as wali. His reign was disturbed by several rebellions, the Sikhs under the leadership of Banda Singh Bahadur, Rajputs under Durgadas Rathore and fellow Mughal Kam Bakhsh but all of them were successfully quelled. Bahadur Shah was buried in the Moti Masjid at Mehrauli in Delhi.
context_section_description: After Raja Jai Singh I defeated Shivaji at Purandar, Mu'azzam was given the charge of Deccan in May 1667 and was assisted by Maharaja Jaswant Singh.
  In 1670, Mu'azzam organised an insurgency to overthrow Aurangzeb and proclaim himself the Mughal emperor. This plan may have been hatched at the instigation of the Marathas, and Mu'azzam's own inclinations and sincerity are difficult to gauge. Aurangzeb learned about the plot and sent Mu'azzam's mother Begum Nawab Bai  to dissuade Mu'azzam from rebellion. Nawab Bai brought Mu'azzam back to the Mughal court, where he spent the next several years under Aurangzeb's supervision. However, Mu'azzam revolted in 1680 on the pretext of protesting Aurangzeb's treatment of Rajput chiefs. Once again, Aurangzeb followed his previous policy to dissuade Mu'azzam with gentleness and then to place him under greater vigilance.
  For the next seven years, from 1681 to 1687, Mu'azzam was a "grudgingly obedient son".
caption: Emperor Awrangzib Receives Prince Mu'azzam.
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