Aziz-ud-Din Muhammad (6 June 1699 – 29 November 1759), better known as Alamgir II, was the fifteenth

Mughal Emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, who reigned from 3 June 1754 to 29 November 1759. He was the son of Jahandar Shah. Born Aziz-ud-Din, the second son of Jahandar Shah, was raised to the throne by

Imad-ul-Mulk Feroze Jung III or Nizam Shahabuddin Muhammad Feroz Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi also known by his sobriquet Imad-ul-Mulk, was the grand vizier of the Mughal Empire allied with the Maratha Empire, who were often described as a de facto ruler of the ...

after he deposed

Ahmad Shah Bahadur Ahmad Shah Bahadur , also known as Mirza Ahmad Shah or Mujahid-ud-Din Ahmad Shah Ghazi (23 December 1725 – 1775 AD), was the fourteenth Mughal Emperor, born to Emperor Muhammad Shah. He succeeded his father to the throne in 1748, at the age ...

in 1754. On ascending the throne, he took the title of Alamgir and tried to follow the approach of

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

(Alamgir I). At the time of his accession to throne he was an old man of 55 years. He had no experience of administration and warfare as he had spent most of his life in jail. He was a weak ruler, with all powers vested in the hand of his vizier,

. In 1756,

Ahmad Shah Durrani Ahmad Shāh Durrānī ( ps, احمد شاه دراني; prs, احمد شاه درانی), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (), was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is regarded as the founder of the modern Afghanistan. In July 1747, Ahm ...

invaded India once again and captured

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

and plundered

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...

. Marathas became more powerful because of their collaboration with

, and dominated the whole of northern India. This was the peak of Maratha expansion, which caused great trouble for the Mughal Empire, already weak with no strong ruler. Relations between Alamgir II and his usurping vizier,

had now deteriorated. He was murdered by

. Alamgir II's son Ali Gauhar escaped persecution from Delhi, while

Shah Jahan III Shah Jahan III (; b. 1711 – d. 1772), also known as Muhi-ul-millat, was the sixteenth Mughal Emperor, albeit briefly. He was the son of Muhi us-Sunnat, the eldest son of Muhammad Kam Bakhsh who was the youngest son of Aurangzeb. He was plac ...

was placed on the throne.

Early life

Alamgir II was born Aziz-ud-Din on 6 June 1699 at Burhanpur and was the second son of Muizz-ud-Din, the son of future Emperor Bahadur Shah (Shah Alam). His mother was a Rajput Princess, Anup Bai, with little clarity about her existence. Aziz-ud-Din was 7 when his great-grandfather

died in the Deccan. After the death of his grandfather, Bahadur Shah I, and the war of succession that followed, his father, Jahandar Shah, was defeated, by the next

, Farrukhsiyar. Aziz-ud-Din was then imprisoned in 1714 and released in 1754, by usurping Vizier

, he perceived Aziz-ud-Din as a frail personality who would not object his regime. Therefore, on 2 June 1754, Aziz-ud-Din was given the title ''Alamgir II'' by the vizier out of his own recommendation, as he wanted to follow the centralised approach of

Succession to throne

hired Maratha mercenaries to do his bidding and put all the imperial revenues into his own pocket and starved Alamgir II's family. He also persecuted Ali Gauhar, the elder son of Alamgir II. Since then, relations between Alamgir II and Imad-ul-Mulk's regime were so bad that the latter got him assassinated in November 1759.

Reign

After the emergence of Alamgir II the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

had impulsively began to re-centralize, particularly when many

Nawab Nawab ( Balochi: نواب; ar, نواب; bn, নবাব/নওয়াব; hi, नवाब; Punjabi : ਨਵਾਬ; Persian, Punjabi , Sindhi, Urdu: ), also spelled Nawaab, Navaab, Navab, Nowab, Nabob, Nawaabshah, Nawabshah or Nobab, ...

s sought the gratification of the

and his co-ordination regarding their resistance to the Maratha. This development was clearly unwelcome by

who sought to strengthen his authoritarianism with the undaunted support of the

Maratha The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed a ...

s. His Amir-ul-Umara and Mir Bakhshi continued to be Mirza Ashraf, the son of Khan Dowran VII(a noble in the reign of Farrukhsiyar and Muhammad Shah).

Alliance with the Durrani Emirate

In the year 1755, the acclaimed Mughal

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

Moin-ul-Mulk Mian-Moin-ul-Mulk also known by his title Mir Mannu (died 1753) was the Mughal and later Durrani governor of the Punjab between 1748 and 1753. Early life Moin-ul-Mulk was the son of Qamar-ud-Din Khan, Grand Vizier of the Mughal Empire, and young ...

died, his widow Mughlani Begum desperately sought the assistance of

to halt any succession struggle and to quell the Sikh rebels in the eastern regions. Ahmad Shah Durrani and his forces then marched into

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...

in the year 1756 and appointed his son

Timur Shah Durrani Timur Shah Durrani (; prs, ;), also known as Timur Shah Abdali or Taimur Shah Abdali (December 1746 – May 20, 1793) was the second ruler of the Afghan Durrani Empire, from November 1772 until his death in 1793. An ethnic Pashtun, he was the s ...

as the new viceroy at

, under the protection of the commander Jahan Khan and also placed

Adina Beg Adina Mirza Beg Khan ( pa, ; 1710 - 15 September 1758) was a Punjabi General and administrator who served as the last governor of Punjab of the Mughal Empire, including the provinces of Lahore and Multan. He was the last Nawab of Punjab, d ...

as the Faujdar of Doab. Ahmad Shah Durrani then plundered Sikh and Hindu inhabitants in the unstable and outlawed eastern regions of the

. He then marched towards Delhi, in October 1757, the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II with courtiers such as Shah Waliullah, nobles such as

Najib-ul-Daula Najib ad-Dawlah ( ps, نجيب الدوله), also known as Najib Khan Yousafzai ( ps, نجيب خان), was a Rohilla Yousafzai Afghan who earlier served as a Mughal serviceman but later deserted the cause of the Mughals and joined Ahmed S ...

, and the imperial family went to meet

, whose forces then engaged the

s in combat and threatened to overthrow and execute the regime of

. Ahmad Shah Durrani's relations with the

, strengthened further when his son

was chosen as the suitor of Alamgir II's daughter Zuhra Begum. Ahmad Shah Durrani himself also married Hadrat Begum the daughter of the former Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah. Ahmad Shah Durrani returned to

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...

leaving his forces led by his son Timur Shah Durrani consolidating themselves inside the garrisons of

where they founded the

Zamzama The Zamzama Gun ( ur, , meaning "thunder" or "roar", sometimes written "Zam-Zammah" or "Zam-Zammeh") also known as ''Kim’s Gun'' or ''Bhangianwali Toap'' is a large-bore cannon. It was cast in about 1757 in Lahore (present-day Pakistan) du ...

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

with the assistance of Mughal Metalsmiths. He was supported by Mohammad Bahawal Khan II ( Nawab Amir of Bhawalpur) and Muhammad Nasir Khan I ( Khanate of Kalat). File:Portrait of Ahmad-Shah Durrani. Mughal miniature. ca. 1757, Bibliothèque nationale de France.jpg,

. File:Temur-Shah.jpg,

Siege of Delhi (1757)

In July 1757, the Marathas led by

Raghunathrao Raghunathrao Bhat (a.k.a. Ragho Ballal or Ragho Bharari) (18 August 1734 – 11 December 1783) was the 11th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire for a brief period from 1773 to 1774. He was known among the Hindus for his extremely successful North-wes ...

rejected the alliance established between the Durrani Empire and the

, they were assisted by

and encamped 30 km opposite to the

Red Fort The Red Fort or Lal Qila () is a historic fort in Old Delhi, Delhi in India that served as the main residence of the Mughal Emperors. Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned construction of the Red Fort on 12 May 1638, when he decided to shift ...

and occupied all the villages by the Jamuna they began to besiege Delhi. The Marathas fought against Alamgir II's incumbent ''Mir Bakshi'' ("Paymaster")

along with his lieutenants Qutub Shah and Aman Khan and a

Mughal Army The Army of the Mughal Empire was the force by which the Mughal emperors established their empire in the 15th century and expanded it to its greatest extent at the beginning of the 18th century. Although its origins, like the Mughals themselves, ...

of 2,500 garrisoned inside the metropolis of Delhi. The angry Maratha set ferries ablaze and stopped food supplies from entering Delhi, while Najib-ul-Daula positioned his heavy artillery outside the vicinity of the

. Unable to gain any assistance from

, who was engaged in quelling various rebellions near

Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safē ...

; Najib-ul-Daula surrendered after resisting the combined brigands of Maratha Confederacy for more than five months, he conceded defeat and withdrew to

Najibabad Najibabad is a town in the Bijnor district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, located near the city of Bijnor. It is a major industrial city and is well connected to all major cities of India by roadways via NH 119 and NH 74 respectively a ...

. When the Marathas entered Delhi the emperor Alamgir II and his royal family had somehow fled to

Bharatpur State Bharatpur State, which is also known as the Jat State of Bharatpur historically known as the Kingdom of Bharatpur, was a Hindu Kingdom in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. It was ruled by the Sinsinwar clan of the Hindu ...

. The Marathas looted and plundered the city and the people of Delhi. Mosques and Shrines built by the Mughals were desecrated; and the

Peshwa The Peshwa (Pronunciation: e(ː)ʃʋaː was the appointed (later becoming hereditary) prime minister of the Maratha Empire of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati (the Maratha king); later ...

conspired to place Vishwasrao upon the Mughal throne. Imad-ul-Mulk was reappointed ''Mir Bakshi'' and with the support of the Marathas. Not long after entering Delhi the Marathas encountered a Jat regiment sent by Suraj Mal who now began to claim sovereignty over Delhi. The Jat also plundered Delhi but soon afterwards made it possible for Alamgir II and the Mughal royal family to return to Delhi from Bharatpur. However, despite losing control of Delhi, Najib-ul-Daula and his associates, such as Qutub Khan and Abdus Samad Khan the Mughal Faujdar of

Sirhind Sirhind-Fategarh is a town and a municipal council in the Fatehgarh Sahib district in the Indian state of Punjab. Demographics In the 2011 census Sirhind-Fatehgarh had a population of 60852. Males constituted 54% of the population and fema ...

, continued to challenge the Maratha Confederacy and its allies during confrontations at

Saharanpur Saharanpur is a city and a municipal corporation in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the administrative headquarters of Saharanpur district. Saharanpur city's name was given after the Saint Shah Haroon Chishti. Saharanpur is declared a ...

and Shahabad Markanda. In response the Marathas sacked the inhabitants of Taraori, Karnal and Kunjpura. The Maratha attack upon Kunjpura triggered a military response by Ahmad Shah Durrani. Whose forces crossed the sacred rivers of India in search of their Maratha opponents.

Subjects opposing the Maratha Confederacy

In the year 1756, Alamgir II sympathised with the cause of his loyal

s of

Kurnool Kurnool is a city in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It formerly served as the capital of Andhra State (1953–1956). The city is often referred to as "The Gateway of Rayalaseema".Kurnool is also known as The City of Gem Stones. It also s ...

, Cuddapah and

Savanur Savanuru is a locality and taluk headquarters of Savanuru Taluk in Haveri District of Karnataka state, India. History Savanuru was one of the princely states of British India, under the Bombay Presidency, and later the Deccan States Agen ...

, when their assigned territories were ravaged and plundered until 1757 by the

chieftain Balaji Baji Rao.

Third Carnatic War (1757–1763)

Loss of Bengal

Alamgir II grieved the death of Alivardi Khan the famous Nawab of Bengal, who annually pledged 5 million ''dams'' to the imperial court. His successor

Siraj-ud-Daula Mirza Muhammad Siraj-ud-Daulah ( fa, ; 1733 – 2 July 1757), commonly known as Siraj-ud-Daulah or Siraj ud-Daula, was the last independent Nawab of Bengal. The end of his reign marked the start of the rule of the East India Company over Beng ...

was recognised as the next Nawab of Bengal, but he faced internal rivals who refused to consider the

Firman A firman ( fa, , translit=farmân; ), at the constitutional level, was a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in an Islamic state. During various periods they were collected and applied as traditional bodies of law. The word firman co ...

granted by Alamgir II to Siraj-ud-Daula. These internal conflicts would lead Siraj-ud-Daula to hastily annex

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

from the

English East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

, without the permission of the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II and Salabat Jung. Siraj-ud-Daula was quickly defeated by Clive who recaptured

and defeated Siraj-ud-Daula during the

Battle of Plassey The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies on 23 June 1757, under the leadership of Robert Clive. The victory was made possible by the defection of Mir Jafar ...

in the year 1757. After the annihilation of his entire army Siraj-ud-Daula fled and was killed by the forces of the treacherous

Mir Jafar Sayyid Mīr Jaʿfar ʿAlī Khān Bahādur ( – 5 February 1765) was a military general who became the first dependent Nawab of Bengal of the British East India Company. His reign has been considered by many historians as the start of the expa ...

. The deceased Siraj-ud-Daula's pretensions were criticised in the Mughal imperial court by Ghulam Husain Tabatabai, and Alamgir II refused to recognise

as the next Nawab of Bengal. In response to the imperial court's decision Mir Jafar thus consolidated and alliance with the manipulative

against the imperial family.

Authority in the Deccan

Throughout Alamgir II's reign French commandant de Bussy and Lally and their allies such as Salabat Jung and

Hyder Ali Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the att ...

greatly contributed to the advancement of forces in the Deccan opposed to the utter dominance of the

renegades, their achievements had earned them fame throughout the influential circles within the Mughal Empire. In the year 1756, Salabat Jung's forces utilised heavy muskets known as ''Catyocks'', which were attached to the ground, it was known to have fired more rapidly than a cannon. These new weapons would completely reverse fortunes of the Maratha rebels. Soon after the

, the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

commander De Bussy, also entitled ''Saif-ud-Daula Umdat-ul-Mulk'' and ''Mansabdar of 7000'', by the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II. He captured the Northern Circars from the British along with his assistant Hyder Jung the "Vakil" (attorney) representing the French within the Mughal Empire and Salabat Jung. However the Northern Circars were retaken by Forde in the year 1758 and De Bussy was recalled to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Fearing the worst Salabat Jung reconciled with the

and recognised their protectorate and was soon overthrown by his own brother Nizam Ali Khan.

Nawab of Bhopal

In the year 1758, the

Faiz Mohammad Khan Faiz Muhammad Khan Bahadur, (r.1742–1777) the third Nawab of Bhopal, was the son of Yar Muhammad Khan, the second Nawab of Bhopal (as a reagent), and the stepson of Mamola Bai a very influential Hindu wife of Y Muhammad and a direct desce ...

the Nawab of Bhopal was treacherously attacked by his step-mother Mamola Bai who suddenly besieged the Mughal garrison at Fortress of Raisen in 1758, according to the layout of the

s. The outraged Mughal Emperor Alamgir II, then issued a

supporting Faiz Mohammad Khan was the Nawab of Bhopal the only chosen administrator of Raisen, the emperor also granted the title ''Bahadur'' to Faiz Mohammad Khan the Nawab of Bhopal. However the fort remained under the control of Mamola Bai and the renegade Nanasaheb Peshwa. The fortress of Raisen was quickly retaken by

in the year 1760, after the tragic assassination of Alamgir II and after Sadashivrao Bhau threatened to ravage

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

prior to the Third Battle of Panipat. It is believed that Faiz Mohammad Khan's Sepoy's were among those who had cut off the various supply routes of the Marathas just before the Third Battle of Panipat.

Nawab of Cambay

Najm-ad-Dawla supported British presence in

Cambay Cambay, Kambay or Khambhat was a princely state in India during the British Raj. The City of Khambat (Cambay) in present-day Gujarat was its capital. The state was bounded in the north by the Kaira district and in the south by the Gulf of C ...

. Turning much of his estate into an international "safe zone". Although it is likely that he too had to face threats from the Maratha climax.

"Nawab of Mysore"

In 1758,

and his Sepoy captured

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

from "Khande Rao of the

Maratha Confederacy The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of ...

". In honour of his achievements during the

Carnatic Wars The Carnatic Wars were a series of military conflicts in the middle of the 18th century in India's coastal Carnatic region, a dependency of Hyderabad State, India. Three Carnatic Wars were fought between 1744 and 1763. The conflicts involved n ...

, the king gave him the title "Nawab Haider Ali Khan Bahadur".

Zenith of the Maratha Confederacy

In 1758 the

s led by

occupied

after extracted an extortion of imperial wealth from

, together they conspired the overthrow of young

drove out Jahan Khan and

, the son and viceroy of

. Timur Shah Durrani and his forces were forced to retreat from

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

under the force of attacks from Sikhs and

s. This victory made the belligerent Peshwa, grandiosely sack

and hype their intentions of placing Vishwasrao on the Mughal throne.

Assassination

Many of his actions had angered the people of India. Fearing a backlash in the summer of the year 1759 Prince Ali Gauhar escaped from

. Agitated by the daring escape

and Sadashivrao Bhau reckoned that Alamgir II was about to advance his son Prince Ali Gauhar, to dispossess and overthrow their regime. After detailed consideration Imad-ul-Mulk and an angry mob of various ethnic groups plotted to murder the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II and the assassinations of prominent members of his family in the winter of 1759.

According to legend

During his reign religious feuds became common among the individuals of the

Durbar Durbar can refer to: * Conference of Rulers, a council of Malay monarchs * Durbar festival, a yearly festival in several towns of Nigeria * Durbar floor plate, a hot-rolled structural steel that has been designed to give excellent slip resistance ...

, and communal duels between rivals became a common occurrence.

Aftermath

Sadashivrao Bhau then personally chose the usurping,

as the new

and began a campaign of plundering the

Jewels A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, a ...

and ornaments of the Mughal imperial court, he also defaced mosques, tombs and shrines that the Mughals had built in

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra ...

and

, he then desecrated the imperial Moti Masjid and looted its exquisite jewelled decorations into booty for the ravaging

s. The defeat of Alamgir II's son-in-law,

by the

s in the year 1760, provoked the wrath of

, who launched a massive campaign gathering more troops than ever before. In response to

and Sadashivrao Bhau; Najib-ud-Daula and his firm alliance of principal Muslim nobles in the

and Ahmad Shah Abdali recaptured Delhi and placed it under the nominal authority of

Shah Alam II Shah Alam II (; 25 June 1728 – 19 November 1806), also known by his birth name Ali Gohar (or Ali Gauhar), was the seventeenth Mughal Emperor and the son of Alamgir II. Shah Alam II became the emperor of a crumbling Mughal empire. His po ...

. In the south

and his Mysore Army ferociously attacked the

. Meanwhile,

anticipated the collapse of the

and declared Shuja-ud-Daula his

Grand Vizier Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first ...

and Najib-ud-Daula as his honorary ''Mukhtar Khas'' (Chief Representative). These developments eventually culminated into rise of religious and political loyalties that eventually clashed at the "Third Battle of Panipat" in the year 1761.

Foreign relations

Seven Years' War

In 1756, the Seven Years' War had broken out and Alamgir II was supported by various international belligerents of that war. It was the first global war in which the Great Mogul had his involvement apart from the boundaries of India. Alamgir II initially involved in that war because the British were hasty in their attempts to conquer Bengal Subah. Charles de Bussy de Castelnau

In 1755, De Bussy received letter from new

Alamgir II requesting

assistance to put down the

. Alamgir II asked if it was possible for De Bussy to dispatch a French contingent of 1000 strong to protect the

's capitol at

. Alamgir II also promised to pay a hefty sum for the maintenance of the French and even promised to settle disputes in the

in favour of the

French East India Company The French East India Company (french: Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales) was a colonial commercial enterprise, founded on 1 September 1664 to compete with the English (later British) and Dutch trading companies in th ...

. In 1757, Alamgir II had successfully achieved peace between the Durrani Emirate and the

. Alamgir II even secured a matrimonial alliance when Timur Shah Durrani married Gauhar Afroz Begam the daughter of the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II in February 1757 and

married Hazrat Begum the daughter of the former

Muhammad Shah in 1757. in the year 1751, the Swedish East India Company was operating in Surat as a co-belligerent of Alamgir II. They were probably instrumental in assisting the first Nawab of Junagadh. It is believed that Alamgir II even tried to reconcile the

and the

before his death in 1759.

Death

The newly appointed Mughal

after Ahmad Shah Durrani's invasion was Najib-ud-Daula who tried to consolidate the remains of the

by uniting distant Faujdars,

's and Nizams into a common cause against the

s. Fearing their wrath the deposed

aligned himself with the

leader Sadashivrao Bhau and launched an counterattack against Najib-ud-Daula which lasted 15 days and resulted in the defeat of Najib-ud-Daula who was driven North.

then feared that the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II would recall

, or use his son Prince Ali Gauhar, to dispossess him of his newfound power with the

s. Therefore, Imad-ul-Mulk plotted to murder the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II and his family. A few Mughal Princes, including Ali Gauhar desperately managed to escape before assassination. In November 1759, the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II was told that a pious man had come to meet him, Alamgir II, ever so eager to meet holy men, set out immediately to meet him at Kotla Fateh Shah, he was stabbed repeatedly by

's assassins. The Mughal Emperor Alamgir II's death was mourned throughout the

, particularly by the

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

populace. After the assassination of Alamgir II in 1759, the

under the sway of Sadashivrao Bhau had reached the peak of its short-lived power particularly when their involvement in the assassination had become eminent when he discussed abolishing the

and placing Vishwasrao on the throne in

by bribing or deposing

In popular culture

In the 2019

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" ...

war epic Panipat, the character of Alamgir II was portrayed by S. M. Zaheer. In the 1994 TV series The Great Maratha the character was portrayed by Arun Bali

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alamgir Ii 1699 births 1759 deaths Mughal emperors People from Burhanpur