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Akbar II (; 22 April 1760 – 28 September 1837), also known as Akbar Shah II, was the Nineteenth Mughal emperor of India. He reigned from 1806 to 1837. He was the second son of Shah Alam II and the father of
Emperor Akbar II presided over an empire titularly large but in effect limited to the Red Fort in Delhi alone. The cultural life of Delhi as a whole flourished during his reign. However, his attitude towards East India Company officials, especially Lord Hastings, to whom he refused to grant an audience on terms other than those of subject and sovereign, although honourable to him, increasingly frustrated the British, who regarded him as merely their pensioner. The British therefore reduced his titular authority to 'King of Delhi' in 1835 and the East India Company ceased to act as the mere lieutenants of the Mughal Empire as they did from 1803 to 1835. Simultaneously they replaced Persian text with English text on the company's coins, which no longer carried the emperor's name.
The British encouraged the Nawab of Oudh and the
File:Ghulam Murtaza Khan The Delhi Darbar of Akbar II.jpg, Akbar II holding audience on the Peacock Throne.
File:Silver rupee coin of Akbar Shah II.jpg, Silver Rupee coin of Akbar II.
File:Akbar Shah II rides an elephant in a huge procession 1835 San Diego Museum of Art.jpg, Akbar Shah II rides an elephant in a huge procession 1835
File:Akbar Shah II and his four sons.jpg, Akbar Shah II and his four sons
File:Painting of Cavalry in Durbar Procession of Mughal Emperor Akbar II.png, Cavalry in Durbar Procession of Mughal Emperor Akbar II
File:Mounted standard-bearers of Akbar Shah II.png, Mounted standard-bearers in the procession of Akbar II
After the mutiny, cousins of Mirza Mughal, son of
Bahadur Shah II
Bahadur Shah II, usually referred to by his poetic title Bahadur Shah ''Zafar'' (; ''Zafar'' Victory) was born Mirza Abu Zafar Siraj-ud-din Muhammad (24 October 1775 – 7 November 1862) and was the twentieth and last Mughal Emperor as well a ...
Akbar had little de facto power due to the increasing British influence in India through the East India Company. He sent Ram Mohan Roy as an ambassador to Britain and gave him the title of Raja. During his regime, in 1835, the East India Company discontinued calling itself subject of the Mughal Emperor and issuing coins in his name. The Persian lines in the company's coins to this effect were deleted.
Akbar II is credited with starting the Hindu–Muslim unity
Hindu–Muslim unity is a religiopolitical concept in the Indian subcontinent which stresses members of the two largest faith groups there, Hindus and Muslims, working together for
the common good. The concept was championed by various persons, s ...
festival Phool Walon Ki Sair
Phool Waalon Ki Sair meaning "procession of the florists" is an annual celebration by the flower sellers of Delhi. It is a three-day festival, generally held in the month of September, just after the rainy season in the region of Mehrauli. It ...
. His grave lies next to the dargah of 13th-century Sufi saint Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki at Mehrauli.
Early life
Prince Mirza Akbar was born on 22 April 1760 to Emperor Shah Alam II at Mukundpur, Satna, while his father was in exile. On 2 May 1781, at the Red Fort, the prince was made Crown prince with the title of '' Wali Ahd Bahadur'', after the death of his elder brother. In 1782, he was appointed the viceroy of Delhi until 1799. When theRohilla
Rohillas are a community of Pashtun ancestry, historically found in Rohilkhand, a region in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It forms the largest Pashtun diaspora community in India, and has given its name to the Rohilkhand region. The Ro ...
leader Ghulam Qadir captured Delhi in 1788, the young Prince Mirza Akbar was forced to nautch dance along with other Mughal princes and princesses. He witnessed how the members of the imperial Mughal family were humiliated, as well as starved. When Shah Jahan IV fled, Mirza Akbar was titular Emperor with the title of ''Akbar Shah II'', and was to remain acting emperor even after the reinstatement of his father Shah Alam II, till January 1789.
Reign
Emperor Akbar II presided over an empire titularly large but in effect limited to the Red Fort in Delhi alone. The cultural life of Delhi as a whole flourished during his reign. However, his attitude towards East India Company officials, especially Lord Hastings, to whom he refused to grant an audience on terms other than those of subject and sovereign, although honourable to him, increasingly frustrated the British, who regarded him as merely their pensioner. The British therefore reduced his titular authority to 'King of Delhi' in 1835 and the East India Company ceased to act as the mere lieutenants of the Mughal Empire as they did from 1803 to 1835. Simultaneously they replaced Persian text with English text on the company's coins, which no longer carried the emperor's name.
The British encouraged the Nawab of Oudh and the Nizam of Hyderabad
The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...
to take royal titles in order to further diminish the Emperor's status and influence. Out of deference, the Nizam did not, but the Nawab of Awadh did so.
He is also known to have bestowed the title ''Nawab'' upon the Nawab of Tonk and Nawab of Jaora
Jaora State was a Salute state, 13 gun-salute princely state of the British Raj. It was part of the Malwa Agency.
The total area of the princely state, with the dependencies of Piploda and Panth-Piploda, was . Jaora state was divided into four ...
.
Akbar II appointed the Bengali reformer Ram Mohan Roy, to appeal against his treatment by the East India Company, conferring on him the title of Raja. Ram Mohan Roy then visited England, as the Mughal envoy to the Court of St. James. Ram Mohan Roy submitted a well-argued memorial on behalf of the Mughal ruler, but to no avail.
The grave of Akbar II lies within a marble enclosure adjoined to the Moti Masjid near the dargah of the 13th century Sufi saint, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki at Mehrauli, Delhi. The Mughal emperors Bahadur Shah I, ( Shah Alam I) and Shah Alam II are also buried here.
Descendants
After the mutiny, cousins of Mirza Mughal, son of Bahadur Shah Zafar
Bahadur Shah II, usually referred to by his poetic title Bahadur Shah ''Zafar'' (; ''Zafar'' Victory) was born Mirza Abu Zafar Siraj-ud-din Muhammad (24 October 1775 – 7 November 1862) and was the twentieth and last Mughal Emperor as well a ...
, son of Akbar II, escaped to neighbouring areas in fear of capture by the British. Prince Mirza Mughal, the heir apparent was himself killed in battle. Many surviving princes settled in various provinces of India, but some settled in Burma and Bengal since a large number of imperial family members, along with Emperor Bahadur Shah II
Bahadur Shah II, usually referred to by his poetic title Bahadur Shah ''Zafar'' (; ''Zafar'' Victory) was born Mirza Abu Zafar Siraj-ud-din Muhammad (24 October 1775 – 7 November 1862) and was the twentieth and last Mughal Emperor as well a ...
were exiled to Rangoon in Burma.
See also
*Akbar I
Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...
* Mirza Nali
Mirza Nali (born Mirza Muhammad Nali, Shahzada (Begzada) of the Mughal Empire 1784–1860), was the Crown Prince before Bahadur Shah II.Jalaluddin Mirza
Sahibzada Mīrzā Mu'hammad Jalāl ud-Dīn Mridha Sahib, better known as Jalaluddin Mirza (1898–1975), was a Bengali Indian aristocrat in the erstwhile British Empire who served as the fifth and last hereditary Zamindar of Natore from the Hou ...
* Mirza Zafar
Sahib Muhammad Ja'faar ud-Din Mirza Mridha (born 1876 in Bengal, died 1921 in Natore) was a feudal lord in Bengal, British India who served as the second Zamindar of Natore from the House of Singra and Natore and the "'' Mridha''" ( Defens ...
References
Bibliography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Akbar Shah Ii 18th-century Indian monarchs 19th-century Indian monarchs Mughal emperors 1760 births 1837 deaths 19th-century Indian Muslims People from Satna district