(English: Jahandar Shah, born May 9, 1661, Deccan; Death- 12 February, 1713, Delhi) was one of the four sons of Bahadur Shah I. After the death of Bahadur Shah I, his four sons ‘Jahandarshah’, ‘Azimushshan’, ‘Rafiushan’ and ‘Jahanshah’ struggled for succession. In this struggle, with the help of Zulfiqar Khan, the other three sons of Bahadur Shah I were killed during the conflict. At the age of 51, Jahandarshah sat on the Mughal Rajsin throne on 29 March 1712. Zulfiqar Khan was appointed as Prime Minister, and Asad Khan remained as ‘Kawaksa-e-Mutlaq’. Both these father and son were the leader of Irani rich. Regarding the reign of Jahandarshah, historian ‘Khafi Khan’ says, “The new reign was very favorable for all the sections of the barnas and all the classes of singers, dancers and dramatics.” Jahandarshah ruled only from 1712 to 1713 AD.
Governance and policy
During the reign of Jahandarshah, the entire reins of the administration were in the hands of Zulfikar Khan. To strengthen its position in the court and save the empire, it was necessary that friendly relations should be established with Rajput kings and Marathas. So he extended a friendly step towards the Rajputs, appointed Jai Singh of Amer as the Subedar of Malwa, and gave the title of ‘Mirza Raja’. Ajit Singh of Marwar was given the title of ‘Maharaja’ and appointed ruler of Gujarat. He also eliminated Jaziya Kar. Zulfikar Khan also reconciled with Chudaman Jat and Chhatrasal Bundela and continued the policy of suppression against Banda Bahadur.
Zulfikar Khan, who prohibited the indiscriminate growth of the jagirs and the positions, tried to improve the financial position of the empire, but he promoted a wrong tendency ‘Ijara System’. Under this, in exchange for recovering land revenue at a fixed rate, the government started signing the agreement with ‘monopoly’ (rent contractors) and middlemen to give a certain currency amount to the government. In return, they were left free to recover as much as they could collect from the farmers. This increased the harassment of farmers. Zulfiqar Khan wanted to become powerful by increasing the power of Wazir, due to which the royal feudals started conspiring against Zulfikar Khan. Zulfiqar Khan gave all his administrative responsibilities in the hands of one of his close people ‘Subhash Chandra’.
Disqualified and luxurious emperor
Jahandarshah was an unqualified and luxurious emperor. He had given the right to interfere with a prostitute named ‘Lal Kunwar’ in the works of his rule. Hence, the son of Azimushshan, Furrukhsier, wanted to provide Jahandarshah with the help of Syed Bandhu ‘Hussain Ali Khan’ of Patna and Subedar Subedar ‘Abdullah Khan’, assistant to his elder brother Allahabad. Hussain Ali Khan and Abdullah Khan, also known as ‘Syed Bandhu’, are famous as ‘ruling creators’ in Mughal Indian history.
Death
Farrukhsier defeated Jahandarshah in Agra on 10 January 1713 with the help of Syed brothers. On February 12, 1713, Asad Khan and Zulfikar Khan killed it. Jahandarshah was the first unqualified ruler of the Mughal dynasty. He was called a ‘lustful fool’. Regarding Jahandarshah, ‘Arvin’ wrote, “Jahandarshah was the first emperor in Timur’s Khanadan, who found himself completely disqualified to rule due to his extremely lowness, cruel nature, shallowness of the mind and cowardice.”
A contemporary historian ‘Idat Khan’ wrote about Jahandarshah, “He was a weak person who was immersed in the color, who neither worried about the state’s functions, nor was there any attachment to any of the Umravas.” During Jahandarshah’s reign “Owl lived in the eagle’s nest, and the cuckoo was replaced by the crow.”
