Shah Alam II
| Shah Alam II | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Padishah Al-Sultan Al-Azam | |||||
Shah Alam after his blinding, by Khairallah c. 1793 | |||||
| Mughal Emperor | |||||
| First reign | 10 October 1760 – 31 July 1788 | ||||
| Predecessor | Shah Jahan III | ||||
| Successor | Jahan Shah | ||||
| Second reign | 16 October 1788 – 19 November 1806 | ||||
| Predecessor | Jahan Shah | ||||
| Successor | Akbar II | ||||
| Born | Mirza Ali Gauhar 25 June 1728 Shahjahanabad, Delhi Subah, Mughal Empire (present-day Old Delhi, Delhi, India) | ||||
| Died | 19 November 1806 (aged 78) Shahjahanabad, Delhi Subah, Mughal Empire | ||||
| Burial | |||||
| Spouses |
| ||||
| Issue |
| ||||
| |||||
| House | House of Babur | ||||
| Dynasty | Timurid dynasty | ||||
| Father | Alamgir II | ||||
| Mother | Zinat Mahal | ||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam (Hanafi) | ||||
| Seal | |||||
| Military career | |||||
| Battles / wars | Third Battle of Panipat Bengal War Battle of Delhi (1764) Battle of Buxar Battle of Delhi (1771) Battle of Purana Qila Battle of Delhi (1783) Capture of Delhi (1788) Siege of Delhi (1804) | ||||
.jpg){kind=link}
| Mughal emperors | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shah Alam II (Persian pronunciation: [ʃɑːh ʔɑː.ˈlam]; 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 power was so depleted during his reign that it led to a saying in the Persian language, Sultanat-e-Shah Alam, Az Dilli ta Palam, meaning, 'The empire of Shah Alam is from Delhi to Palam', Palam being a suburb of Delhi.
Shah Alam faced many invasions, mainly by Ahmed Shah Abdali, which led to the Third Battle of Panipat (1761) between the Maratha Confederacy, and the Afghans led by Abdali. In 1760, the invading forces of Abdali were driven away by the Marathas, led by Sadashivrao Bhau, who deposed Shah Jahan III, the puppet Mughal emperor of Imad-ul-Mulk, and installed Shah Alam II as the rightful emperor (1760 – 1772).
Shah Alam II was considered the only and rightful emperor, but he was unable to return to Delhi until 1772, under the protection of the Maratha general Mahadaji Shinde. He also fought against the East India Company at the Battle of Buxar (1764). In 1788, when he was a prisoner of Ghulam Qadir, he was blinded.
Shah Alam II authored his own Diwan of poems and was known by the pen-name Aftab. His poems were guided, compiled and collected by Mirza Fakhir Makin.
Shah Alam also composed the famous book Ajaib-ul-Qasas, which is considered one of the earliest and most prominent books of prose in Urdu.