Jahandar Shah

Title & tenure

11th Mughal Emperor (1712–1713)

In office: 27 February 1712 – 11 February 1713

Predecessor:

Bahadur Shah I

Successor:

Farrukhsiyar

Biography

Jahandar Shah won the bloody war of succession among Bahadur Shah I's sons largely through the backing of his powerful minister Zulfiqar Khan, but proved an ineffective, pleasure-seeking ruler who left real power almost entirely in his minister's hands.

Key events

• Won the succession war against his brothers in 1712 with Zulfiqar Khan's military support
• Overthrown within a year by his nephew Farrukhsiyar, backed by the powerful Sayyid brothers of Barha

Legacy

Jahandar Shah's brief, weak reign is remembered as marking the point at which real power in the Mughal court passed decisively from the emperor to powerful courtiers and kingmakers, a pattern that defined the rest of the "later Mughal" period.

How it ended

Defeated and captured by Farrukhsiyar in 1713, then executed on his orders.