Muhammad Shah

1702 – 26 April 1748

Mughal EmpireTimurid dynasty

Title & tenure

15th Mughal Emperor (1719–1748)

In office: 27 September 1719 – 26 April 1748

Predecessor:: Shah Jahan II
Successor:: Ahmad Shah Bahadur

Biography

Muhammad Shah was installed by the Sayyid brothers as their third puppet emperor in 1719, but unlike his immediate predecessors he survived to eventually break free of their control and reign for nearly three decades, even as the empire itself crumbled around him.

Achievements

Eventually broke the Sayyid brothers' dominance over the court with the help of rival nobles, reasserting a degree of personal authority
Patronized the arts and music at his court even as the empire's territorial and fiscal power declined

Key events

Installed by the Sayyid brothers in 1719; later had Hussain Ali Khan, one of the brothers, assassinated, and defeated Abdullah Khan in battle, breaking their control
Nader Shah's invasion and sack of Delhi (1739): the Persian conqueror defeated the Mughal army, occupied Delhi, massacred thousands of its residents, and carried off immense treasure including the Koh-i-Noor diamond and the Peacock Throne
Faced growing loss of control over distant provinces, including the effective independence of Hyderabad, Bengal and Awadh under their own governors

Legacy

Muhammad Shah's long reign saw the Mughal Empire reduced to little more than a shadow of its former self, most dramatically symbolized by Nader Shah's sack of Delhi in 1739, even as the emperor himself managed to survive on the throne for nearly 29 years.

How it ended

Died of natural causes in 1748, shortly after Ahmad Shah Durrani's first invasion of the Punjab.