Ahmad Shah Bahadur (1725–1775) was born to Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah. He succeeded his father to the throne as the 13th Mughal Emperor of India in 1748 at the age of 22. When Ahmed Shah came to power the rule of the Mughal Empire was collapsing, furthermore his administrative weaknesses eventually led to the rise of the usurping Imad-ul-Mulk. During the reign of his father the city of Delhi (the Mughal capital) had been plundered and much of northern India had been ransacked by the invading army of Nadir Shah.
Ahmed Shah inherited a much weakened Mughal state and after ruling unsuccessfully for 6 years, he was deposed by the Vizier Imad-ul-Mulk in 1754 and later blinded along with his mother. He spent the remaining years of his life in prison and died of natural causes in January 1775. His son Jahan Shah IV temporarily rose to power in 1788 and was handpicked by the renegade eunuch Ghulam Qadir.
Read more about Ahmad Shah Bahadur: Origins and Early Life, Succession and Reforms, Durrani Invasions, Later Reign, Death
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“Varis Shah says habits don’t die even if we are cut into pieces.”
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