Reign
After Aurangzeb's death, Muazzam Bahadur Shah took the throne. A war of succession began immediately after Aurangzeb died. One younger brother, Prince Azam Shah, proclaimed himself emperor and marched towards Delhi, where he unsuccessfully fought Bahadur Shah and died after a nominal reign of three months. Another brother, Muhammad Kam Baksh, was killed in 1709.
Aurangzeb had imposed Sharia law within his kingdom with harsh enforcement of strict edicts. This led to increased militancy by many constituencies including the Marathas, the Sikhs and the Rajputs. Thus, rebellion was rife at the time of Aurangzeb's death. A more moderate man than his father, Bahadur Shah sought to improve relations with the militant constituencies of the massive kingdom. Bahadur Shah never abolished jizyah, but the effort to collect the tax became ineffectual. Support to music was apparently renewed during his brief rule of five years. There was no destruction of temples in his reign. During Bahadur Shah's brief reign of 5 years, although the empire remained united, factionalism in the nobility reached a new height. Bahadur Shah controlled his massive empire that his father made and controlled the terretories strongly.
After his short reign of less than five years, the Mughal Empire entered a long decline, attributable both to his sudden death and to his father's geographical overextension. Reports are that he was courageous and intelligent. All accounts agree in representing Bahadur Shah as a man of mild and equable temper, learned, dignified, disciplined, magnanimous and generous to fault. Although not a great conqueror like his predecessors, Bahadur Shah may be called the last successful emperors.Bahadur Shah hardly shared Aurangzeb's orthodox views. Unlike his father, Aurangzeb, he was a liberal sufi in outlook. In fact, it is true that after his sudden death the disintegration of the Mughal Empire became very much evident. Bahadur Shah was the last of the great emperors that after his sudden death the empire went into a long decline.
Read more about this topic: Bahadur Shah I
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