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A Synopsis of the Mughal Emperors
By Dr Khalid Siddiqui
Ohio
In total, 17 Mughal Emperors ruled India between 1526 and 1857. The first 6 are regarded as the major Mughal Emperors and the later 11 as the minor Mughal Emperors. Historically there were three more minor emperors (Azam Shah, Shah Jahan III and Shah Jahan IV) who each ruled for less than a year. Their names have been expunged from most of the books as their historical importance was negligible.
In 1719, four different Emperors (#9 Farrukhsiyar; #10 Rafi ud-Darajat; #11 Rafi ud-Daula and #12 Muhammad Shah Rangeela) occupied the Peacock Throne in rapid succession.
Of the 17 Mughal Emperors, only one was buried outside India: #17 Bahadur Shah Zafar in Rangoon, Myanmar.
Note: Although Emperor #1 Zaheeruddin Babur and Emperor #4 Jahangir are buried in Kabul (Afghanistan) and Lahore (Pakistan), respectively, both of these cities were within Mughal Hindustan at that time.
Eight of them are buried in their own mausoleums: #1 Babur; #2 Humayun; #3 Akbar; #4 Jahangir; #5 Shahjahan; # 6 Aurangzeb; #12 Mohammad Shah Rangeela and #17 Bahadur Shah Zafar.
Three Emperors are buried within a single mausoleum: #7 Muazzam Shah; #15 Shah Alam II and #16 Akbar II.
Mughal tombs, typically, never had a headstone. It, therefore, makes the identification of the occupants of the tombs very difficult. For that reason, many lesser-known tombs have never been identified. The famous tombs, however, have always been known. A sign on the tomb suggested only the gender of the occupant: a writing tablet for the woman and a pen-holder for the man.
More than one hundred tombs of Mughal nobility are scattered within the Humayun’s tomb complex. Somewhere among them the Emperors #8 Jahandar Shah; #9 Farrukhsiyar and #14 Alamgir II are buried. Their exact tombs have never been identified with certainty.
Several unknown graves are scattered in the courtyard behind the Moti Masjid in Mehrauli. Among them are the graves of Emperors #10 Rafi ud-Darajat; #11 Rafi ud-Daula and #13 Ahmad Shah Bahadur. Their exact tombs have never been identified with certainty.
Three emperors were assassinated: #8 Jahandar Shah, #9 Farrukhsiyar, and #14 Alamgir II.
Three emperors were blinded by their enemies: #9 Farrukhsiyar #13 Ahmad Shah Bahadur and #15 Shah Alam II.
Two emperors were forced to abdicate:
1. #5 Shahjahan I by his son, #6 Aurangzeb Alamgir, in 1658. Shahjahan died in captivity in 1666.
2. #13 Ahmad Shah Bahadur. Ahmad Shah Bahadur was deposed and blinded by his powerful vizier, Imad-ul-Mulk, in 1754. He was imprisoned at the Salimgarh Fort. He remained in prison during the reigns of his son (Emperor #14 Alamgir II) and grandson (Emperor #15 Shah Alam II), and died in 1775.
