Remember the Taj mahal, the most beautiful moseleum in the world? It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved wife.
The building speaks volumes about the mughals—their advancements in architecture, art, science and their love of beauty.
But the builder of the Taj mahal also has some story behind how he acended and descended the throne. It had a lot to do with the concept of Mughal succession.
In ancient times the usual rule of succession of a monarch was primogeniture. This means that when a monarch dies, his eldest surviving legitimate child would take the throne. (It's not like this pattern was meticulously adhered to 🙃).
For the mughals however the method of succession wasn't really an established rule. A son could take rulership from his father if he was powerful enough, and if a King had many sons, they will usually engage in a war until one won and the others were executed. The victor then
became the new ruler.
Shah Jahan himself had taken the throne by this kind of succession. He not only fought against his father, but when he gained the throne after his death, he made sure to execute other claimants to the throne.
Shah Jahan had four sons; Dara Shikoh, Shah Shuja, Aurangzeb, and Murad Bakhsh. With Shah Jahan's passing these four men would fight themselves until one took the throne (and then murder the rest, don't forget that part).
As Shah Jahan became Older, things became more tense as sides were being formed in the empire between these brothers. Shah Jahan however wanted Dara to be his successor and when Shah Jahan fell ill, Dara began to rule as his regent. This obviously wasn't taken well by the other brothers and so war.
So what happened during this War of succession?
Meet the brothers
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Dara Shikoh was the first and favorite son of his father. He was born in 1615, and he was Governor of Alhabad, Multan, Kabul and Gujarat (at a time) under Shah Jahan's reign. He was a learned person, and he was liberal regarding religious matters. Shah Jahan named him as his successor
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Shah Shuja was the second son of Shah Jahan born in 1616 and he was Governor of Bengal and the Orissa under Shah Jahan’s reign
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Aurangzeb, was the third son of Shah Jahan in this struggle. He was born in 1618 to Shah Jahan’s favorite wife and he was governor of the Deccan under Shah Jahan’s reign.
He led may failed military campaigns, but they made him a clever military commander.
Murad Bakhsh is the youngest of Shah Jahan’s sons to fight this war of succession born in 1624. He was the governor of Gujarat under Shah Jahan’s reign.
As governor's, they all had great administrative skill and a lot of men and resources under their command. But Dara controlled the most resources.
Shah Shuja’s declaration of independence
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With his father ill and Dara running the empire, Shuja declared independence in Bengal and made himself king.
He then brought out all his fire power and Marched towards Agra. Dara sent a strong imperial force to defend against him, and when both forces met in the Battle of Bahadnapur, Shuja was utterly defeated and fled in retreat.
Aurangzeb and Murad's declaration of independence
Murad and Aurangzeb also joined Shuja in declaring themselves independent kings.
Of the two, Aurangzeb was the stronger general. He had convinced Murad to become his ally by promising that they would both share the kingdom after they won.
Dara also sent an army to check against Murad. But when they got there, they met the Combined army of Murad and Aurangzeb who defeated them.
This victory emboldened Murad and Aurangzeb and they marched toward Agra.
Dara's defeat
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At this point Dara had sent out two war parties against his brothers. One had won, the other had failed.
The triumphant army were still far in the east. Meanwhile Aurangzeb and Murad were closing in on Agra.
Dara realized that the army he had left would not have been able to hold them off so he began to scramble for alliances. Aurangzeb however had already beat him to it.
In the end Dara met Aurangzeb and Murad in Battle of Samugarh.
He was able to put together a relatively large number of men, but they were put together hastily and were not very organized. Aurangzeb's and Murad's smaller force however were battle hardened and very organized.
Dara was defeated, but he was able to escape the battle.
What happened Next?
Well with the battle won and Dara on the run, Shah Jahan was imprisoned in the fort of the city of Agra.
He was not mistreated though, think about it as a king size house arrest. Most of Dara's forces surrendered to Aurangzeb including some of those that were trapped in the east.
Aurangzeb then proceeded to get Murad imprisoned and killed.
Yes, as I said, there was only going to be one winner, and Aurangzeb had no intention to share the empire.
Though Murad was gone, Dara was still on the run—planning his come back, and the defeated Shuja was still there.
Aurangzeb now made Shuja Governor of Bengal under him in order to weaken Dara's position. Shuja however declared himself emperor—again.
He was later defeated by Aurangzeb and he fled to Arakan where he was murdered. This made Dara the only remaining threat to Aurangzeb.
Dara's chasing and death
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Dara continued to fight for the throne. Though on the run, he engaged Aurangzeb in battle a few times but was defeated. Finally, he was betrayed by one of his generals and was handed over to Aurangzeb who had him executed in 1659.
So that's pretty much how the war of succession between Shah Jahan's sons went. In the end it was Aurangzeb who succeeded his father to become Mughal emperor. I hope you enjoyed reading this article.
See you next time.
