Bahadur Shah I (Muhammad Mu'azzam; 14 October 1643 – 27 February 1712) or Shah Alam I, was the eighth Mughal emperor from 1707 to 1712. He was the second son of the sixth Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who he conspired to overthrow in his youth. He was also the governor of the imperial provinces of Agra, Kabul and Lahore and had to face revolts of Rajputs and Sikhs.
After Aurangzeb's death, Muhammad Azam Shah, his third son by his chief consort Dilras Banu Begum declared himself successor, but was shortly defeated in one of the largest battles of India, the Battle of Jajau and overthrown by Bahadur Shah. During the reign of Bahadur Shah, the Rajput kingdoms of Jodhpur and Amber were annexed again after they had declared independence a few years prior.
Bahadur Shah also sparked an Islamic controversy in the khutba by inserting the declaration of Ali as wasi. His reign was disturbed by several rebellions, the Sikhs under the leadership of Banda Singh Bahadur, Rajputs under Durgadas Rathore and a Mughal prince and Bahadur Shah's half-brother Kam Bakhsh but all of them were successfully quelled.
Bahadur Shah was born as Muhammad Mu'azzam on 14 October 1643 in Burhanpur. He was the second oldest son of prince Muhi al-Din Muhammad, later Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, by his Pothwari wife Nawab Bai, who belonged to the Jarral tribe, after his older brother Muhammad Sultan, who died in prison.
During his grandfather's reign, Shah Jahan, Mu'azzam was appointed vizer of Lahore from 1653 to 1659. In 1663, he replaced Shaista Khan as the governor of Deccan in 1663. Shivaji raided the outskirts of Mughal Deccan's capital Aurangabad while the indolent Mu'azzam did little to prevent it. Enraged at this, Aurangzeb sent his most able commander Raja Jai Singh to defeat Shivaji and here the historic Treaty of Purandar was signed.
After Raja Jai Singh I defeated Shivaji at Purandar, Mu'azzam was given charge of the Deccan in May 1667 and was assisted by Maharaja Jaswant Singh.
In 1670, Mu'azzam organised an insurgency to overthrow Aurangzeb and proclaim himself the Mughal emperor. This plan may have been hatched at the instigation of the Marathas, and Mu'azzam's own inclinations and sincerity are difficult to gauge. Aurangzeb learned of the plot and sent Mu'azzam's mother, Begum Nawab Bai, to dissuade him from rebellion. Mu'azzam returned to the Mughal court, where he spent the next several years under Aurangzeb's supervision. However, Mu'azzam again nearly revolted in 1680 over Aurangzeb's scorched earth policy during his suppression of Rajput rebellions. Once again, Aurangzeb dissuaded Mu'azzam with gentleness and watched him with greater vigilance.
For the next seven years, from 1681 to 1687, historian Munis Faruqui describes Mu'azzam as a "grudgingly obedient son".
In 1681, Mu'azzam was sent back by Aurangzeb to the Deccan to cut off the retreat of his rebellious half-brother Sultan Muhammad Akbar. According to Faruqui, Mu'azzam deliberately failed in his mission. In 1683, after being ordered by Aurangzeb to march to the Konkan region to prevent the still rebellious Muhammad Akbar from fleeing the country, but again Mu'azzam failed to achieve the assigned goal. In 1687, Aurangzeb ordered Mu'azzam to march against the sultanate of Golconda. Within weeks, the emperor's spies intercepted treasonous messages exchanged between Mu'azzam and Abul Hasan, the ruler of Golconda. This was something which could not be mistaken for incompetence; it was clearly treason. Aurangzeb imprisoned Mu'azzam and his sons, executed his closest followers, ordered his harem "shipped off to faraway Delhi", and dispersed his staff. Aurangzeb forbade Mu'azzam to cut his nails or hair for six months, gave orders depriving him of "good food, or cold water." He was not to meet anybody without his father's prior consent.
Around 1694, Aurangzeb rehabilitated Mu'azzam and allowed him "to rebuild his household", rehiring some of his officials. Aurangzeb continued to spy on his son, appointing his men to Mu'azzam's household, sending informants to his harem and choosing his representatives at the imperial court. Mu'azzam and his sons were transferred from the Deccan to north India, and were forbidden to lead military expeditions in the Deccan for the rest of Aurangzeb's reign. In 1695, Aurangzeb sent Mu'azzam to the Punjab to fight the chieftains and subdue a rebellion by the Sikh Guru Gobind Singh. Although the commander imposed "heavy taxation" on the rajas, he thought it necessary to leave the Sikhs undisturbed in their fortified city of Anandpur and refused to wage war against them out of "genuine respect" for their religion. That year Mu'azzam was appointed governor of Akbarabad, and in 1696 he was transferred to Lahore. After the death of Amin Khan, the governor of Kabul, he assumed that position in 1699, holding it until his father's death in 1707.
Aurangzeb died in 1707, without appointing a crown prince or a designated successor. Mu'azzam was governor of Kabul and his younger half-brothers Muhammad Kam Bakhsh and Muhammad Azam Shah were the governors of the Deccan and Gujarat respectively. All three sons intended to win the crown, and Kam Bakhsh began minting coins in his name. Mu'azzam defeated Azam Shah at the Battle of Jajau in June 1707. Azam Shah and his son Ali Tabar would be killed in the battle. Mu'azzam ascended the Mughal throne at age 64 on 19 June 1707, with the title of Bahadur Shah I. He then marched to the Deccan and defeated and killed Kam Bakhsh in a battle near Hyderabad in January 1708.
Muhammad Kam Bakhsh, marched with his soldiers to Bijapur in March 1707. On the news of Aurangzeb's death spread through the city, the city's governor, Sayyid Niyaz Khan surrendered the Bijapur Fort to him without a fight. Ascending the throne of Bijapur, Kam Bakhsh made Ahsan Khan, who served in the army as the bakshi (general of the armed forces), and made his advisor Taqarrub Khan as chief minister and gave himself the title of Padshah Kam Bakhsh-i-Dinpanah (Emperor Kam Bakhsh, Protector of Faith). He then conquered Kulbarga and Wakinkhera.A rivalry soon broke out between Taqarrub Khan and Ahsan Khan. Ahsan Khan had developed a marketplace in Bijapur where, without permission from Kam Bakhsh, he did not tax the shops. Taqarrub Khan reported it to Kam Bakhsh, who ordered the practise stopped. In May 1707, Kam Bakhsh sent Ahsan Khan to conquer the states of Golkonda and Hyderabad. Although the king of Golconda refused to surrender, Subahdar of Hyderabad, Rustam Dil Khan did so.
Taqarrub Khan made a conspiracy to eliminate Ahsan Khan, alleging that meetings of Ahsan Khan, Saif Khan (Kam Bakhsh's archery teacher), Arsan Khan, Ahmad Khan, Nasir Khan and Rustam Dil Khan (all of them Kam Bakhsh's former teachers and members of the then court) to discuss public business were a conspiracy to assassinate Kam Bakhsh "while on his way to the Friday prayer at the great mosque". After informing Kam Bakhsh of the matter, he invited Rustam Dil Khan for dinner; arrested him en route. Rustam Dil Khan was killed by being crushed under the feet of an elephant. Saif Khan's hands were amputated, and Arshad Khan's tongue was cut off. Ahsan Khan ignored warnings by close friends that Kam Bakhsh would arrest him, and would be imprisoned and his properties seized. In April 1708, Bahadur Shah sent an envoy Maktabar Khan to Kam Bakhsh's court. When Taqarrub Khan told Kam Bakhsh that Maktabar Khan intended to dethrone him, Kam Bakhsh invited the envoy and his entourage to a feast and executed them.
In May 1708, Bahadur Shah wrote a letter to Kam Bakhsh in which he warned his brother against proclaiming himself an independent sovereign and began a journey to the Tomb of Aurangzeb to pay his respects to his father. Kam Bakhsh thanked him in a letter, "without either explaining or justifying [his actions]".
Bahadur Shah reached Hyderabad on 28 June 1708, where he learned that Kam Bakhsh had attacked Machhlibandar to seize over three million rupees' worth of treasure hidden in its fort. The subahdar of the province, Jan Sipar Khan, refused to hand over the money. Enraged, Kam Bakhsh confiscated his properties and ordered the recruitment of four thousand soldiers for the attack. In July, the garrison at the Gulbarga declared their independence and garrison leader Daler Khan Bijapuri "reported his desertion from Kam Bakhsh". On 5 November 1708 Bahadur Shah's camp reached Bidar, 67 miles (108 km) north of Hyderabad. Historian William Irvine wrote that as his "camp drew nearer desertions from Kam Bakhsh became more and more frequent". On 1 November, Kam Bakhsh captured Pam Naik's (zamindar, the landlord of Wakinkhera) holdings after Naik abandoned his army.