The forgotten Mughals : a history of the later emperors of the house of Babar (1707-1857)

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The forgotten Mughals : a history of the later emperors of the house of Babar (1707-1857)

G.S. Cheema

Manohar Publishers & Distributors, 2005

  • : Pb

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. [535]-540) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

A hundred and fifty years lie between the death of Aurangzeb and the final extinction of the Mughal empire. In its first hundred and fifty years the empire had seen six rulers, but during the next century and a half the Qila-i-Mualla would witness the passage of as many as eleven emperors if one leaves out the six or seven failed pretenders. It was a period of violence and disorder, with armies constantly on the march across a landscape of increasing misery, impoverishment, and desolation. The Forgotten Mughals is the story of these largely pageant emperors with their increasingly ineffectual ministers, and their gradual decline into irrelevance while younger and more powerful forces, both Indian and foreign, grappled with each other for the mastery of Hindostan. The landmark events like the wars of succession, the dictatorship of the Syed brothers, the Nadir Shahi and Durrani invasions with their attendant horrors, the bloodbath of Panipat and the final sack of Delhi in 1857 are all covered in detail. The books strength lies in its anecdotal details, like that of young Muhammad Shah, hiding behind the ample skirts of the formidable Sadr un-Nissa, superintendent of the harem, and of Bidar Dil cowering in a closet, while the emissaries of Qutb-ul-Mulk tried, in vain, to convince his women that they had, in fact, come to call him to the throne. And who will believe today that, as part of the retributive justice of the British, for nearly twenty years the Zinat masjid in Daryaganj was used as a bakery, and that the basement of the Fatehpuri mosque was sold to Seth Chuna Mall?

Table of Contents

  • Preface
  • The End of an Era
  • The Breakdown of Empire
  • The War of Succession
  • The End of Kam Bakhsh
  • The Reign of Shah Alam Bahadur Shah: Turmoil in Rajasthan
  • The Sikh Rebellion & the Death of Bahadur Shah
  • Brother against Brother again
  • The Reign of Jahandar
  • Badshah Gardi or King Making
  • The Fall of Zulfiqar
  • The King & his Makers
  • Take Warning Ye Who Have Eyes: The Fall of Farrukhsiyar
  • The Syed Dictatorship & Puppets on a String
  • The Fall of the Syeds
  • The Reign of Muhammad Shah Rangila: The Turanian Ascendancy
  • First Maratha Invasion of Hindostan
  • The Court of Merry Monarch
  • The Persian Invasion
  • Debacle at Karnal
  • The Persian on his Throne
  • The Morning After
  • Creeping Chaos
  • The first Invasion of Ahmad Shah Durrani
  • The New Reign
  • The Ministry of Safdar Jang
  • The Civil War & The Downfall of Safdar Jang
  • The Rise of Imad ul-Mulk
  • Reign of Chaos
  • Rivers of Blood: Ahmad Shah in Hindustan
  • Towards Panipat
  • The Panipat Campaign
  • The Aftermath
  • The Dictatorship of Najib ud-Daulah
  • The Wanderings of Shah Alam
  • The Gilded Exile
  • Mirza Najaf: The First Phase
  • The Fall of Abdul Ahad Majd ud-Daulah
  • Mirza Najaf Khan: The Second Phase
  • Night Falls over the City: After Mirza Najaf
  • The Regency of Mahadji Scindia
  • Ghulam Qadir: His Rise & Fall
  • After Ghulam Qadir: The Dictatorship of Mahadji Scindia
  • War & Strife in the Maratha Heartland
  • Maratha Twilight
  • The Bling Padishah in the Qila-i-Mualla
  • The Dawn of a New Age
  • The Golden Calm (1806-1857)
  • The Ghadar: Reaping the Whirlwind
  • The Rebellion in Delhi
  • Retribution
  • Glossary
  • Bibliography
  • Index.

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