Shah Jahan II
Shah Jahan II (c. 1696 – 17 September 1719), born Rafi ud-Daulah, was the twelfth Mughal emperor, reigning briefly from 6 June to 17 September 1719 as a figurehead controlled by the influential Sayyid brothers.[1] A member of the Mughal royal family and grandson of Bahadur Shah I, he ascended the throne following the death of his younger brother, Rafi ud-Darajat, who had similarly been installed as a puppet ruler but succumbed to illness after a mere three-month reign.[1] Physically weak and addicted to opium, Shah Jahan II exercised no real authority, with the Sayyid brothers wielding power amid the empire's accelerating decline after Aurangzeb's death in 1707.[2] His short tenure highlighted the fragmentation of Mughal central control, as regional powers gained autonomy, and he died of consumption (tuberculosis), paving the way for the installation of Muhammad Shah.[3][4]Early Life and Background
Family and Ancestry
Mirza Rafi-ud-Daulah, who later assumed the imperial title Shah Jahan II, was born in June 1696 as a prince of the Mughal dynasty.[5] He was the second son of Rafi-ush-Shan (c. 1671–1712), a prominent Mughal noble and the third son of Emperor Bahadur Shah I (r. 1707–1712).[3][6] Rafi-ush-Shan participated in the Mughal war of succession following Aurangzeb's death in 1707 but died in 1712 without ascending the throne.[7] Rafi-ud-Daulah's younger brother, Rafi ud-Darajat (b. December 1699), briefly preceded him as Mughal emperor in 1719, while another brother, Muhammad Ibrahim, did not claim the throne.[6] No records detail the identity or background of their mother, though she belonged to the extended Mughal nobility. Through his father, Rafi-ud-Daulah descended from Bahadur Shah I, son of Aurangzeb (r. 1658–1707), linking him to the core Timurid-Mughal lineage originating with Babur's conquest of India in 1526.[3] This ancestry traced back to Central Asian Turkic-Mongol roots, blending Timurid heritage from Timur (Tamerlane) with Genghisid claims via earlier marriages.[8] The family's position weakened amid the empire's fragmentation after Aurangzeb's death, with Rafi-ush-Shan's line overshadowed by rival branches like those of Azim-ush-Shan, Bahadur Shah I's eldest son.[4] Despite this, the Sayyid brothers elevated Rafi-ud-Daulah's branch to nominal emperors in 1719, exploiting the lack of strong adult claimants.[3]Pre-Ascension Circumstances
Rafi ud-Daulah, who assumed the regnal name Shah Jahan II upon his enthronement, was born circa 1698 as the second son of Prince Rafi-ush-Shan and a grandson of Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah I (r. 1707–1712).[3] Rafi-ush-Shan, himself a son of Bahadur Shah I, had died young, leaving his sons as minor figures in the sprawling Timurid lineage amid the empire's post-Aurangzeb fragmentation.[9] Little is documented of Rafi ud-Daulah's childhood or activities, reflecting his status as a collateral prince distant from the primary lines contesting power after Bahadur Shah I's death in 1712, which unleashed a cascade of short-lived rulers including Jahandar Shah (r. 1712–1713) and Farrukhsiyar (r. 1713–1719).[9] By early 1719, the powerful Sayyid brothers—Abdullah Khan and Hussain Ali Khan Barha—had consolidated control over the Mughal court, deposing and executing Farrukhsiyar on 28 April after blinding and imprisoning him, amid alliances with regional powers like Maharaja Ajit Singh of Marwar.[9] Seeking a pliable figurehead to legitimize their authority, the brothers selected Rafi ud-Daulah's younger brother, Rafi ud-Darajat, installing him as emperor on 28 February 1719; Rafi ud-Darajat, like his sibling, was young, inexperienced, and reportedly afflicted with tuberculosis, rendering him an ideal puppet.[10] Rafi ud-Daulah, approximately 21 years old at the time, remained in relative obscurity or seclusion during this period, his low profile and lack of independent military or noble support making him similarly suitable for the brothers' designs.[4] Rafi ud-Darajat's rapid decline culminated in his death from consumption on 6 June 1719, after a reign of just over three months, prompting the Sayyid brothers to elevate Rafi ud-Daulah to the throne without delay to avert any power vacuum or rival claims.[3] This succession underscored the brothers' strategy of rotating weak, short-reigning emperors from the same enfeebled branch of the family to perpetuate their regency, as Rafi ud-Daulah shared his brother's frail health and nominal capacity for rule.[4]Ascension to the Throne
Role of the Sayyid Brothers
Following the death of Rafi ud-Darajat on 6 June 1719 from tuberculosis, the Sayyid Brothers—Syed Abdullah Khan Barha, the wazir, and his brother Syed Hussain Ali Khan Barha, the mir bakshi—immediately elevated Rafi ud-Daulah, Rafi ud-Darajat's elder brother and a grandson of Bahadur Shah I, to the Mughal throne in Delhi.[3][11] They conferred upon him the title Shah Jahan II to invoke the prestige of the earlier Shah Jahan, thereby legitimizing their selection of another pliable figurehead from the imperial family.[4] The brothers chose Rafi ud-Daulah, then approximately 20 years old and already afflicted with consumption, precisely because his frailty ensured he would not challenge their dominance, mirroring their strategy with his predecessor.[12] This ascension perpetuated the power vacuum they exploited after deposing Farrukhsiyar on 8 April 1719, allowing them to consolidate control over the empire's administration, military, and finances without imperial interference.[13][12] Throughout Shah Jahan II's brief tenure until 17 September 1719, the Sayyid Brothers wielded absolute authority, issuing orders in the emperor's name while sidelining rival nobles and provincial governors who opposed their policies.[3] Their role as kingmakers underscored the Mughal Empire's institutional decay, where eunuchs and viziers supplanted the throne's traditional prerogatives.[4]
Immediate Predecessors
Rafi ud-Darajat, the younger brother of Shah Jahan II (born Rafi ud-Daulah), served as his immediate predecessor on the Mughal throne, reigning nominally from late February to 6 June 1719. Installed by the influential Sayyid Brothers—Abdullah Khan and Hussain Ali Khan—after they deposed the prior emperor Farrukhsiyar, Rafi ud-Darajat's brief rule was marked by his frail health and complete subordination to his patrons, who effectively controlled the empire's administration. He succumbed to tuberculosis shortly after ascension, prompting the Sayyid Brothers to elevate his sibling to maintain their puppet regime.[3][10] Prior to Rafi ud-Darajat, Farrukhsiyar had occupied the throne from 1713 until his overthrow in early 1719, a period during which tensions escalated between the emperor and the Sayyid Brothers, whom he had initially favored but later sought to marginalize through alliances with rival nobles. Farrukhsiyar, a grandson of Aurangzeb, was blinded, imprisoned, and ultimately strangled on 19 April 1719 under orders from the Sayyids, who justified the act by accusing him of ingratitude and incompetence amid growing provincial revolts and fiscal decay. This succession of short-lived, manipulable rulers underscored the Sayyid Brothers' dominance in the post-Aurangzeb Mughal court, where imperial authority had eroded to symbolic formalities.[14][9]Reign
Nominal Authority and Puppet Status
Shah Jahan II, born Rafi ud-Daulah, ascended the Mughal throne on 6 June 1719 following the death of his brother Rafi ud-Darajat, but held no effective power, functioning as a ceremonial puppet under the Sayyid brothers' control.[15] The brothers, Syed Abdullah Khan and Syed Hussain Ali Khan Barha, who had deposed the previous emperor Farrukhsiyar and installed the short-lived Rafi ud-Darajat, selected Rafi ud-Daulah for his youth and pliability to maintain their dominance over imperial administration, military commands, and policy decisions.[4] [16] Throughout his three-month reign, all substantive governance occurred through the Sayyids, who issued orders in the emperor's name to preserve the facade of Mughal legitimacy amid provincial rebellions and central weakening.[13] Rafi ud-Daulah's authority was nominal, evidenced by his issuance of gold mohurs, silver rupees, and copper coins bearing his titles, yet these mintings did not translate to independent fiscal or territorial control, as revenues and appointments remained under Sayyid influence.[16] His physical frailty, attributed to tuberculosis and opium dependency, rendered him incapable of asserting any personal initiative, confining his role to public appearances and symbolic acts.[15] This puppet status exemplified the Sayyid brothers' strategy of enthroning weak Timurids to counter noble factions and regional governors challenging Mughal suzerainty, though it accelerated perceptions of imperial impotence.[4] Historical records from the period, including court chronicles, portray Rafi ud-Daulah as a "phantom emperor," with real power vested in the Sayyids until his death on 17 September 1719, after which they swiftly installed another figurehead, Muhammad Shah.[15] [4]