Mirza Jahan Shah

Biography

His father ruled over a rapidly disintegrating empire between 1806 and 1837. It was during his time that the East India Company dispensed with the illusion of ruling in the name of the Mughal monarch and removed his name from the Persian texts that appeared on the coins struck by the company in the areas under their control.

His brother was not his father’s preferred choice as his successor. One of Akbar Shah's queens, Mumtaz Begum, had been pressuring him to declare her son, and Mirza Jahan Shah's half-brother Mirza Jahangir as his successor. The East India Company exiled Jahangir after he attacked their resident, Sir Archibald Seton, in the Red Fort.

Family

During his lifetime, he kept six wives, and had at least ten children. He died in 1846, years before the events of 1857 that ushered in the end of his dynasty and the rule of the Imperial family of India.

His grandson, Zahir Shah Mirza was the patriarch of the Singranatore family in the eastern provinces of the empire.