Muhammad Shah

He later got rid of them with the help of Nizam-ul-Mulk, Asaf Jah I – Syed Hussain Ali Khan was murdered at Fatehpur Sikri in 1720 and Sayyid Hassan Ali Khan Barha was captured in battle in 1720 and fatally poisoned in 1722. Muhammad Shah was a great patron of the arts, including musical, cultural and administrative developments, he is thus often referred to as Muhammad Shah Rangila (lit. 'Muhammad Shah "the colourful"'). His pen-name was "Sadrang" and he is also sometimes referred to as "Bahadur Shah Rangila" after his grand father Bahadur Shah I.

Muhammad Shah's reign was marked by the rapid and irreversible decline of the Mughal Empire that was exacerbated by Nader Shah's invasion of India and the sacking of Delhi in 1739. This course of events not only shocked and mortified the Mughals themselves, but also other foreign powers, including the British.

Early reign

Removing the Sayyid Brothers

On 9 October 1720, Syed Hussain Ali Khan Barha, the commander and chief of the Mughal army, was assassinated in his encampment in Todabhim and Muhammad Shah took direct command of the army. Asaf Jah I was then dispatched to gain complete control of six Mughal provinces in the Deccan, and Muhammad Amin Khan Turani was assigned as the Mansabdar of 8000. He was sent to pursue the Mughal Grand vizier Syed Hassan Ali Khan Barha, who was defeated at the battle of Hasanpur by Muhammad Amin Turani, Khan-i Dauran, Sher Afkan Panipati, and Amin-ud-Din Sambhali. Hassan Khan Barha fought on the side opposing Khan-i-Dauran where the most danger was anticipated, was captured on 15 November 1720 and executed two years later. The fall of the Sayyid Brothers would mark the beginning of the end of the Mughal Empire's direct control over its dominions in the Deccan.

Loss of Deccan subahs

On 21 February 1722, Muhammad Shah appointed Asaf Jah I as Grand Vizier. He advised Muhammad Shah to be "as cautious as Akbar and as brave as Aurangzeb". Asaf Jah used his influence with the emperor to fulfil his territorial ambitions in the Deccan. He lost the emperor's confidence when he appointed Hamid Khan, a relative to Saadullah Khan and his maternal uncle, to administer Gujarat after sending him on the pretext of restoring order to the province. Realising his loss of influence and trust from the emperor, Asaf Jah resigned as Grand Vizier and returned to the Deccan.

Asaf Jah I appointed Commander Ewaz Khan as the master of the garrison at Aurangabad, and much of his logistical duties were carried out by Inayatullah Kashmiri. In 1723 he set out on an expedition to the Deccan, where he fought Mubariz Khan, the Mughal Subahdar of the Deccan, who had kept the ravaging Maratha Empire at bay. Mubariz Khan was a former ally of the Barha Sayyids, who was appointed by Muhammad Shah to kill Asaf Jah I. Taking advantage of Mubariz Khan's conventional weaknesses, Asaf Jah I defeated and eliminated his opponent during the Battle of Shakar Kheda. Asaf Jah I then established the Hyderabad State and appointed himself the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1725.

The Mughal-Maratha Wars (1728–1763) would cause irreparable devastation to six Deccan subahs–Khandesh, Bijapur, Berar, Aurangabad, Hyderabad and Bidar. Asaf Jah would tell the Marathas to invade Malwa and the northern territories of the Mughal Empire to protect his newfound independence. The Nizam described the Maratha army to be an instrument to be wielded to his own advantage in the Maasir-i Nizami:

"I consider all this army (Marathas) as my own and I will get my work done through them. It is necessary to take our hands off Malwa. God willing, I will enter into an understanding with them and entrust the Mulukgiri (raiding) on that side of the Narmada to them."

The ears of Muhammad Shah were possessed by the Amir-ul-Umara, Khan-i Dauran. Muhammad Shah appointed Qamar-ud-Din Khan as Grand Wazir to succeed Asaf Jah. However, he was quickly dismissed in favour of Roshan-ud-Daulah Turrah Baz Khan, a native of Panipat, who was appointed the Grand Wazir, in order to reduce the influence of the Turani family.

Despite the loss of the Deccan subahs in 1724, the Nawab of Awadh Saadat Ali Khan and the Mughal subahdar Dilawar Khan (r. 1726–1756) remained loyal to the emperor and established a well-protected bastion on the Malabar Coast.

Cultural developments

While Urdu (derived from Zuban-i Urdū-yi Muʿallá or in local translation Lashkari Zaban, shortened to Lashkari) was already in use before Muhammad Shah's reign, it was during his reign that it became more popular among the people and he declared it as the court language, replacing Persian. During Muhammad Shah's reign, Qawwali was reintroduced into the Mughal imperial court and it quickly spread throughout South Asia. Muhammad Shah is also known to have introduced religious institutions for education such as Maktabs ( original arabic plural makātib ). During his reign, the Quran was translated for the first time into simple Persian and Urdu. Also, during his reign, the formal Turkic dress, normally worn by the high Mughal nobility since Mughals originally hailed from Samarqand, was replaced by the Sherwani. However, Muhammad Shah's adoption of the Deccan-influenced dress to court would lead to derisive comments, such as "See how the Deccan monkey dances!"

Muhammad Shah was a patron of the performing arts, almost at the cost of administrative priorities, paving the way for the disintegration of governance. While Mughal political power did decline in his reign, the Emperor encouraged the arts, employing master artists such as Nidha Mal (active 1735–75) and Chitarman, whose vivacious paintings depict scenes of court life, such as Holi celebrations, hunting and hawking. The Mughal court of the time had musicians such as Naimat Khan, also known as Sadarang, and his nephew Firoz Khan (Adarang), whose compositions popularised the musical form of khyal. Naimat Khan composed khyal for his disciples and he never performed khyal. This key component of Indian classical music evolved, ascended and received princely patronage at the court of Muhammad Shah.

He himself was a poet under the penname "Sadrang" and was also a composer of Indian classical raga songs in the bhairav, kafi, dhamar and malkauns genres. These included songs on the themes of love and the festival of Holi.

Scientific developments

During the reign of Muhammad Shah, a significant scientific work known as the Zij-i Muhammad Shahi was completed by Jai Singh II of Amber between the year 1727 and 1735; it consisted of 400 pages.

Rebellious activities against Muhammad Shah

In 1719, the Kolis of Mahi River were most rebellious against Mughal rule and plundering the villages, Mihir Ali Khan, who was acting as Viceroy of Gujarat at the place of Ajit Singh of Marwar, marched against the Koli rebels of Mahi who were committing piracy against Muslims and subdued them.

In 1721, Kasim Ali Khan, who was an officer of the Mughal Empire under Muhammad Shah employed against the Kolis of Kheda district to collect the fine but they refused to pay and there was a battle in Pethapur between the Kolis and the Mughal Army under Khan. Khan was killed by the Kolis and the Mughal army was defeated and retreated to base.

In 1722, Muhammad Bahadur, son of Salabat Khan Babi, was placed in charge of Sadra and Virpur, with the title of Sher Khan. Shortly after his arrival the viceroy marched against and subdued the rebellious Kolis of the Chunval but was wounded deeply. After that Kolis of Modhera opposed Muhammad Shah and Modhera village was burnt down.

In 1729, Mughal Viceroy of Sultan Muhammad Shah faced the challenge of anti-muslim activities of Kolis of Sorath, The viceroy marched against Kolis of Sorath and after destroying them, he took them to Ahmednagar. After this, Jawan Mard Khan Babi who was the Governor of Petlad gave an order against rebellious Kolis of Balor, at probably Bhátod about fifteen miles east of Bharuch, but Jawan Marad Khan was killed by a man of the Koli tribe, and in revenge for his death the town of Balor was plundered. On the death of Jawán Mard Khan, at the request of Salabat Muhammad Khan Babi, his eldest son Kamal-ud-din Khan Babi received the districts of Sami and Munjpur and the title of Jawan Mard Khan.

In 1738, Sher Khan Babi was in Junagadh appointed as governor of Sorath, Babi was obliged to march against a Koli chieftain Kanji Chunvalia of Chhaniar in Chunval because Kanji opposed and resisted the Mughal authority, but Sher Khan Babi was fiercely resisted by Kolis so Momin Khan was called with a large force and Chhaniar was burned down by the Mughal army.

In 1739, Koli chieftain Jamaji of Thara, raised the Kolis of Kankrej against the Padishah and continually plundered Mughal territory. Jawan Mard Khan was ordered to march against the Koli chieftain but he was unable to maintain order, so he requested Fida-ud-din Khan to subdue the Kolis. After defeating the Koli chieftain, the Koli country was plundered by Mughal troops.

In 1740, Kolis of Atarsumba, challenged Mughal authority and refused to pay any form of tax to the Mughal Padishah. Jawan Mard khan along with his brother Zorawar Khan Babi, marched against Kolis of Atarsumba but they strongly resisted resulting in a battle, Mughals defeated the Kolis and forced them to pay tax. But it was not for a long time, after some time, Kolis again refused to pay tax and Mughal troops were sent under Abdul Hussain Khan and Vajeram burning three Koli villages.

In 1747, Rangoji a Maratha military leader returned to Áhmedábád, and Jawán Mard Khán had an interview with him a few miles from the city. Shortly after this, the Kolis of Mehmudabad and Mahudha rebelled, but the revolt was speedily crushed by Sháhbáz Rohilla.

Bengal and Sikhs raids

Muhammad Ali Khan the Mughal Faujdar of Rangpur and his stern ally Deena Narayan were ambushed out of Koch Bihar by Upendra Narayan a Hindu Bihari and Mipham Wangpo (r. 1729–1736) the ruler of Bhutan. Ali Mohammed Khan had established the barons of Rohilakhand. In the Punjab region, the Sikhs were at war with local Mughal subahdars, devastating them with their hit-and-run tactics.

Loss of Gujarat and Malwa subahs

After decisively defeating Asaf Jah in February 1728 at the Battle of Palkhed, Bajirao I and his brother Chimaji Appa re-invaded Malwa. The Mughal subahdar Giridhar Bahadur was defeated and killed at the battle of Amjhera in November 1729. Chimnaji Appa then unsuccessfully attempted to besiege the remnants of the Mughal army at Ujjain.

In 1731, Asaf Jah managed to secure the defections of influential Maratha leaders, such as Trimbak Rao Dabhade and Sanbhoji who threatened to abandon the Marathas and join the forces with the emperor Muhammad Shah. However, the defectors were overrun and killed by a large Maratha force led by Bajirao I and Chimnaji Appa during Battle of Dabhoi. Bajirao I then attacked Gujarat with his full force and drove out Sarbuland Khan by 1735.

Bajirao I defeated a well-trained Mughal army led by Amir Khan Bahadur at Rikabganj. He did not proceed with his victory although he could have taken the city unopposed. He withdrew after receiving intelligence of the advancing forces of Wazir Qamar-ud-Din Khan. Bajirao with his army retreated to the southeast at Badshahpur, where he corresponded with the emperor Muhammad Shah, who ratified peace by agreeing the handover of Malwa to the Marathas.