FARRUKSHIYAR ,SYED BROTHERS SAD STORY

FARRUKSHIYAR ,SYED BROTHERS SAD STORY 

After Aurangzeb's death his eldest son by his chief consort, Muhammad Azam Shah, declared himself successor, however was shortly defeated in the Battle of Jajau and overthrown by Bahadur Shah I.Anyway, Aurangzeb learned about the plot and sent Mu'azzam's mother Begum Nawab Bai (a Muslim Rajput princess by birth) to dissuade Mu'azzam from rebellion.However, Mu'azzam revolted in 1680.Once again, Aurangzeb followed his previous policy to dissuade Mu'azzam with gentleness and then to place him under greater vigilance.[5] For the next seven years, from 1681 to 1687, Mu'azzam was a "grudgingly obedient son".

In 1712 Azim-ush-Shan anticipated Bahadur Shah I's death and a struggle for power, and recalled Farrukhsiyar. He was marching past Azimabad (present-day Patna, Bihar, India) when he learned of the Mughal emperor's death. On 21 March Farrukhsiyar proclaimed his father's accession to the throne, issued coinage in his name. In 1712 Jahandar Shah (Farrukhsiyar's uncle) ascended the throne of the Mughal empire by defeating Farrukhsiyar's father, Azim-ush-Shan. Farrukhsiyar wanted revenge for his father's death and was joined by Hussain Ali Khan (the subahdar of Bengal) and Abdullah Khan, his brother and the subahdar of Allahabad.[

On 10 January 1713 Farrukhsiyar and Jahandar Shah's forces met at Samugarh, 9 miles (14 km) east of Agra in present-day Uttar Pradesh. Jahandar Shah was defeated and imprisoned, and the following day Farrukhsiyar proclaimed himself the Mughal emperor.[5] On 12 February he marched to the Mughal capital of Delhi, capturing the Red Fort and the citadel. Jahandar Shah's head, mounted on a bamboo rod, was carried by an executioner on an elephant and his body was carried by another elephant.

Farrukhsiyar defeated Jahandar Shah with the aid of the Sayyid brothers, and one of the brothers, Abdullah Khan, wanted the post of wazir (prime minister).ultimately gave in to his demand, and Abdullah Khan became prime minister. Learning about these developments, the other Sayyid brother (Hussain Ali Khan) wrote to Abdullah: "It was clear, from the Prince's talk and the nature of his acts, that he was a man who paid no regard to claims for service performed, one void of faith, a breaker of his word and altogether without shame".[8] Hussain Ali Khan felt it necessary to act in their interests "without regard to the plans of the new sovereign".[9]

Maharaja Ajit Singh captured Ajmer with the support of the Marwari nobles and expelled Mughal diplomats from his state. Farrukhsiyar sent Hussain Ali Khan to subjuguate him. However, the anti-Sayyid brothers faction in the Mughal emperor's court compelled him to send secret letters to Ajit Singh assuring him of rewards if he defeated Hussain Ali Khan.[10]
 As Hussain advanced, Ajit Singh surrendered at Mairtha.[11] As a result, Mughal authority was restored in Rajasthan. Ajit Singh gave his daughter, Indira Kanwar, as a bride to Farrukhsiyar.

Banda bhahadur

n 1714, the Sirhind faujdar (garrison commander) Zainuddin Ahmad Khan attacked the Sikhs near Ropar. In 1715, Farrukhisyar sent 20,000 troops under Qamaruddin Khan, Abdus Samad Khan and Zakariya Khan Bahadur to defeat Bahadur.[20] After an eight-month siege at Gurdaspur, Bahadur surrendered after he ran out of ammunition. Bahadur and his 200 companions were arrested and brought to Delhi; he was paraded around the city of Sirhind.[22]

Bahadur was put into an iron cage and the remaining Sikhs were chained.[23] The Sikhs were brought to Delhi in a procession with the 780 Sikh prisoners, 2,000 Sikh heads hung on spears, and 700 cartloads of heads of slaughtered Sikhs used to terrorise the population. When Farrukhsiyar's army reached the Red Fort, the Mughal emperor ordered Banda Bahadur, Baj Singh, Bhai Fateh Singh and his companions to be imprisoned in Tripolia.[26] They were pressurised to give up their faith and become Muslims.[27] Although the emperor promised to spare the Sikhs who converted to Islam, according to William Irvine "not one prisoner proved false to his faith". On their firm refusal all were ordered to be executed. Every day, 100 Sikhs were brought out of the fort and murdered in public.[28] This continued for approximately seven days.[29] After three months of confinement,[30] On 19 June 1716 Farrukhsiyar had Bahadur and his followers executed, despite the wealthy Khatris of Delhi offering money for his release.[31] Banda Singh's eyes were gouged out, his limbs were severed, his skin removed, and then he was killed.[32]

Trade concession

Painting of Farrukhsiyar smoking a hookah with a female attendant
Moonlit portrait of Farrukhsiyar smoking a hookah with a female attendant
In 1717, Farrukhsiyar issued a farman giving the British East India Company the right to reside and trade in the Mughal kingdom. They were allowed to trade freely, except for a yearly payment of 3,000 rupees. This was because William Hamilton, a surgeon associated with the company cured Farrukhsiyar of a disease






Final struggle with the Sayyids
By 1715, Farrukhsiyar had given Mir Jumla III the power to sign documents on his behalf: "The word and seal of Mir Jumla are my word and seal". Mir Jumla III began approving proposals for jagirs and mansabs without consulting Syed Abdullah, the prime minister. Mir Jumla III told Farrukhsiyar that the Sayyids were unfit to hold office and accused them of insubordination. Hoping to depose the brothers, Farrukhsiyar began making military preparations and increased the number of soldiers under Mir Jumla III and Khan Dauran

After Syed Hussain learned about Farrukhsiyar's plans, he felt that their position could be cemented by controlling "important provinces". He asked to be appointed viceroy of the Deccan, instead of Nizam ul Mulk; Farrukhsiyar refused, transferring him to the Deccan instead. Fearing attack by Farrukhsiyar's supporters, the brothers began making military preparations. Although Farrukhsiyar initially considered giving the task of crushing the brothers to Mohammad Amin Khan (who wanted the position of prime minister in return), o fight the Sayyids, Farrukhsiyar summoned Ajit Singh, Nizam-ul-Mulk and Sarbuland Khan to the court with their troops; the armies' combined strength was 80,000. He did not summon Mir Jumla III and Khan Dauran, since the former failed in a campaign in Bihar and he felt that the latter had conspired with the Sayyid brothers to depose him. However, Syed Abdullah's troop strength was about 3,000. According to Satish Chandra, Farrukhsiyar could have defeated him with the help of the nobles; he did not do it, since he believed it would be difficult to get rid of them afterwards. He appointed Muhammad Murad Kashmiri as the new wazir (prime minister)
Kashmiri was a notorious for having sexual relationships with boys

By the end of 1718, when Syed Hussain began his march from the Deccan with 10,000 troops under Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath.  Syed Hussain fought Farrukhsiyar; after a night-long battle, he was deposed on 28 February 1719. The Sayyid brothers placed Rafi ud-Darajat on the throne. Farrukhsiyar was imprisoned in Tripolia and blinded.[
On 19 April 1719 he was strangled by unknown assailants and buried in Humayun's Tomb beside his father, Azim-ush-Shan.[49]