ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>BAH&#256DUR SH&#256H (1643-1712)</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="BAHDUR,SHH,Person,Person"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279BAH&#256DUR SH&#256H (1643-1712), Mu<u>gh</u>al emperor of India from 1707 to 1712. Born Muhammad Mu'azzam at Burh&#257npur in the Deccan on 14 October 1643, he was actively employed by his father, Aura&#7749gz&#299b, from 1663 onwards for subduing the kingdom of B&#299j&#257pur and the Qutb Sh&#257h&#299 dynasty of Golco&#7751&#7693&#257 in the south. In 1695 he was appointed <i>s&#363b&#257hd&#257r</i> of &#256gr&#257 and in 1699 governor of K&#257bul. Mu'azzam was at K&#257bul when news arrived of the death, on 20 February 1707, of Aura&#7749gz&#299b. The Emperor's death was a signal for the usual war of succession and, in Mu'azzam's absence, his younger brother, '&#256zam Sh&#257h, assumed the throne. Mu'azzam came down from K&#257bul and won a decisive victory in the battle of J&#257ja&#363, near &#256gr&#257, on 8 June 1707. He sat on the throne of Delhi, with the title of Bah&#257dur Sh&#257h.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Bah&#257dur Sh&#257h, who had the reputation of being liberal in his religious policy, had requested Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh for help in the war of succession and the Gur&#363 had sent a body of Sikhs to fight on his side in the battle of J&#257ja&#363 to defend his right to the crown, he being the eldest of the surviving sons of Aura&#7749gz&#299b. When Bah&#257dur Sh&#257h was firmly in the royal seat, Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh came to &#256gr&#257 on 23 July 1707 to pay him a formal visit. The Emperor expressed immense happiness at seeing the Gur&#363 and thanked him for his visit and for the help he had given him in the battle. Bah&#257dur Sh&#257h presented the Gur&#363 with a <i><u>kh</u>ill'at</i> including a jewelled scarf, a <i>dhukhdhukh&#299</i> and an aigrette or <i>kal<u>gh</u>&#299</i>. The Gur&#363's attendant who waited outside the hall was called in to carry the dress of honour to his camp, contrary to the Mu<u>gh</u>al practice of the recipient having to put it on in the court. This meeting became the starting-point of parleys between Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh and the Emperor on the question of the State's religious policy. But Bah&#257dur Sh&#257h had to leave suddenly for the Deccan to quell a rebellion by his brother, K&#257m Ba<u>kh</u>sh. Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh travelled south with him to continue the negotiations. Naw&#257b Waz&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n of Sirhind felt alarmed at the Emperor's conciliatory treatment of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, and he charged two of his trusted men with murdering the Gur&#363 before his increasing friendship with the Emperor resulted in any harm to himself. When one of these two Pa&#7789h&#257ns stabbed Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, Bah&#257dur Sh&#257h sent expert surgeons, including an Englishman, to attend on the Gur&#363 and his injury was temporarily healed. The negotiations, however, remained inconclusive.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;On his return in 1710 from the Deccan after a successful campaign against his brother, K&#257m Ba<u>kh</u>sh, Bah&#257dur Sh&#257h found himself confronted with a Sikh rebellion under the banner of Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur who had occupied territory in parts of the Punjab. Band&#257 Si&#7749gh's increasing influence roused the ire of Bah&#257dur Sh&#257h, who ordered a general mobilization of all his forces in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Oudh, and called for volunteers for a <i>Jih&#257d</i> against the Sikhs. Prohibitory laws against the Sikhs were passed. Fearing that some Sikhs might not have smuggled themselves into the royal camp disguised as Hindus, Bah&#257dur Sh&#257h ordered all Hindus employed in the imperial offices to shave off their beards. His order, issued on 10 December 1710, was a general warrant for the <i>faujd&#257rs</i> to kill the worshippers of N&#257nak i. e. Sikhs, wherever found (<i>N&#257nak prast&#257&#7749 r&#257 har j&#257 kih bay&#257band baqatl ras&#257nand</i>). Bah&#257dur Sh&#257h, with a massive imperial force - sixty thousand horse and foot - stormed the Lohga&#7771h fortress in the submontane region where Band&#257 Si&#7749gh had taken shelter but could not capture him. Bah&#257dur Sh&#257h reached Lahore in August 1711 where for the next six months his courtiers fed him on stories of Mu<u>gh</u>al victories over Band&#257 Si&#7749gh's "rabble. " But as the days rolled by with Band&#257 Si&#7749gh still free, still defiant, the Emperor became melancholic and died on 27 February 1712.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Sarkar, Jadunath, <i>Fall of the Mu<u>gh</u>al Empire</i>. Delhi, 1971<BR> <li class="C1"> Irvine, W. , <i>Later Mughals</i>. London, 1922<BR> <li class="C1"> Khushwant Si&#7749gh <i>A History of the Sikhs</i>, vol. I. Princeton, 1963<BR> <li class="C1"> Sharma, Sri Ram, <i>Religious Policy of the Mughal Emperors</i>. Bombay, 1962<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Sr&#299 R&#257m Sharma<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>