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Emperors of the Mughal Empire

  • AkbarAkbar could not read, yet he built a library of over 24,000 volumes.
  • Rafi ud-DarajatRafi ud-Darajat sat on the Mughal throne for just three months and six days.
  • Jahandar ShahMughal emperor Jahandar Shah was handed to his rival by the noble who made him ruler.
  • Shah Jahan IIShah Jahan II ruled the Mughal Empire for exactly one hundred and three days in 1719.
  • Shah Jahan IIIIn December 1759, the powerful Imad-ul-Mulk put Shah Jahan III on the Mughal throne. Ministers later removed him.
  • AurangzebAt fourteen, Aurangzeb rode straight at a stampeding war elephant and threw his spear.
  • Shah JahanShah Jahan died a prisoner in the fortress where he had crowned himself emperor. His own son Aurangzeb locked him up.
  • JahangirEmperor Jahangir compared air quality in two cities by watching sheep carcasses rot.
  • FarrukhsiyarA surgeon's treatment of Emperor Farrukhsiyar led to a trade deal with the British East India Company.
  • BaburBabur became a ruler at age twelve when his father fell into a ravine with his dovecote.
  • HumayunHumayun lost his whole empire and spent fifteen years in exile before winning it back. A Persian shah saved him.
  • Alamgir IIAlamgir II spent forty years in prison before becoming Mughal emperor. The vizier who freed him later had him killed.
  • Ahmad Shah BahadurAhmad Shah Bahadur became Mughal emperor at twenty-two, unable to read. His father never gave him military training.
  • Akbar IIIn 1835, the East India Company put English on its coins, and Mughal emperor Akbar II's name vanished.
  • Bahadur Shah IBahadur Shah I became Mughal emperor at 64 after decades of plotting against his father. He ruled five years.
  • Shah Alam IIOn August 10, 1788, Ghulam Qadir blinded Mughal emperor Shah Alam II with a knife. He wanted the treasury.
  • Muhammad ShahMuhammad Shah was born Roshan Akhtar on the 7th of August 1702 and went on to become the thirteenth Mughal emperor. He ruled from 1719 to 1748. His father was Khujista Akhtar, the fourth son of Bahadur Shah I. He is often called Muhammad…
  • Bahadur Shah ZafarBahadur Shah Zafar, a poet-emperor with no imperial ambition, was pulled into the 1857 rebellion.

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