Muhammad Azam Shah (Mughal Prince) – Son of Aurangzeb

Muhammad Azam Shah

Muhammad Azam Shah, the son of Aurangzeb was born of Dilras Banu Begum, the daughter of Shah Nawaz Khan Safavi. He was born on 28th June, 1653.

Azam Shah enjoyed the title of ‘Alijah’ and thought that the Emperor loved him the most and would nominate him as heir to the throne.

The grounds for such a belief were:

That while he was born of a Muslim lady of a distinguished family,
That the Emperor was perhaps dissatisfied with Muazzam,
That the dignity of Muazzam had been considerably lowered after his imprisonment on grounds of treason in 1687.
Around the time of the death of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, he had been directed to proceed to Malwa. He tried to consolidate his power before the death of the emperor but the latter did not give him any special encouragement although at his request.

After the death of Aurangzeb, Muhammad Azam Shah declared himself the next Mughal Empire. However, before he could reach near agra, he found that his Bahadur Shah-I has already captured the imperial city. In the battle of Jajau that followed between them, Azam Shah was defeated and killed 8th June, 1707. After the death of Azam Shah, Bahadur Shah-I sat on the throne of Mughal Empire.