Alamgir II

Alamgir II (born June 6, 1699, Multan [India]—died Nov. 29, 1759, Delhi) was the Mughal emperor of India from 1754–59. He was noted for his disregard for his subjects’ welfare.

A son of the emperor Jahandar Shah (reigned 1712–13), Alamgir was always the puppet of more powerful men and was placed on the throne by the imperial vizier Imad al-Mulk Ghazi al-Din, who had deposed his predecessor. Provoked by the vizier’s attempt to reassert control over the Punjab, the Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Durrani had his agents occupy Delhi in January 1757, which was at the time “absolutely without a single defender or caretaker.” After the city was secured, Alamgir was confirmed emperor of Hindustan but was in effect Ahmad Shah’s puppet. Threatened in 1759 with another Afghan invasion and the possibility of Alamgir’s being captured and used against him, Ghazi al-Din had the emperor murdered.