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{{Short description|Mughal prince (1749–1788)}}
{{distinguish|Mirza Jawan Bakht (born 1841)}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Jahandar Shah II جہاندار شاہ ثانی
| title = [[Crown Prince|Wali Ahad]] of the [[Mughal Empire]] [[List of Mughal grand viziers|Grand Vizier of the Mughal Empire]] [[Shahzada (title)|Shahzada]] of the [[Mughal Empire]] [[Mirza (noble)|Mirza]]<ref>[https://www.dawn.com/news/595548/past-present-emperors-new-names Mughal title ''Mirza''], the title of Mirza and not Khan or Padshah, which were the titles of the Mongol rulers.</ref>
| image = MirzaJavanbakht.jpg
| caption = Portrait by Charles Smith after one by [[Johan Zoffany]], {{Circa|1783}}
| succession = [[Heir-apparent]] of the [[Mughal Empire]]
| reign = 1760–1784
| coronation = 10 October 1760 at [[Red Fort]], [[Delhi]]
| predecessor = [[Shah Alam II]]
| successor = [[Akbar II]]
| spouse = {{Ubl|Nawab Mulka-i-Afaq Qutlaq Sultan Begum
| Jahanabadi Begum Sahiba
| Zeb un-nisa Begum Sahiba
| Mahal-i-Khas Sahiba
| Halim un-nisa Khanum
| Zahar un-nisa Khanum
}}
| issue = {{Ubl|Mirza Muhammad Shagufta Bakht Bahadur
| Khurram Bakht Bahadur

| }}
| full name = Shahzada Mirza Jawan Bakht Jahandar Shah Bahadur
| house = [[Mughal dynasty]]
| father = [[Shah Alam II]]
| mother = Nawab Taj Mahal Begum Sahiba
| birth_date = {{Birth year|1749}}
| birth_place = [[Red Fort]], [[Shahjahanabad]], [[Delhi Subah]], [[Maratha Empire]] (now in [[Delhi]], [[India]])
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1788|05|31|1749|||df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Benares]], [[Oudh State|Awadh Subah]], [[Maratha Empire]] (modern-day [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]])
| burial_place = [[Benares]], [[Oudh State]], [[Mughal Empire]] (now in [[Uttar Pradesh]], India)
| religion = [[Sunni Islam]]
| dynasty = [[Timurid dynasty]]
}}

[[File:Javanbakht.jpg|thumb|Portrait of The Nawab Vizier Asaf-ud-Daula, seated, full-length; and Portrait of Prince Mirza Jawan Bakht, heir apparent to the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam, seated, full-length]]
[[File:A Mughal nobleman on horseback, a Mughal miniature, c.1656-1661.jpg|thumb|Prince Mirza Jawan Bakht coordinated and commanded various contingents of [[Mughal Army|Mughal troopers]], who cut off the supply lines of the [[Maratha Empire]] prior to the [[Third Battle of Panipat]].]]

'''Shahzada Mirza Jawan Bakht Bahadur'''{{Efn|alternative spelling '''Mirza Javan Bakht''', '''Mirza Jawan Bakht''' also known as '''Mirza Jahandar Shah'''}} ([[Persian language|Persian]], {{langx|ur|{{Nastaliq|شہزادہ مرزا جوان بخت بہادر}}}}; 1749 – 31 May 1788{{Efn|25th [[Shaban]] 1202 A.H.}}) was a [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] prince<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_lxgaAAAAIAAJ|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_lxgaAAAAIAAJ/page/n205 190]|quote=jahan,dar shah jawan bakht.|title=An Oriental Biographical Dictionary: Founded on Materials Collected by the Late Thomas William Beale|first1=Thomas William|last1=Beale|first2=Henry George|last2=Keene|date=1 December 1894|publisher=W.H. Allen|accessdate=1 December 2018|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> and the eldest son of Emperor [[Shah Alam II]] and the grandson of Emperor [[Alamgir II]]. He was born in 1749 at the [[Red Fort]], [[Delhi]]. Jawan Bakht was a very influential [[Timurid dynasty|Timurid]] Prince of the [[Mughal Empire]] and he also briefly served as the [[Heir-apparent]] of the Mughal Empire.

== Early life ==
{{unreferenced section|date=December 2021}}
Prince Mirza Jawan Bakht grew up during very turbulent times in the [[Mughal Empire]], his grandfather's relations with the [[Maratha Confederacy|Maratha]] backed [[Grand Vizier]] [[Imad-ul-Mulk]] had begun to worsen as the imperial [[Nawab]]s sought to re-centralize the empire.

The Vizier [[Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III|Imad-ul-Mulk]] was clearly a man of no principles and was commonly criticized for his extreme selfishness. He put all the imperial revenues into his own pocket and starved the [[Alamgir II]]'s family for three days because [[Timur Shah Durrani]] had become the son-in-law of the emperor. Mirza Jawan Bakht often recalled the days he wandered around [[Delhi]] begging for food supplies and firewood during those three days.

Angered by the disrespect and arrogance exhibited by Imad-ul-Mulk, Ahmad Shah Durrani set out on another invasion and appointed [[Najib ad-Dawlah|Najib-ud-Daula]] as the new [[Grand Vizier]] of the [[Mughal Empire]] in accordance to the wishes of [[Alamgir II]] and Shah Waliullah. Ahmad Shah Durrani then returned to [[Kabul]], while the experienced [[Najib ad-Dawlah|Najib-ud-Daula]] consolidated the remains of the Mughal Empire by uniting distant [[Faujdar]]s, [[Nawab]]'s and [[Nizam]]s into a common cause against the [[Maratha Confederacy|Marathas]].

Mirza Jawan Bakht was among the Mughal Princes in the service of Najib-ul-Daula, and received military training from his new mentor [[Hafiz Rahmat Khan]].

Fearing the wrath of [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]]'s new coalition the deposed Imad-ul-Mulk consolidated himself with an old ally the Maratha leader [[Sadashivrao Bhau]] and launched a ferocious attack which lasted 15 days and caused the defeat of Najib-ud-Daula and the [[Mughal Army]] in the imperial heartlands around [[Delhi]]. Najib-ud-Daula conceded defeat and ordered his forces to retreat northwards after being completely overrun.

Things got a lot worse when [[Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III|Imad-ul-Mulk]] persecuted Mirza Jawan Bakht's activist father Prince [[Shah Alam II|Ali Gauhar]]. When Ali Gauhar realized that Imad-ul-Mulk was planning to have him assassinated he fled eastwards and sought refuge with [[Ahmad Shah Bangash]] and [[Shuja-ud-Daula]] the [[Nawab of Awadh]].

Imad-ul-Mulk then feared that the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II would recall Ahmad Shah Durrani, or use his son Prince Ali Gauhar, to dispossess him of his newfound power with the Marathas. Therefore, Imad-ul-Mulk and [[Sadashivrao Bhau]] plotted to murder the Mughal Emperor [[Alamgir II]] and his family. In November, 1759, the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II was told that a pious man had come to meet him, Alamgir II, ever so eager to meet holy men, set out immediately to meet him at Kotla Fateh Shah, he was stabbed repeatedly by Imad-ul-Mulk's assassins. The Mughal Emperor Alamgir II's death was mourned throughout the Mughal Empire.

==Shah Jahan III the usurper==
{{unreferenced section|date=December 2021}}
After the assassination of Alamgir II in 1759, the [[Peshwa]] under the sway of [[Sadashivrao Bhau]] had reached the peak of its short-lived power particularly when their involvement in the assassination had become eminent when he discussed abolishing the [[Mughal Empire]] and placing [[Vishwasrao]] on the throne in [[Delhi]] by bribing or deposing [[Ghazi ud-Din Khan Feroze Jung III|Imad-ul-Mulk]].<ref>{{cite book| first=Mountstuart |last=Elphinstone |title=History of India | url=https://archive.org/details/historyindia02elphgoog |publisher=John Murray, Albemarle Street |year=1841 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyindia02elphgoog/page/n318 276]}}</ref>

However, [[Sadashivrao Bhau]] then personally chose [[Shah Jahan III]] as the new [[Mughal Emperor]] and began a campaign of plundering the [[Jewels]] and [[Jewelry|ornaments]] of the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] imperial court, he also defaced mosques, tombs and shrines that the Mughals had built in [[Agra]] and [[Delhi]], he then desecrated the imperial [[Moti Masjid (Delhi)|Moti Masjid]] and looted its exquisite jeweled decorations into booty for the ravaging Marathas.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jq-g5YF1QzEC&q=desecrated&pg=PA37 |title=The Begums of Bhopal: A History of the Princely State of Bhopal |author=Shaharyar M. Khan|date=28 July 2000 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=9781860645280 }}</ref> Sadashivrao Bhau's domination over the [[Mughal Empire]] had a profound impact on the divided and degenerative Muslim aristocracy and hierarchy, many began to look up to [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]] as their savior.

Mirza Jawan Bakht is known to have witnessed the looting and this event completely changed his opinion regarding the legitimacy and the immoral authoritarianism of the [[Maratha]] renegades.

==Third Battle of Panipat==
Prince Mirza Jawan Bakht coordinated and commanded various contingents of [[Mughal Army|Mughal troopers]], who cut off the supply lines of the [[Maratha]]s prior to the [[Third Battle of Panipat]] and eventually overthrew the usurping [[Shah Jahan III|Jahan Shah III]]<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4j_VLlGqVSoC&q=mirza+jawan+bakht&pg=PA767 |title=Mughal Empire in India: A Systematic Study Including Source Material |volume= 3 |author= S.R. Sharma|year=1999 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist |isbn=9788171568192 }}</ref> after the victory of the coalition of [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]] and proclaimed [[Shah Alam II]] as the rightful ruler of the [[Mughal Empire]]

==Mirza Jawan Bakht regent of the Mughal Empire==
After the [[Battle of Buxar]], Shah Alam II's absence from Delhi meant that his son Prince Mirza Jawan Bakht and [[Najib-ul-Daula]], were the actual representatives of the emperor for the next 12 years. As the Administrator of [[Delhi]] and the imperial heartlands including [[Agra]], Najib-ul-Daula, was unprepared to halt the [[Jat]] peasant uprisings led by the deviant [[Suraj Mal]]. During one massive assault Jat renegades and their leaders overran the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] garrison at [[Agra]] they plundered the city and the two great [[silver]] doors to the entrance of the famous [[Taj Mahal]] were looted and thoughtlessly melted down by [[Suraj Mal]] in 1764.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/Culture/Archit/TajM.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991006091033/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/Culture/Archit/TajM.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 6, 1999|title=Frontpage - MANAS|website=Sscnet.ucla.edu|accessdate=1 December 2018}}</ref> Since then many [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] [[Faujdar]]s and commanders such as [[Sayyad Muhammad Khan Baloch]] vowed to avenge the ruins of the [[Mughal Empire]] caused by the tyrannical Jat's and during an ingenious counterattack [[Suraj Mal]] was defeated and executed by the [[Mughal Army]].

The [[Jat]]s then sacked [[Jaipur]] and invited the Marathas in 1766, Ahmad Shah Abdali tried to reinforce [[Delhi]] by organizing another campaign against the [[Sikh]]s, who killed [[Zain Khan Sirhindi]], the Sikh renegades were ultimately defeated by the Durrani forces.

In the year 1768 the Marathas pillaged [[Bharatpur, Rajasthan|Bharatpur]], and the [[Mughal Army]] began to crumble once again mainly due to the death of [[Najib-ul-Daula]]. Mirza Jawan Bakht and Hafiz Rahmat Khan never trusted [[Najib ad-Dawlah|Najib-ul-Daula's]] manipulative son [[Zabita Khan]], who was often compared with the unpopular Imad-ul-Mulk.

==Arrival of Shah Alam II==
{{unreferenced section|date=December 2021}}
[[File:The royal procession of Shah Alam II with his army processing from right to left along the banks of a river..jpg|thumb|The [[Mughal Army]] of [[Shah Alam II]] arrives in [[Delhi]].]]

Soon after the emperor's arrival in [[Delhi]], Zabita Khan began to align himself with [[Jat people|Jat]] rebels and in response to this particular alliance [[Mirza Najaf Khan]], Mirza Jawan Bakht and his armies attacked [[Zabita Khan]], who fled from his position and the chief of the [[Rohilla]]s, but was restored once again after negotiating peace with Shah Alam II. Zabita Khan caused even greater tribulations when he intentionally attacked and provoked the weakened Marathas, who then overran and set ablaze a large portion of [[Rohilkhand]] and captured [[Najafgarh]]. The Marathas were defeated soon after at Asadpur, when [[Hafiz Rahmat Khan]] successfully gained reinforcements by his longtime ally by [[Shuja-ud-Daula]], together their combined forces expelled the [[Maratha]]s out of Rohilkhand and Delhi also.

===Mirza Jawan Bakht, champion of the new Mughal Army===
[[File:A Mughal Infantryman.jpg|thumb|A [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] infantryman, under the command of [[Mirza Najaf Khan]], well capable of defending the [[Mughal Empire]].]]

One of his first acts was to strengthen and raise a new [[Mughal Army]], under the command of [[Mirza Najaf Khan]] capable of defending the [[Mughal Empire]]. This new army consisted of infantrymen who successfully utilized both [[Flintlock]]s and [[Talwar]]s in combat formations,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zp0FbTniNaYC&q=footmen+were+armed+with+flintlock+muskets&pg=PA41 |title=War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849 |author=Kaushik Roy|date=30 March 2011 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781136790874 }}</ref> they utilized elephants for transportation and were less dependent on artillery and cavalry. [[Mirza Najaf Khan]] is also known to have introduced the more-effective [[Firelock]] muskets through his collaboration with [[Mir Qasim]], the [[Nawab of Bengal]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zp0FbTniNaYC&q=shah+alam+jean+law+de+lauriston&pg=PA41 |title=War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849 |author=Kaushik Roy|date=30 March 2011 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781136790874 }}</ref>

The new Mughal Army carried the standard of Mirza Jawan Bakht, and soon controlled a vast territory that stretched from the [[Satluj Valley]] in the west to the territories around [[Allahabad]] in the east, from [[Srinagar]] in the north to [[Gwalior]] in the south, however times were troubled and the Mughal Empire was surrounded by enemies on every side.

===Coup by Ghulam Qadir===
After Prince Mirza Jawan Bakht's fruitless attempts to halt [[Ghulam Kadir|Ghulam Qadir]] and his renegade forces, Ghulam Qadir with his renegade Sikh and Hindu allies entered the imperial palace and forced [[Shah Alam II]] to appoint him as the [[Grand Vizier]] of the [[Mughal Empire]]. Petty, avaricious and insane the eunuch ravaged the palaces in search of the Mughal treasure believed to be worth Rs 250 million. Unable to locate even a fraction of that sum and angered by the Mughal Emperor's attempts to eliminate him and his [[Sikh]] allies, Ghulam Qadir had Shah Alam II blinded on August 10, 1788.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cBVpaCu7XA8C&q=ghulam+qadir+sikh&pg=PA392 |title=Decline of Muslim States and Societies: The Real Root Causes and What Can Be ... |author= Misbah Islam|date=May 2008 |publisher=Xlibris |isbn=9781436310123 }}</ref> A drunken ruffian, Ghulam Qadir behaved with gross brutality to the emperor and his family. Three servants and two water-carriers who tried to help the bleeding emperor were beheaded and according to one account, Ghulam Qadir would pull the beard of the elderly Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II. After ten horrible weeks, during which Ghulam Qadir stripped the princesses of the royal family naked and forced them to dance naked before him (after which they jumped into Yamuna river to drown) and the honour of the royal family and prestige of the Mughal Empire reached its lowest ebb, Mahadaji Shinde intervened and killed Ghulam Qadir, taking possession of Delhi on 2 October 1788.

Unable to gather any assistance from his cousin [[Zaman Shah Durrani]] and isolated by the subjects of Shah Alam II, Mirza Jawan Bakht refused to ally himself with the powerful [[Maratha]] chieftain [[Mahadaji Shinde]], the Mughal Prince suddenly died mortified in May 1788, while gathering relief forces in [[Agra]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/fallofthemoghule01470gut |title=The Fall of the Moghul Empire of Hindustan |first=Henry George |last=Keene |authorlink=Henry George Keene (1826–1915)}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Alamgir II]]
*[[Shah Alam II]]
*[[Third Battle of Panipat]]

== References ==
{{commons category}}
{{Reflist}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakht, Mirza Jawan}}
[[Category:1749 births]]
[[Category:1788 deaths]]
[[Category:Mughal princes]]
[[Category:Sons of emperors]]
[[Category:18th-century Mughal Empire people]]

Mirza Jawan Bakht (born 1749) - Revision history

Joydeb Sarkar2003: started new article