Aziz-ud-Din, the second son of Jahandar Shah, was raised to the throne by Ghazi-ud-Din after he deposed Ahmad Shah in 1754. On ascending the throne, he took the title of Alamgir and tried to follow the approach of Aurangzeb Alamgir. At the time of his accession to throne he was an old man of 55 years. He had no experience of administration and warfare as he had spent most of his life in jail. He was a weak ruler, with all powers vested in the hand of his Wazir, Ghazi-ud-Din Imad-ul-Mulk.
In 1756, Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded India once again and captured Delhi and plundered Mathura. Marhattas became more powerful because of their collaboration with Ghazi-ud-Din, and dominated the whole of northern India. This was the peak of Marhatta expansion, which caused great trouble for the Mughal Empire, already weak with no strong ruler.
The relations between Alamgir and his Wazir, Ghazi-ud-Din, by this time had gotten worse. Alamgir was murdered by Ghazi-ud-Din, and the son of Alamgir, Ali Gauhar succeeded him.
This article was last updated on Sunday, June 01, 2003
