Mughal emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir felt in his last days that after him the sultanate would not get another emperor with the same advice as him. Perhaps this is the reason why he wrote to his youngest son Kambakhsh in a letter expressing his disquiet. "After me, my officers and my army will be mistreated."
When Aurangzeb died on March 3, 1707, the sun of the Mughal Sultanate also set. However, immediately after his death, a war broke out to get his inheritance. After him there were 3 official claimants to the Mughal throne. The first Shahzada Muhammad Azam, the second Muhammad Muazzam, also known as Shah Alam and Bahadur Shah I, and the third Shahzada Qam Baksh, Shahzada Azam was the one who brought his son's body to Khuldabad. Also, Muhammad Azam was Aurangzeb's more or less royal heir from 1681. But who was going to get the kingdom without fighting with the brothers?
At the time of Aurangzeb's death, Muazzam was far from the scene in Kabul; Kam Bakhsh was in the Junubi (south) Deccan, but Muhammad Azam was near the Shahi court. After this, the race to Delhi began. Azam Shah made himself the Mughal emperor. On the other hand, 'Muhammad Muazzam' also installed himself as the emperor in the name of 'Bahadur Shah' in May, 1707 on the bridge named 'Shahdaula' located in the north of Lahore. And on this day itself, on 20 June 1707, he along with his soldiers reached Jaju, about 27 KM from Agra, and defeated Muhammad Azam in a battle. Azamshah and his two sons 'Bidar Bakht' and 'Walajah' were also killed in this battle. Azam's tenure lasted barely 78 days.
Among those who accompanied both princes in the war, there were also very big names, such as Muhammad Muazzam i.e. most of the Mughal viziers and princes from the side of Bahadur Shah. And Guru Gobind Singh ji also supported Muhammad Muazzam in the war. Guru Gobind Singh ji had sent a detachment of 200-300 soldiers under the command of Bhai Dharam Singh. On the other hand, the number of those who supported Shahzada Azam was more. Azam Shah was supported by many commanders including Bidar Bakht, Nawab Ali Vardi Khan, Zulfikar Khan, Asad Khan, Raja Jai Singh II of Jaipur.
However, there was still one battle to be fought and the other contender, Kam Baksh, was still left behind in the Deccan. About 2 years later, on 13 January 1709, he was defeated and mortally wounded in a battle by Muzzam (Bahadur Shah I) near Hyderabad, and died the next day.
What survived after all this was Bahadur Shah I who ascended the throne at the age of 63. Bahadur Shah was the first and oldest Mughal emperor to sit on the throne. He ruled for only five years, but he had neither the experience nor the style to rule like his father, Aurangzeb. He was a very friendly and kind person. Historian Khafi Khan has said that, Shahenshah was so careless in royal affairs, that people started calling him "Shah-i Bekhar".
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