Akbar II | |||||
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Mughal Emperor | |||||
18th Mughal Emperor | |||||
Reign | 19 November 1806 – 28 September 1837 | ||||
Coronation | 19 November 1806 at Red Fort, Delhi | ||||
Predecessor | Shah Alam II | ||||
Successor | Bahadur Shah II | ||||
Born |
22 April 1760 Mukundpur, Mughal Empire |
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Died | 28 September 1837 Delhi, Mughal Empire |
(aged 77)||||
Burial | Mehrauli, Delhi | ||||
Issue | 14 sons including Bahadur Shah II Mirza Jahangir shah Mirza Jahan Shah Mirza Babur Mirza Salim Shah Mirza Nazim Shah Mirza Jahan Kusroo 8 daughters |
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Dynasty | Timurid | ||||
Father | Shah Alam II | ||||
Mother | Qudsia Begum (3rd wife of Shah Alam II) | ||||
Religion | Islam |
Full name | |
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'Abu Nasir Mu'in ud-din Muhammad Akbar Shah II |
Akbar II (22 April 1760 – 28 September 1837), also known as Akbar Shah II, was the penultimate Mughal emperor of India. He reigned from 1806 to 1837. He was the second son of Shah Alam II and the father of Bahadur Shah II.
Akbar had little de facto power due to the increasing British influence of India through the East India Company.He sent Ram Mohan Roy as an ambassador to Britain and gave him the title of Raja. During his regime, in 1835, the East India Company (EIC) discontinued calling itself subject of the Mughal Emperor and issuing coins in his name. The Persian lines in the Company's coins to this effect were deleted.
He is credited with starting the Hindu-Muslim unity festival Phool Walon Ki Sair
His grave lies next to the dargah of 13th century Sufi saint Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki at Mehrauli.
Prince Mirza Akbar was born on 22 April 1760 to Emperor Shah Alam II at Mukundpur, Satna, while his father was in exile. On 2 May 1781, at the Red Fort, the prince was made Crown Prince with the title of Wali Ahd Bahadur, after the death of his elder brother. In In 1782 he was appointed the viceroy of Assam until 1799. When the renegade eunuch Ghulam Qadir captured Delhi, the young Prince Mirza Akbar was forced to nautch dance together along with other Mughal princes and princesses. He witnessed how the members of the imperial Mughal family were humiliated, as well as starved. When Mahmud Shah fled, Mirza Akbar was titular Emperor with the title of Akbar Shah II, and was to remain acting emperor even after the reinstation of his father Shah Alam II, till December 1788.