Mirza Salim Explained

Mirza Salim
Shahzada of the Mughal Empire
Full Name:Mirza Muhammad Salim Shah
Birth Place:Red Fort, Delhi, Mughal Empire
Death Date:8 September
Death Place:Old Delhi, Mughal Empire
Spouse 1:Nawab Malika Sultan-uz-Zamani Begum Sahiba
Spouse 2:Nawab Khushru-uz-Zamani Begum Sahiba
Father:Akbar Shah II
Mother:Mumtaz-un-Nissa
Issue:
  • Mirza Gouhar Shah Bahadur
  • Mirza Hamid Shah Bahadur
  • Husain Jahan Begum Sahiba
  • Zainat un-nisa Begum Sahiba
House:Timurid
Religion:Sunni Islam

Mirza Salim (1799 – 8 September 1836) (also known as Shahzada Mirza Muhammad Salim Shah) was a son of Mughal emperor Akbar II and his consort Mumtaz-un-Nissa Begum. He was a younger brother of Emperor Bahadur Shah II, former Crown Prince Mirza Jahangir and Mirza Jahan Shah. He was his elder brother, Mirza Abu Zafar's favourite brother. Salim always agreed with Mirza Abu Zafar's decisions and always supported him.

Biography

His father ruled over a rapidly disintegrating empire between 1806 and 1837. It was during his time that the East India Company dispensed with the illusion of ruling in the name of the Mughal monarch and removed his name from the Persian texts that appeared on the coins struck by the company in the areas under their control.

His brother was not his father's preferred choice as his successor. One of Akbar Shah's queens, Mumtaz Begum, had been pressuring him to declare her son, Mirza Jahangir as his successor. The East India Company exiled Jahangir after he attacked their resident, Sir Archibald Seton, in the Red Fort.[1]

The British tried to make him the appoint him as Heir Apparent on 26 September 1835 but refused to cave to his demands which is why his older brother, Mirza Abu Zafar Muhammad Bahadur took the throne as Emperor Bahadur Shah II.

Family

He married twice, both of whom were princesses of the Imperial family and his cousins. He had two sons and two daughters. He died in 1836 in the Red Fort, before the events of 1857 that ushered in the end of his dynasty and the rule of the Imperial family of India.

Notes and References

  1. Husain, MS (2006) Bahadur Shah Zafar; And the War of 1857 in Delhi, Aakar Books, Delhi, P87-88