Question

Two Sayyid brothers Sayyid Abdullah Khan and Sayid Hussain Ali Khan( who rose to become the kingmakers during the late Mughal Period) met their downfall during the reign of
____________
A. Farrukhsiyar
B. Rafi-ud-Daljat
C. Rafi-ud-Daula
D. Muhammad Shah

Answer 1

Hint: He was also named Roshan Akhtar Bahadur and he ruled for about 30 years (1719-1748). He declared Urdu as the court language, replacing Persian. He is also known for establishing religious education institutions such as Maktabs. He killed the sayyid brothers with the help of powerful noble Nizam-ul-Mulk

Complete Answer:
Muhammad Shah or Muhammad Shah Rangeela was born in 1702 in Ghazana (modern-day Afghanistan). He was the grandson of Bahadur Shah I. At the age of 17, the kingmakers- Sayyid brothers raised him to the throne. Sayyid brothers refer to Sayid Abdullah Khan and Sayid Hussain Ali Khan Barha. Sayyid brothers were the most powerful factor in the Mughal court and used to monopolize the Mughal power and used the emperors as their pawns. Due to their dominance, Muhammad Shah was never able to act independently. To get rid of control of Sayid brothers Muhammad Shah killed the Sayid brothers with the help of Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah. Sayyid Abdullah Khan was brutally murdered in1720 at Fatehpur and Sayid Hussain Ali Khan Barha was poisoned in 1722. Khizr Khan ibn Malik Sulaiman was the founder of the Sayyid dynasty. Sayyid brothers were called kingmakers as they raised Farrukhsiyar (1713-1719) and three other successors to the throne. Due to the Sayid brother’s too much influence, Farrukhsiyar too conspired to kill them but he failed and was dethroned, blinded, and killed by Sayyid brothers with the help of Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath. Thus option (A) is incorrect
Then the brothers raised Rafi-ud- Darajat to the throne but he soon died of tuberculosis. Then Rafi-ud- Daula or shah Jahan II was made the emperor but he too died of dysentery. So, option (B)&(C) are also incorrect
So, the correct answer is Option D.

Note: Sayyid brothers never ruled directly but used the emperors as their puppets. Muhammad Shah never wanted to be a mere figurehead. Also, there was thinking among the nobles that, if the emperor can be killed what safety was there for the nobles and thus due to this insecurity the Nizam-ul-Mulk helped Muhammad Shah to kill the Sayid brothers.