Battle of Jajau

01Two brothers race for Agra

Aurangzeb died at Ahmednagar on 3 March 1707. Azam Shah, who was nearest, crowned himself and marched north with the Deccan army. His elder brother Muazzam, governor of Kabul, had already moved towards Lahore, and he reached Agra first, seizing the treasury in the fort. Azam’s army, tired from the long march in the hot season and short of money, came up to meet him on the plain of Jajau between Dholpur and Agra.

02Azam falls

The battle was fought in the June heat. Muazzam’s sons led the attack and his artillery was stronger. Azam’s son Bidar Bakht was killed, then another son, and Azam himself was shot dead on his elephant. Muazzam took the throne as Bahadur Shah I. To weaken the Marathas he released Sambhaji’s son Shahu, a captive in the Mughal camp since childhood, and let him go home to claim his grandfather’s throne. That decision led directly to the battle of Khed.