During the reign of Bahadur Shah, the Rajput kingdoms of Jodhpur and Amber were annexed again after they had declared independence a few years prior.

His reign was disturbed by several rebellions, the Sikhs under the leadership of Banda Singh Bahadur, Rajputs under Durgadas Rathore and a Mughal prince Kam Bakhsh but all of them were successfully quelled.

[2] He was the eldest son of prince Muhi al-Din Muhammad, later Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, by his Pothwari wife Nawab Bai, who belonged to the Jarral tribe.

Enraged at this, Aurangzeb sent his most able commander Raja Jai Singh to defeat Shivaji and here the historic Treaty of Purandar was signed.

In 1683, after being ordered by Aurangzeb to march to the Konkan region to prevent the still rebellious Muhammad Akbar from fleeing the country, but again Mu'azzam failed to achieve the assigned goal.

Within weeks, the emperor's spies intercepted treasonous messages exchanged between Mu'azzam and Abul Hasan, the ruler of Golconda.

[15] Aurangzeb imprisoned Mu'azzam and his sons, executed his closest followers,[16] ordered his harem "shipped off to faraway Delhi", and dispersed his staff.

[17] Aurangzeb forbade Mu'azzam to cut his nails or hair for six months, gave orders depriving him of "good food, or cold water."

[17] Aurangzeb continued to spy on his son, appointing his men to Mu'azzam's household, sending informants to his harem and choosing his representatives at the imperial court.

Although the commander imposed "heavy taxation" on the rajas, he thought it necessary to leave the Sikhs undisturbed in their fortified city of Anandpur and refused to wage war against them out of "genuine respect" for their religion.

[22] In May 1708, Bahadur Shah wrote a letter to Kam Bakhsh in which he warned his brother against proclaiming himself an independent sovereign and began a journey to the Tomb of Aurangzeb to pay his respects to his father.

[31] Bahadur Shah reached Hyderabad on 28 June 1708, where he learned that Kam Bakhsh had attacked Machhlibandar to seize over three million rupees' worth of treasure hidden in its fort.

[33] On 20 December 1708, Bahadur Shah marched towards Talab-i-Mir Jumla, on the outskirts of Hyderabad, with "three hundred camels, [and] twenty thousand rockets" for war with Kam Baksh.

[34] With his soldiers outnumbered and unable to resist the attack, Kam Bakhsh joined the battle and shot two quivers of arrows at his opponents.

[36] After ascending the throne, Bahadur Shah made plans to annex Rajput kingdoms who declared independence after Aurangzeb's death.

[40] In Amber, Bahadur Shah announced his intention to march to Jodhpur when Mihrab Khan defeated Ajit Singh at Mairtha, and he reached the town on 21 February 1708.

[41] While in Jodhpur, Bahadur Shah got the news that the Maharana Amar Singh II had fled Udaipur to hide in the hills.

His messengers gave him the message that Amar Singh got "afraid" by the happenings in Amber and Jodhpur and thought that his kingdom would also be annexed by the Mughals once again.

[42] While the emperor was on his way to Deccan to punish Muhammad Kam Bakhsh, the three Rajput Raja's of Amber, Udaipur and Jodhpur made a joint resistance to the Mughals.

[43] Guru Gobind Singh began negotiations with Aurangzeb in 1705 and left for the Deccan in 1706 to meet him in person when he agreed to concilation.

With trouble arising in a pargana of Deoband and Sikh converts complaining of imprisonment and persecution by the faujdar Jalal Khan, Banda Bahadur marched on Saharanpur on the way to Jalalabad.

The faujdar of Saharanpur, Ali Hamid Khan, fled to Delhi while the Sikhs defeated the defenders and reduced the town.

They came to Nanauta on 21 July 1710 and defeated the local Sheikhzadas, who had put up a gallant defence but ultimately submitted to Banda Bahadur's superior forces.

[53] On 1 November 1710 the emperor reached the city of Karnal, where Mughal cartographer Rustam Dil Khan gave him a map of Thanesar and Sirhind.

[53] The city of Sirhind fell to the Mughals on 7 December; its besieger, general Muhammad Amin Khan Turani, gave the emperor a golden key ring commemorating the victory.

Banda Bahadur received soldiers from village ruler Ram Chand for his march against the Mughals, and besieged Fatehabad in April 1711.

After learning from messenger Rustan Jung that he had crossed the Ravi River, the emperor attacked with artillery led by Isa Khan.

[59] After ascending the throne, emperor Bahadur Shah converted to Shia Islam and altered the public prayer (or khutba) for the monarch said every Friday by giving the title wali to Ali, the fourth caliph and the first Shi'a Imam.

He was buried on 15 May in the courtyard of the Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque) in Mehrauli, which he built near the dargah of Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki.

According to William Irvine, his maternal grandfather was Raja Tajuddin Khan Jarral (whose daughter, Nawab Bai, married Aurangzeb).