Muhammad was born to the Mughal ruler Khujista Akhtar in the year 1702 CE. He sat on the Mughal throne with the help of Sayyid Brothers at the age of 17 in the year 1719 CE and ruled the empire till 1748 CE. Later, he got rid of the Sayyid brothers with the help of Asaf Jah I. Syed Hussain Ali Khan was murdered at Fatehpur Sikri in 1720 CE and Syed Hassan Ali Khan Barha was fatally poisoned in 1722 CE.

Muhammad Shah was one of the weak rulers of the Mughal Empire. During his reign, the Mughal Empire started declining. But, he is always considered as a patron of art; he also had a keen interest in music, due to which he focussed on cultural as well as administrative development. The pen-name of Muhammad Shah was Sada Rangila, meaning ‘ever joyous’, and he is often referred as ‘Muhammad Shah Rangila’, or sometimes as "Bahadur Shah Rangila" after his grandfather Bahadur Shah I.

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