Akbar Shah II (1760 - 1837)

Akbar Shah II (1760 - 1837), also known as Mirza Akbar, was the second-to-last of the Mughal emperors of India. He held the title from 1806 to 1837. He was the second son of Shah Alam II and the father of Bahadur Shah Zafar II.Akbar had little real power due to the increasing British control of India through the East India Company.Shortly before his death he sent Ram Mohan Roy as an ambassador to Britain. During his regime, in 1835, the East India Company discontinued calling itself the lieutenant of the Mughal Emperor and issuing coins in his name.

Reign::Emperor Akbar Shah II presided over an empire titularly large but in effect limited to the Red Fort in Delhi alone. His attitude with the British was honourable to him but it angered the British.They reduced even his titular authority to Delhi in 1835.The British no more called itself the lieutenant of Mughal Empire as they did so from 1803 to 1835.

Emperor Akbar Shah II had four sons, one of which Bahadur Shah Zafar eventually succeeded him at age 60. Before Bahadur Shah, one of his other sons, Mirza Nali was given the title of Crown Prince of the Mughal, but the title went on to his brother.

After the mutiny, he fled Delhi and took refuge in other parts of India. In the mid 1800s he came to Bengal. His sons and two daughters lived the same life he did, in constant fear of the British. His eldest son, Mirza Jalaluddin became an official to a Bengal King's court. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Mirza Zafar.He was an official to the King too. His son Mirza Jamsher renounced his titles in 1895. Their children settled down permanently in North Bengal and to this day they still remain in the capital city of Dhaka and Rajshahi. Most of the members are still considered royalty in the country and often held in high esteem, the elderly members of the princely family have vast amounts of land around North Bengal and have educational Institutions named after them. Members of the dynasty have been candidates at Parliamentary elections and fought on the Army of East Bengal during the Bloody Birth of Bangladesh in 1971.