Sayyid Brothers

Who is Sayyid Brothers?

The term Sayyid Brothers refers to Syed Hassan Ali Khan Barha or Syed Abudullah Khan Barha and Syed Hussain Ali Khan Barha, who were powerful Mughal Army generals of the Mughal Empire during the early 18th century.

The Sayyid Brothers became highly influential in the Mughal Court after Aurangzeb's death and turned king-makers in the anarchy following the death of emperor Aurangzeb in 1707 CE. They created and dethroned Mughal Emperors at their will during the 1710s. Aurangzeb's son Bahadur Shah I defeated his brothers to capture the throne with the help of Sayyid Brothers, and Nizam-ul-Mulk, another influential administrator in the Mughal court. Bahadur Shah I died in 1712, and his successor Jahandar Shah was assassinated on the orders of the Sayyid Brothers.

In 1713, Jahandar's nephew Farrukhsiyar became the emperor with the Brothers' help. His reign marked the ascendancy of the Brothers, who monopolised state power and reduced the Emperor to a figurehead. The Brothers conspired to send Nizam-ul-Mulk to Deccan, away from the Mughal Court, to reduce his influence. In 1719, the Brothers blinded, deposed and murdered Farrukhsiyar. They then established his first cousin Rafi ud-Darajat as the next ruler in February 1719. When he died of lung disease in June, they made his elder brother Rafi ud-Daulah. After Rafi ud-Daulah also died of lung disease in September 1719, Muhammad Shah ascended the throne at the age of seventeen with Sayyid Brothers as his regents from 1719 to 1720.