Mirza Azim-ush-Shan was the second son of Mughal emperor Shah Alam I, by his second wife, Amrita Bai, Princess of Kishangarh. He was the great grandson of Emperor Shah Jahan and the grandson of Emperor Aurangzeb, during whose reign he was the last subahdar (viceroy) of Bengal Subah, Bihar Subah and Orissa Subah from 1697 to his death in 1712.

Mirza Muhammad Mu'azzam, commonly known as Bahadur Shah I and Shah Alam I, was the eighth Mughal Emperor from 1707 to 1712. He was the second son of the sixth Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, who he conspired to overthrow in his youth. He was also governor of the imperial provinces of Agra, Kabul and Lahore and had to face revolts of Rajputs and Sikhs.