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.