Sayyid Brothers

The term 'Sayyid Brothers' refers to Syed Abudullah Khan Barha (1666 – 12 October 1722 CE) and Syed Hussain Ali Khan Barha (1668 – 9 October 1720 CE), 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 became kingmakers during the anarchy following the death of emperor Aurangzeb in 1707. 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 (r. 1713–1719) 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 arranged for his first cousin, Rafi ud-Darajat, to be the next ruler in February 1719. When Rafi ud-Darajat died of lung disease in June, they made his elder brother, Rafi ud-Daulah (Shah Jahan II), ruler. After Rafi ud-Daulah also died of lung disease in September 1719, Muhammad Shah (r. 1719–1748) ascended the throne at the age of seventeen with the Sayyid Brothers as his regents until 1720.

Sayyid

Sayyid (also spelled "Seyd", "Syed", "Sayed", "Sayyed", "Saiyid", "Seyed" and "Seyyed") (pronounced [ˈsæjjɪd], or [ˈsæjjed], Arabic: سيد‎; meaning Mister) (plural Sadah Arabic: سادة‎, Sāda(h)) is an honorific title denoting males accepted as descendants of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, sons of Muhammad's daughter Fatimah and his son-in-law Ali (Ali ibn Abi Talib). Conventionally, descent is patrilineal. However, in 1632 when an Ottoman court challenged a man wearing a sayyid's green turban he established that he was a sayyid on his mother's side, and this was accepted by the court.

Daughters of sayyids are given the titles Sayyida, Alawiyah, or Sharifa. In some regions of the Islamic world, e.g., India, the descendants of Muhammad are given the title Amir or Mir, meaning "commander", "general", or "prince". Children of Sayyida mother but a non Sayyid father are referred to as Mirza.

In the Arab world, it is the equivalent of the English word "liege lord" or "master" when referring to a descendant of Muhammad, as in Sayyid Ali Sultan. This is the reason the word sidi (from the contracted form sayyidī, 'my liege') is used in the Arabic.

Sayyid (name)

Sayyid (pronounced [ˈsæjjɪd], Arabic: سيد‎, also transliterated as Sayed, or Syed, IPA: [ˈsajed]) is a masculine given name derived from the title Sayyid, it is not to be confused with the similar looking name Sayid (often spelled Saeed, pronounced [ˈsaʕiːd]). These people are not necessarily considered to be Sayyid; they only use Sayyid as a given name. Some people however with the name may be considered as being Sayyid (males accepted as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husain ibn Ali).

Given name