Portrait of Mughal Prince on Brown Horse, early 18th century, period of Muhammad Shah (Cambridge, Fogg Museum of Art)

Toward the end of the seventeenth century, the Mughal Empire began to decline, weakened by Aurangzeb's long and unsuccessful campaigns in the south. The twelve years after the death of Aurangzeb in 1707 saw a succession of nine emperors, the last of whom was the artistically gifted but politically inept Muhammad Shah (1719-1748), whose reign was distinguished chiefly by its weakness. In 1739, Nadir Shah, a Turkomenian Persian, attacked from the north, sacking Delhi and carrying off great quantities of loot to Persia, including the famous Peacock Throne. Muhammad Shah had alienated the powerful Muslim nobles who might have come to his aid: most of these moved from the capital to their viceroyalties in Oudh, the Deccan, and Bengal, and these provincial centres attracted many of the musicians, poets, and artists of Delhi