Editing Lahore (section)

====Late Mughal====
[[File:Sunehri_masjid_top_view_2.JPG|thumb|The [[Sunehri Mosque, Lahore|Sunehri Mosque]] was built in the walled city in the early 18th century, when the Mughal Empire was in decline.]]
Civil wars regarding succession to the Mughal throne following Aurangzeb's death in 1707 led to weakening control over Lahore from Delhi, and a prolonged period of decline in Lahore.{{sfnp|Latif|1892|p={{page needed|date=August 2024}}}} Mughal preoccupation with the [[Marathas]] in the [[Deccan Plateau]] eventually resulted in Lahore being governed by a series of governors who pledged nominal allegiance to the ever-weaker Mughal emperors in Delhi.{{sfnp|Glover|2008|p={{page needed|date=August 2024}}}}

Mughal Emperor [[Bahadur Shah I]] died en route to Lahore as part of a campaign in 1711 to subdue Sikh rebels under the leadership of [[Banda Singh Bahadur]].<ref name=bosworth/> His sons fought a battle outside Lahore in 1712 for succession to the Mughal crown, with [[Jahandar Shah|Jahandar]] winning the throne.<ref name=bosworth/> Sikh rebels were defeated during the reign of [[Farrukhsiyar]] when Abd as-Samad and Zakariyya Khan suppressed them.<ref name=bosworth/>

[[Nader Shah]]'s brief invasion of the Mughal Empire [[Nader Shah's invasion of the Mughal Empire|in early 1739]] wrested control away from [[Zakariya Khan Bahadur]]. Though Khan was able to win back control after the Persian armies had left,<ref name=bosworth/> the trade routes had shifted away from Lahore, and south towards [[Kandahar]] instead.{{sfnp|Glover|2008|p={{page needed|date=August 2024}}}} Indus ports near the Arabian Sea that served Lahore also silted up during this time, reducing the city's importance even further.{{sfnp|Glover|2008|p={{page needed|date=August 2024}}}}

Struggles between Zakariyya Khan's sons following his death in 1745 further weakened Muslim control over Lahore, thus leaving the city in a power vacuum, and vulnerable to foreign marauders.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Axworthy|first1=Michael|title=Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from Tribal Warrior to Conquering Tyrant|date=2010 |publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-0-85773-347-4|page=195}}</ref>