Bahadur Shah was not the last Mughal Emperor. Aurangzeb who reigned from 1658 to 1707 c.e., was the last powerful ruler of the Mughal Empire. He was succeeded by a series of weak and ineffective emperors, and the empire began to decline. During this period, the Marathas, Sikhs, Jats, and Rajputs emerged as regional powers and challenged the Mughal authority. The empire was also weakened by invasions from the Afghans and Persians. By the early 19th century, the Mughal Empire had virtually disintegrated, and the British East India Company had become the dominant power in India.