Bahadur Shah “Zafar”
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Bahadur Shah II, usually referred to by his poetic title Bahadur Shah ''Zafar'' (; ''Zafar'' Victory) was born Mirza Abu Zafar Siraj-ud-din Muhammad (24 October 1775 – 7 November 1862) and was the twentieth and last Mughal Emperor as well as an
Urdu poet Urdu poetry ( ur, ) is a tradition of poetry and has many different forms. Today, it is an important part of the cultures of South Asia. According to Naseer Turabi there are five major poets of Urdu which are Mir Taqi Mir (d.1810), Mirza Ghali ...
. He was the second son and the successor to his father, Akbar II, who died on 28 September 1837. He was a titular Emperor, as the Mughal Empire existed in name only and his authority was limited only to the walled city of Old Delhi (
Shahjahanbad Old Delhi or Purani Dilli is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan (the Mughal Empire, Mughal Mughal emperors, emperor at the time) decided to shift t ...
). Following his involvement in the Indian Mutiny of 1857, the British exiled him to
Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
in British-controlled Burma in 1858, after convicting him on several charges. Bahadur Shah Zafar's father, Akbar II, had been imprisoned by the British and he was not his father's preferred choice as his successor. One of Akbar Shah's queens pressured him to declare her son,
Mirza Jahangir Shahzada Mirza Muhammad Jahangir Bakht Bahadur (also known as Prince Mirza Jahangir Bakht) (1776 – 18 July 1821) was the son of Prince Mirza Akbar, who became the Emperor Akbar Shah II in 1806 and his wife Empress Mumtaz Mahal, he was also the ...
, as his successor. However, The East India Company exiled Jahangir after he attacked their resident in the Red Fort, paving the way for Bahadur Shah to assume the throne.


Reign

Bahadur Shah Zafar ruled over a Mughal Empire that had by the early 19th century been reduced to only the city of Delhi and the surrounding territory as far as Palam. The Maratha Empire had brought an end to the Mughal Empire in the Deccan during the 18th century and the regions of India formerly under Mughal rule had either been absorbed by the Marathas or had declared independence and become smaller kingdoms. The Marathas installed Shah Alam II in the throne in 1772, under the protection of the Maratha general
Mahadaji Shinde Mahadaji Shinde (b. 23 December 1730 – 12 February 1794), later known as Mahadji Scindia or Madhava Rao Sindhia, was a Maratha statesman and ruler of Ujjain in Central India. He was the fifth and the youngest son of Ranoji Rao Scindia, the f ...
and maintained suzerainty over Mughal affairs in Delhi. The East India Company became the dominant political and military power in mid-nineteenth century India. Outside the region controlled by the company, hundreds of kingdoms and principalities fragmented their land. The emperor was respected by the company, who provided him with a pension. The emperor permitted the company to collect taxes from Delhi and maintain a military force in it. Zafar never had any interest in statecraft or had any "imperial ambition". After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British exiled him from Delhi. Bahadur Shah Zafar was a noted
Urdu poet Urdu poetry ( ur, ) is a tradition of poetry and has many different forms. Today, it is an important part of the cultures of South Asia. According to Naseer Turabi there are five major poets of Urdu which are Mir Taqi Mir (d.1810), Mirza Ghali ...
, having written a number of Urdu ''
ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...
s''. While some part of his opus was lost or destroyed during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, a large collection did survive, and was compiled into the '' Kulliyyat-i-Zafar.'' The court that he maintained was home to several renowned Urdu scholars, poets and writers including Mirza Ghalib,
Daagh Dehlvi Nawab Mirza Khan Daagh Dehlvi ( ur, , 25 May 1831 – 17 March 1905) was a poet known for his Urdu '' ghazals''. He belonged to the old Delhi school of Urdu poetry.
,
Momin Khan Momin Momin Khan Momin (; 1800–14 May 1852) was a late Mughal era poet known for his Urdu ghazals. A lesser-known contemporary of Ghalib and Zauq, he used "Momin" as his pen name. His grave is located in the Mehdiyan cemetery in Maulana Azad M ...
, and
Mohammad Ibrahim Zauq Sheikh Muhammad Ibrahim Zauq (1790–1854) was an Urdu poet and scholar of literature, poetry and religion. He wrote poetry under the pen name "Zauq", and was appointed poet laureate of the Mughal Court in Delhi just at the age of 19. Later ...
(who was also Bahadur Shah Zafar's mentor). After Zafar's defeat, he said:
''Ghāzīyoñ meñ bū rahe gī jab talak īmān kī'' As long as there remains the scent of
Iman Iman, Imann, Imaan, Eman, Emaan, or Imman may refer to: Places * Iman, Iran, a village in Kalashi District, Kermanshah Province * The Iman River, the former name of the Bolshaya Ussurka River, a tributary of the Ussuri River in Russia's Primors ...
in the hearts of our Ghazis, ''Takht-i-Landan tak chale gī tegh Hindostān kī.'' So long shall the sword of Hindustan flash before the throne of London.


Rebellion of 1857

As the Indian Rebellion of 1857 spread, Sepoy regiments reached the Mughal Court at Delhi. Because of Zafar's neutral views on religions, many Indian kings and regiments accepted and declared him as the Emperor of India. On 12 May 1857, Zafar held his first formal audience in several years. It was attended by several sepoys who were described as treating him "familiarly or disrespectfully".Dalrymple, ''The Last Mughal'', p. 212 When the sepoys first arrived at Bahadur Shah Zafar's court, he asked them why they had come to him, because he had no means of maintaining them. Bahadur Shah Zafar's conduct was indecisive. However, he yielded to the demands of the sepoys when he was told that they would not be able to win against the East India Company without him. On 16 May, sepoys and palace servants killed fifty-two Europeans who were prisoners of the palace and who were discovered hiding in the city. The executions took place under a peepul tree in front of the palace, despite Zafar's protests. The aim of the executioners who were not the supporters of Zafar was to implicate him in the killings. Once he had joined them, Bahadur Shah II took ownership for all the actions of the mutineers. Though dismayed by the looting and disorder, he gave his public support to the rebellion. It was later believed that Bahadur Shah was not directly responsible for the massacre, but that he may have been able to prevent it, and he was therefore considered a consenting party during his trial. The administration of the city and its new occupying army was described as "chaotic and troublesome", which functioned "haphazardly". The Emperor nominated his eldest son,
Mirza Mughal Sultan Muhammad Zahir ud-din, better known as well Mirza Mughal (1817 – 23 September 1857), was a Mughal prince. He played a significant role during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. He was one of the Mughal princes shot dead at one of the gat ...
, as the commander in chief of his forces. However, Mirza Mughal had little military experience and was rejected by the sepoys. The sepoys did not have any commander since each regiment refused to accept orders from someone other than their own officers. Mirza Mughal's administration extended no further than the city. Outside Gujjar herders began levying their own tolls on traffic, and it became increasingly difficult to feed the city. During the Siege of Delhi when the victory of the British became certain, Zafar took refuge at Humayun's Tomb, in an area that was then at the outskirts of Delhi. Company forces led by
Major William Hodson William Stephen Raikes Hodson (19 March 182111 March 1858) was a British leader of irregular light cavalry during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, commonly referred to as the Indian Mutiny or the Sepoy Mutiny. He was known as "Hodson of Hodson's ...
surrounded the tomb and Zafar was captured on 20 September 1857. The next day, Hodson shot his sons
Mirza Mughal Sultan Muhammad Zahir ud-din, better known as well Mirza Mughal (1817 – 23 September 1857), was a Mughal prince. He played a significant role during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. He was one of the Mughal princes shot dead at one of the gat ...
and
Mirza Khizr Sultan Mirza Khair-ud-din Muhammad Khizr Sultan Bahadur (1834 – 21 September 1857) was a son of the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah II. Khizr Sultan was a prominent military leader during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. However, that same year he wa ...
, and grandson
Mirza Abu Bakht Shahzada Mirza Abu Bakht (1835–1857) was a Mughal prince. Abu Bakht was the son of Mirza Fath-ul-Mulk Bahadur who was the last crown prince of the Mughal Empire and the eldest son of the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. He was the olde ...
under his own authority at the
Khooni Darwaza Khooni Darwaza ( hi, खूनी दरवाज़ा, ur, literally ''Bloody Gate''), also referred to as Lal Darwaza (Hindi:लाल दरवाज़ा, ''Red Gate'') was initially called as Kabuli Darwaza, The gate is located near ...
, near the Delhi Gate and declared Delhi to be captured. Bahadur Shah himself was taken to his wife's '' haveli'', where he was treated disrespectfully by his captors. When brought news of the executions of his sons and grandson, the former emperor was described as being so shocked and depressed that he was unable to react.


Trial

The trial was a consequence of the Sepoy Mutiny and lasted for 21 days, had 19 hearings, 21 witnesses and over a hundred documents in Persian and Urdu, with their English translations, were produced in the court. At first the trial was suggested to be held at Calcutta, the place where Directors of East India company used to their sittings in connection with their commercial pursuits. But instead, Red Fort in Delhi was selected for the trial. It was the first case to be tried at the Red Fort. Zafar was tried and charged on four counts: On the 20th day of the trial Bahadur Shah II defended himself against these charges. Bahadur Shah, in his defense, stated his complete haplessness before the will of the sepoys. The sepoys apparently used to affix his seal on empty envelopes, the contents of which he was absolutely unaware. While the emperor may have been overstating his impotence before the sepoys, the fact remains that the sepoys had felt powerful enough to dictate terms to anybody. The eighty-two-year old poet-king was harassed by the mutineers and was neither inclined to nor capable of providing any real leadership. Despite this, he was the primary accused in the trial for the rebellion. Hakim
Ahsanullah Khan Ahsanullah (born 11 May 1997) is an Afghan cricketer. He made his first-class cricket, first-class debut for Boost Defenders, Boost Region in the 2017–18 Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day Tournament on 1 November 2017. References External links

* ...
, Zafar's most trusted confidant and both his Prime Minister and personal physician, had insisted that Zafar did not involve himself in the rebellion and had surrendered himself to the British. But when Zafar ultimately did this, Hakim
Ahsanullah Khan Ahsanullah (born 11 May 1997) is an Afghan cricketer. He made his first-class cricket, first-class debut for Boost Defenders, Boost Region in the 2017–18 Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day Tournament on 1 November 2017. References External links

* ...
betrayed him by providing evidence against him at the trial in return for a pardon for himself. Respecting Hodson's guarantee on his surrender, Zafar was not sentenced to death but exiled to
Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
, Burma. His wife Zeenat Mahal and some of the remaining members of the family accompanied him. At 4 am on 7 October 1858, Zafar along with his wives, two remaining sons began his journey towards Rangoon in bullock carts escorted by
9th Lancers The 9th Queen's Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the First and Second World Wars. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, but w ...
under command of Lieutenant Ommaney.


Death

In 1862, at the age of 87, he had reportedly acquired some illness. In October, his condition deteriorated. He was "spoon-fed on broth" but he found that difficult too by 3 November. On 6 November, the British Commissioner H.N. Davies recorded that Zafar "is evidently sinking from pure desuetude and paralysis in the region of his throat". To prepare for his death Davies commanded for the collection of lime and bricks and a spot was selected at the "back of Zafar's enclosure" for his burial. Zafar died on Friday, 7 November 1862 at 5 am. Zafar was buried at 4 pm near the Shwedagon Pagoda at 6 Ziwaka Road, near the intersection with Shwedagon Pagoda road, Yangon. The shrine of Bahadur Shah Zafar Dargah was built there after recovery of his tomb on 16 February 1991. Davies commenting on Zafar, described his life to be "very uncertain".


Family and descendants

Bahadur Shah Zafar had four wives and numerous concubines. His wives were: *Begum Ashraf Mahal *Begum Akhtar Mahal *Begum Zeenat Mahal *Begum Taj Mahal He had twenty two sons including: *
Mirza Dara Bakht Mirza Dara Bakht Miran Shah Bahadur (1790 - 8 February 1849) was the eldest son of Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. He was the crown Prince of the Mughal Empire from 1837 to 1849. He highly influenced his aged father's decisions and was favoured by ev ...
Miran Shah (1790–1841) *Mirza Muhammed Shahrukh Bahadur *Mirza Kayumar Bahadur *
Mirza Fath-ul-Mulk Bahadur Shahzada Mirza Fath-ul-Mulk Bahadur also known as Mirza Fakhru ( 1816 or 1818 – 10 July 1856) was the last Crown Prince of the Mughal Empire. Biography A senior Prince of the Mughal Royal Family, he was the son of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the las ...
(alias Mirza Fakhru) (1816–1856) *Mirza Muhammad Quwaish Bahadur *
Mirza Mughal Sultan Muhammad Zahir ud-din, better known as well Mirza Mughal (1817 – 23 September 1857), was a Mughal prince. He played a significant role during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. He was one of the Mughal princes shot dead at one of the gat ...
(1817–1857) *Mirza Farkhanda Shah Bahadur *
Mirza Khizr Sultan Mirza Khair-ud-din Muhammad Khizr Sultan Bahadur (1834 – 21 September 1857) was a son of the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah II. Khizr Sultan was a prominent military leader during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. However, that same year he wa ...
(1834–1857) *Mirza Bakhtavar Shah Bahadur *Mirza Sohrab Hindi Bahadur *Mirza Abu Nasr *Mirza Muhammad Bahadur *Mirza Abdullah *Mirza Kuchak Sultan * Mirza Abu Bakr (1837–1857) * Mirza Jawan Bakht (1841–1884) *
Mirza Shah Abbas Shahzada Mirza Shah Abbas Bahadur (1845 – 25 December 1910) was a prince of the Mughal Empire, the son of Emperor Bahadur Shah II, the last native Emperor of India (King George VI being the last non-native Emperor), by his wife Mubarak-un-N ...
(1845–1910) He had at least thirty-two daughters including: *Rabeya Begum *Begum Fatima Sultan *Kulsum Zamani Begum *Raunaq Zamani Begum (possibly a granddaughter, d. 1930) Many individuals claim to be descendants of Bahadur Shah Zafar, living in places throughout India, such as Hyderabad, Aurangabad, Delhi, Bhopal, Kolkata, Bihar, and Bangalore. However, the claims are often disputed.


Religious beliefs

Bahadur Shah Zafar was a devout Sufi. He was regarded as a Sufi pir (Sufism), Pir and used to accept ''murids'' or pupils. The newspaper ''Delhi Urdu Akhbaar'' described him as "one of the leading saints of the age, approved of by the divine court." Before his accession, he lived like "a poor scholar and dervish", differing from his three royal brothers, Mirza Jahangir, Salim and Babur. In 1828, a decade before he succeeded the throne, Major Archer said that "Zafar is a man of spare figure and stature, plainly apparelled, almost approaching to meanness." His appearance is that of an indigent munshi or teacher of languages".William Dalrymple, ''The Last Mughal'', p. 78 As a poet, Zafar imbibed the highest subtleties of mystical Sufi teachings. He was also a believer of the magical and superstitious side of the Orthodox Sufism. Like many of his followers, he believed that his position as both a Sufi pir and emperor gave him spiritual powers. In an incident in which one of his followers was bitten by a snake, Zafar tried to cure him by giving a "Bezoar, seal of Bezoar" (a stone antidote to poison) and some water on which he had breathed to the man to drink. The emperor had a staunch belief in ''ta'aviz'' or charms, especially as a palliative for his constant complaint of piles, or to ward off evil spells. During a period of illness, he told a group of Sufi pirs that several of his wives suspected that someone had cast a spell over him. He requested them to take some steps to remove all apprehension on this account. The group wrote some charms and asked the emperor to mix them in water and drink it, which would protect him from the evil. A coterie of pirs, miracle workers and Hindu astrologers were always in touch with the emperor. On their advice, he would sacrifice buffaloes and camels, buried eggs and arrested alleged black magicians, and wore a ring that cured for his indigestion. He also donated cows to the poor, elephants to the Sufi shrines and horses to the ''khadims'' or clergy of Jama Masjid.William Dalrymple, ''The Last Mughal'', p. 79 In one of his verses, Zafar explicitly stated that both Hinduism and Islam shared the same essence.William Dalrymple, ''The Last Mughal'', p. 80 This philosophy was implemented by his court which embodied a multicultural composite Hindu-Islamic Mughal culture.


Epitaph

He was a prolific Urdu poet and calligrapher. He wrote the following Ghazal
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as his own epitaph. In his book, ''The Last Mughal'', William Dalrymple (historian), William Dalrymple states that, according to Lahore scholar Imran Khan, the beginning of the verse, ''umr-e-darāz māṅg ke'' ("I asked for a long life") was not written by Zafar, and does not appear in any of the works published during Zafar's lifetime. The verse was allegedly written by Simab Akbarabadi.


Image Gallery


In popular culture

Zafar was portrayed in the play ''1857: Ek Safarnama'' set during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 by Javed Siddiqui. It was staged at Purana Qila, Delhi ramparts by Nadira Babbar and the National School of Drama repertory company in 2008. A Hindi-Urdu black-and-white movie, ''Lal Quila'' (1960), directed by Nanabhai Bhatt, showcased Bahadur Shah Zafar extensively.


TV Serials and Films

A television show Bahadur Shah Zafar aired on Doordarshan in 1986. Ashok Kumar played the lead role in it. In the 2001 Hindi historical drama series ''1857 Kranti (TV series), 1857 Kranti'', on DD National, the character of Bahadur Shah Zafar was played by S. M. Zaheer. In the 2005 Hindi Movie Mangal Pandey: The Rising, directed by Ketan Mehta, the character of Bahadur Shah Zafar was played by Habib Tanveer.


See also

* Mughal Emperors, List of Mughal Emperors * Emperor of India, Emperor/Empress of India * List of Indian monarchs * List of Urdu poets * Shahzada Muhammad Hidayat Afshar, Ilahi Bakhsh Bahadur


References


Bibliography


Portrait of Bahadur Shah in 1840s
''The Delhi Book'' of Sir Thomas Metcalfe, 4th Baronet, Thomas Metcalfe * * * * * * *


External links

*
Extract of talk by Zafar's biographer William Dalrymple (British Library)
;Poetry
Bahadur Shah Zafar at Kavita Kosh

Bahadur Shah Zafar Poetry


* [https://rekhta.org/poets/bahadur-shah-zafar/ghazals/ Bahadur Shah Zafar Ghazals]
Links to further websites on Bahadur Shah Zafar

Kalaam e Zafar – Select verses
;Descendants
BBC Report on Bahadur Shah's possible descendants in Hyderabad
*


An article on Bahadur Shah's descendants in Kolkata

Forgotten Empress: Sultana Beghum sells tea in Kolkata
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bahadur Shah 02 1775 births, Zafar 1862 deaths, Zafar Mughal emperors Urdu-language poets People from Delhi Revolutionaries of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 Indian exiles 19th-century Indian people Indian Sunni Muslims 19th-century Urdu-language writers Urdu-language writers from British India Urdu-language writers from Mughal India