Abu Zafar Sirajuddin Muhammad Bahadur Shah Zafar
ابو ظفر سِراجُ الْدین محمد بُہادر شاہ ظفر |
| Emperor of the Mughal Empire |
Bahadur Shah Zafar in 1858, just after his show trial in Delhi and before his departure for exile in Rangoon. This is possibly the only photograph ever taken of a Mughal emperor.
|
| Reign |
September 28, 1838 – September 14, 1857 |
| Titles |
Urdu: بہادر شاہ دوم; Mughal Emperor |
| Born |
October 24, 1775(1775-10-24) |
| Birthplace |
Delhi, Mughal Empire |
| Died |
November 7, 1862 (aged 87) |
| Place of death |
Rangoon, Burma, British Raj |
| Buried |
Rangoon, Burma, British Raj |
| Predecessor |
Akbar Shah II |
| Successor |
Mughal Empire abolished
Descendants: 22 sons and at least 32 daughters
|
| Wives |
Ashraf Mahal
Akhtar Mahal
Zeenat Mahal
Taj Mahal |
| Dynasty |
Mughal Empire |
| Father |
Akbar Shah II |
| Mother |
Lalbai |
Abu Zafar Sirajuddin Muhammad Bahadur Shah Zafar Urdu: ابو ظفر سِراجُ الْدین محمد بُہادر شاہ ظفر, also known as Bahadur Shah or Bahadur Shah II Urdu: بہادر شاہ دوم; October 24, 1775 – 7 November 1862) was the last of the Mughal emperors in India, as well as the last ruler of the Timurid Dynasty . He was the son of Akbar Shah II by his Hindu wife Lalbai. He became the Mughal Emperor upon his father's death on September 28, 1838. Zafar Urdu: ظفر was his nom de plume (takhallus) as an Urdu poet.
As emperor
Bahadur Shah presided over a Mughal empire that barely extended beyond Delhi's Red Fort. The British Raj was the dominant political and military power in 19th-century India. Hundreds of minor principalities fragmented the land. The emperor was paid some respect and allowed a pension and authority to collect some taxes, and maintain a token force in Delhi, but he posed no threat to any power in India. Bahadur Shah II himself did not interest himself in statecraft or possess any imperial ambitions.
Bahadur Shah Zafar was a noted Urdu poet. He wrote a large number of Urdu ghazals. While some part of his opus was lost or destroyed during the unrest of 1857-1858, a large collection did survive, and was later compiled into the Kulliyyat-i Zafar. The court that he maintained, although somewhat decadent and arguably pretentious for someone who was effectively a pensioner of the British East India Company, was home to several Urdu writers of high standing, including Ghalib, Dagh, Mumin, and Zauq (Dhawq).
Events of 1857
As the Indian rebellion of 1857 spread, Indian regiments seized Delhi. Seeking a figure that could unite all Indians, Hindu and Muslim alike, most rebelling Indian kings and the Indian regiments accepted Zafar as the Emperor of India.[1], under whom the smaller Indian kingdoms would unite until the British were defeated. Zafar was the least threatening and least ambitious of monarchs, and the legacy of the Mughal Empire was more acceptable a uniting force to most allied kings than the domination of any other Indian kingdom.
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, and hid there. British forces led by Major Hodson surrounded the tomb and compelled his surrender.
Begum Zeenat Mahal, wife of Bahadur Shah Zafar
Numerous male members of his family were killed by the British, who imprisoned or exiled the surviving members of the Mughal dynasty. Zafar himself was exiled to Rangoon, Burma (now Yangon, Myanmar) in 1858 along with his wife Zeenat Mahal and some of the remaining members of the family. His departure as Emperor marked the end of more than three centuries of Mughal rule in India.
Bahadur Shah died in exile on November 7, 1862. He was buried near the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, at the site that later became known as Bahadur Shah Zafar Dargah.[2] His wife Zeenat Mahal died in 1886.[3]
Legacy
Modern Pakistan views him as the last vestige of the Muslim state within India before its fall to the British, only to be resurrected with the creation of Pakistan in 1947. Modern India views him as one of its first nationalists, someone who actively opposed British rule in India. In 1959, the All India Bahadur Shah Zafar Academy was founded expressly to spread awareness about his contribution to the first national freedom movement of India. Several movies in Hindi/Urdu have depicted his role during the rebellion of 1857. There are roads bearing his name in New Delhi, Lahore, Varanasi and other cities. A statue of Bahadur Shah Zafar has been erected at Vijayanagaram palace in Varanasi. In Bangladesh, the Victoria Park of old Dhaka has been renamed as Bahadur Shah Zafar Park.
Family
Prince Fakhr-ud Din Mirza, eldest son of Bahadur Shah II, February 1856. (d. 10th July 1856) [4]
Sons of Bahadur Shah. On the left is Jawan Bakht, and on the right is Mirza Shah Abbas.
Bahadur Shah Zafar is known to have had four wives and numerous concubines. In order of marriage, his wives were: [5]
- Begum Ashraf Mahal
- Begum Akhtar Mahal
- Begum Zeenat Mahal
- Begum Taj Mahal
Zafar had 22 sons, including:
- Mirza Fath-ul-Mulk Bahadur (alias Mirza Fakhru)
- Mirza Mughal
- Mirza Khazr Sultan
- Jawan Bakht
- Mirza Quaish
- Mirza Shah Abbas
He also had at least 32 daughters, including:
- Rabeya Begum
- Begum Fatima Sultan
- Kulsum Zamani Begum
- Raunaq Zamani Begum (possibly a granddaughter)
Most of his sons and grandsons were killed during or in the aftermath of the rebellion of 1857. Of those who survived, the following three lines of descent are known:
- Delhi line -- son: Mirza Fath-ul-Mulk Bahadur (alias Mirza Fakhru); grandson: Mirza Farkhunda Jamal; great-grandchildren: Hamid Shah and Begum Qamar Sultan.
- Howrah line -- son: Jawan Bakht, grandson: Jamshid Bakht, great-grandson: Mirza Muhammad Bedar Bakht (married Sultana Begum, who currently runs a tea stall in Howrah).
- Hyderabad line -- son: Mirza Quaish, grandson: Mirza Abdullah, great-grandson: Mirza Pyare (married Habib Begum), great-great-granddaughter: Begum Laila Ummahani (married Yakub Habeebuddin Tucy).
<---Descendants of Mughal rulers other than Bahadur Shah Zafar also survive to this day. They include the line of Jalaluddin Mirza in Bengal, who served at the court of the Maharaja of Dighapatia, and the Toluqari family.
Epitaph
Zafar, pictured in a 1919 book of Hindustani Lyrics
The following famous poem was written by Bahadur Shah Zafar as his epitaph; this is an English translation.
| Original |
English Translation |
|
My heart is not happy in this despoiled land
Who has ever felt fulfilled in this transient world
The nightingale laments neither to the gardener nor to the hunter
Imprisonment was written in fate in the season of spring
Tell these emotions to go dwell elsewhere
Where is there space for them in this besmirched (bloodied) heart?
I had requested for a long life a life of four days
Two passed by in pining, and two in waiting.
The days of life are over, Its evening of death, Now I can sleep without any stress forever in my tomb How unlucky is Zafar! For burial
Even two yards of land were not to be had, in the beloved land/ land (of the) beloved.[6]
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In his book, The Last Mughal, William Dalrymple states that according to Lahore scholar Imran Khan, this verse (and the equally popular Na kisi ki aankh ka noor hoon) were not written by Zafar and do not appear in any of the works published during Zafar's lifetime.
Another verse reads:
| “ |
Zafar, no matter how smart and witty one may be, he is not a man
Who in good times forgot God, and who in anger did not fear Him.
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” |
See also
References
External links
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