Bahadur Shah II
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Zafar.jpg
Abu Zafar Sirajuddin Mohammed Bahadur Shah Zafar, or Bahadur Shah II (1775-1862), a.k.a. Bahadur Shah Zafar (Zafar was his nom de plume, or takhallus, as an Urdu poet), was the last of the Mughal emperors in India. He was born on October 24, 1775 and was the son of Akbar Shah II. He became the Mughal Emperor upon his father's death on September 28, 1838.
As the Indian rebellion of 1857 spread, the nationalist forces nominated Bahadur Shah as their leader. When the rebellion was crushed, he was captured and his sons Mirza Mughal and Khizar Sultan and his grandson Abu Bakr were executed in his presence and, famously, their severed heads presented to him. He was exiled to Rangoon, Burma (now Yangôn, Myanmar) in 1858 along with his wife Zeenat Mahal and the remaining members of the family. A formal end was declared to the Mughal Dynasty that began with Babur in 1526. The title of "Emperor of India" was taken over by the British monarch, in the person of Queen Victoria, and held until 1948 (with retroactive effect to August 15, 1947).
Bahadur Shah died in exile in November 7, 1862 and is buried there while his wife Zeenat Mahal died in 1886.
Bahadur Shah Zafar was also an Urdu poet of some repute. The court that he maintained, arguably pretentious and decadent for a ruler whose writ extended only to Delhi's Red Fort, was home to other writers of high standing in Urdu and South Asian literature, including Ghalib, Daag, Momin, and Zauq.
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Epitaph
The following poem was written by Bahadur Shah Zafar as his epitaph.
In Urdu
Lagataa nahiin hai jii meraa uja.De dayaar mein
Kis kii banii hai aalam-e-naa-paayedaar mein
Kah do in hasaraton se kahiin aur jaa basen
Itanii jagah kahaan hai dil-e-daaGadaar mein
Umr-e-daraaz maang ke laaye the chaar din
Do aarazU mein kaT gaye do intazaar mein
Hai kitana badanasiib Zafar dafn ke liye
Do gaz zamiin bhii na milii kU-e-yaar mein
English Translation
My heart is not happy in this despoiled land
Who has ever felt fulfilled in this transient world
Tell these emotions to go dwell elsewhere
Where is there space for them in this bismirched (bloodied) heart
I had requested for a long life a life of four days
Two passed by in pining, and two in waiting.
Of what what bad fate is Zafar! For burial
Even two yards of land were not to be had, in the land (of the) beloved
Related articles
External links
- BBC Report on Bahadur Shah's possible descendants today (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2185082.stm)
| Preceded by: Akbar Shah II | Mughal Emperor 1837–1858 | Succeeded by: Mughal Empire abolished; British Monarch took over title of Empress of India |