The descendants of Bahadur Shah Zafar, India’s last Mughal emperor and the first leader of the First War of Independence, are now forced to live a simple life. Some descendants of this great poet of his time and the last beacon of the Mughal Empire now live in Rangoon (Myanmar, then Burma), and others sell tea from a stall in Kolkata.
During the 1857 Revolution, Bahadur Shah Zafar was arrested by British forces from the Red Fort. He was tried and later exiled to Rangoon (Myanmar), where he died due to lack of medical care and medical attention. His neglected grave also remains there, where many leaders of independent India have paid their respects during their visits to Rangoon. However, no leader from Pakistan or Bangladesh has ever visited. After the First War of Independence of 1847, two of his sons were hanged without trial. Among them was Wali Ahad (Crown Prince) Mirza Mughal. Zafar’s son Mirza Jawan Bakht, his wife Zeenat Mahal, and grandson Shah Abbas also traveled to Rangoon. Shah Abbas married there, and his descendants still live in Myanmar, but they lead normal, professional lives. Some descendants also live in India, earning simple livings, such as selling tea at tea stalls.
The Mughal Empire may have ended, but Bahadur Shah Zafar’s legacy, especially in the form of his Urdu poetry and ghazals, lives on. Many people visit his tomb (which is in Rangoon). His descendants are no longer kings or rulers but ordinary people, yet they remain an important part of Mughal history and culture. Upon my husband’s death, the then Chief Minister Jyoti Basu provided a guard of honor, but life gave him no dignity after that. Later, President Pratibha Patil increased his pension, but it was spent on rent and medical expenses. I have only one question: “If Mughal Emperor Zafar wasn’t a traitor, why are his descendants homeless today?” This isn’t just my story, but a tale of the pain of a royal past and a hunger-filled present that confronts each other. Zafar’s last wish remained unfulfilled. He wanted to be buried in Mehrauli, where the tombs of other Mughal emperors were located.
The complex containing this empty tomb was named Zafar Mahal. It is located near the shrine of the Sufi saint Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Qafi. The building has two parts: one is the palace and the other is the entrance, which Zafar II built in the 19th century. Zafar and his remaining family were placed in a small wooden house near the Shewdagon Pagoda in Rangoon. It was there, in 1862, at the age of 87, that the last Mughal of India breathed his last. During his final days, this line from a ghazal became very popular: “How unfortunate is Zafar, not even two yards of land for burial , was found in the well of love.” The full ghazal reads: ” I cannot remember who built my life in this desolate land, in this desolate world.” The nightingale complains neither to the gardener nor to the hunter, fate had written it to be imprisoned in the spring harvest. Tell these desires to go and settle somewhere else, there is not enough space in this tainted heart.
The family of one of his great-grandsons, Bedar Bakht, currently lives in a narrow alley in the Shivpuri area of Howrah. Recently, a statement by one of the family’s great-granddaughters has gained media attention. “My name is Razia Sultana Begum. I am the wife of Mirza Bedar Bakht, the great-grandson of Shah Zafar, the last emperor of the Mughal Empire. I was married on August 15, 1965.” Today, my life is confined to a narrow alley in the Shivpuri area of Howrah. After marriage, my responsibilities increased, but my income didn’t. My husband had lavish pursuits, but his pockets remained empty. I worked as a bookbinder, making lacquer bangles, and fitting nib pen sockets. After his death, my situation worsened. There were days when the children received only water and dry bread. I never extended my hand to anyone. Even today, the pain deepens when I go to Delhi and buy tickets to see my own history. I have to pay 50 rupees to visit the Red Fort and 40 rupees to see Humayun’s Tomb, even though these are my family’s heritage.
