Bahadur Shah II

Bahadur Shah II Biography

Bahadur Shah II was the last Mughal emperor of India. He was a poet and had little ambitions of expanding his territory. When he came to power, British had already occupied the major positions of India. He, along with his family has been involved in the First freedom struggle against British – The great revolt of 1857. He led his army for the sepoy mutiny against the East India Company and it was unsuccessful. Shah along with his sons was tried in court and expelled to Rangoon, now a part of Bangladesh. Bahadur Shah II was a famous Urdu poet, and he wrote many Urdu ghazals under the name – Zafar. Bahadur Shah Zafar was a devout Sufi.

He was born in Delhi in October 1775 as the son of Akbar Shah II and Lal Bai. His mother was a Hindu Rajput. He assumed power as the new ruler of Mughal Empire in 1837 following the death of his father. Even while his father was ruling the empire, his kingdom was slowly disintegrating and British were gaining power. Akbar Shah II ruled between 1806 and 1837. His empire barely extended beyond Delhi's Red Fort. Emperors of Delhi were paid respect by British and given pension as well. He also held the authority to collect some taxes and to maintain a small military force in Delhi. As Bahadur was a poet, he was not at all interested in expanding his empire.

Yet he along with his sons started rebellions against British rule when the first revolt broke out at different parts of India. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857 some of his works were lost. The remaining ones were compiled later and published titled - Kulliyyat-i-Zafar. Mirza Ghalib, Dagh, Mumin, and Zauq were some of the prolific writers of his court. Bahadur Shah Zafar is known to have had four wives and 8 sons and 4 daughters. Many of his family members including children and grandchildren were killed after the Rebellion of 1857. Yet some of his descendants still exist.

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Updated: July 19, 2018