A calligrapher, poet, and Sufi pir, Bahadur Shah Zafar cannot be compared with his illustrious ancestors, but he holds an important place in Indian History. The Mughals had lost much of their territory when Zafar came to the throne in 1837. His rule extended only to Delhi and its surroundings yet, for his loyal subjects, he was their Badshah. Born of mixed parentage(his father, Akbar Shah II was Muslim, while his mother Lal Bai was a Hindu Rajput princess), he was a symbol of Ganga Jamuni tehzeeb of India. He was the rallying point of India’s first war of independence in 1857. Zafar did not command an army but he became the symbolic head of a revolt that united Muslims and Hindus.
The Mughals considered it sacred to be buried near the tombs of saints. Bahadur Shah Zafar wanted his final resting place, close to the revered saint Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki. Three Mughal emperors, Bahadur Shah I, Shah Alam II and Akbar Shah II, were buried in a marble enclosure of the complex adjoining the shrine of the saint Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki in Mehrauli. Bahadur Shah Zafar, the ill-fated last Mughal emperor, had identified a vacant place for burial in the same complex. He chose Zafar Mahal as his final place of rest.
Zafar Mahal, located in Mehrauli in South Delhi, is considered the last monumental structure built as a summer palace, during the waning years of the Mughal era. The palace (Mahal) was constructed by Akbar Shah II in the 18th century. The entrance gate was reconstructed in the 19th century by Bahadur Shah Zafar.
On 27 January 1858 the Emperor of Hindustan was tried for “rebellion, treason and murder” by a British Military Commission. On March 9, it was decided that he would be exiled. Seven months later, he was exiled to Rangoon, present-day Yangon in Burma(Myanmar). Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor, died of old age on 7 November 1862 and was buried in Rangoon.
With a broken heart, before his death, he wrote-
Kitna hai badnaseeb Zafar, dafn ke liye
Do gaz zameen bhi mil na saki ku-e-yaar mein
(How wretched is your fate, Zafar! For your final resting place in the land of your beloved, you couldn’t get even two yards of land).
The Zafar Mahal in Mehrauli, where Bahadur Shah wanted to be buried, needs urgent restoration. The enclosure that houses his empty grave is broken. You can see locals gambling and drinking inside the complex. Children play cricket and fly kites within the Zafar Mahal.
Zafar Mahal was an integral part of the Indian freedom movement. Mahatma Gandhi swore to fast unto death to restore communal peace at the shrine of Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki. Bahadur Shah Zafar died in custody on 7 November at the age of 87, but his poetry lives on. His pen name was Zafar, which means victory. Many Bahadur Shah Zafar’s poems and ghazals were lost. Some of the remaining poems have been compiled into Kulliyyat-i-Zafar.
PS – The pictures in this post were clicked a few years ago.