The Mughal empire was launched by Babur in 1526 and was at its zenith when Aurangzeb was the ruler. His death in 1707 was a watershed event in Indian history as the mighty empire cracked up inside 50 years. The empire slowly shrank till in 1857 the Mughal emperor ruled only the Red Fort as the entire country had been taken over by the East Indian Company and the real ruler was the British Governor General who operated from Calcutta.
The Mughals despite loss of territory still styled themselves as emperors and the dynasty just lingered on as an aberration of history. Perhaps the dynasty would have carried on, but a traumatic mutiny by Indian sepoys of the East India Company Army led to a tragic end of this once great empire.
The last Mughal emperor was Bahadur Shah Zafar. He was born in 1775 of a Hindu mother named Lal Bai who was the consort of Akbar II. It is difficult to reconcile that Bahadur Shah was a descendent of the great Timur Lang, for he was a gentle human being who loved writing poetry more than anything else. He was also a man who believed in all religions and one of his verses extolls the fact that Hindus and Muslims are one people with a similar ethos.
Bahadur Shah was the second son and as such he was not made emperor and his half brother Mirza Jahangir was made the emperor. But Mirza Jahangir made a cardinal blunder by attacking the British resident at Delhi. He was promptly deposed and exiled to Allahabad and Zafar was allowed to become emperor by the Governor General. He ascended the throne in 1837.
Bahadur Shah was a titular head, but he did not mind it as he was immersed in writing poetry and teaching Sufi mysticism.He collected a large harem of Hindu and Muslim girls and enjoyed his life. He was not a conqueror or great general and was happy to spend his time in the Red Fort. He did all that the British resident ordered him. His poems have come down to us and one can glean from them that he was an emotional and thoughtful man who believed in oneness of all.
Such a man was however thrust into limelight by an event over which he had no control. In 1857 sepoys of the East india company , both Hindus and Muslims revolted as they felt the new cartridges issued to them for the Enfield rifles were greased with the fat of pigs and cows.The rebelling sepoys seized teh towns of Meerut, Kanpur and Delhi. The sepoys needed a leader and they opted to make Bahadur Shah Zafar their leader.
Zafar was perhaps not interested to lead the revolt, but he was surrounded by sepoys and in their presence he made a statement that he accepted to be their leader. This statement was to be used against im later. Now events happened that went beyond the control of the emperor. 52 British residents were lined up inside the Red Fort and summarily executed by the sepoys. Bahadur Shah wanted to stop this massacre, but he was powerless and in an effort to control the situation appointed his son Mirza Mughal as commander. But the sepoys were a law unto themselves now and they refused to listen to Mirza Mogul. In the meantime British reinforcements and guns began to arrive from England and the Sikhs sided with the english. Slowly, but surely in battle after battle the sepoys were routed and defeated. Hundreds of captured sepoys were tied to guns and blown apart. The British exacted a terrible revenge.
The British army and the Sikhs who had joined the English stormed Delhi. The East India force was led by Major William Hudson.. Bahadur Shah and his sons ran away and hid in the tomb of Humayun. But they were betrayed and major Hudson discovered them. He offered to spare the life of Bahadur Shah and took all members of the royal family in custody. The two sons of Bahadur Shah were executed by Major Hudson the next day, but the 82 year old emperor was spared and brought to trial. The trial lasted 40 days and Bahadur Shah was all this while kept in a cage. He was exiled to Rangoon and allowed to take his favorite concubines with him. He died in 1862 at the age of 87.
Bahadur Shah is a tragic name in Indian history. He was a reluctant emperor and had no desire to be part of any mutiny. He was a simple soul interested only in writing poetry and the Sufi philosophy which he taught. But fate was unkind to him and he died away from home a prisoner of the English. His last poems are a poignant reminder of his empire which he had lost
After mutiny was crushed , India became a part of the crown and Queen victoria became empress of Hindustan. As the saying goes it was all over bar the shouting.