Thread by @syedurahman

#OTD was born the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. He was not just a vestige of past, he was a very popular leader, poet, sufi and great freedom fighter who rose with his people against tyrannical n brutal rule of the British East India Company.
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While the mutiny was defeated in a matter of over a year or so, Emperor lost badly, sacrificing his sons who were butchered by a British officer, faced sham trial where there was no hope of justice and the judge was doing all to punish him and his family in worst possible manner

Bahadur Shah II was 20th and last Mughal emperor. He succeeded his father, Akbar II, upon his death on 28 September 1837. He was a titular Emperor as the Mughal Empire existed in name when he became the emperor as the authority of the empire had shrunk only to the walled city.

Long before Bahadur Shah ascended to the throne, Mughal empire had gradually shrunk, despite many efforts to resurrect it. for many decades, Marathas were actual power behind the throne, before beign defeated by Ahmad Shah Abdali and driven out of Delhi.

Marathas installed Shah Alam II in 1772, under protection of the Maratha general Mahadaji Shinde and maintained suzerainty over Mughal affairs in Delhi. For a long time they vied with the rulers of Awadh, Rohelkhand and the British East India Company for power across North India.

However, despite the fact that the Mughal kingdom had shrunk to just Delhi and its suburbs, the emperor was respected by the company, who provided him with a pension. The emperor permitted the company to collect taxes from Delhi and maintain a military force in it.

Bahadur Shah Zafar, before being anointed as the Emperor of the fledgling Mughal empire practiced Sufism and was also a respected Urdu poet. It was not exclusive to him. Shah Alam II was also a respected poet and had won accolades for his exceptional poetry.

By the time the frail 62year-old Bahadur Shah Zafar ascended throne in Sep 1837, the grandeur of the Mughal Empire had completely faded away. The people of Delhi still looked up to Zafar as the Zill-eSubhaani (Shadow of God), and poets still sought his appreciation and patronage.

He was a great artist as well and there is no gainsaying the fact that he was deeply in love with art and music. It is well documented that he himself composed thumris and khayals. The Delhi school of Hindustani music, or the Dilli gharaana, traces its lineage to Mian Ajmal Khan.

Zafar had appointed Mian Achpal as Court Musician n considered him his ustaad. Mir Qutab Bakhsh, Mian Achpal’s most renowned disciple was also associated with Zafar’s court and wud travel with Zafar during his summer sojourns to Mehrauli and teach him the art of composing khayals

His court backed and supported scholars of all hues. We have already mentioned that Sir Syed Ahmad Khan also got a regular grant from the court of the emperor whose boundaries had shrunken Delhi’s suburbs much before the uprising.

There is no denying the fact that Bahadur Shah Zafar was not part of the planning of the 1857 uprising. To be true, he was a reluctant participant as he seemed to have premonition that this uprising was set to flounder sooner than later.

But once he accepted to be part of Mutiny, he never looked back and had to sacrifice a lot including the slaughter of his three sons, destitution and deportation of himself and his family.

The last Mughal emperor held his first formal audience in several years on 12 May 1857 that was attended by many sepoys who are said to have treated him disrespectfully". To be true, Zafar’s first question to the sepoys when they reached him was why they had come to him.

He said that he had no means of maintaining them. He seemed to be well aware of his means and resources at his disposal and the ragtag army of the sepoys who seemed unorganized and even at odds with each other.

However, when sepoys told him they would not be able to win against East India Company without him and his support, he grudgingly agreed to support him. Since then he was a resolute supporter of the mutiny and gave up everything for his nation including his sons and his kingdom.

I think that he was the greatest freedom fighter ever, a true leader and an inspiration to the millions of other freedom fighters who saw hope in him and were inspired by his persona and grace. The community and the nation both are indebted to him.