Today is the death anniversary of Last Mughal Emperor of India

Today is the death anniversary of the last Mughal Bahadur Shah Zafar, in the lineage of Mughal Emperors who ruled India for 300 years. Bahadur Shah Zafar the last Mughal Emperor of India and the one, who lost power to East India Company, died today in history on 7^th November 1862.

Bahadur Shah Zafar was the son of Mughal Emperor Akbar Shah II and his hindu wife Lalbai. The last Mughal Emperor of India got the throne in 1837 after the demise of his father. He was a weak ruler as the Mughal dynasty was at decline due to Brtish domination, he ruled India for two decades.

This Mughal emperor had a great taste for poetry. During his reign Urdu poetry and literature did not only flourish but reached its pinnacle. He had a company of most eminent poets, Mirza Ghalib, Daagh and Momin were his circle of friends. Bahadur Shah Zafar was a poet and calligrapher too, his literary work is consist of four diwan. The pain of degradation and humiliation he faced by British is expressed in his poetry.

The 1857’s first War of Independence overthrew Bahadur Shah Zafar’s throne. The war did not only change political arena of Indian politics but also Urdu literature.  Bahadur Shah Zafar got arrested in the war from Humayun’s tomb in Dehli, along with his three sons and a grandson.  He was exiled to Rangoon soon after the arrest, his sons and grandson were killed and their severed heads were brought in front of him.

The man with love and compassion spent the last five year of his life in anonymity, he lived a miserable life and at-last died in 1862 in Rangoon.