Bahadur Shah Zafar in 1858, just after his show trial in Delhi and before his departure for exile in Rangoon. This is possibly the only photograph ever taken of a Mughal emperor.

Reign: September 28, 1838 – September 14, 1857

Titles: Urdu: بہادر شاہ دوم; Mughal Emperor

Born: October 24, 1775

Birthplace: Delhi, Mughal Empire

Died: November 7, 1862 (aged 87)
Place of death: Rangoon, Burma, British Raj

Buried: Rangoon, Burma, British Raj
Predecessor: Akbar Shah II

Successor: Mughal Empire abolished
Descendants: 22 sons and at least 32 daughters
Wives: Ashraf Mahal
Akhtar Mahal
Zeenat Mahal
Taj Mahal
Dynasty: Mughal Empire

Father: Akbar Shah II

Mother: Lalbai

_______________________________________________

لگتا نہیں ہے جی میرا اُجڑے دیار میں
کس کی بنی ہے عالمِ ناپائیدار میں

بُلبُل کو پاسباں سے نہ صیاد سے گلہ
قسمت میں قید لکھی تھی فصلِ بہار میں

کہہ دو اِن حسرتوں سے کہیں اور جا بسیں
اتنی جگہ کہاں ہے دلِ داغدار میں

اِک شاخ گل پہ بیٹھہ کے بُلبُل
کانٹے بِچھا دیتے ہیں دل لالہ زار میں

عمرِ دراز مانگ کے لائے تھے چار دِن
دو آرزو میں کٹ گئے، دو اِنتظار میں

دِن زندگی کے ختم ہوئے شام ہوگئی
پھیلا کے پائوں سوئیں گے کنج مزار میں

ہے کِتنا بدنصیب ظفر، دفن کے لئیے
دو گز زمین بھی نہ ملی کوئے یار میں
_______________________________________________


Abu Zafar Sirajuddin Muhammad Bahadur Shah Zafar Urdu: ابو ظفر سِراجُ الْدین محمد بُہادر شاہ ظفر, also known as Bahadur Shah or Bahadur Shah II Urdu: بہادر شاہ دوم; October 24, 1775 – 7 November 1862) was the last of the Mughal emperors in India, as well as the last ruler of the Timurid Dynasty . He was the son of Akbar Shah II by his Hindu wife Lalbai. He became the Mughal Emperor upon his father's death on September 28, 1838. Zafar Urdu: ظفر was his nom de plume (takhallus) as an Urdu poet.

As emperor:
Bahadur Shah presided over a Mughal empire that barely extended beyond Delhi's Red Fort. The British Raj was the dominant political and military power in 19th-century India. Hundreds of minor principalities fragmented the land. The emperor was paid some respect and allowed a pension and authority to collect some taxes, and maintain a token force in Delhi, but he posed no threat to any power in India. Bahadur Shah II himself did not interest himself in statecraft or possess any imperial ambitions.
Bahadur Shah Zafar was a noted Urdu poet. He wrote a large number of Urdu ghazals. While some part of his opus was lost or destroyed during the unrest of 1857-1858, a large collection did survive, and was later compiled into the Kulliyyat-i Zafar. The court that he maintained, although somewhat decadent and arguably pretentious for someone who was effectively a pensioner of the British East India Company, was home to several Urdu writers of high standing, including Ghalib, Dagh, Mumin, and Zauq (Dhawq).
[edit] Events of 1857
As the Indian rebellion of 1857 spread, Indian regiments seized Delhi. Seeking a figure that could unite all Indians, Hindu and Muslim alike, most rebelling Indian kings and the Indian regiments accepted Zafar as the Emperor of India.[1], under whom the smaller Indian kingdoms would unite until the British were defeated. Zafar was the least threatening and least ambitious of monarchs, and the legacy of the Mughal Empire was more acceptable a uniting force to most allied kings than the domination of any other Indian kingdom.
When the victory of the British became certain, Zafar took refuge at Humayun's Tomb, in an area that was then at the outskirts of Delhi, and hid there. British forces led by Major Hodson surrounded the tomb and compelled his surrender.
Modern Pakistan views him as the last vestige of the Muslim state within India before its fall to the British, only to be resurrected with the creation of Pakistan in 1947. Modern India views him as one of its first nationalists, someone who actively opposed British rule in India. In 1959, the All India Bahadur Shah Zafar Academy was founded expressly to spread awareness about his contribution to the first national freedom movement of India. Several movies in Hindi/Urdu have depicted his role during the rebellion of 1857. There are roads bearing his name in New Delhi, Lahore, Varanasi and other cities. A statue of Bahadur Shah Zafar has been erected at Vijayanagaram palace in Varanasi. In Bangladesh, the Victoria Park of old Dhaka has been renamed as Bahadur Shah Zafar Park.
Bahadur Shah Zafar is known to have had four wives and numerous concubines. In order of marriage, his wives were: [5]
• Begum Ashraf Mahal
• Begum Akhtar Mahal
• Begum Zeenat Mahal
• Begum Taj Mahal
Zafar had 22 sons, including:
• Mirza Fath-ul-Mulk Bahadur (alias Mirza Fakhru)
• Mirza Mughal
• Mirza Khazr Sultan
• Jawan Bakht
• Mirza Quaish
• Mirza Shah Abbas
He also had at least 32 daughters, including:
• Rabeya Begum
• Begum Fatima Sultan
• Kulsum Zamani Begum
• Raunaq Zamani Begum (possibly a granddaughter)
Most of his sons and grandsons were killed during or in the aftermath of the rebellion of 1857. Of those who survived, the following three lines of descent are known:
• Delhi line -- son: Mirza Fath-ul-Mulk Bahadur (alias Mirza Fakhru); grandson: Mirza Farkhunda Jamal; great-grandchildren: Hamid Shah and Begum Qamar Sultan.
• Howrah line -- son: Jawan Bakht, grandson: Jamshid Bakht, great-grandson: Mirza Muhammad Bedar Bakht (married Sultana Begum, who currently runs a tea stall in Howrah).
• Varanasi Line -- [Shah Alam Ameer of Delhi, Son: Mirza Jahaandar Shah Alais Mirza Khan Bakht (Married - Jahanbaad Begum)], [Ali Gohar Mirza Ali Bahadur had five sons], [Mirza Kazim Bakht married Birjis Ara Begum, Son: Mirza Yousuf Bakht married Hasina Sultan Begum, GrandSon: Mirza Zaheeruddin Alim Bakht married Khurshid Laqah Begum (had five sons - two daughters), Great GrandSon: MIRZA DAUD BAKHT married FAKHRE ARA KANIZ MEHNDI BEGUM(D/O. LATE MOBARRAK BAKHT MIRZA ILLYAS HUSSAIN BAHADUR G/SON OF LATE KING OF OUDH - WIFE: SULTAN BANO MEHNDI BEGUM (IN KOLKATA).
• Hyderabad line -- son: Mirza Quaish, grandson: Mirza Abdullah, great-grandson: Mirza Pyare (married Habib Begum), great-great-granddaughter: Begum Laila Ummahani (married Yakub Habeebuddin Tucy).
<---Descendants of Mughal rulers other than Bahadur Shah Zafar also survive to this day. They include the line of Jalaluddin Mirza in Bengal, who served at the court of the Maharaja of Dighapatia, and the Toluqari family.