Bahadur Shah Zafar

Biography

Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor, is remembered not only as a tragic ruler but also as a poignant poet. Born in Delhi in 1775, he ascended the throne in 1837, though by then the Mughal Empire had been reduced to little more than the Red Fort. Despite limited power, he became a patron of art, culture, and literature.

Zafar wrote poetry under his pen name and gathered a brilliant circle of poets in his court, including Zauq, Ghalib, and Momin. His ghazals are marked by simplicity, sorrow, and resignation. They reflect both personal grief and the collective despair of a fading empire. His couplets often speak of loss, exile, and the futility of worldly power.

In 1857, when Indian soldiers rose in revolt against the British, Zafar was declared their symbolic leader. Though reluctant and aged, he became the face of resistance. After the revolt was crushed, he was captured, tried, and exiled to Rangoon, where he lived his final years in poverty and isolation.

It was in exile that Zafar composed some of his most heartbreaking verses. His ghazal lamenting the lack of even two yards of land for burial in his beloved Delhi remains iconic. He died in Rangoon in 1862, far from home.

Bahadur Shah Zafar is remembered as a poet-emperor whose frail kingdom crumbled, but whose poetry continues to echo across time, carrying the sadness of a lost world and the dignity of a broken heart.