https://youtu.be/xH2ygqSlAWw?si=OidTt_HCRhTinoY6

pehle ustaad thay Ehsaan-o-Naseer-o-Momin
hui Ehsaan se pur-islaah tabiyat meri
phir hua Hazrat-e-Sehbaai ki islaah ka faiz
taba baareek hui unki badaulat meri
aur hum-bazm rahey Momin-o-Zauq-o-Ghalib
ustaadon se hi hardam rahi sohbat meri
munaqid hoti hai jab sheher mein bazm-e-Insha
kartey hain ehl-e-sukhan waqat-o-izzat meri

On May 11, 1857, Bahadur Shah Zafar, the nominal emperor of Hindustan, was approached by the Indian sepoys of the Bengal army who came to see him from Meerut after rebelling against the British dictat that required them to use Enfield rifles whose cartridges were greased with the fat of pig and cow.

They appealed to him saying that every proclamation that they had heard so far was in his name: “Khilqat Khuda ki, Mulk Badshah ka, Hukm Company ka (The Lord’s creation, the emperor’s country, the company’s command).”

“But now, the British have been empowered to rule us on your orders. So we have come to you as petitioners, hopeful of justice.” (Dastan e Ghadar by Zahir Dehlvi, translated by Rana Safvi).

Liaquat Ali was holding the fort in Khusrau Bagh, Allahabad, while 80-year-old Kanwar Singh (above) raised the banner of revolt in Bihar. Photo: Screengrab

The emperor, though initially reluctant, agreed to lead them in their war against the foreign rulers and on May 12, 1857, he was crowned the Emperor of Hindustan. On May 18, 1857, Munshi Jeevan Lal, a spy of the British, wrote that the Rani of Ujjain, Laxmibai, had asked for permission to come to court; she was told that it was entirely upto to her and not required.

Implicit in this report is her support for the Indian sepoys fighting under the Mughal emperor.

He was indeed accepted by all as the emperor of Hindustan and when the uprising spread, even Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi and Nana Saheb “sought legtimacy from the Mughal sovereign Bahadur Shah II rather than appealing to the notion of Hindu Padpadshahi or seeking legtimacy from the Maratha chiefs of Satara or Peshwa,” writes Prof SZH Jafri, in a special volume on Delhi in 1857.

In another article, ”The issue of religion in 1857: Three documents”, Prof Jafri writes:

“One comes across numerous printed proclamations, appeals and pamphlets issued by the rebel leaders in the various centres of the Uprising, always making a plea for a united struggle to expel the foreign rulers from the Indian subcontinent. Apart from making a very strong case for Hindu-Muslim unity they often also sought to revive the notion of Mughal sovereignty and invoked the concept of ‘People (khalq) of God, country (mulk) of king (that is, the Mughal emperor), authority (hukm) of the local leaders or chiefs’ to imply loyalty to a common cause.”

A fierce battle against the Empire. Photo: Screengrab

On August 25, 1857, Bahadur Shah Zafar issued a proclamation. S Mahdi Hasan, in his seminal book Bahadur Shah Zafar and the War of 1857 in Delhi, writes that the original proclamation was lost, but in 1858, after Zafar’s sentence but before he was actually sent to Rangoon, Burma, his descendant Prince Firoz Shah, who was still at war with the British, issued its replica and thus it became famous as the Azamgarh Proclamation.

It was translated by JD Forsythe, the secretary to the chief commissioner of Oude as the “Proclamation issued by the Rebels”. It declares that “as both Hindoos and Mohammadens have been ruined by the oppression of the infidel and treacherous English, therefore it is the bounden duty of all the wealthy people of India to stake their lives for the well-being of the people of India”.

It talks of Muslims rallying under the flag of Muhammad and the Hindus under the flag of Mahavira (used for Hanuman).

It goes on to say that the sacred books of Hindus and Muslims have prophesied the end of British rule after this year (1857) and thus, people should remove fear of its continuance from their minds and join in “our cause”.

(There was a prophesy that 100 years after the Battle of Plassey (1757), the British rule would come to an end.)

The proclamation addresses zamindars, merchants, men of service, artisans and scholars of both creeds, “Hindoos and Musalmans (Maulvis and Pandits)”. This last part is very interesting as it says: “You are aware that the British are opposedto your religion and as the present is a religious war you should join s and gain the good will of the creator, otherwise you will be considered sinners. If you will join us you will receive mafees and land from the emperor.” (From Bahadur Shah Zafar and the War of 1857 in Delhi).

So, this was a religious war where Hindus and Muslims, of “high” and “low” castes, all fought against the foreign power of the British East India company, under the banner of the Emperor of Hindustan, Bahadur Shah II (more popularly known as Bahadur Shah Zafar), and fought a common enemy: the firangi or foreigner.

However, it is important to note that Bahadur Shah Zafar was not fighting Christians or Englishmen but the British East India company. “He (Zafar) opposed the company’s paramountcy and the Englishmen as a class enjoying the highest and most lucrative offices in the state,” writes S Mahdi Hasan.

In fact, the European Francis Godlieu Quins, who wrote Urdu-Persian poetry under the penname Frasoo, chronicles that “Zafar called all the three classes of poeople (Musalman, Hindus and Mujahideen) to a personal interview, and having taken an oath explained his object. He asked that the Hindus should swear by Ram and the Ganges and that the musalman should swear, each placing a copy of the Quran on his head.” (Bahadur Shah Zafar and the War of 1857 in Delhi.)

A war that Faizabad’s Ahamadullah Shah, Jhansi’s Rani Laxmibai and Haryana’s Rao Tula Ram fought together.

While Ghulam Ghaus manned the cannons in the Fort of Jhansi under Rani Laxmibai, Raja Jai Singh of Azamgarh fought under the banner of Begum Hazrat Mahal (he was a key member of her military counsel and also the main spokesperson for the troops in their dealings with the court of the young Birjis Qadr, after the regent declared him the Nawab in 1857). Jai Singh, too, was martyred in the cause of Independence.

Ghaus, the gunner, died defending Jhansi; Rani Laxmibai had famously declared, “Main apni Jhansi nahin dungi (I will never give up my Jhansi)” to the British.

Azizan Bai, the famous courtesan of Kanpur, joined the battle against the British in 1857, under the banner of Nana Saheb.

There are innumerable examples of Hindu-Muslim unity and, in fact, that was seen as one of the main reasons for the “revolt” by the British.

If there was Ahmadullah Shah, the Maulvi of Faizabad, fighting the British in Awadh, there was also Rao Tula Ram of Haryana, who was helping Bahadur Shah Zafar.

Bahadur Shah Zafar: Poet extraordinaire, exiled emperor. Photo: IP-Black/Indiapicture

Liaquat Ali was holding the fort in Allahabad’s Khusrau Bagh, while 80-year-old Kanwar Singh raised the banner of revolt in Bihar. A forgotten aspect of the 1857 uprising is the role of the tribals who had also participated. A popular Bhojpuri song from 1857 goes thus:

Ab chod re firangiyal hamar deswa

Lutpat kaile tuhun majwa udaile

Kailas des par julum Jor.

Sahar gaon luuti, phunki dihiat firangiya

Suni Suni kunwar ke hridaya mein lagal aagiya

Ab chod re firangiyal Hamar deswa

(Oh British, leave our country, for you loot us,

you enjoy the luxury of our country,

and, in return, you loot and burn our hamlets, cities and villages,

Kunwar’s heart burns to know this,

Oh British, leave our country…)

(Translated by Badri Narayan in Facets of the Great Revolt, edited by Shireen Moosvi).

“Among the many lessons the Indian mutiny conveys to the historian, none is of greater importance than the warning that it is possible to have a Revolution in which Brahmins and Sudras, Hindus and Mahomedans, could be united against us…,” British historian George William Forrest mentioned in the introduction of the State Papers soon after the end of the First War of Independence.

According to historian Irfan Habib, it was the largest anticolonial uprising anywhere in the world. Out of 1,35,000 Bengal army native soldiers, only 7,000 remained loyal to their British masters.

It was the sheer scale that rattled the might of the British Empire and they struck back with unparalleled cruelty — killing, executing and looting all those whom the slightest shred of evidence linked to the revolt. The brunt was borne by Muslims as they shared the faith of the man declared as Emperor of Hindustan. It was seen as a “Mohammedan conspiracy making capital out of Hindu grievances”.

Most of the princes and princesses were either killed or died trying to escape, or spent their lives in ignominy and poverty. Many innocents from every site associated with the centres of the uprising were killed, and Hindustan, as we knew it till 1857, changed forever.

The emperor was tried for sedition (against his own empire!) and exiled to Rangoon in 1858; he died there, away from his homeland, in 1864.

Thus, the Mughal empire was replaced by the British Empire under Empress Victoria.

Published on DailyO.in

I was reminded of this while reading an eyewitness account of the anniversary celebrations of the coronation in the reign of the last two Mughal emperors. It described an event, which was so unique that I started asking questions on Twitter and Facebook as well as researching.

While many books describe the grand scale of celebration, Bazm-e-Aakhir by Munshi Faizuddin, a courtier in the court of Bahadur Shah Zafar, describes the actual ceremony. It lasted for 40 days with many guests attending it. As one writer pens it – the days would seem like Eid and the nights like Shab-e-Barat.

Under the later Mughal rulers it was obviously a very important celebration. It was called Jashn-e-Tajposhi.

The night before the jashn (celebration) was called ratjaga or staying awake the whole night and Munshi Faizuddin describes the start of the function in the evening as:

It’s now time to soak the dal (lentil) as this is considered a good omen for the night of the jashn. The emperor’s chief consort will be the first to fill seven handfuls and put them in a broad, flat dish and the emperor would be the first to put the prepared dough in the kadhai (wok) for frying the vada (patties made out of ground lentil).

This ceremony would be marked with beating of drums, and a small procession of women carrying torches, candelabras and lamps for illumination would precede the empress. Led by female musicians, female guards, attendants, princesses, noblewomen and eunuchs would all follow the empress as per their rank and status.

The empress would soak seven handfuls of yellow mung dal (skinless split green gram) in a huge pot, on reaching the Rang Mahal, which was the centre of the seraglio in the Red Fort. The kitchen attendants would then soak the rest of the dal.

All the women present would offer their salutation and congratulation to the empress and drum rolls and trumpets were sounded.

By midnight, the ladies in the royal kitchens had ground the dal and made it ready to fry. The kadhais were on the fire and the oil was just the right temperature for frying.

As per custom, the empress would begin shaping seven vada in her palm and the message would be sent to the emperor.

He would arrive on his hawadar (a sedan chair known as the moving throne) as part of a great ceremony and put these seven vadas into the oil.

All the ladies present would once again present their salutations and congratulations to the emperor. The musicians would start playing the drums and shehnai to mark the joyous occasion.

The Jashn-e-Tajposhi was officially inaugurated.

I knew this was a uniquely Indian custom as I have lived many years in the Middle East and visited Iran, Iraq and Syria and never seen or heard of such a custom.

So I turned to Twitter and Facebook where many answered saying that vadas and mangori (smaller dried balls of mung dal) were always made to signal the start of a joyous occasion. This custom seemed to be strongest in Rajasthan and Uttarakhand. It now made sense to me as many of the Mughal queens came from Rajasthan and brought their own traditions with them. In fact, Akbar and his descendants celebrated many Hindu festivals. There was a rigidity and stopping of many of these during Aurangzeb’s rule but by the mid 18th century till 1857, it seems from my readings that life under the Mughals was a very syncretic one and local customs had gained more importance than any of those that Babur and Humayun may have brought with them from Central Asia.

But why only mung dal vada? I turned to Shubhra Chatterjee, noted food history researcher and director of Lost Recipes on Epic Channel.

She told me that mung dal is one of the trio – masura (masoor), mugda (mung) and masha (urad) mentioned in the Yajurveda and mung was the dal that produced the least flatulence and was considered good for the body.

Well-known food expert, KT Achaya, says the Buddha noted that mung dal is “full of soul qualities and devoid of faults”.

Chatterjee says that Patanjali mentions a day called the vatakini puranmashi when only vadas were eaten. It is believed that on the full moon days the gravitational pull of moon on earth is the highest – this is supposed to be a good day to fast and eat only light foods as the metabolic processes of the body are stable and there is enhanced energy. So only light foods such as mung dal and dal vadas are made and eaten.

This same fasting trend is also followed on amavasya – the moonless nights.

Puranmashi – full moon night – is the most auspicious day of the month and a lot of Hindu festivals and auspicious occasions fall on that day and thus one sees the trend of vadas being made. Since urad dal (the more popular dal used for vadas) is not eaten on fasting days so even today most people make Mung dal vadas.

The recipe description of vada in Dharma Sutras is “soaked, coarsely ground, and fermented pulses, fashioned into various shapes and deep fried”.

Diwali falls on an amavasya and urad dal vadas in dahi and kanji (fermented water) are made. Fermented foods are considered good in Ayurveda for the digestive system so a fermented dal vada falls into the category of foods that are good for fasting days.

In fact, I had gone exploring the walled city of Shahjahanabad known as Old Delhi now, during Diwali, and found many food stalls selling kanji vadas.

While I kept searching for more customs related to vadas, my niece messaged that in my own village of Jalali (one of the oldest and historical towns in district Aligarh) too we had this custom. The period of Muharram, the two and quarter months of mourning for Imam Hussain was formally ended by frying of vadas. In the olden days no fried food was eaten in that period.

The frying and eating of vadas for joyous occasions definitely fits into the textbook definition of customs: a group pattern of habitual behaviour usually passed on from one generation to the other.

It’s this underlying unity and syncretism which makes India great and which we must strive to document and preserve.

Published in DailyO.in

Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya as per legend had said, that if it was permissible by shariah he would have willed they be buried in the same grave.

This is mentioned in many Urdu accounts of 19th and 20th century as being revealed to Bahadur Shah Zafar by a saint.

The dome in the rear of the pic belongs to H Amir Khusrau’s dargah, called Choti Dargah. The people are sitting in front of Mohammad Shah’s tomb facing Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya ‘s shrine

On the third Diya, Badshah is weighed in Gold and Silver …. The Qila is illuminated on all sides. Puffed rice, candy, toys made from the candy, lemon and small clay houses are distributed to everyone by maidservants. At night, mud houses made by the royal children are filled with puffed rice and batashe and lamps lit in front of them.’
There is also a fascinating list of dishes served at an average meal for the emperor.  It describes 26 types of rotis, 24 types of rice dishes and an equal number of curries, kebabs, vegetable dishes and pickles. And this, in a time when the emperor was short of money!
— Read on www.livehistoryindia.com/cover-story/2018/12/05/glimpses-of-a-lost-delhi

30 November 2018

Twilight Diaries

Swapna Liddle

A rare look into the everyday life of the last Mughals

City of My Heart: Accounts of Love, Loss and Betrayal in Nineteenth-Century Delhi | Rana Safvi | Hachette | 288 Pages | Rs 499

THOSE WHO SEEK to know the history of Delhi in the 19th century must overcome what is a major obstacle for most Indians today—an unfamiliarity with Urdu. Since this was the language of the city in the 19th century, this lack of familiarity leads one to rely almost exclusively on sources authored by the British who ruled Delhi. It goes without saying that this leaves us with a very skewed perspective of the history of the city. Apart from the generally complex colonial relationship, there were points at which the Indian people and the colonial state faced each other in sharp conflict—such as the Revolt of 1857— and contradiction. Necessarily, one can expect accounts from opposing sides of the divide to tell different stories. Our understanding is bound to be woefully incomplete, unless we take the trouble to read both versions, the British and the Indian.

The fact, however, remains that Urdu, particularly its script, is understood by a small minority today, which puts these important sources of history out of the reach of most. It is therefore heartening to see an effort being made to make Urdu texts accessible through translations. The selection in City of My Heart by Rana Safvi focuses particularly on the Mughal royal family during the reigns of the dynasty’s last two emperors, Akbar II and Bahadur Shah ‘Zafar’. This volume features four separate works translated into English, three in their entirety and the fourth as a large extract.

The result is a fascinating look into little known aspects of Delhi’s history: the customs, traditions, language, and beliefs of the Mughal royal court and family, and even the personal histories of some of its less known members. These texts are important cultural documents, recording for posterity the details of an institution that disappeared forever in 1857 with the exile of Bahadur Shah to Burma, and the deaths or exile of the extended royal family, which, till September 1857, had lived in the Red Fort.

The texts offer a rare look into the details of the everyday life of the extended household of that period’s Mughals. We are told of the food, clothes, ornaments, furniture and vehicles used by different groups of individuals at particular times. We learn of the formality and etiquette associated with the durbar—when the emperor held court, either within a larger assembly or even within the seclusion of his own household. The daily and seasonal routines of the family, particularly the emperor, are described. The reader will enjoy detailed descriptions of varied festivals and other socio-religious observances within the Red Fort, such as the two Eids, Moharram, Diwali, Dussehra, Holi, Raksha Bandhan, the Persian New Year or Nauroz, and the little known Akhri chahar Shanbeh—literally, ‘the last Wednesday in the month of Safar’. The sheer variety confirms the impression that the Mughals subscribed to a very eclectic mix of beliefs and practices.

There is no denying the value of these texts, and hence their translation, to those interested in the history of Delhi. Yet, it is wise to stay alert to their limitations. The first two texts in the volume have a considerable similarity in content—a detailed documentation of the Mughal court, culture and household. The older of the two, Bazm e Aakhir, was published in 1885 and was written by Faizuddin, who had seen the Mughal court at close quarters. The later one, Dilli ka Akhri Deedar, was published in 1934, and according to its author, Wazir Hasan Dehlvi, was based on older books and the oral testimonies of those who remembered those times. One suspects, however, that few of these would have been first-hand. There would have been very few people alive in 1934 with memories from before 1857.

These texts record the exile of Bahadur Shah and the deaths of exile of the extended royal family resident in the Red Fort

What both share is a curious silence about the British presence in Delhi and indeed within the Red Fort itself during the period they talk about. Daily interactions of the emperor and royal family with representatives of the British East India Company are attested to by sources such as original court diaries and newsletters of the time. This silence in the older work is probably explained by the fact that it was written less than three decades after the Revolt and its harsh suppression by the British. People were still too fearful to even speak on a subject that may be controversial: that is, Mughal-British relations. At the same time there was a desire to document an institution, Mughal royalty, which had disappeared forever, and whose culture had to be documented especially for the benefit of a younger generation that was born or came of age only after 1857.

As for Dilli ka Akhri Deedar, its motivations were very different. It was written at a time when India’s Freedom Movement was at its zenith, and the author used his account of the Mughal court mainly as a medium to critique British rule. Critical comments are sprinkled through the text, ostensibly through the voice of a certain old lady, Aghai Begum. One strongly suspects, though, that this was a literary device used by the author to express his own opinions. For instance, the old lady complains, ‘Everyone is struggling to earn a livelihood and to live a decent life in these expensive times… we produce the grains, and others enjoy it…. Earlier whatever was produced here was consumed here.’

If this is supposed to serve as a comparison betweenAghai Begum’s memories of the last two Mughal emperors’ reigns and life in Delhi of the 1930s, there is a definite weakness in the argument. The era of Akbar II and Bahadur Shah was not that of the Mughal Empire, but of East India Company’s rule. The pertinent part of the lady’s remarks is not her comment on the peace and prosperity of Mughal times, but her criticism—which is actually the author’s—of British rule.

The other two works in the volume are ‘Arsh’ Taimuri’s Qila-e-Mu’alla ki Jhalkiya’n, published in 1937, and part of Khwaja Hasan Nizami’s Begamat ke Aansu, circa 1920. These give many more details about individual members of the royal family, and in the latter case, particularly their fate after the Revolt of 1857 was put down. They provide specifics that may not be found in other sources. Nevertheless, we must allow for a fair degree of romanticisation in their writing, though there appears to be less of a political intent than in the account of Wazir Hasan.

Arsh Taimuri and Hasan Nizami, like Wazir Hasan, relied on the memories of an older generation for their accounts. For people who had lived through 1857, the view of the period before it was always refracted through the prism of the traumatic events of the Revolt. Those who survived often lost loved ones, property, and livelihoods. To them, the world before 1857 was an idyllic one populated by all that they had now lost. It should not surprise us that to some extent at least, they describe an overly rosy, idealised scenario.

There is no doubt that these texts give us valuable insights into the cultural milieu of the Mughal world just before 1957, incorporating a wealth of description that cannot be found in other sources. At the same time, we should be aware of the political and social contexts in which they were written, and how these circumstances may have affected the picture they drew of the past. In that sense, they provide an insight into their own times as much as they do into royal life in the last days of the Mughal Empire.

http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/books/twilight-diaries

30/11/2018 11:47 PM IST | Updated 14 hours ago

Rana Safvi

HUFFPOST INDIA

At its zenith, the Diwan-e-Khas was the most beautiful building in India.

After the foundation stone of the Red Fort was laid in 1639 AD, it took nine years to build the octagonal flower with its attractive buildings, refreshing gardens and streams.

On 18 April 1648 AD, it was ready to welcome Emperor Shah Jahan. He entered the Fort in an open sedan chair from the riverside. In a twist of irony, Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal Emperor, used the same Water gate to exit the fort on the night of 17 September 1857.

The Qila-e-Shahjahanabadi, or Qila-e-Mubarak (The Auspicious Fort), as the Red Fort was known then, was a piece of astounding beauty and architectural perfection and at its centre was the Diwan-e-Khas (Hall of Special Audience).

James Fergusson, the historian who worked on Indian and Eastern Architecture, has described it as “if not the most beautiful, certainly the most highly ornamented of Shahjahan’s buildings”.

‘The most beautiful building in India’

The beautiful rectangular pavilion, made of marble from top to bottom, had no rival anywhere on earth. The marble was so pure that the whiteness of dawn would seem darker than the darkest night. Its pillars and walls were decorated with gold paintings and inlaid work of precious stones such as cornelian, corals.

The beautiful rectangular pavilion, made of marble from top to bottom, had no rival anywhere on earth.

Shah Jahan entered the Fort with prince Dara Shukoh sprinkling gold and silver coins over his head and there were grand celebrations.

The hall was used for the reception of ministers, noblemen and ambassadors.

In the middle stood the Takht-e-Murassa (Jewelled Throne) or as it later became famous, Takht-e-Taoos (Peacock Throne).

Shah Jahan had named the hall Shah Mahal (Royal Palace), but since this was the hall of private audience for special courtiers and guests of state, it became famous as Diwan-e-Khas.

At its zenith, this was the most beautiful building in India, but now lies neglected. I invite you to close your eyes and think of it at its prime when above the end arches on both the short sides of the central aisle, the calligraphers had inscribed

Gar bar ru e firdaus zameen ast

Hameen ast, hameen ast, hameen ast

If there is a heaven on earth

It is this, it is this, it is this!

Through its centre ran the four-yard wide Nahr-e-Bahist or stream of paradise, which was covered with marble slabs. Today the marble is yellowed, the inlaid stones have been gouged out and just a few fading flowers remain on the pillars. The stream runs dry, the only water that flows comes from the tears of the royal ghosts.

In City of My Heart, my new book, there are descriptions of the court held here and the festivities and functions in which the emperor and princes and important nobles participated. There is a description of Diwan-e-Khas during the Phool Waalon ki Sair that says, “The Diwan-e-Khas is decorated with carpets and chandeliers like a bride.”

But this bride went through many ups and downs in life. If this Diwan-e-Khas could speak, it would have so many tales to tell.

Triumphs and trials

Its best days were under Shah Jahan, when court would be held to deal with crucial matters of state.

There was an atmosphere of awe and intimidation when the emperor entered the khas darbar and whoever entered quaked in fear, in case they did something wrong.

Those present would give their salutations—Jahanpanah Badshah Salamat (Refuge of the world, may God keep the emperor safe)—by bending low from the waist and raising their hand to their forehead in salute after entering the darbar.

The Royal Gaze would go over the royal princes and they were rewarded.

The last Mughal emperor was just a nominal head and Bahadur Shah II, an accomplished poet with Zafar as his pen name would recite his latest ghazals over here.

If only it could speak, it would describe the scene here in 1716, when the Scottish surgeon William Hamilton, who cured Emperor Farrukhsiyar on the eve of his marriage, was rewarded with the permission of his employers to establish a factory and to maintain a territory of 38 villages on the banks of the Hooghly River. It was this that began the East India Company’s fortunes in India, and ultimately led to the end of the Mughal empire.

RANA SAFVI

The grave of Scottish surgeon William Hamilton at St. John’s Church in Kolkata. Hamilton, who cured Emperor Farrukhsiyar, was allowed to maintain a territory of 38 villages on the banks of the Hooghly River. This began the East India Company’s fortunes in India, and ultimately led to the end of the Mughal empire.

It was here that Nadir Shah the Persian invader received the submission of emperor Mohammad Shah and took the Kohinoor diamond in 1739. He also took away the Peacock Throne and the later Mughal rulers used a pale replica of it.

In the 18th century, when they were in control of Delhi, the Marathas took out all the silver and gold from the ceiling and sent it to be melted and made into coins. At that time, it was valued at Rs 28 lakh.

In 1788, Ghulam Qadir, the Rohila, captured the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II (r.1759-1806), who had been a Maratha pensioner, and imprisoned him in the adjoining Salimgarh Fort. Ghulam Qadir ordered the emperor to be brought into the Diwan-e-Khas and asked him to give up the secret of his treasure house. The unfortunate emperor had no treasure to give up and had already told his captor that many times. The emperor dared his tormentor to do his worst. Thereupon, the Rohila threw him on the floor of the same court where courtiers would quake under the royal gaze and blinded him. The Marathas defeated and killed Ghulam Qadir and once again established their sway over the emperor.

It was here that Shah Alam II thanked Lord Lake for delivering him from the Marathas in 1803 after the latter defeated the Marathas in Patparganj.

On 14 September 1803, the British force under Lord Lake entered Delhi.

Two days later, General Lake had an interview with the poor old blind king in the Diwan-e-Khas and received high-sounding titles. Delhi came under John Company, as East India Company was known.

The last Mughal emperor

By the time Akbar Shah II (r. 1806-1837) came to power, the Diwan-e-Khas was used a storeroom for unwanted items (broken palanquins, empty boxes etc) and no darbars were held.

When the ‘sepoys’ (Indian soldiers of the East India Company) came from Meerut in 1857, and persuaded ageing Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar to lead them in their fight against the East India Company, they took out a silver throne from one of the recesses of Diwan-e-Khas. On 12 May 1857, they crowned him the Emperor of Hindustan once again.

He held daily darbars here during that period, which were attended by the important residents of Delhi and officers of the ‘mutinied troops’.

It was here that one of the sepoys addressed him as “Arre Badshah! Arre buddhe!” (O you Emperor! O you old man!).

During this period, it was often full of soldiers carrying their weapons, much to the horror of Bahadur Shah Zafar—hitherto, only royalty or nobles and courtiers had entered the Diwan-e-Khas, and that too without weapons.

On 14 September 1857, the British army breached the Kashmiri Darwaza and entered the walled city of Shahjahanabad. By 17 September the emperor had fled the fort and on 20 September, he had surrendered to Major Hodson and re-entered the fort as a prisoner.

On 27 September 1857, the British held a Thanksgiving service in the Diwan-e-Khas for the fall of Delhi into their hands.

Having taken control of the Fort, the British soldiers drank to the health of the British sovereign in the Diwan-e-Khas. They established headquarters in it, and on the morning of 21 September, a royal salute was fired to celebrate the victory.

On 27 September 1857, the British held a Thanksgiving service in the Diwan-e-Khas for the fall of Delhi into their hands.

In January 1858, the emperor was put on trial in the same hall where his ancestors had ruled on the fate others. In a trial that lasted for 40 days, he was convicted of having made war against the British, abetting rebellion, proclaiming himself the reigning sovereign of India and causing or being the accessory to the death of many Europeans. He was sentenced to exile for life and sent to Rangoon.

The Diwan-e-Khas is visited by hundreds of visitors every day, but few among them know the triumphs and tragedies it has seen.

https://www.huffingtonpost.in/2018/11/30/inside-delhi-s-red-fort-is-the-most-beautiful-witness-to-the-fall-of-the-mughals_a_23605317/

#1857 #BahadurShahZafar #IlahiBux #HakimAhsanullahKham

Rana Safvi Translates Zafar’s Poem

After the fall of Delhi on 14^th September 1857, following a four-month siege in which the Indian soldiers fought the British East India Company under the banner of  Bahadur Shah Zafar, the Mughal Empire ended. The  British troops were victorious over the Indian sepoys fighting them.

Mughal emperor Abu Zafar Sirajuddin Muhammad Bahadur Shah Zafar, aka Bahadur Shah Zafar II. (1775-1862), in May 1858, “in captivity in Delhi awaiting trial by the British for his support of the Uprising of 1857-58” and before his departure for exile in Rangoon. This is possibly the only photograph ever taken of a Mughal emperor. Source: British Library.

On 17^th September 1857, Bahadur Shah Zafar fled from the Red Fort to minimise loss of lives in the Walled City of Shahjahanabad, as he feared the wrath of the British on the hapless residents. He went to Humayun’s tomb for refuge and was captured from there by Major Hodson on 21^st September 1857. He was imprisoned in a house in Shahjahanabad, where he had once reigned from September 1857 till the end of 1858, when he was sent to Rangoon.

Though he tried to shield his subjects, Zafar’s prayers and entreaties really had no effect as the residents of Shahjahanabad were severely punished, killed, looted and thrown out of the city. The city was penalized and vacated of people, whom the British labelled as enemies.

Ghalib laments that while the Hindus were allowed to return in January 1858 the Muslims were allowed to return only a decade later. The Uprising was seen by the British as “Mohammedan conspiracy making capital of Hindu grievances” and so they suffered the wrath of the British Empire.

The 82-year-old poet, Mughal Emperor was not only imprisoned, tried for sedition, sentenced to be exiled but was deprived of pencil and paper through which he could express his anguish. He ended up scribbling ghazals with charcoal on the walls of his room. These were smuggled out and even after he went to Rangoon were remembered. They could exile him but not his words or memories.

Last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar with sons Mirza Jawan Bakht & Mirza Shah Abbas in exile in Burma in the aftermath of the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859)

One such ghazal became an anthem of the dispossessed after the British took over and was sung by wandering minstrels. In 1862, the [British] Political Agent of Bhopal, sent a report to his superiors asking for a ban on it.

I translate it for the benefit of readers who are unaware of the facts of the first War of Indian Independence and the role of Bahadur Shah Zafar in it.

Gayi yak-ba-yak jo hawa palat nahin dil ko mere qaraar hai 

Karun us sitam ko main kya bayan mera gham se seena figar hai 

(The winds of fate changed suddenly, my heart is inconsolable

How can I describe the pain, my chest is heavy with melancholy)

Ye reaya-e-hind tabah hui kahun kya jo in pe jafa hui 

Jise dekha hakim-e-waqt ne kaha ye bhi qabil-e-dar hai 

(Indians have been ruined, one can’t describe their oppression

The new rulers condemned everyone they saw worthy of the gallows)

Ye kisi ne zulm bhi hai suna ki di phansi logon ko be-gunah 

Wahi kalma-goyon ki samt se abhi dil mein un ke bukhar hai 

(Has anyone heard of such tyranny? That innocents were sent to the gallows!

The rulers still bear such enmity towards those who recite the Islamic creed)

Na tha shahr-e-dehli ye tha chaman kaho kis tarah ka tha yaa’n aman 

Jo khitab tha wo mita diya faqat ab to ujda dayar hai 

(Delhi was never just a city, it was a garden of harmony

They have erased all signs of that, now only a ruined waste remains)

Yahi tang haal jo sab ka hai ye karishma qudrat-e-rab ka hai 

Jo bahaar thi so Khiza’n huyi, jo Khiza’n thi ab wo bahaar hai

 (These straitened conditions that we all find ourselves in, is divinely ordained

The spring has turned into the decay of autumn ,while the decay has turned to spring for some)

Shab-o-roz phool mein jo tule kaho Khaar-e-gham ko wo kya sahe 

Mile tauq qaid mein jab unhe’n kaha gul ke badle ye haar hai 

(Those who were weighed in flowers, morn and night, how can they bear the thorns of grief?

They were given shackles of imprisonment and told to embrace it as as a garland of flowers)

Sabhi jaada matam-e-sakht hai, kaho kaisi gardish-e-bakht hai 

Na wo taj hai na wo takht hai na wo shah hai na dayar hai 

(Everywhere there is the lament and wails of mourning, how terrible is the turn of fate

Neither the crown, nor the throne, nor the emperor or the kingdom remains)

Jo sulook karte the aur se wahi ab hain kitne zalil se 

Wo hain tang charkh ke jaur se, raha tan pe un ke na tar hai 

(Those who once reigned are now dealt humiliation

They are oppressed by the wheel of fortune, not a shred remains on their body)

Naa wabaal tan pe hai sar mera, nahin jaan jaane ka Dar zara 

Kate gham hi, nikle jo dam mera mujhe apni zindagi baar hai 

(My head on my body is no longer a calamity, nor is there a fear of dying

When my head is cut off, I will be at peace for my life is an unbearable burden)

Kya hai gham Zafar tujhe hashr ka jo khuda ne chaha to barmala 

Hamein hai wasila Rasul ka wo hamara hami-e-kar hai

(Why are you worried about doomsday Zafar, whatever God wishes comes to pass

I am hopeful that the Prophet will be my supporter on that Last Day of Judgment)

Zafar spoke for all those who sacrificed their lives in The First War of Indian Independence. It is up to us to remember and honour their memories

How, led by Mughals, Hindus and Muslims together fought the war of 1857

By Rana Safvi   @iamrana |

2018-06-01 21:07:29

They battled as a united force against the might of the British Raj.

On May 11, 1857, Bahadur Shah Zafar, the nominal emperor of Hindustan, was approached by the Indian sepoys of the Bengal army who came to see him from Meerut after rebelling against the British dictat that required them to use Enfield rifles whose cartridges were greased with the fat of pig and cow.

They appealed to him saying that every proclamation that they had heard so far was in his name: “Khilqat Khuda ki, Mulk Badshah ka, Hukm Company ka (The Lord’s creation, the emperor’s country, the company’s command).”

“But now, the British have been empowered to rule us on your orders. So we have come to you as petitioners, hopeful of justice.” (Dastan e Ghadar by Zahir Dehlvi, translated by Rana Safvi).

Liaquat Ali was holding the fort in Khusrau Bagh, Allahabad, while 80-year-old Kanwar Singh (above) raised the banner of revolt in Bihar. Photo: Screengrab

The emperor, though initially reluctant, agreed to lead them in their war against the foreign rulers and on May 12, 1857, he was crowned the Emperor of Hindustan. On May 18, 1857, Munshi Jeevan Lal, a spy of the British, wrote that the Rani of Ujjain, Laxmibai, had asked for permission to come to court; she was told that it was entirely upto to her and not required.

Implicit in this report is her support for the Indian sepoys fighting under the Mughal emperor.

He was indeed accepted by all as the emperor of Hindustan and when the uprising spread, even Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi and Nana Saheb “sought legtimacy from the Mughal sovereign Bahadur Shah II rather than appealing to the notion of Hindu Padpadshahi or seeking legtimacy from the Maratha chiefs of Satara or Peshwa,” writes Prof SZH Jafri, in a special volume on Delhi in 1857.

In another article, ”The issue of religion in 1857: Three documents”, Prof Jafri writes:

“One comes across numerous printed proclamations, appeals and pamphlets issued by the rebel leaders in the various centres of the Uprising, always making a plea for a united struggle to expel the foreign rulers from the Indian subcontinent. Apart from making a very strong case for Hindu-Muslim unity they often also sought to revive the notion of Mughal sovereignty and invoked the concept of ‘People (khalq) of God, country (mulk) of king (that is, the Mughal emperor), authority (hukm) of the local leaders or chiefs’ to imply loyalty to a common cause.”

A fierce battle against the Empire. Photo: Screengrab

On August 25, 1857, Bahadur Shah Zafar issued a proclamation. S Mahdi Hasan, in his seminal book Bahadur Shah Zafar and the War of 1857 in Delhi, writes that the original proclamation was lost, but in 1858, after Zafar’s sentence but before he was actually sent to Rangoon, Burma, his descendant Prince Firoz Shah, who was still at war with the British, issued its replica and thus it became famous as the Azamgarh Proclamation.

It was translated by JD Forsythe, the secretary to the chief commissioner of Oude as the “Proclamation issued by the Rebels”. It declares that “as both Hindoos and Mohammadens have been ruined by the oppression of the infidel and treacherous English, therefore it is the bounden duty of all the wealthy people of India to stake their lives for the well-being of the people of India”.

It talks of Muslims rallying under the flag of Muhammad and the Hindus under the flag of Mahavira (used for Hanuman).

It goes on to say that the sacred books of Hindus and Muslims have prophesied the end of British rule after this year (1857) and thus, people should remove fear of its continuance from their minds and join in “our cause”.

(There was a prophesy that 100 years after the Battle of Plassey (1757), the British rule would come to an end.)

The proclamation addresses zamindars, merchants, men of service, artisans and scholars of both creeds, “Hindoos and Musalmans (Maulvis and Pandits)”. This last part is very interesting as it says: “You are aware that the British are opposedto your religion and as the present is a religious war you should join s and gain the good will of the creator, otherwise you will be considered sinners. If you will join us you will receive mafees and land from the emperor.” (From Bahadur Shah Zafar and the War of 1857 in Delhi).

So, this was a religious war where Hindus and Muslims, of “high” and “low” castes, all fought against the foreign power of the British East India company, under the banner of the Emperor of Hindustan, Bahadur Shah II (more popularly known as Bahadur Shah Zafar), and fought a common enemy: the firangi or foreigner.

However, it is important to note that Bahadur Shah Zafar was not fighting Christians or Englishmen but the British East India company. “He (Zafar) opposed the company’s paramountcy and the Englishmen as a class enjoying the highest and most lucrative offices in the state,” writes S Mahdi Hasan.

In fact, the European Francis Godlieu Quins, who wrote Urdu-Persian poetry under the penname Frasoo, chronicles that “Zafar called all the three classes of poeople (Musalman, Hindus and Mujahideen) to a personal interview, and having taken an oath explained his object. He asked that the Hindus should swear by Ram and the Ganges and that the musalman should swear, each placing a copy of the Quran on his head.” (Bahadur Shah Zafar and the War of 1857 in Delhi.)

A war that Faizabad’s Ahamadullah Shah, Jhansi’s Rani Laxmibai and Haryana’s Rao Tula Ram fought together.

While Ghulam Ghaus manned the cannons in the Fort of Jhansi under Rani Laxmibai, Raja Jai Singh of Azamgarh fought under the banner of Begum Hazrat Mahal (he was a key member of her military counsel and also the main spokesperson for the troops in their dealings with the court of the young Birjis Qadr, after the regent declared him the Nawab in 1857). Jai Singh, too, was martyred in the cause of Independence.

Ghaus, the gunner, died defending Jhansi; Rani Laxmibai had famously declared, “Main apni Jhansi nahin dungi (I will never give up my Jhansi)” to the British.

Azizan Bai, the famous courtesan of Kanpur, joined the battle against the British in 1857, under the banner of Nana Saheb.

There are innumerable examples of Hindu-Muslim unity and, in fact, that was seen as one of the main reasons for the “revolt” by the British.

If there was Ahmadullah Shah, the Maulvi of Faizabad, fighting the British in Awadh, there was also Rao Tula Ram of Haryana, who was helping Bahadur Shah Zafar.

Bahadur Shah Zafar: Poet extraordinaire, exiled emperor. Photo: IP-Black/Indiapicture

Liaquat Ali was holding the fort in Allahabad’s Khusrau Bagh, while 80-year-old Kanwar Singh raised the banner of revolt in Bihar. A forgotten aspect of the 1857 uprising is the role of the tribals who had also participated. A popular Bhojpuri song from 1857 goes thus:

Ab chod re firangiyal hamar deswa

Lutpat kaile tuhun majwa udaile

Kailas des par julum Jor.

Sahar gaon luuti, phunki dihiat firangiya

Suni Suni kunwar ke hridaya mein lagal aagiya

Ab chod re firangiyal Hamar deswa

(Oh British, leave our country, for you loot us,

you enjoy the luxury of our country,

and, in return, you loot and burn our hamlets, cities and villages,

Kunwar’s heart burns to know this,

Oh British, leave our country…)

(Translated by Badri Narayan in Facets of the Great Revolt, edited by Shireen Moosvi).

“Among the many lessons the Indian mutiny conveys to the historian, none is of greater importance than the warning that it is possible to have a Revolution in which Brahmins and Sudras, Hindus and Mahomedans, could be united against us…,” British historian George William Forrest mentioned in the introduction of the State Papers soon after the end of the First War of Independence.

According to historian Irfan Habib, it was the largest anticolonial uprising anywhere in the world. Out of 1,35,000 Bengal army native soldiers, only 7,000 remained loyal to their British masters.

It was the sheer scale that rattled the might of the British Empire and they struck back with unparalleled cruelty — killing, executing and looting all those whom the slightest shred of evidence linked to the revolt. The brunt was borne by Muslims as they shared the faith of the man declared as Emperor of Hindustan. It was seen as a “Mohammedan conspiracy making capital out of Hindu grievances”.

Most of the princes and princesses were either killed or died trying to escape, or spent their lives in ignominy and poverty. Many innocents from every site associated with the centres of the uprising were killed, and Hindustan, as we knew it till 1857, changed forever.

The emperor was tried for sedition (against his own empire!) and exiled to Rangoon in 1858; he died there, away from his homeland, in 1864.

Thus, the Mughal empire was replaced by the British Empire under Empress Victoria.

“Next to the KoodaKatta” (rubbish dump)

Kaun jaye Zauq” par Dilli ki galiyan chhod kar

Dilli see where Zauq sleeps

Tho I should thank God for smaller mercies. A public lavatory was made on his grave. Thanks to efforts of Firoz Bakht at least that was removed & a memorial built in its place.

It’s called yaadgar e Zauq as no one knows where original grave was

(Yaadgar because original tomb demolished to make way for a public lavatory. This was made because of the efforts of Mr Firoz Bakht who fought long and hard for it)

Laayi Hayat aaye qaza le chali chale

na apni khushi aaye na apni khushi chale

behatar to hai yahi ke na duniya se dil lage

par kya karen jo kam na bedillagi chale

ho umr-e-khizr bhi to kahenge bavaqt-e-marg

hum kya rahe yahan abhi aaye abhi chale

duniya ne kis ka rah-e-fana mein diya hai sath

tum bhi chale chalo yun hi jab tak chali chale

nazan na ho khirad pe jo hona hai wo hi ho

danish teri na kuch meri danishvari chale

kam honge is bisat pe hum jaise badqimar

jo chal hum chale wo nihayat buri chale

ja ki hava-e-shauq mein hain is chaman se ‘zauq’

apni bala se bad-e-saba kaheen chale

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May 16, 1857: How a massacre by rebel sepoys at the Red Fort felled Bahadur Shah Zafar

The Mughal king was tried and convicted for the murder of 56 Europeans taken prisoner by the soldiers.

by  Rana Safvi

Published May 16, 2017 · 06:30 am

British Library / Robert Tytler and Charles Shepard / WikimediaCommons

On May 11, 1857, as Indian sepoys who had revolted against the British in Meerut over the use of cartridges allegedly greased with pig and cow fat entered Delhi and tried to take control of the city, there was murder and mayhem in the initial hours. Many thugs and thieves whom they had released from British jails had joined them and were encouraging them to loot and kill.

The European families who lived in the Kashmiri Darwaza area took shelter wherever they could, some in the magazine as it was close to their homes.

The sepoys attacked the British magazine to capture the arsenal stocked there. The British officers defended it and the soldiers present there, but when they realised they were fighting a losing battle and that the sepoys were scaling the walls, Lieutenant GD Willoughby blew up the arsenal to prevent it from falling into rebel hands.

Though Willoughby and some of his companions managed to escape, around 56 European women and children and a few men were captured by the sepoys and taken to the Red Fort. The 82-year-old Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, sent orders that the sepoys be calmed down and the prisoners taken into his safe custody and arrangements be made to keep them and treat the injured.

The sepoys attacked the British magazine on May 11, 1857, forcing the British officers to blow up the ammunition stock to prevent it from falling into their hands. Credit: Swapna Dash Acharya/via Facebook.com

In his memoirs Dastan-e-Ghadar, Tale of the Mutiny, Zahir Dehlvi, who was an official in Bahadur Shah Zafar’s court and a poet, describes the events that unfolded on May 16 that year:

One early morning, I left my house for the Qila, and entering through the naqqarkhana reached the Diwan-e-Aam. From there I decided to go to the khan-samaani and meet Hakim Ahsanullah Khan [the prime minister] to find out if Huzoor had given any orders. With this in mind, I avoided the lattice door and entered the khan-samaani door. When I had walked a little beyond the Mehtab Darwaza, I saw the purbias bringing the prisoners out of the Bagh.

“Where are you taking them?” I asked.

“We will take them out of the Qila and keep them elsewhere,” one of them said.

“This is part of our agreement,” I protested. “Please don’t take them away.”

But they refused to listen to me. I was worried that they might play foul and so rushed to Ahsanullah Khan sahib, who was lying in the upper storey of the khan-samaani. I told him, “Khan Sahib, are you aware of what is happening?”

“What?” he asked.

“Those ruffians are taking the prisoners away. I am afraid that they will murder them. Please make arrangements for their safety.”

Ahsanullah Khan retorted, “What can I do?”

“Khan Sahib,” I said, “this is a test of our loyalty. If you want to save the emperor, please reason with the rebels and save the prisoners. Or remember that the British will raze Dilli to the ground.”

Ahsanullah Khan replied, “Miyan, you are very young. How would you know that man does not listen to reason when caught up in circumstances such as these? He does not think of the result of his actions. If we remonstrate with them now, they will kill us first, and then murder the prisoners.”

“It is better that a few of us are killed,” I said. “At least the Badshah’s empire will be saved.” Saying this, I left from there and came back to the deorhi.

I sent a message to the emperor through the khwaja-sara stating that the purbias had taken the prisoners whom Huzoor had kept in his special protection. The emperor gave immediate orders to call Hakim Ahsanullah Khan so that he could make arrangements to save the prisoners.

The khwaja-sara came outside the palace and sent a messenger to get Hakim Ahsanullah Khan post-haste. Two more messengers were sent one after the other, but though time was passing, Hakim ji did not move from his place. After some time, Hakim Ahsanullah Khan came to the tasbihkhana and entered the presence of Huzoor.

The emperor gave orders: “Call the officers and reason with them and save the prisoners.”

Hakim Ahsanullah Khan said, “All right. As you wish.” He came out to the Diwan-e-Khaas and sat down against the arch in the middle enclosure. Perhaps he sent a few people to call the rebel officers.

Suddenly we saw that two companies of purbias, bearing loaded guns on their shoulders, were coming from the door of the Lal Purdah. As soon as they came into the Diwan-e-Khaas, they surrounded us and stood in front of us with guns pointed at us. All of us were praying to God and reciting the kalima. There were ten or twelve of us and we thought that they would blow us up at any moment. For a few moments, they kept standing there like that. After that, two sawars lofted a red flag outside the Lal Purdah, which was an indication to the other sawars to put their guns back on their shoulders and leave.

A messenger came after a few minutes and gave us the news: “The prisoners have been murdered.”

— Excerpt from Dastan-e-Ghadar, Tale of the Mutiny, by Zahir Dehlvi, translated by Rana Safvi, Penguin Random House

The British levelled the hauz (water tank) in front of the naqqarkhana, where this tragedy took place, once they gained control of the Qila (Red Fort).

Trial of an emperor

This horrific incident was one of the biggest charges against Abu Zafar Sirajuddin Mohammed Bahadur Shah during his trial for rebellion, treason and murder. The trial started on January 27, 1858 and ended on March 9, 1858 with the verdict that the former king of Delhi had been found guilty of every charge against him.

Every witness was questioned about the incident and the king’s involvement in it. Jath Mall, a British scribe in the Red Fort and their spy, was asked: “In your opinion, could the King, had he been anxious to do so, have saved the Europeans, specially the women and children?”

Jath Mall replied, “I heard in the city that the King did wish to save the Europeans, particularly the women and children, but he was overruled by the violence of the soldiery, and had not the firmness to oppose them.”

(From The Trial of Bahadur Shah Zafar, edited by Pramod K Nayar)

The emperor refuted these charges at the trial, saying he did all he could to prevent the slaughter of the innocents but the soldiery did not heed him, an account supported by Zahir Dehlvi.

Bahadur Shah Zafar faced trial for treason and other charges, was found guilty and exiled to Burma. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The witnesses were all anti-Bahadur Shah Zafar and the records available were only those of British spies who had been sending written reports to their masters from inside the Qila, informing them of the rebel activity.

Hakim Ahsanullah Khan, who was the emperor’s acting prime minister during the four months of the siege of Delhi, was one of the most important witnesses for the British. He was shown a leaf from a court diary for May 16, 1857 that indicted the emperor. It read, “The King told his court in the hall of Special Audience. 49 English were prisoners, and the army demanded they that they should be given over to them for slaughter. The King delivered them up, saying ‘The army may do as they please’, and the prisoners were subsequently put to the sword.”

Hakim Ahsanullah Khan did not contradict the entry, limiting himself to verifying that “yes, it is in the handwriting of the man who kept the Court diary and this leaf is a portion of it”, thereby giving it a tacit stamp of endorsement in direct contrast to the events described by Zahir Dehlvi.

As such, Zahir Dehlvi’s account, which was written when he was nearing death and published around 1914, is extremely important. Even though he was pro-British, he gives an exciting account of the events that unfolded during the First War of Indian Independence in Delhi and the trials and tribulations that beset its people, as they were forced to flee to save their lives and piece together their lives from scratch.

It is also a moving testimony to the wonderful character of the ageing Mughal emperor.

(Rana Safvi is a historian, author and blogger and has, most recently, translated Zahir Dehlvi’s Dastan-e-Ghadar, which comprises an important eyewitness account of the 1857 Revolt)

•

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A painting from Bahadur Shah Zafar ‘s reign

Now

Rahat e Jaan Chutney-

gajar (125 gm)

kamrak ( 125 gm)

lemon juice ( 250 gm)

pudina (mint) – 75 gm

salt

lal mirch to taste

sugar- ½ kg

adrak – 50 gm

zeera & methi – 1 tsp

Chop finely and put in lemon juice. Marinate for a day

It was then that Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar too decided to leave the fort for the safety of Humayun’s tomb. He didn’t know at the time, but he would surrender the next day, marking the end of the Mughal empire.

There have been many accounts of the two fateful days, but the most graphic are by Khwaja Hasan Nizami in his book Begumat ke Aansu (Tears of the Begums), which he wrote in the early 1920s based on eyewitness accounts as well as the stories he heard from his mother, whose father, Khwaja Shah Ghulam Hasan, was the Sajjadanasheen (hereditary administrator) of Hazrat Nizamuddin’s dargah at the time.
The beginning of the end

When Bahadur Shah left the Qila e Moalla (the name by which the Red Fort was then known), he went straight to the Dargah of Mehboob e Ilahi Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. It is said that the Emperor was in a state of despair and hopelessness.
He was all alone except for the porter carrying his sedan chair and a couple of Khwajasara (court eunuchs or hijras) with him. He had already sent his family ahead to Humayun’s tomb, where he was to join them later.

When Khwaja Shah Ghulam Hasan heard that the Emperor had come to the dargah, he hurried there to find the tired, dusty monarch sitting against the shrine.

Bahadur Shah Zafar addressed the Khwaja and said that he had been reconciled to his fate for a long time. He was a Sufi himself with great faith in mendicants. A famous Sufi mendicant had already told him, even before the ‘rebel’ soldiers had come to the Qila, that the fate of the Mughal Empire was sealed.

Bahadur Shah and his predecessors were paying for the sins of his ancestors. Bahadur Shah said he wanted no more bloodshed and so he had left the Qila, giving the British a free hand once they entered it.

“I have known for some time that I am the last of the glorious Timurid line. Now someone else will be the ruler. Their law will prevail. I don’t have any regrets; after all, we too had usurped the throne from someone else.”

He went on to say that when Amir Timur invaded Constantinople, he had acquired some Holy Relics of Prophet Muhammad from Sultan Yildaram Beyazid. These were hairs from the holy beard and had been in the custody of the Mughal rulers till now, but as “there is no place for me under this sky or on this earth, I am handing it over to you for safe custody.”

Khwaja Shah Ghulam Hasan took them away and locked them in the dargah’s treasury.

After that the Emperor said, “I have not eaten for more than a day (teen waqt). If you have any food in your house please bring it.”

Khwaja Hasan immediately asked the Emperor to accompany him home. But the Emperor refused, saying that he would not put the lives of the sons of his Spiritual Master in jeopardy for the sake of his old worthless self. He had just come to take the blessings of the saint and hand over the relics. He had done both; now he would leave after a bite to eat.

All that was in the house was besan ki roti aur sirke ki chutney (gram chapatti and vinegar relish). After the Emperor had eaten, he made his way to Humayun’s tomb.

What happened there is well-documented.
The end of the end

Much has been said of Major Hudson’s capture of the Badshah and subsequent trial. What many may not know is that General Bakht Khan, the commander of the Indian forces in Delhi, had exhorted the Emperor to come away with them before he left the Qila.

He had said, “Although the British have taken the City, militarily it is not a big blow to the Rebel Army as the whole of Hindustan is up in arms against the British and everyone is looking up to you for guidance.

Travel with me to the mountains from where the fight can be continued in such a way that the British would not be able to break through.”

The Emperor was inspired by the speech and asked Bakht Khan to meet him in Humayun’s tomb the next day; the tomb, at the time, was located on the outskirts of the city.

As soon as Bakht Khan was sent off by Bahadur Shah Zafar, it was all over for him.

Mirza Ilahi Bux and Munshi Rajab Ali, spies for the British, overheard this and carried the news to their masters and promised to persuade Bahadur Shah to stay in Delhi.

Mirza Ilahi Bux was the Emperor’s father-in-law and was furious with him for the preferential treatment given by the Emperor to Zeenat Mahal – the youngest wife – and her son. Ilahi Bux’s grandson and the Emperor’s heir apparent had been poisoned to death a year before, in which Zeenat Mahal was suspected.

The Emperor trusted the two when they implored him to stay in Delhi, despite warnings from his Khwajasaras. While Major Hudson waited at the western gate, these two entered the tomb and convinced the Emperor with their oratory that the best course for him lay in going back to the Qila with Hudson and not with Bakht Khan.

He was arrested and put on trial and later exiled to Rangoon.
The rest of course is history

( published in Catch News http://www.catchnews.com/culture-news/what-bahadur-shah-zafar-did-on-his-last-day-as-mughal-emperor-1442836586.html

The rest, of course, is history.

Sair e Gul Farosha’n
Traditional Songs
RasoolAllah kyun kharosha’n hai
Aaj kya Sair e Gul Farosha’n hai?
Baheliyon yakko’n ka ek taata hai
Jis ko dekho woh Qutub jaata hai

Bhai Jaggu hai sar par dukan
Jaake Mehrauli mein bechega paan
Miyan Gafoor bhi iss mele par
Laaye hain saara kuna thele par

Har ek dukan par bhara hai maal
Mithaiyon ke chun rahe hain thaal
Nashpati anaar aur amrud
Kahin kadhai mein chadha hai doodh

Bechta hai koi budhiya ke baal
Sev besan ke aur chane ki dal
Kaba e sskh bhun rahe hain kahin
Log qawwali sun rahe hain kahin

Naach gaana har ek makan mein hain
Itr ki phooiyyein har ek kaan mein hain
Vaam par hain Nawab moote se
Nai pakad li unhone kothe se

Aaye bazar mein Girdhari Lal
Tond itni hai ke dushvaar sambhal
Raees hain yeh haal hain palle
Kharidte hain yeh angoothi challe

Hansi mazaq ka ajab hai taur
Chal raha hai sharab e nab ka daur
Botal ek aur aane waali hai
Nawab Putli gane waali hai

https://t.co/C5hvDpmJfS

Mirza Abu Zafar Sirajuddin Muhammad Bahadur Shah Zafar was born on 24th October, 1775.

He was the eldest son of Mughal Emperor Akbar Shah II but not his favourite nor was he the designated heir. However, he came to the throne on 28th Sept 1837 after his father’s death as the heir apparent Mirza Jahangir had fallen foul of the British Resident, Sir Archibald Seton and had been imprisoned, later released but stripped of the honour of succeeding as the Mughal Emperor.

Bahadur Shah Zafar, a Sufi mystic by nature and inclination, was dogged by misfortune all his life. His Sufi master was Kale Khan and he himself was a Murshid to many. He was revered as a poet saint by his people. He okept himself engrossed in his poetry and Sufism as the British East India Company had severely curtailed his powers and his writ was confined to the Red Fort, and even that was not certain. As he himself wrote:

Ya mujhe afsar-e-shahana  banaya hota,
Ya mera taj gadayana banaya hota

(Either you should have made me a Royal officer

Or you should not have made my Crown a like a beggar’)

It was under his reign that Delhi flourished and decayed as a centre of art and learning. The leading lights of Urdu literature and poetry adorned his court. Ibrahim Zauq was his mentor, Ghalib, Momin, Shefta, Azurda were his contemporaries. Poetry flourished as never before or never after in his court.

But all that changed on 12th May, 1857 when Bahadur Shah Zafar as Emperor of india gave his support to the Rebellion by the Sepoys of the East India Company Armies.

The sepoys had entered Delhi from Meerut and siezed it a few days earlier. They reached the Red Fort and asked Bahadur Shah to lead them. At first reluctant he later agreed and on 12 May, Bahadur Shah held his first formal audience for several years and gave his public support to the rebellion which later was joined by many Indians from other parts of India and became th e First War of Indian Independence.
Keh do in hasrato’n se kahin aur jaa basein,
Itni jagah kahaan hai dil-e-daaGdaar mein
Tell these desires to find another abode
Where is the place for them in this wounded heart
The leaders and soldiers of this war were disunited, disorganized and chaotic. The better organised and led East India company troops were able to prevail over them.

On 20th September 1857, they had captured the Red Fort Shahjahanabad and in the words of major Hodson’s brother writing for the Illustrated London News :

“On our taking possession of the city gate reports came in that thousands of the enemy were evacuating the city by other gates, and that the King, also, had left his palace. We fought our way inch by inch to the palace walls, and then found truly enough that its vast arena was void.”

Major William Hodson was entrusted with the difficult task of ‘capturing’ the Mughal Emperor.

Bahadur Shah had left with his family and retinue for Mehrauli, hoping to find refuge there. On the way he stopped at the Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya and handed over the sacred relics of the Prophet pbuh which had been with the Mughal Emperors for ages. He broke down there as he had not eaten in a few days. From there he went to Humayun’s Tomb which was nearby.
qafas meN hai kyaa faaidah shor-Ghul se
asiiro karo kuchh rihaaii kii baateN
What is the use of making a noise in the jail
O prisoners let us talk of release
But for him release was only to be found in death as life had other plans for him.
This tomb like all other Mughal Monuments was fortified and easily defended but the unfortunate Emperor once again became a pawn in the game being played by his wife Zinat Mahal who had been in secret negotiations with the British all along during the rebellion. She had hoped to put her son on the throne and if not at least get a pardon for themselves along with a pension. Again I quote the report in the Illustrated London News March 1858 by Captain Hodson’s brother.

“During this time messengers were coming in constantly, and among the rest one from Zeenat Mahal (the favourite Begum), with her offer to use her influence with the King to surrender on certain conditions. These conditions were at first ludicrous enough – viz., that the King and the whole of the males of his family should be restored to this palace and honours; that not only should his pension be continued, but the arrears since May be paid up, with several other equally modest demands. I need not say that these were treated with contemptuous denial. Negotiations, however, were vigorously carried on, and care was taken to spread reports of advance in force to the Kootub. Every report as it came in was taken to General Wilson, who at last gave orders to Captain Hodson to promise the King’s life and freedom from personal indignity, and make what other terms he could. Captain Hodson then started with only fifty of his own men for Humayoun’s Tomb, three miles from the Kootub, where the King had come during the day. The risk was such as no one can judge of who has not seen the road, amid the old ruins scattered about of what was once the real city of Delhi.

“He concealed himself and men in some old buildings close by the gateway of the Tomb, and sent in his two emissaries to Zeenat Mahal with the ultimatum – the King’s life and that of her son and father (the latter has since died). After two hours passed by Captain Hodson in most trying suspense, such as (he says) he never spent before, while waiting the decision, his emissaries (one an old favourite of poor Sir Henry Lawrence) came out with the last offer – that the King would deliver himself to Captain Hodson only, and on condition that he repeated with his own lips the promise of the Government for his safety.
“Captain Hodson then went out into the middle of the road in front of the gateway, and said that the was ready to receive his captives and renew his promise.
“You may picture yourself the scene before that magnificent gateway, with the milk-white domes of the tomb towering up from within, one white man among a host of natives, yet determined to secure his prisoner or perish in the attempt.
“Soon a procession began to come slowly out, first Zeenat Mahal, on one of the close native conveyances used for women. Her name was announced as she passed by the Moulvie. Then came the King in a palkee, on which Capt. Hodson rode forwarded and demanded his arms. Before giving them up, the King in asked whether he was ‘Hodson Bahadoor,’ and if he would repeat the promse made by the herald? Captain Hodson answered that he would, and repeated that the Government had been graciously pleased to promise him his life, and that of Zeenat Mahal’s son, on condition of his yielding himself prisoner quietly, adding very emphatically, that if any attempt was made at a rescue he would shoot the King on the spot like a dog. “The old man then gave up his arms, which Capt. Hodson handed to his orderly, still keeping his own sword drawn in his hand. The same ceremony was then gone through with the boy (Jumma Bukh), and the march towards the city began, the longest five miles, as Captain Hodson said, that he ever rode, for, of course, the palkees only went at foot pace, with his handful of men around them, followed by thousands, any one of whom could have shot him down in a moment.”The next day Hodson shot his sons Mirza Mughal and Mirza Khizr Sultan, and grandson Mirza Abu Bakr under his own authority at the Khooni Darwaza (the bloody gate) near Delhi Gate.
Bahadur Shah was tried on four counts, two of aiding rebels, one of treason, and being party to the murder of 49 people, and after a forty day trial found guilty on all charges. Respecting Hodson‘s guarantee on his surrender, Bahadur Shah was not sentenced but exiled to Rangoon, Burma in 1858. Bahadur Shah Zafar and his sons with Captain William Hodson

He was accompanied into exile by his wife Zeenat Mahal and some of the remaining members of the family

He died there on 7th November 1862 and was hurriedly buried there.

This was the grave he had chosen for himself in Zafar Mahal with the rest of his family. It is today called Sardgaah and the empty patch of grass bears witness to his verse

Kitna hai badnaseeb Zafar, dafan ke liye
do gaz zameen bhi na milii, ku e yaar mein

“Main Wo qaidi hoon ke zindaan ke nigahbanon ko
Jiski zanjeer ki jhankaar ne sone na diya
I am that prisoner whose jailors
Can’t sleep because of the noise from my shackles

Further reading
The last days of Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar in Burma | TwoCircles.net