Bahadur Shah Zafar, the Mughal Prince who was also a poet
“yā mujhe afsar-e-shāhāna banāyā hotā
yā mirā taaj gadāyāna banāyā hotā
apnā dīvāna banāyā mujhe hotā tū ne
kyuuñ ḳhirad-mand banāyā na banāyā hotā”
These are lines from a ghazal penned by the last Mughal king Bahadur Shah Zafar. When translated, they mean:
“I wish you had made me the master of royals,
Or made my crown the bowl for alms and betrayals.
You should have made me mad, crazy only for you,
Why did you make me wise, capable of denials?”
Zafar, the last Mughal king, ruled India from 1837-1857. Born in 1775 to Akbar Shah II and Lal Bai, Zafar’s love for Sufism and art made him closer to poetry than warfare and power. Unfortunately, he died in the prison of Rangoon in the year 1862 after his unsuccessful rebellion against British officials. Read on to know more about the king who became a poet and died a prisoner!
The king who became a poet!
Throughout his life, Zafar was not drawn to power or wars. He was more interested in art, philosophy, music, literature and poetry. That is why, he was not his father’s choice as a successor though he was the elder son. His love for poetry helped him become a poet himself! Reckoned as a renowned Urdu poet, he was greatly influenced by the bards of 19th century, Sauda, Mir and Insha. During his reign, he invited several poets to his court, including Dagh, Shah Nasir, Momin, Zauq and the most famous, Mirza Ghalib! Many of Shah’s works depict the pain and suffering that he felt during his imprisonment. It is believed that his work inspired many of his followers to fight for the freedom of India. Many of his works are lost. But the surviving ones are all there in a single collection. His collection of poems, Muntakhib Kulliyat-i-Zafar, was compiled after his death.
Genres of Bahadur Shah Zafar’s poetry
Bahadur Shah Zafar’s work expresses the ups and downs of a king and his challenges as a human being. During his lifetime, he wrote many Geet (songs) and poems with a melodic and catchy rhythm. But his legacy lies in the ghazals he wrote. His work shows how deeply he was influenced by Sufi Mysticism. Zafar followed an ancient Urdu poetic genre named Shahr-e-Ashob which was widely followed by Mughal poets to express their agony over socio-political changes. Poems of this genre are generally conversational in nature, beginning with a photographic depiction. Written in rhymed verse, they come in five to six stanzas.
Exile to Rangoon
The reign of Bahadur Shah Zafar was short-lived and ended as soon as the Britishers invaded India. The story of his rebellion against the British East India Company is courageous too! It also impacted many of his poetries. But why was an emperor imprisoned in the first place?
The British East India Company invaded India in the year 1820. They started replacing the old aristocracy with British officials. During the Sepoy Mutiny or the first war of independence that occurred between 1857 to 1859, many of the Indian troops started a rebellion. It quickly spread across Agra, Delhi, Kanpur and Lucknow. Zafar and his sons took an active part in the uprising. As punishment for being part of the rebellion, he was exiled to a prison in Myanmar, in 1858. He breathed his last there and now, his tomb is there in the city of Yangon, Myanmar.