Bahadur Shah Zafar

The last Mughal king, Bahadur Shah, better known as Bahadur Shah Zafar, was born in 1775 at Delhi. He was the son of Akbar Shah from his Hindu wife Lalbai. Bahadur Shah, after the death of his father, was placed on the throne in 1837 when he was little over 60 years of age. He was last in the lineage of Mughal emperors who ruled over India for about 300 years. Bahadur Shah Zafar, like his predecessors, was a weak ruler who came to throne when the British domination over India was strengthening and the Mughal rule was nearing its end. The British had curtailed the power and privileges of the Mughal rulers to such an extent that by the time of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the Mughal rule was confined to the Red Fort. Bahadur Shah Zafar was obliged to live on British pension, while the reins of real power lay in the hands of the East India Company.
During the reign of Bahadur Shah Zafar, Urdu poetry flourished and reached its zenith. He himself was a prolific poet and an accomplished calligrapher. He had acquired his poetic taste from his grandfather and father who were also poets. He passed most of his time in the company of poets and writers and was the author of four diwans. Love and mysticism were his favorite subjects that found expression in his poetry. Most of his poetry is full of pain and sorrow owing to the distress and degradation he had to face at the hands of the British. He was a great patron of poetry and literary work and some of the most eminent and famous Urdu poets like Mirza Ghalib, Zauk, Momin and Daagh were of his time.
A plaque proclaiming the end of the Mughal DynastyIt was at the time of Bahadur Shah that the War of Independence in 1857 started. In Bahadur Shah Zafar the freedom fighters found the symbol of freedom and therefore nominated him as their Commander-in-Chief. In the initial stages, the freedom fighters were successful, but later on the strong and organized British forces defeated them. Bahadur Shah, who had been proclaimed as an emperor of whole of India, was overthrown. He was arrested from Humayun's tomb, in Delhi, where he was hiding with his three sons and a grandson. Captain Hodson killed his sons and grandson and their severed heads were brought before him. Bahadur Shah Zafar himself was tried for treachery. He was exiled to Rangoon (now Yangon), Burma (now Myanmar), in 1858 where he lived his last five years and died in 1862 at the age of 87.

Yaar tha gul_zar tha.................................

yaar thaa gul_zaar thaa baad-e-sabaa thii mai.n na thaa

laayaq-e-paa-bos-e-jaa.N kyaa hinaa thii mai.n na thaa

haath kyo.n baa.Ndhe mere chhallaa agar chorii huaa

ha.Ns ke bolaa vo sanam shaan-e-Khudaa thii mai.n na thaa

mai.n ne puuchhaa kyaa huaa vo aap kaa husn-o-shabaab

.Ns ke bolaa vo sanam shaan-e-Khudaa thii mai.n na thaa

mai.n sisakataa rah gayaa aur mar gaye farahaad-o-qais

kyaa unhii.n dono.n ke hisse me.n qazaa thii mai.n na thaa

Ja kahion un se nasiim-e-sahar mera chain gayaa meri niind ga_ii

ja kahiyo un se nasiim-e-sahar meraa chain gayaa merii niind ga_ii

tumhe.n merii na mujh ko tumhaarii Khabar meraa chain gayaa merii niind ga_ii

na haram me.n tumhaare yaar pataa na suraaG dair me.n hai milataa kahaa.N

jaa ke dekhuu.N mai.n jaa_uu.N kidhar meraa chain gayaa merii niind ga_ii ai

baadashaah-e-Khubaa.N-e-jahaa.N terii mohinii surat pe qurbaa.N kii

mai.n ne jo terii jabii.n pe nazar meraa chain gayaa merii niind ga_ii

huii bad-e-bahaarii chaman me.n ayaa.N gul buTii me.n baaqii rahii na fizaa

merii shaaKh-e-ummiid na laa_ii sa.Nvar meraa chain gayaa merii niind ga_ii

ai barq-e-tajalli bahar-e-Khudaa na jalaa mujhe hijr me.n shammaa saa

merii ziist hai misl-e-chiraaG-e-sahar meraa chain gayaa merii niind ga_ii

kahataa hai yahii ro ro ke "Zafar" merii aah-e-rasaa kaa huaa na asar

terii hijr me.n maut na aa_ii abhii meraa chain gayaa merii niind ga_ii

yahii kahanaa thaa shero ke aaj "Zafar" merii aah-e-rasaa me.n huaa na asar

tere hijr me.n maut na aaii magar meraa chain gayaa merii nii.nd gaii

Lagtaa nahii.n hai jii meraa uja.De dayaar me.N

lagataa nahii.n hai jii meraa uja.De dayaar me.n

kis kii banii hai aalam-e-naa-paayedaar me.n

bulabul ko baaGabaa.n se na saiyyaad se gilaa

qismat me.n qaid thii likhii fasal-e-bahaar me.n

umr-e-daraaz maa.ng ke laaye the chaar din

do aarazU me.n kaT gaye, do i.ntazaar me.n

kah do in hasarato.n se kahii.n aur jaa base.n

itanii jagah kahaa.n hai dil-e-daaGadaar me.n

hai kitana badanasiib zafar dafn ke liye

do gaz zamiin bhii na milii kU-e-yaar me.

Bahadur Shah Zafar