Bahadur Shah Zafar: The Poet

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Abu Zafar Sirajuddin Muhammad Bahadur Shah Zafar is a long title for a King whose writ hardly went beyond the Red Fort. However, when the rebellious sepoys of the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry from Meerut, buoyed by fellow Indians along the way, reached Delhi they wanted none other than the 82 year old emperor to lead them against the British. When the mutiny/first war of independence/uprising was crushed, the British as expected, were ruthless to the King. He was imprisoned and exiled to Rangoon where he died lonely and despondent. Before he left, two of his sons were executed and their severe heads presented to him as a parting gift. His epitaph reads his oft quoted verse:

kitnaa hai bad-nasiib “Zafar” dafn ke liye
do Ghaz zamiin bhii na milii kuu-e-yaar meN

How unlucky is Zafar! For burial
even two yards of land were not to be had, in the land of the beloved.

Poignant, one must accept. The court of Bahadur Shah Zafar was a pale shadow of that of his predecessors but the poetic soirees in the Red Fort used to attract the best and the brightest of Delhi and beyond. Ibrahim Zauq, a fine poet and an ustaad is unkindly compared to Ghalib and often loses out in the comparison. However, he was a fine poet in his own right and no wonder Bahadur Shah Zafar used to take islaah from him. Then of course there was Ghalib, that master of words, ruler of wit and aruguably the best poet Urdu language has produced. Supplement them with Momim Khan Momin and you have one great Mushaira.

Zafar himself was an accomplished poet and could hold on his own in front of such stalwarts. Even though some critics have accused him of having Zauq to write for him there is little evidence to support that. First of all, Zauq with all his pride would not do it and then Zafar was still a prolific writer after the death of Zauq. Their styles are different too. Apart from lagtaa nahiiN hai jii meraa ujRe dayaar meN which has become immortalized by a classical rendition by Habib Wali Mohammad many Ghazals of Zafar have become part of the popular culture. baat karnii mujhe mushkil kabhii aisii to na thii sung by Mehdi Hassan is one of the best renditions of the singer.

Zafar was aware of the realities of his life which are aptly expressed in this couplet:

yaa mujhe afsar-e-shaahaa na banaayaa hotaa
yaa meraa taaj gadaayaa na banaayaa hotaa

(afsar-e-shaahaa : a royal officer; gadaaya : like a beggar)

Some of his Ghazals can be read here. Singers like Abida Parveen, Bhupinder Singh, Ahmed Hussain & Mohd. Hussain among others have recited his various Ghazals. One of the Ghazals that has been however incorrectly attributed to Zafar is na kisii kii aaNkh kaa nuur huuN which was actually written by Riaz Khairabadi, grand-father of Javed Akhtar.

Zafar’s family is survived today through three different lines of descent, one of which lives in dire straits in Kolkata. Saeed Naqvi writes in Outlook about the possibility of bringing a handful of earth from his grave in Rangoon and creating a mausoleum at the place he originally enmarked as his grave in Delhi.

Last year, a high-powered meeting was held at the prime minister’s residence to chalk out plans for 1857 celebrations. As a member of the national committee for the celebration, I was also invited. Among the ideas considered were: (1) The entire route from Meerut to Red Fort, Delhi, followed by rebel sepoys and civilians in 1857, be named Kranti Path and (2) Some earth from around Bahadur Shah Zafar’s grave in Yangon be brought to Delhi and placed in the grave the poet-king prepared for himself, off Khwaja Bakhtiar Kaki’s dargah in Mehrauli. A monument to the king can be built there. Why is the government silent on these suggestions? [Outlook]

Pictures of the mausoleum of Zafar in Rangoon can be seen here. On the 150th anniversary of the first war of independence, as we debate the legacy of Bahadur Shah Zafar, let us not forget the poet.

I leave you with a very young and very handsome Mehdi Hassan singing baat karnii mujhe mushkil in a movie.

Tagged as: Bahadur-Shah-Zafar, Ghazal, Mausoleum, Mehdi-Hassan, Poet, urdu