Fate Of Bahadur Shah Zafar’s Descendants

I understand some of the comments on this forum about why any kind of special treatment should be shown to the descendants of the Mughals vis-a-vis those not fortunate to have such illustrious ancestors. But as a nation, we must understand that perhaps, the difficult situation that the Mughal descendants now find themselves in, is to a big extent, caused by the fact that they agreed to take up arms against the British during the 1857 War. And however debatable it may be, as to whether Bahadur Shah Zafar wanted to actively participate in it or not, it is a fact that the Mughal emperors were considered a rallying point for the entire nation to rise against our foreign tormentors and at least, some of Bahadur Shah Zafar’s sons like Mirza Mughal played a valiant part in the rebellion. Had they too, like the predecessors of some other of the royalty of today, decided to remain in their ivory towers, the rebellion would not have started at all and thus, it would not have inspired many of the latter day Indian revolutionaries. From what I remember, one branch of the family migrated to what is present day Bangladesh and is doing well, while another branch is also relatively well off in Hyderabad. Perhaps, the Government can actually decide to help put the poor woman Sultana Begum in Howrah and thus, redress some of the wrongs that the British committed a century and half ago

“Further, the rulers of India did India no favours by ruling it.” by Girish

I agreed with the rest of your post except for this line. I understand they made mistakes, much like today’s Indian government are doing now, but they also did great things for India, for example the qutub shahi sultans who built an entire city (Hyderabad) which at the time and for a few centuries following was a clean, vibrant, religious tolerant, rich and safe city, but has now under the Indian government in my opinion gone to the dogs.

If you walk around London you will see new shiny buildings everywhere, but what I like about London is the amount of old buildings they have preserved. Old and new merge together in such a nice way, that you can’t help but stare sometimes.
Whereas in India that is not the case, for example tombs, palaces, gardens and castles etc, have been neglected so much so that in one example I saw of a tomb in which the marble pillars which are covers in Islamic calligraphy and now used to tie lines of washing up for encroachers.
It’s not just about history and heritage but also about tourism and a good income for the Indian government. The British gov. makes millions off their monarchy yearly and what does India do, it sticks a factory next to the Taj Mahal. And I am not just talking about Delhi or Agra, but other major cities most of which are bursting at the seems with history.

I hate to bring up this theme again and again, but a very large and politically influential class of Indians see the Mughals as, well, Pakistanis – i.e., those who cut up India. Ditto for Jinnah and Syed Ahmad Khan and Allama Muhammad Iqbal. Contrast them with icons like Abul Kalam Azad or Ustad Amjad Ali Khan or APJ Abdul Kalam or Mohammed Rafi, who are indeed genuinely held in the highest regard and affection by an overwhelming majority of Hindus. For better or worse, this happens to be a quirk of the Hindu society – anything closely associated with India automatically becomes good, sacred, and worthy of affection.

It’s easy to say that we must put our past behind us, we must move on, all of us are Indians, lets hug and kiss each other and shed tears of love and joy, lets not be “communal”, etc. Things are not as easy as that though. To be slightly melodramatic about it, the sins of our fathers haunt us, even as we bask in their glories. The Americans have their slavery and racism, the Hindus have their horrifyingly repulsive caste system, the Germans have their holocaust, the British their colonization, the Japanese their massacres. The Indian muslims have their fair share of baggage as well: the legacy of partition – the everlasting shame of cutting up India, and (I’m sorry…), the aspect of belonging to a religion that has historically been and in its present day most popular form is more “communal” than most other Indian religions.

Redeeming the sins of our fathers. Powerful idea, really.

Dear friends,

The privy ourse was not allocated to Mughals and this was wrong, beacuase the goverment of India took away their possesions without giving them anything. People who say no to it should give away all they wealth to goverment and when the goverment neglects them then only they will come to know how it feels.

After British went away the indian goverment only recognized those kings who were recognized by the british just because they were the pet dogs. They did not paid heed to bigger kings who were not along with british and opposed them.

It is reallly a sorry state of affairs that no authentic historic details are available about the life of Zeenat Mahal;her daily routine in prison , and the conditions under which she died. Moreover, no substantial record is available about the life of Prince Jawan Bakht and her wife Zamani Begum spent in Yangoon. It seems that either perhaps the British rulers of that time did not allow such historic records to be maintained or perhaps due to a lack of initiative on the part of those who could write down such details, nothing was written for the knowledge of generations to come.

As Salaam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu,

Adnan:
I understand your concerns, though the Rajasthan and other royal families and other royal families still get to keep their palaces and enjoy the same life style as before the situation for this family is different.

There are two points which I would like to emphasize in my post:
1. We (Muslims) must understand that we must help ourselves not depend on the Indian Government. We must improve and develop our “Bait Ul Maal” so that we can pool the Zakaah, and Sadaqa to be used for helping such families and other noble causes like building schools and hospitals, etc.

2. I have a question for all, just read the Indian History and introspect. Has any one noticed that the surviving descendants of royal families like Tantiya Tope, Rani Jhansi, Tipu Sultan, and also Bahadur Shah Zafer are either on the margins of the society or are almost not existent!!! Incidentally these were the royals who fought for the freedom with the British whose descendants today live on the fringe.

But on the other hand no offence to any one we see royals (scindia, nizams, mysore maharaja, nawabs, etc.) who supported the British today still living off in their palaces still. I have nothing more to say, I would simple encourage the readers to make a comparative study of the present situation of the descendants of those royals who fought against the British and those who sided with the British.

Before signing it must be noted that the Indian Government was paying for the privy purses of the royalty till Indira Gandhi stopped it.

Before signing off the whole point of my Post is that WE THE MUSLIMS MUST SUPPORT OTHER PEOPLE RATHER THAN DEPEND ON THE GOVERNMENT.

The prophet (صلي الله اليه و سلأم) said, ‘The Upper Hand is better than the Lower Hand. The upper hand is the one that gives, and the lower hand is the one that takes’. So the Muslims in India and elsewhere must strive hard to be self dependant and be the “Upper Hand” and avoid being the “Lower Hand”

Note: My objective is not to debate or make baseless arguments, but rather to convey my thoughts, so i may not reply back if any one finds offence in my post.

Yaseen
Please do not take this as an offence. Even if someone hates Indians, Hindus, the concept of India – in a democracy its a point of view. Indian democracy gives you that right.

But just as a matter of curiosity, do you advocate in your seperation from the Indian state that Muslims should eschew all interactions with non-muslims. I’m referring to your blog post – “The Hindu Indian Army has no morals as advocated by their dirty faith they follow. They are entrenched in vices and sins beyond imagination. And Alhumdulillah Allah is also swift in punishment. check the article below published in BBC!!”

So clearly you castigate the most secular of Indian institutions because it has Hindus in it. This while you live in India. What about the rest of the world. Do you advocate a parallel “Islamic Universe”? Maybe understanding your thought process can give some insight into the minds of the more rabid fundamentalists – both Islamist and Hindutva.

Many commoner, soldiers sacrificed their lives during many battles against British. We respect them all and still feel sorry for their fate. There were many Hindus and also many Muslims, definitely we don’t divide them because of that. But in every war there are some people who become the symbols, sometimes they are the king/queen or some times general or others. In the Sepoy mutiny we had Tatia topi, Laxmi bai, Hazral mahal and Bahadur Shah. (Again Hindu/Muslim is not the factor). They all were symbols of the war. Many say Bahadur shah Zafar was hesitate to participate in the war. Now, none can make sure that really happened but if that was right can you blame him? We lost so many battles with British before that. My own grand pa is now above 80 and can not even move or sometimes can not think properly. I admire Bahadur Shah that at his that age he got the courage to act something that dangerous. Unfortunately we did not win for many reasons. He lost everything. Do you guys know how the princes were killed?
I sometimes feel may be hindu/muslim issue become a issue here. Please don’t misunderstand me, I am not pointing my finger to anyone but yes, many times I do not understand one thing, when Tatia Topi’s descendents got money or job because they are descendants of tatia Topi and no one oppose that (of course not also me) so why people oppose when there is a question for Bahadur Shah’s descendants?
Do you know when British made the new rule,if a sonless king adopt a son he(the son) will not be able to be the next king, many local rulers (ex. Laxmi bai, hasrat mahal) involved in the war. So, you can see what were their intention. But none question their love for their country because they might have some other reasons to join the battle but surely they loved their country and wanted the British to leave the country.
I just hope Sultana Begum’s and her family will able to live a descent life.
I have a question, Is there anyone who reads the blog lives in Calcutta?

I heard his descendants live in Calcutta. But very bad situation. Couple of months age I read in news paper. His descendants to run their family by Rikshaw pulling.

It is crying shame that such nobility is languishing in such abject poverty ,
degradation & humiliation .