Bahadur Shah II (born Mirza Abu Zafar Siraj-ud-din Muhammad, usually referred to by his poetic title Bahadur Shah Zafar, was the twentieth and last Mughal emperor and an Urdu poet. He was the second son and the successor to his father, Akbar II, who died in 1837. He was a titular Emperor, as the Mughal Empire existed in name only and his authority was limited only to the walled city of Old Delhi. Following his involvement in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British deposed him and exiled him to Rangoon in British-controlled Burma in 1858, after convicting him on several charges. The title of Empress of India was subsequently assumed by Queen Victoria.
Portrait of Bahadur Shah II, c. 1850
Image: Ghulam Ali Khan 018b
Sons of Bahadur Shah Zafar. On the left is Jawan Bakht, and on the right is Mirza Shah Abbas.
A panorama showing the imperial procession to celebrate the feast of the Eid al-Fitr, with the emperor on the elephant to the left and his sons to the right (24 October 1843)
Akbar II, also known as Akbar Shah II, was the nineteenth Mughal emperor from 1806 to 1837. He was the second son of Shah Alam II and the father of Bahadur Shah II, who would eventually succeed him and become the last Mughal emperor.
Portrait of Akbar Shah II, c. 1827
The crown prince seated next to his blinded father Shah Alam II (c. 1800)
Jade bowl inscribed with the name of the emperor
The tombs of Akbar II and his father Shah Alam II in Zafar Mehal, Mehrauli, Delhi