PREAMBULE &
BACKGROUND
The Timurid
dynasty (Persian:
تیموریان),
self-designated as Gurkani
(Persian:
گورکانیان,
Gūrkāniyān),
was a Sunni
Muslim dynasty or clan
of Turco-Mongol
lineage descended from the warlord Timur
(also known as Tamerlane). The word "Gurkani" derived
from "gurkan", a Persianized form of the Mongolian word
"kuragan" meaning "son-in-law" as the Timurids
being in-laws of the line of Genghis
Khan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=v21r5XtL1Mw#t=100
Timur e-lang (Tamerlane the lame) – founder of the TIMURID DYNASTY & EMPIRE - is a descendant of Genghis Khan ... Babur – founder of the MUGHAL DYNATY & EMPIRE is a descendant of Tamerlane.
MUGHAL
The
Mughal Empire
(Urdu:
مغلیہ
سلطن,
Mug̱ẖliyah
Salṭanat) or Mogul
Empire self-designated as Gurkani
(Persian:
گورکانیان,
Gūrkāniyān,
meaning "son-in-law"), was an empire based in the Indian
Subcontinent, established and ruled by a
Muslim
Persianate
dynasty
of Chagatai
Turco-Mongol
origin that extended over large parts of the
Indian
subcontinent and Afghanistan.
The beginning of the empire is conventionally
dated to the founder Babur's
victory over Ibrahim
Lodi, the last ruler of the Delhi
Sultanate in the First
Battle of Panipat (1526). The Mughal
emperors were Central
Asian Turco-Mongols belonging to the Timurid
dynasty, who claimed direct descent from both
Genghis
Khan (founder of the Mongol
Empire, through his son Chagatai
Khan) and Timur
(Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid
Empire).
The Mughals were a Turko-Mongoloid people originating in the present-day country of Mongolia. Infact the word Mughal itself is a corruption of the word Mongol.
The "classic period" of the Mughal Empire started in 1556 with the ascension of Akbar the Great to the throne. Under the rule of Akbar and his son Jahangir, the region enjoyed economic progress as well as religious harmony, and the monarchs were interested in local religious and cultural traditions. Akbar was a successful warrior. He also forged alliances with several Hindu Rajput kingdoms. Some Rajput kingdoms continued to pose a significant threat to the Mughal dominance of northwestern India, but most of them were subdued by Akbar. All Mughal emperors were Muslims and adopted the Arbic alphabet which is the language of the KORAN.
The
moons used on their flag(s) has little to do with islam, but
infact a traditional symbol of Altaic peoples.
Though the Mughals/Mongols adopted Farsi and later Urdu as their official language, their original language was of Altaic origin, meaning it was related to Uzbek, Turkish, Mongolian and other Altaic languages.
Source:
The following excerpt is a resume of the article posted by
Sarmad Rehman Lillah in 2014.
Bahadur Shah Zafar, the Ill-fated Last Mughal Emperor. The Mughal rule came to an end in India during the rule of the Timurid Dynasty. Among the emperors of the Timurid Dynasty, it was Mirza Abu Zafar Sirajuddin Muhammad Bahadur Shah Zafar who became the last Mughal ruler. His parents were Akbar II and a Hindu Rajuput woman named, Lal Bai. His father had died on September of 1837, and it was after this that he became the Mughal emperor. As he was also a significant Urdu poet, he used a part of his name, Zafar to serve as his nom de plume. The word Zafar means ‘victory’ and under this name he had earned a lot of fame by writing popular ghazals. In 1857, he was actively involved in the Indian Rebellion that had taken place, and for his active participation he was driven away from Delhi by the British. He was made to stay in Yangon, which is a part of Burma and used to be under the dominion of British.
Since the empire was already breaking
down, Bahadur Shah’s empire was small and did not extend beyond
Red Fort of Delhi. Even then, the East India Company was dominant
over India both politically and as a military power. Other than the
areas that were under the Company the land was divided into more
than 300 small princely states (Maharajah, Rajah, Nizam, Nawab,
Mir).
Crown of Bahadur Shah Zafar
The emperor however was respected by
the Company and a certain amount of pension was paid to him. He even
had the authority that let him collect taxes and also keep a
military force. He was himself very relaxed about the political
state of his empire.
He was more
famous for being an Urdu poet than for being a ruler, and he even
had written many ghazals in Urdu. In the Rebellion of 1857, most of
his opus got lost and utterly destroyed. Though some of his
collection did get saved from the wrath of the British. This
collection was called the Kulliyyat-i-Zafar. Bahadur is always
considered as one of the first and foremost fighters of Indian
Independence, who was made the Commander-in-Chief for his constant
attempts to fight for the independence of India. He even stayed calm
and composed when the Major of that time, Hudson used to send him
the slain heads of the emperor’s sons.
The
two weapons which caused the rebellion
The spark that
led to a mutiny in several sepoy companies was the issue
of new gunpowder cartridges for the Enfield rifle in
February, 1857. British officers insisted that the new
cartridges be used by both Muslim and Hindu soldiers under
their command, despite the widespread belief that the
cartridges contained cow or pig fat. Loading the Enfield
required tearing open the greased cartridge with one's
teeth. This insulted both Hindu and Muslim religious
practices. Underlying grievances over British taxation and
recent land annexations by the BEIC were ignited by the
sepoy mutineers and within weeks dozens of units of the
Indian army joined peasant armies in widespread rebellion.
The old aristocracy, both Muslim and Hindu, who were
seeing their power steadily eroded by the East India
Company, also rebelled against British rule.
 |
Heroic Figures of 1857, the first Indian war of independence.
Bahadur Shah Zafar:
Most rebelling Indians accepted Bahadur Shah Zafar as the Emperor of India under whom they united. But he fell to the wily machinations of the British. His fall marked the end of more than three centuries of Mughal rule in India.
Most rebelling Indians accepted Bahadur Shah Zafar as the Emperor of India under whom they united. But he fell to the wily machinations of the British. His fall marked the end of more than three centuries of Mughal rule in India.
Bakht Khan:
Bakht Khan, a subedar in the army of the East India Company, built up an army of Rohilla sepoys. After sepoys in Meerut revolted against the British in May 1857, he became commander of the sepoy forces in Delhi.
Bakht Khan, a subedar in the army of the East India Company, built up an army of Rohilla sepoys. After sepoys in Meerut revolted against the British in May 1857, he became commander of the sepoy forces in Delhi.
Mangal Pandey: Mangal Pandey,
part of the 34th Bengal Native Infantry, is primarily known for his
involvement in attack on his senior British officers on 29th March
1857 at Barrackpore, an incident that marked the beginning of the
First War of Indian Independence.
Nana Sahib:
Nana Sahib, the adopted son of exiled Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao II, led the revolt at Kanpur.
Nana Sahib, the adopted son of exiled Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao II, led the revolt at Kanpur.
Rani Lakshmibai:
She fought valiantly against the British troops along with Tatya Tope. However, on the 17th of June 1858, while battling against the British near the Phool Bagh area of Gwalior, she laid down her life.
She fought valiantly against the British troops along with Tatya Tope. However, on the 17th of June 1858, while battling against the British near the Phool Bagh area of Gwalior, she laid down her life.
Tatya Tope:
Tatya Tope, a close associate and general of Nana Sahib, fought against the British and joined forced with Rani Lakshmibai.
Tatya Tope, a close associate and general of Nana Sahib, fought against the British and joined forced with Rani Lakshmibai.
Veer Kunwar Singh:
The king of Jagdispur, currently a part of Bhojpur district, Bihar, Veer Kunwar Singh, led armed soldiers against the British troops.
The king of Jagdispur, currently a part of Bhojpur district, Bihar, Veer Kunwar Singh, led armed soldiers against the British troops.
_________________________________
After a four-month siege of Delhi during the Sepoy Mutiny, the city had been recaptured by the British in September 1857. Russel, from the Times newspaper in London was visiting Delhi at the time of the trial at the Red Fort of the last of the Great Mughals. He was taken through “a dark and dingy back passage” of the fort to see Bahadur Shah Zafar, who was detained in a small cell, accused of being the mastermind of the uprising. He wondered whether the old and feeble man with dim eyes could conceive the vast plan of restoring a great empire and fomenting the most gigantic mutiny in the history of the world.
Bahadur Shah Zafar arrested by British captain HUDSON
PHOTO OF BRITISH CRUELTY
Emperor Bahadur detained by British soldiers
“Not a word came from his lips, in silence he sat day and night with eyes cast on the ground, and as though utterly oblivious of the conditions in which he was placed..”
An English lawyer in an English court of justice might show that it would be very difficult for our government to draw an indictment against the King of Delhi for treason, for levying of war against us as lords paramount….”–Willliam Howard Russel, The Times
Mirza
Mughal son of Bahadur Shah II Zafar. Mirza Mughal was the fifth son
of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the 12th and last Mughal emperor. His mother,
Sharif-ul-Mahal Sayyidini, came from an aristocratic Sayyid family
that claimed descent from Prophet Muhammad. Following the death in
1856 of his elder step-brother Mirza Fakhru, Mirza Mughal became the
eldest surviving legitimately born son of Bahadur Shah Zafar. He was
one of the three princes killed by Hudson after the fall of Delhi in
1857.
His
empire was in a constant of chaos and turmoil as he was not very
capable as a ruler. Later in his life he was defeated by the
British and sent away from his country to live in Rangoon. The
tomb was built for him in the year 1862, and this tomb still
exists.
He is moreover remembered for never
making any disparity between the two religions of Hinduism and
Islam. He even kept in check the extremist attitude of the many
orthodox ulemas of Islam. The philosophy that was followed by the
people during his reign was that of harmony between the two
religions. This was practiced to such an extent that even the
Hindus had grown to become fond of poetry (shayris and ghazals)
Bahadur Shah Zafar II: The Last Mughal Emperor, dethroned by
the British. The last Mughal emperor was deposed in 1858 by the British East India company and exiled to Burma following the War of 1857 after the fall of Delhi to the company troops. His death marks the end of the Mughal dynasty
William Dalrymple’s book, “The Last Mughal” published in 2007, gives a detailed and vivid account of the Mutiny-city by city and battle by battle
Bahadur Shah Zafar was a poet and calligrapher of much fame. Hence during his imprisonment when he wasn’t given pen and paper to write on, he had opted to write on the walls instead.
The ghazal that he wrote for his own epitaph is still remembered by many for its last couplet:
“ Kitna bad naseeb hai Zafar dafan kay liye,
Do gazz zameen bhi na mili koo e yaar main”
[How ill-fated is Zafar that even for his burial, He couldn’t be granted a place for the grave in the city of his loved one.]
[How ill-fated is Zafar that even for his burial, He couldn’t be granted a place for the grave in the city of his loved one.]
___________________________________
Tomb of Bahadur Shah Zafar
This is the resting place of the last
Mughal Emperor of India. The head priest there will give you a
tour and show the graves of his wife and his sons. The grave of
the emperor being on a lower level was found much later in the
19th century.
BAHADUR, his wife ZEENAT and the last two of his sons are buried there in Rangoon.
Picture of his favorite young wife ZEENAT as a young girl WHO LIVED WITH HIM IN EXILE AND DIED A FEW YEARS LATER.
Picture of his last 2 younger sons who died in Rangoon, also a few years later.
________________________________________________
The Indian Prime Minister in a generous & respectful act attend prayers at the tomb of Bahadur Shah Zafar in Rangoon.
commemorative stamp honoring his memory.
AUTOGRAPH OF BAHADUR SHAH ZAFAR.
THAT'S HOW QUEEN VICTORIA BECAME EMPRESS OF INDIA IN 1877 BY DECLARATION OF BRITISH PRIME MINISTER (the sinister) BENJAMIN DISRAELI.
