The Last Mughal-Bahadur Shah Zafar

Mughal Empire:

Mughal empire had stretched from Afghanistan to Myanmar and from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. But as with time, all empire gets rusted without oiling.
The empire once a powerful force in the subcontinent got sidelined due to corruption, economic instability, and infighting for power among the Mughal heirs.
The last powerful Mughal emperor was Aurangzeb, post his demise the empire got engulfed in infighting and capture of power.
But unlike older times when the infighting of the Mughals were concluding it did not happen this time.
New players emerge to challenge the status quo of the subcontinent rulers.
Most of the players played a crucial role in challenging and trying to achieve the throne of Delhi but one power captured and defeated all the other stakeholders: the British.

British started as modest merchants doing business across India and requested various Mughal emperors to permit them to do business in the subcontinent.
After many requests, they got permission to do business across port cities of India like Surat, Kolkata, and Bombay.
However, the ambition to capture the rich wealth of India made them work hard towards achieving their objectives.

Britain achieved major rights to establish their business during Aurangzeb time, but their partnership with pirates in the seas had cost them dearly.
The war against Aurangzeb stretched for months and in the end, Mughal emerged victorious.
British were fined and reprimanded dearly for their act of war a lesson which they did not forget.
But after the death of Aurangzeb, instability became a norm. In the years that followed more than 5 emperors were changed in the next 10 years and this led to stability issues across India.
Sensing opportunities Britishers planned and went to war with various forces challenging their authority.
Finally, they got an opportunity in the 1750s to play the Game of crownes.
The British policies were created primarily taking into account the profitability of the British Empire.
The industrial revolution which lays the economic foundation of Britain across the globe also dig graves for the Indian industries.
The ability to annex the various princely states made the british unique in their approach.
They came up with multiple reasons to annex princely states across India.
But where the Britishers were prospering, the kings and queens of India were taking the brunt of their success.
This annexation policy united kings, queen and those which waited for a correct opportunity.

The infamous approach of the British to save money to manufacture the rifles for soldiers cost them dearly.
Due to this people across India united and rose against the British. Bahadur Shah Zafar had only remained titular king of Delhi due to British policies and interferences.
But it changed when the soldiers made him king challenging the British empire.
At the end of the battle between British and Indian soldiers, the war was won successfully by the British.

But the brunt of humiliation also befell Bahadurshah Zafar, where he was publically tried in a British court and exiled to Rangoon to spend his last days.
Bahadur Shah was in his eighties when he requested the British Empire to bury his body in India post his death.
The request was rejected by the British to stop people from remembering Bahadur Shah Zafar.
Despite all the shortcomings and misfortunes, the people of India strived and achieved their desired goal in 1947.
But the poet who was exiled in Rangoon is still remembered among the people of India.

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