In The Twilight Of the Mogul Rule (When Bahadur Shah Zafar still wrote his poems)
By:
Truth Detector
In one speech he said:”…and I who am the grandson of Abu Zafar Sirajuddin, Bahadur Shah Ghazi, Emperor of India, having in the course of tour come here to extirpate the infidels residing in the eastern part of the country (meaning the English) and to liberate and protect the poor helpless people now groaning under iron rule, have by the aid of the mujahideen erected the standard of Muhammad and persuaded the orthodox Hindus who had been subject to my ancestors and have been and still are accessories in the destruction of the English, to raise the standard of Mahavir…(that must have sounded sweet to Mahratta ears, but rather late!)”.
In another proclamation, Bahadur Shah spoke:”O Hindustanee Brethren!…Before the commencement of these calamities of the English, I went on a pilgrimage to Mecca; on my return when I arrived at…and saw the condition of the English, I thanked Allah. As I am by nature a seeker after religious excellence, just and equitable and the obstructor of tyranny, therefore enticing the people to rebellion as I came along, I traveled from Bombay to Gwalior, intending first to arrange and consolidate affairs and then to fight…130,000 men, old and new soldiers, have been induced to swear to join me…”
Those among the readers of these excerpts with some imagination, will instantly see what inspired the two great fighting peoples of Hindustan, the Sikhs and the Gurkhas, to join hands with the English! And it can easily be imagined that the support from the other Hindus, the Mahrattas, the Rajputs, the Jaths and so on, for the Mohammedans against the alien English, could have been only lukewarm! For nearly 700 years the Hindu has been trodden under Mogul boots like it was no one’s business. As a result, the Moguls of Delhi had to fight it alone. And unlike the Hindus of Hindustan, the English were a different breed of warriors. They were shooting down each and every Mogul, under the professed goal of preventing anyone coming forward to make a claim to the throne of Delhi. And the Moguls, in droves, changed their names to Hindu names to avoid Britsh bullets. The capital city of Delhi was sacked. Everyone had to leave and pass time outside the city under tents set up by the English during which time all residences were searched. The English were reported to have collected a huge amount of wealth which, by rules of the game, was summarily confiscated by the new rulers. The hitherto rich and happy Moguls, for the first time, fell on evil days!
This was the background for the sadness of the Sultan, Bahadur Shah Zafar. He was reduced to nothing and had nothing to do. A poet of no mean caliber, the Sultan took to writing poems, nationalistic poems of Islamic hue but love of the country was manifest now and then. A great many of these poems are well-known to people interested in such subjects. Above all, his poems highlighted the hate of the English.
In this short write up, it is intended to display a few of Bahadur Shah’s timeless poems. It is not easy to lay hands on to all his poems. No doubt many have been destroyed and the few that had remained, were neglected by future generations and often lost. The distinguishing element in Bahadur Shah’s poems is the elevating tone against English injustice and that in spite of his Islamic upbringing, quite unlike comparable traits in men like Jahangir (who slaughtered Guru Arjan Dev), Shahjehan and of course Alamgir Aurangzeb (the killer of Tegh Bahadur, Guru Gobind Singh and his two very young sons). Each poet has his own speciality. In the case of Bahadur Shah, he was to die in isolation in a land of the Buddha, Burma (now Myanmar) in intense boredom and complaint against own fate. Throughout his poems, one finds his complaint against fate but never against his own conduct or the conduct of his alien people, foisted on India. His ability to express a host of ideas in a few lines, is ramarkable. It is hoped that this side of Bahadur Shah’s excellence in poetry writing will be amply displayed in this article.
Gayi ek be ek jo hawa palat, Nahin dil ko mere qaraar hai. Karoon gham sitam ke main kya bayan, Mera gham se seena fugar hai.
(Little by little, the wind of fate changed, I lost all hope How can I describe the great pain, My heart is wounded by grief.)
Kya riyaya-i-hind tabah hui, Kaho un peh kya yeh jafaa hui. Jise dekha hakim-i-waqt ne, Kaha yeh to qabil-i-daar hai.
(How cruelly have the Indians been ruined, Can one describe the enormity of the pain? The new rulers, send every one to be hanged, And say “surely, this one deserves the gallows!”)
Yeh sitam kisi ne bhi hai suna, Ke di phaansi laakhon ko begunah; Use kalmagoyon ki taraf se, Abhi dil peh un ke ghubaar hai.
Has anyone heard of such oppression, Of hanging the innocent in lakhs? No doubt, they have malice in their hearts, Against the Mussalmans!)
Yahan hal-i-tang khushi ka hai, Woh karishma qudrat-i-rabb ka hai, Yahan bahar men to khizan hui, Wahan khizan men un ko bahar hai
(There is no joy here at all, Such is the amazing fate. For us, spring has turned into fall, And for them (the Englishmen), autumn has turned into spring!)
Khatka nahin Zafar tujhe, Jo Khuda kahe tujhe barmala; Tujhe hai waseela rasool ka, Wo tumhara hami kar hai.
(O Zafar! you need have no fear in front of the Divine Tribunal, To give account openly before Allah on the Day of Judgment; You can count on the Prophet’s intercession; He is your supporter and savior.)
Kya bood wo baash poochhte ho poorab ke sakino, Ham ko ghareeb jaan ke hans hans pukarke; Dehli jo ek shahr tha alam men intikhaab, Rahte the muntkhib duniya ke jahan rozgaarke, Falak ne loot kar use wiran kar diya, Ham rahnewale hain us ujde diyar ke.
(What silly questions you ask, O! residents of the east! You see us poor and so joke about us; There was a town called Delhi, the chosen of the world, The world’s best used to live there to earn living, The heavens have ruined it and We are the residents of that ruined city!)
