Sultan Muhammad Zahir ud-din, better known as well Mirza Mughal (1817 – 23 September 1857), was a Mughal prince. He played a significant role during the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

. He was one of the Mughal princes shot dead at one of the gates of

Old Delhi Old Delhi or Purani Dilli is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan (the Mughal emperor at the time) decided to shift the Mughal capital from Agra. T ...

, which gate thereafter came to be known as " Khooni Darwaza" ( 'bloody gate' or 'murder gate').

Early life

Mirza Mughal was the fifth son of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the 20th and last Mughal emperor. His mother, Sharif-ul-Mahal Sayyidini, came from an aristocratic

Sayyid ''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, sons of Muhamma ...

family that claimed descent from

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

. 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. However, the British refused to recognize anybody as heir to the throne of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

, and indicated that the monarchy would be abolished following Zafar's death.

War of 1857

In May 1857, sepoys in the service of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

rebelled against their British officers and streamed into Delhi. They made straight for the palace, apprised the Emperor of their grievances against their British superiors, affirmed their allegiance to him, and sought sanctuary and leadership. A few days later, after taking stock of the situation, Mirza Mughal and some of his half-brothers petitioned their father to be appointed in charge of the rebel troops. Their plea was initially refused but later granted, and Mirza Mughal, as the senior-most legitimate prince, was designated commander-in-chief. Though the emperor seems to have opposed the cold-blooded killing of the European prisoners, the princes also seem to have been involved in the act. Mirza Mughal had absolutely no training or experience for his new office. However, he energetically sought to organize the troops, make arrangements for their billeting and provisioning, and bring a semblance of order to the edgy city. His inexperience soon became apparent, and he was upstaged a few weeks later by the arrival of a large force of mutineers from

Bareilly Bareilly () is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The c ...

, led by

Bakht Khan General officer, General Bakht Khan (1797–1859) was commander-in-chief of the Indian independent forces in the region of Delhi during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the East India Company.Subedar) in the service of the East India Company. Bakht Khan had earned a reputation as an artillery officer during the Afghan wars. Shortly after his arrival, the emperor appointed Bakht Khan commander-in-chief and left Mirza Mughal in charge of supplies. A few weeks later, following another reshuffle of offices, Mirza Mughal was given charge of administering the city of Delhi.

Capture

By the middle of September 1857, the disorganized rebellion had run its course as far as the city of Delhi was concerned. British forces had reclaimed control of the areas surrounding Delhi and were massed on the ridge overlooking the city for a final assault on the city, which was being rapidly abandoned by its citizens, who fled mainly to their villages in the countryside. As the British took control of the city, Emperor Bahadur Shah II (aged 82) left the

Red Fort The Red Fort or Lal Qila () is a historic fort in Old Delhi, Delhi in India that served as the main residence of the Mughal Emperors. Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned construction of the Red Fort on 12 May 1638, when he decided to shift ...

and took refuge in Humayun’s Tomb, which at that time lay outside

. With him were Mirza Mughal and two other princes (another son, Mirza Khizr Sultan, and a grandson, Mirza Abu Bakr). Their whereabouts was reported by spies to Major Hodson, who sent them a message saying that the party had no hope of escape and should surrender. They refused to surrender. The next morning, Hodson went to the tomb with one hundred Indian

sowars Sowar ( ur, سوار, also ''siwar'' meaning "the one who rides" or "rider", from Persian ) was originally a rank during the Mughal Empire and Maratha Empire. Later during the British Raj it was the name in Anglo-Indian usage for a horse-sold ...

(cavalrymen) and demanded the unconditional surrender of the Emperor and princes. The situation became known to people of nearby villages, and a substantial crowd gathered, many of whom were equipped with whatever arms (farm-knives, sickles and axes) they normally kept. Resistance at this point was never the plan of the Emperor, who had come to the tomb of his illustrious forebear to pray and grieve, and perhaps in the hope that the sanctity of the tomb would provide a sanctuary for himself and his surviving family. Hodson sent two Indian aides (Rajab Ali and Ilahe Bakhsh) into the garden tomb to negotiate with the Emperor. Bahadur Shah sent a response to Hodson offering the surrender of his immediate party on condition that his life would be spared. Hodson explicitly agreed to this. Agreement being reached, the Emperor, trusting to the word of Hodson as a British officer, emerged from the tomb and exchanged greetings in person with Hodson. Finding the old man extremely frail with exertion, Hodson told the Emperor to rest under a shady tree and accept refreshments. The Emperor was then sent back to Delhi, carried in a

palanquin The litter is a class of wheelless vehicles, a type of human-powered transport, for the transport of people. Smaller litters may take the form of open chairs or beds carried by two or more carriers, some being enclosed for protection from the el ...

with an escort of Sikh sowars from Hodson's Horse. Meanwhile, the remaining ninety troopers collected the arms of the motley crowd of villagers, jihadis and courtiers, who surrendered their weaponry without dissent at the bidding of their Emperor.

Death

Shortly afterwards, with the Emperor secured but clearly in no condition to be transported to the city, Hodson set out for the city with a small party of troopers. Riding on horses, they soon caught up with the party carrying the princes. As they approached the gates of the city, Hodson found that a crowd of townsmen had gathered in the expectation of witnessing the return of the Emperor and the princes. Also, a crowd of curious villagers and armed civilians had followed in the wake of the Princes as they travelled the few miles to the gates of Delhi. Khooni darwaza

At the city gate, Hodson ordered the three princes to get off the cart. They were then stripped of their upper garments. The bare-chested princes were lined up in clear sight of the crowd. Hodson then took out his gun and himself shot the three unarmed and half-naked princes at point-blank range. After killing the princes, Hodson personally stripped their bodies of jewellery, being the signet rings, turquoise arm-bands and bejewelled swords worn by the three princes. He pocketed these valuables as trophies of war, although they had been obtained by killing disarmed prisoners of war under dubious circumstances. The bodies of the three princes were thrown back into the bullock-cart, taken to a ''kotwali'' (police-station) within the city, thrown on the ground in front of that building and left exposed there to be seen by all. The gate near which the executions were performed became known as Khooni Darwaza meaning "Bloody Gate" or "Murder Gate."

References

Bibliography

*William Dalrymple, ''The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty: Delhi, 1857'' published by Penguin, 2006, {{DEFAULTSORT:Mirza, Mughal 1817 births 1857 deaths Mughal princes People from Delhi Revolutionaries of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 Executed Indian people People executed by the British military by firearm People executed by India by firearm Timurid dynasty 19th-century executions by British India