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Tahir Qureshi
Tahir Qureshi is a senior sub-editor at India.com, whose primary duties are writing news related to different beats like National. World, Business, and viral. He also breaks stories and then follows t ... Read More
Mughal dynasty in India: The Mughal dynasty forms an integral and vital part of India’s medieval and modern history. The once glorious empire collapsed after the arrest and imprisonment of the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar. Now, it is confined to historical references and not much is known about the descendants of the once royal lineage. However, the life account of Sultana Begum brings to light the present day condition of the bloodline of Bahadur Shah Zafar.
Sixty-year-old Sultana Begum is reportedly the great-granddaughter-in-law of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor. She is not residing in any palace or mansion but in a confined tiny two-room hut in Howrah, on the outskirts of Kolkata, West Bengal. Just like millions of Indians, Sultana Begum is living life by the day, struggling to sustain a life full of personal hardships.
Sultana Begum can only experience the lavishness, opulence, and power wielded by her ancestors via some documentary, published literature, movies, or features.
She and her family share the two-room hut and use the water supplied by the municipality. The family shares a kitchen with their neighbours.
Sultana’s great-grandfather-in-law Bahadur Shah Zafar ascended to the throne in 1837. It was the time when the once-mighty Mughal Empire was staring into deepest decline and ultimate end. Zafar was elected as the leader of the mutiny, the Indian Rebellion of 1857. He was the face of the uprising which was crushed by the British rulers and he was exiled to Rangoon, now Yangon, Myanmar where he died in 1862.
Sultana Begum was married to Prince Mirza Bedar Bukht who died in the 80s. From that moment her life turned around and she faced the real world full of struggles and hardships. She has been receiving a pension of 6,000 rupees a month which is not enough for her six children and herself. Her daughters are also struggling financially. Sultana lives with her unmarried daughter, Madhu Begum.
Sultana says she is proud of her family’s royal blood but has struggled to get a secure stable job. She tried running a tea stall and make ladies’ clothes but it was not enough to support her family.
Sultana Begum’s story is a testament to the fact that fortunes change with time.
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