Nizamuddin: The Last Refuge of the Mughals

When the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, came to know that the British had captured Delhi, he knew that he would have to flee or else face arrest. He had with him some relics which was now the last treasure of the once mighty Mughal Empire. But before leaving Delhi, he wanted to leave it behind.

For him Delhi was home. And he still hoped that one day his progeny would be able to reclaim this city and take the relics back. As he rode away via the Yamuna flowing behind the Red Fort, he made a brief stop at the dargah of Nizamuddin to entrust its caretakers with these relics.

Back then, he didn’t know that he would be arrested and exiled and that his lineage would end right there. Since that day, the courtyard of Nizamuddin dargah witnessed the tears of countless members of the Mughal family and watched the family disappear without trace from Delhi.

Come with me as we dive back into these last stories of the Begums left behind, who lived their last watching their lineage brutally being erased while the courtyard of Nizamuddin silently absorbed their tears!