Observe the image and answer the following question.
This portrait was made about two decades before the ruler shown was exiled to Burma by the British. Who is he?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Bahadur Shah Zafar
Option (1) Shah Alam II — Incorrect. Shah Alam II was a later Mughal ruler whose period saw some masterworks, but he was not the one exiled to Burma.
Option (2) Muhammad Shah Rangila — Incorrect. Muhammad Shah Rangila was also a later Mughal ruler of that period, not the exiled one.
Option (3) Bahadur Shah Zafar — Correct. His portrait was made about two decades before the British exiled him to Burma, after the failed Revolt of 1857.
Option (4) Alamgir Aurangzeb — Incorrect. Aurangzeb defeated Dara Shikoh in the war of succession and came to power; he is not the ruler the British exiled to Burma.
NCERT (2026-27): “Later Mughal Painting …Although some masterworks were produced during the periods of Muhammad Shah Rangila, Shah Alam II and Bhadur Shah Zafar, these were mere last flickers in the candle that was the Mughal miniature style. Bahadur Shah Zafar, painting, dated 1838, was made about two decades before he was exiled to Burma by the British, who were quick to see that no claimant to Mughal authority remains anywhere near Delhi to claim their imperial authority, after the failure of the Indian Revolt of 1857. He was the last Mughal ruler, who was also a poet, scholar and connoisseur.”
Bahadur Shah Zafar, 1838, Fogg Museum of Art, Cambridge, UK |
