3-056-905 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

'The Ex-King of Delhi', Bahadur Shah II, 1858. Portrait of Bahadur Shah II (1775-1862), also known as Abu Zafar Sirajuddin Muhammad Bahadur Shah Zafar, Emperor of Delhi 1837-1857, the last of the Mughal emperors in India. He is shown lying on a charpoy with a hookah in front of him. The photograph was taken in May 1858, while the ex-king was being held in Delhi awaiting his trial by the British for his part in the rebellion. It was, apparently, common practice for Europeans to visit the ex-King in captivity: 'While waiting for these charges to be considered the King continued to be displayed to European visitors as one of the curiosities of Delhi. One of those who inspected him was William Hodson's wife who found him, as most other spectators did, lying on the grass ropes of his bamboo charpoy smoking a hookah...'. From "Album Of Portraits. The collection of Thomas George Glover (Bengal Engineers)".