Yangon: India's last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, lay buried in Yangon for nearly 130 years in a forgotten grave until 1991 when his final resting place was chanced upon during digging.
His mausoleum in this former capital of Myanmar is frequented by those who want to have a glimpse of the tomb of the man who was the last emperor of India. He died on November 7, 1862, after being exiled by the British.
After the first war of independence in 1857, the British whisked the emperor away to Myanmar, then Burma, where he died at the age of 87 at Rangoon, now Yangon.
After the 1857 revolt, he had hid at Humayun's tomb in the Indian capital where he was caught.
The mausoleum gets visitors, who offer prayers to the emperor. Bahadur Shah Zafar had become a saint in his last days. He is buried along the graves of his wife Begum Zeenat Mahal and granddaughter Raunaq Zamani Begum.
While digging to lay the foundation of a memorial hall in 1991, a subterranean grave was discovered.
It is believed that this grave is the actual grave of the last Mughal emperor. These graves on the ground are decoyed by the British to ensure that the nationalist sentiments centred around the emperor were not aroused.
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