Question

Why was Bahadur Shah Zafar proclaimed as the Emperor of India?

Answer 1

Hint: Bahadur Shah Zafar ruled over a Mughal Empire that had been reduced to just the city of Delhi and the surrounding area as far as Palam by the early nineteenth century. During the 18th century, the Maratha Empire ended the Mughal Empire in the Deccan, and the territories of India that had previously been under Mughal sovereignty were either absorbed by the Marathas or declared independence and became tiny kingdoms.

Complete answer:
Though the insurgents were resolved to overthrow the East India Company's authority in the country, they were confronted with the dilemma of who would rule the country once the power vacuum was filled. No one was capable of leading the insurrection at the moment. Many of the rebels were worried about the future of their own kingdoms.

Bahadur Shah is well known as India's last Mughal Emperor and for his role in the 1857 Indian Revolt. There was also no other Indian king left at the time the rebels approached him. Bahadur Shah Zafar was the only person who could lead all of the states. Bahadur Shah Zafar's suzerainty was recognised by Peshwa and Birjis Qadr, the son of the deposed Nawab of Lucknow.

It is true that he played no active role in it; rather, he served as a pawn in the hands of the sepoys, who declared Bahadur Shah as the Emperor of Hindustan. During the revolution, the rebels sought someone to administer the country once the British were expelled. As a result, they agreed that this leader must be a Mughal Emperor. They needed a rallying point, and he was the man they chose. Because he didn't have any other options, he provided public assent to the insurrection and had no real influence over their conduct. As a result, the insurgents marched towards Delhi and declared Bahadur Shah Zafar as India's Emperor.

Note: The Company tried Shah at the Red Fort and sentenced him to exile in Burma. He was judged guilty of aiding and abetting the sepoys in their mutiny, assuming Indian sovereignty, and murdering. Despite Shah's defence that he was powerless in the face of sepoy pressure, and despite his age and obvious impotence, he was the main defendant in the case. Shah was deported to Rangoon, Burma, after Hodson promised not to condemn him to death if he submitted. He died in November 1862, at the age of 87, at Rangoon, where he had spent the last five years of his life.