Question

What impact did Bahadur Shah Zafar’s support to the rebellion have on the people and the ruling families?

Answer 1

Hint
The last Mughal emperor was Bahadur Shah Zafar. He was the second son of and became his father's successor, Akbar II.

Complete answer:
The Sepoy regiments entered the Mughal Court in Delhi as the Indian revolt of 1857 spread. Many Indian kings and regiments approved him and proclaimed him the Emperor of India because of Zafar's impartial opinions on religions.

Zafar held his first formal audience on 12 May 1857. When the sepoys arrived at the court of Bahadur Shah Zafar for the first time, he asked them why they came to him because he had no way to preserve them. The action of Bahadur Shah Zafar was indecisive. However, when he was informed that they would not be able to win against the East India Company without him, he yielded to the demands of the sepoys.

Fifty-two Europeans who were prisoners of the palace and who were found hiding in the town were killed by sepoys and palace servants on 16 May. Despite Zafar's protests, executions took place under the peepal tree in front of the palace. The goal of the executioners, who were not Zafar's supporters, was to get him involved in the killings. Bahadur Shah II took control of all the acts of the mutineers until he had joined them. He gave his public support to the uprising, despite being dismayed by the looting and chaos. It was eventually assumed that Bahadur Shah was not personally responsible for the massacre, but that he may have been able to avoid it and thus, during his trial, he was found to be a consenting party.

The city administration and its new occupying army were characterized as "chaotic and troublesome" which operated "haphazardly" His eldest son, Mirza Mughal, was nominated by the Emperor as the commander in chief of his armies. Mirza Mughal, however, had no military experience and was dismissed by the Sepoys. As each regiment declined to take orders from anyone other than its own officers, the sepoys did not have any commander. The administration of Mirza Mughal spread no further than the city. The herders began to levy their own tolls on traffic outside Gujjar, and it became increasingly difficult to feed the population.

Note
The trial was a continuation of the Sepoy Mutiny and lasted for 41 days. The court produced 19 trials, 21 witnesses and over a hundred documents in Persian and Urdu with their English translations. The trial was originally proposed to take place in Calcutta, the venue where East India company directors used their sessions in connection with their business pursuits. But instead, Red Fort in Delhi was chosen for the trial. It was the first case at the Red Fort to be prosecuted.

On four charges, Zafar was tried and charged:
1) Supporting and promoting the mobilization of the troops
2) Supporting and motivating various individuals to wage war against the British Government
3) Assuming Hindustan's supremacy.
4) Causing the murder of Christians and being incidental to it.