Bahadur Shah II in Darbar, 1839 Opaque watercolor and gold on paper Reign of Bahadur Shah II Edwin Binney 3rd Collection, 1990:402 Click Image to Enlarge

The sad theater of power seen here that surrounds the last monarch of the Timurid line reflects the decline of sovereign Mughal status by 1839. Bahadur Shah II (ruled 1837-1858) seems small and melancholy, more caged within than elevated by his throne. The courtiers, who in the past would have faced the emperor, some saluting or bowing in respect, look instead toward the viewer.

When the British took control of Delhi from the French in 1803, they limited Mughal royal prerogative to the palace. The Board of Directors of the East India Company and the representatives of the Crown in India who set the royal stipend became increasingly unsympathetic toward a monarchy they considered defunct, demanding, and unworthy of status equal to their own. What the British had begun in 1803 as a policy of showing the Mughal ruler "every demonstration of reverence, respect, and attention" had degenerated into insult and indifference.

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