Sultana Begum, the last descendant of Aurangzeb: Where does she live and what does she do for a living?

Several empires have risen and fallen across Indian history, but the proofs of their existence are present even in the modern day, some in the form of monuments, while others as descendants. While the royal families of the kingdoms of Rajasthan are still known to the people today, where did the descendants of the Mughals go, and what happened to them?

Some time back, a woman named Sultana Begum came to the limelight, who claims to be a descendant of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor.

What does Sultana Begum's life look like?

Sultana Begum is the widow of Mirza Bedar Bukht, who is said to have been a great-grandson of Bahadur Shah Zafar II, India’s final Mughal emperor. After he died in 1980, Sultana Begum moved to Howrah, near Kolkata, where she now lives in a two-room hut in a slum. She is around 60 and survives on a pension of ₹6,000 per month from the central government, according to an Indian Express Report. He claimed the pension because of her husband's status as a recognised heir. She shares kitchen facilities with neighbours, uses public taps to wash, and lives with her unmarried daughter, Madhu Begum.

How is Sultana related to Bahadur Shah Zafar?

Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last emperor of the Mughal Empire, was Sultana’s great-grandfather-in-law. He came to the throne in 1837, at a time when the Mughal Empire had already lost much of its power because of British rule. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Zafar became a symbolic leader of the uprising. However, after the rebellion was crushed, he was sent into exile in Rangoon (now Yangon, Myanmar), where he passed away in 1862.

Her husband, Mirza Bedar Bukht, was born in 1920 in then-Rangoon, and reportedly never had a stable income. He received a pension as the legal heir of Bahadur Shah Zafar II, which after his death passed to Sultana. Sultana herself tried small businesses, running a tea stall, selling ladies’ clothes, but these were not enough to better their situation.

She wants legal recognition

Sultana Begum has long sought legal recognition not just of her status, but of a claim to Bahadur Shah Zafar’s property. Most notably, she filed petitions hoping to gain possession of the Red Fort in Delhi, which housed the Mughal emperors.

According to an NDTV Report, in May 2025, the Supreme Court of India dismissed her plea, calling it “misconceived”. When addressing her claim, one judge asked: “Why only Red Fort? Why not Fatehpur Sikri?”

Sultana responded, “We didn’t ask for the Red Fort or Fatehpur Sikri. We only said that kings and emperors had palaces and homes. Then where is Bahadur Shah Zafar’s home? We only sought his rightful residence.” She also said, “The one hope I had in the Supreme Court has also ended. It feels like the ground beneath my feet has slipped away. My last hope now lies with the Modi government.”

The pension is not sufficient to cover her needs

Even though her husband was reportedly the last officially recognised direct male descendant of Bahadur Shah Zafar II, the financial support has been minimal. Despite being granted a pension by the British in colonial times and later by the Indian government, it has barely covered basic needs. She has repeatedly appealed to courts and submitted petitions, yet much of her plea has been denied on legal technicalities, such as delay. Earlier in 2021, the Delhi High Court also rejected her request to claim the Red Fort, noting that her petition was filed too late.