Mirza Khizr Sultan

Mirza Khair-ud-din Muhammad Khizr Sultan Bahadur (1834 – 21 September 1857) was a son of the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah II.

Khizr Sultan was a prominent military leader during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. However, that same year he was captured and executed by the British, alongside other members of his family.

Life

Born in 1834, Khizr Sultan was the ninth son of Bahadur Shah II. His mother was a palace concubine, Rahim Bakhsh Bai.

Noted for his physical beauty, Khizr Sultan was described by his tutor Ghalib as being "as beautiful as Yusuf". He had some talent as a poet, in addition to his skills as a marksman. He appears to not have been favoured by his father, possibly due to his closeness with his disgraced elder brother, Mirza Fakhru.

In September, Khizr Sultan, Bahadur Shah and other members of the Imperial family were taking refuge in Humayun's Tomb when they were captured by the British. He, along with his brother Mirza Mughal and nephew Mirza Abu Bakht, were taken to the Delhi Gate by Major William Hodson, near an archway later nicknamed "the Bloody Gate". Hodson ordered the three princes to strip naked and, using his revolver, shot each of them twice in the heart, one after the other.

Their bodies were hanged in front of the police station for a few days, before being buried unceremoniously.

Family Khizr Sultan had one son and two daughters: Mirza Muhammad 'Usman Bahadur (b. 1850); Mirza Muhammad 'Umar Bahadur (b. 1852); Umda uz-Zamani Begum; Khurshid uz-Zamani Begum; Rahmat Sultan Begum;