Bahadur Shah Ke Akhri Ayyam (The Last Days of Bahadur Shah Zafar)

Radha Charan Bagchi’s mentor Abanindranath Tagore had painted the famous Mughal emperor Shah Jahan on his deathbed under imperial captivity but with the lavishness and grandeur of the Mughal miniature style. Bagchi’s version of the same theme stands in stark contrast to Tagore’s painting and yet faintly reminds us of the master’s work. Here, the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah, is shown dying in great poverty in Burma. The tragedy is brought closer through Bagchi’s academic realism style capturing the overall mood of deprivation.