Rise of British in Bangaal -
(Read "East India Company" under Foreign Penetration) In the closing decades of the 18th century, the British strengthened their position on both west and east coast under the leadership of the two brothers - Sir John and Josia Child. Sir John was the president of the Company's factory at Soorat and Governor of Bombay from 1682-1690. They took permission from Aurangzeb to trade at a new base, near Hugalee River, in Bangaal in 1690. There was a Kaalee shrine from which "Ghaat" (steps) descended to the water, hence its name was Calcattaa may have been derived from the words "Kaalee-Ghaat". By 1700 its population of  Englishmen grew to 1,200. Fort William was erected at this spot, about a 100 miles upriver from the Bay of Bangaal - one of the most populous cities and ports , though no one imagined how fast it would grow or how important it would be in near future. But the venue for historic development was Madraas. British discovered the key to Indian conquest from their most recent rivals in India, the French.

French East India Company - 
The French Company had been started with a capital of about 600,000 British Pounds in 1664. It came to India at Pondicherry, about 80 miles south of Madraas on the Coromandal coast, in 1674. They followed the British tripod pattern of settlement. They established subsidiary factories at Soorat and Chandarnagar on the River Hugalee by the end of the century and they soon started competing with British. They captured Madraas in September 1746 as well as took young Robert Clive (b/d 1725-1774) prisoner. He was a writer in the Company's civil service who got so bored with his job that he tried unsuccessfully to blow out his own brains with a pistol that misfired, Once the Navaab of Karnaatak, Anvar-uddeen tried to take Madraas from French by attacking them with 10,000 men in October 1745 but their 900 people defeated them. Dupleix became the Navaab of Karnaatak also in all but name. Had France been ruled by Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour, Dupleix would have become the Emperor of India. He was, in fact, managing the Nizaam and Navaab after the death of Nizaam-ul-Mulk in 1748.

Baajee Raav had died in 1740, but his son Baalaajee Raav (1721-1761) succeeded him as Peshavaa and led Maraathaa for two decades. There were four extremely powerful Maraathaa Generals - Gaayakvaad in Barodaa, Holkar at Indaur, Sindhiyaa in Gwaalior, and Bhonsley at Naagpur, each of whom had carved his own domain. These paid nominal allegiance to the king of Sataaraa.

10-Ahamad Shaah Bahaadur (1748-1754) - 6 years
He was Muhammad Shaah Rangeelaa and Oodham Baaee's son and was the 15th Emperor in the Mugal line. He took the throne in 1748 at the age of 23. He ruled successfully for 6 years and then was deposed by his Vazeer in 1754. Later he was blinded along with his mother. He spent rest of his life in prison and died in 1775. His son Jahaan Shah rose to the power for a short while in 1788 as the puppet of Gulaam Qaadir.

In 1748, during his father's reign, Ahmad Shaah Abdaaliee invaded India. So Prince Ahmad Shaah was sent to fight with him with 75,000 men. Ahamad was victorious, so he was conferred with the title "Bahaadur". Mugal's Chief Minister was killed in this battle, this shocked the Emperor, he got sick and died in a few days. Ahamad Shaah rushed to Delhi, spent a week in sorrow and then ascended the throne on 8 April 1748.

11-Azeezuddeen Aalamgeer II (1754-1759)
Azeezuddeen was the second son of Jahandar Shaah. He ascended the throne at the age of 55. He spent all his life in Jail, so he had no experience  of administration. He was a weak ruler. After ascending the throne he took the title of Aalamgeer II and followed the policies of Aurangzeb. He was a very pious man. He was killed by his Minister. His some children escaped, among them one was the next ruler - Prince Alee Gauhar (Shaah Jahaan III).

Siraaj-ud-Daulaa in Bangaal and Battle of Plaasee (1756-)
Alee Vardee, of Bangaal, when died in April 1756, had no sons, so he designated his youngest daughter's son Siraaj-ud-Daulaa as the heir of his throne. He was only 20-year old then. He could not foresee many things and was driven toward his own destruction. The Tragedy of Black Hole (Kaal Kotharee) took place when the 146 British residents who could not flee (the rest escaped through the River Gate) were imprisoned for a night in a small guard room measuring less than 6m x 5m with only one window. Only 23 are believed to have survived. Some believe that there were only 64 people held in that room. This victory was short-lived, and within a year, Robert Clive took the city back defeating the Navaab at Plaasee, in 1757 - a turning point for the British in India.

12-Shaah Jahaan III (1759-1760) 8 months
He was the eldest son of Kambakhsh (the youngest son of Aurangzeb). He was the Emperor only briefly, because he was subsequently deposed by the Afgaan confederation (Rohillas and Ahamad Shaah Abdaalee) and Nawab of Avadh Shujaa-ud-Daula in 1760 in recognition of Shah Aalam II as the rightful heir to the throne who was in exile at Ilaahaabaad.

13-Alee Gauhar or Shaah Aalam II (1759-1806) 46 years
He inherited the throne from his father Aalamgeer II. After the Minister had killed his father Azzezuddeen Aalamgeer II, he escaped from Delhi to eastern provinces (Bangaal, Bihaar Udeesaa) and tried to strengthen himself. There was Meer Jafar in Bangaal at that time. He was very unpopular and was entirely dependent upon British support for maintaining himself. Shaah Aalam also asked for British help, but Robert Clive chose to continue with Meer Jaafar. Shaah Aalam's forces were defeated by the British at Buxar in 1764.

After the battle of Buxar, this homeless fugitive Prince Alee Gauhar sought the protection of British. Shaah Aalam took up residence at Ilaahaabaad and no doubt could have passed his life peacefully there, but he got an opportunity to regain his kingdom. When the Maraathaa had occupied Delhi, invited him there to occupy the throne of his forefathers. Shaah Aalam left Ilaahaabaad in May 1771 and in December reached Delhi. He consulted the British and they had advised him not to trust the Marathas. The Emperor resided in the fort of Ilalahaabaad for six years as a virtual prisoner of the British. Warren Hastings was made Governor of Bengal in 1772. Shah Alam then left for Delhi with a small force trained on the European model, under the command of his able general, Mirzaa Najaf Khaan. He arrived there in December 1772 and sought to restore some of the glories of the Mughal empire.

Trouble with the Sikhs was endless; they raided as far as Delhi practically every year for money and possessions. They entered Delhi three times in 11 years from 1772 to 1783—in 1772, 1778 and 1783 with the underhand help from the then Vazeers of Shaah Aalam II.

Later an Afgaan named Rohillaa blinded Shaah Aalam in 1788. After the Battle of Delhi, on 14 September 1803, British troops entered Delhi and Shaah Aalam, a blind old man, seated under a tattered canopy, came under British protection. The Mugal emperor no longer had the military power to enforce his will, but he commanded respect as a dignified member of the House of Taimoor in the length and breadth of the country. The Navaab and Soobedaar still sought formal sanction of the emperor on special accessions. Since the British were not yet strong enough to claim sovereignty on their own, kept Shaah Aalam as a puppet until his death in 1806.

14-Akbar Shaah II (1806-1837) - 31 years
Known as Mirzaa Akbar, Akbar Shaah II was the second to the last Emperor of Mugal Dynasty - from 1806 to 1837. He was the second son of Shaah Aalam II and the father of Bahaadur Shaah Zafar II. Akbar had little real power due to the increasing British control on India. Shortly before his death he sent Raam Mohan Roy as an ambassador to Britain. During his regime, in 1835, the East India Company discontinued calling itself the lieutenant of the Mugal Emperor and issuing coins in his name.

When Gulaam Qaadir captured Delhi, he was forced to dance along with other princes and princesses and humiliated, as well as starved. When Jahaan Shaah IV fled, he was proclaimed puppet Emperor with the title of Akbar Shaah II, and was to remain acting Emperor even after the reinstating of his father, till December 1788.

Akbar Shah II had four sons, one of whom was Bahaadur Shaah Zafar who eventually succeeded him at the age of 60. After the mutiny, he fled Delhi and took refuge in other parts of India. In the mid 1800s he came to Bangaal. His sons and two daughters lived the same life he did, in constant fear of the British. His eldest son, Mirzaa Jalaaluddeen became an official to a Bangaal Raajaa. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Mirza Zafar. He was an official to the Raja too. His son Mirza Jamsher renounced his titles in 1895. Their children settled down permanently in North Bangaal and to this day they still remain in the capital city of Dhaka and Rajshahi.

15-Bahaadur Shaah "Zafar" II - the last Mugal Emperor (1837-1857) - 20 years
Bahaadur Shaah Zafar, the son of Akbar Shaah II and Laal Baaee (a Hindu Raajpoot), was the last Emperor in the Mugal line. He was born in 1775. He sat on the throne, after his father Akbar Shaah's death, in 1837 at the age of little over 60 years. His Mugal Empire rarely extended outside the Red Fort. During the 1857 mutiny Bahaadur Shaah took shelter in Humaayoon's Tomb with his three sons. He was compelled to surrender to British on 20 September 1857. Next day a British Officer shot dead his two sons and one grandson at the Khoonee Daravaazaa, near Delhi Gate. Hearing this Zafar went into a shocking silence. Numerous male members were killed, some were imprisoned and some were sent away. After a show trial, Zafar himself was exiled to Rangoon, Burmaa in 1858 along with his wife Zeenat Mahal and some of the remaining members of the family. He lived only for five years - died in 1862. His departure as the Emperor marked the end of more than three centuries of Mugal rule in India. Over 80, he was seen as a figurehead by Muslims opposing the British.

He was a noted Urdu Poet. He has written a large number of Urdoo Gazals with the pen-name "Zafar". Many of his works are lost but many survived which are collected in a collection entitled "Kulliyaate Zafar". His court was  home for many Urdoo poets of high standing, Gaalib, Daag, Momin, Zauq etc.

He was a devout Soofee and was himself regarded as Sufee Peer. In 1828, a decade before he ascended the throne, Major Archer reported, "Zafar is a man of spare figure and stature, plainly appareled, almost approaching to meanness. His appearance is that of an indigent Munshee or teacher of languages". He believed in Taabeez and charms. Peer, miracle workers and Hindu astrologers always stood in his attendance.

The last remains of Mugal rule is the history of Zafar Mahal in Mehraulee, a locality of Delhi. Zafar Mahal was originally built by Akbar II, but it was his son, Bahaadur Shaah Zafar, who constructed its gateway and added to the palace in the mid-1800s. It literally spans centuries. A plastered dome near the gate is probably of 15th century; other sections are relatively newer and show definite signs of Western influences. There is, for instance, a fireplace in one of the walls that stands near the Motee Masjid. And the staircase to the balcony is a wide one with low steps - very unlike the steep, narrow staircases of most Indian Islamic architecture. he has many roads, statues, parks in many Indian cities.