Bahadur Shah II, usually referred to by his poetic title Bahadur Shah Zafar (Persian pronunciation: [bahɑːduɾ ʃɑːh zafaɾ]; Zafar lit. Victory) was born Mirza Abu Zafar Siraj-ud-din Muhammad (24 October 1775 – 7 November 1862) and was the twentieth and last Mughal Emperor of India as well as an Urdu poet. He was the second son and the successor to his father, Akbar II, who died on 28 September 1837. He was a titular Emperor, as the Mughal Empire existed in name only and his authority was limited only to the walled city of Old Delhi (Shahjahanbad). Following his involvement in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British exiled him to Rangoon in the British-controlled Burma in 1858, after convicting him on several charges.

Bahadur Shah Zafar's father, Akbar II, had been imprisoned by the British and he was not his father's preferred choice as his successor. One of Akbar Shah's queens pressured him to declare her son, Mirza Jahangir, as his successor. However, the East India Company exiled Jahangir after he attacked their resident in the Red Fort, paving the way for Bahadur Shah to assume the throne.