By IANS,
New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will pay homage at the mausoleum in Myanmar of Bahadur Shah Zafar, India’s last Mughal emperor who died in Yangon in 1862 after the British exiled him.
The prime minister will offer flowers and a ‘chadar’ at the Bahadur Shah Zafar Dargah in Dagon township in Yangon in the final leg of his three-day trip.
The site attracts a large number of Myanmar Muslims who believe their wishes will be fulfilled if they pray at the tomb.
Bahadur Shah Zafar, who is believed to have turned a saint during his stay at Yangon, was the figurehead of India’s first war of independence in 1857.
In 1858, he was exiled to Myanmar, then Burma, with his wife and some family members. He died Nov 7, 1862, at age 87.
His tomb, built decades after his death, is also home to the graves of his wife Zeenat Mahal and grand-daughter Raunaq Zamani.
The monument is managed by a Myanmar government-appointed committee.
External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna visited the site in June last year.