The final disposal of the ex-king of Delhi became a question of some difficulty, in consequence of the sentence of the court by which he was tried, indicating the Andaman Islands as his place of exile; those islands having already been chosen as penal stations by the rebels taken in arms. It was considered injudicious to place the deposed king, as a rallying-point, in immediate proximity to them; and at length, British Kaffraria was suggested for the future abode of the prisoner. On the 10th of March 1858, the Governor of the colony, Sir George Grey, announced the intentions of the government to the local parliament, in the following terms:
“A correspondence will be laid before you, detailing the reasons for which it is intended to detain the King of Delhi in confinement in British Kaffraria. You will find from those papers, that this is an isolated case, and that no intention exists of transporting prisoners from India to her majesty’s South African possessions.” this assurance, it seems, was by no means satisfactory to the colonists, who so strenuously objected to the precedent proposed to be introduced, that it was deemed expedient to alter the intentions of the government, and to select another locality for the residence of the prisoner. After some further delay, a station in British Burmah, named Tonghoo, some 300 miles inland from Rangoon, and represented as the most desolate and forlorn district of the whole country, was finally chosen for him; and early in October, 1858, an order of the supreme government directed the removal of the ex King and his family to Calcutta, where his final destination was to be made known to him. The departure of the mournful cortege took place at an early hour in the morning of Thursday, the 7th of October, in the following order :-
A squadron of lancers as an advanced guard: a palanquin carriage, in which were the deposed king and two of his sons, Jumma Bukht and Shah Abbas (the latter a mere child, son of a concubine) ; the carriage was surrounded by lancers: a second carriage contained the begum, Zeenat Mahal, and some ladies of the zenana: a third carriage conveyed the Taj Mahal Begum (a second wife of the ex-king), and her female attendants. These conveyances were followed by five magazine store carts, in which were twenty of the male and female attendants of the prisoner. The whole were closely guarded by lancers, a strong party of whom formed the rear of the cavalcade.
In this order, the escort, with its charge, proceeded towards Allahabad via Cawnpore, at -which place it arrived, without interruption, on the very day the proclamation declaring the sovereignty of the Queen of England over Hindostan and its dependencies, was announced to the people of India. Upon reaching Allahabad, the prisoner, with his family and attendants, were placed on board a river-flat for conveyance to Calcutta. The Soorma flat, in tow of the Koyle steam-tug, reached Diamond Harbour on the 4th of December, where her majesty’s steam-ship Megaera, which had recently arrived from the Cape with troops, was found ready to receive the prisoner and convey him to Rangoon, where he arrived on the 9th of December. The ex-king was immediately landed without any public demonstration, and sent into the interior under a strong guard, which had been detailed off for the better security of the exiles in their new abode. And thus miserably ended the career of the last king of the race of Timur.