What Happened to the Mughal Treasure When the British Took Delhi?

The Mughal treasure, the last wealth of a 332-year dynasty, was declared prize of war when the British took Delhi in 1857, and its crown left India for good. Subscribe:    / @riseandfallofcrowns   What happened to the Mughal treasure after the siege of Delhi in 1857? When British forces stormed the city that September, the army claimed its riches as prize. Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor, was captured, tried in his own Red Fort and exiled to Rangoon, while the contents of his palace went to auction. This history documentary follows the ledger item by item: the prize agents and the soldiers' shares, the Mughal crown that reached Queen Victoria, the palace turned into barracks, Delhi's confiscated houses, and the pensions left to the Mughal descendants. Where the records stop, we say so. It ends in a modern courtroom, where an heir's claim to the Red Fort was finally rejected in 2025. Where did the wealth of a fallen empire really go? Rise and Fall of Crowns, our series on the fall of an empire and the wealth it leaves behind. Watch the full series playlist:    • Rise and Fall of Crowns   Watch next:    • What Happened to Haile Selassie’s Wealth A...   (our documentary on Haile Selassie's wealth) Also watch:    • What Happened to the Man Who Owned Everyth...   (our documentary on the last Nizam of Hyderabad) Channel: @RiseAndFallOfCrowns Should the Mughal crown return to India, or does it belong where it is now? Tell us in the comments. CHAPTERS 0:00 The Crown Sent to Windsor 1:15 What Was Left of the Mughal Treasure 2:19 Tribute or Pension: An Emperor on Company Money 5:12 The Plan to End the Title 5:42 1857: Delhi Joins the Rebellion 6:33 The Siege of Delhi 7:06 Prize of War: The Prize Agents 8:41 Surrender at Humayun's Tomb 9:07 The Palace Auction and the Mughal Crown 10:02 Half a Million Pounds, and No Payday 11:06 Trial in the Diwan-i-Khas 12:33 Exile to Rangoon 12:55 The Ledger: 86 Rupees a Share 14:35 Confiscated Houses and a Mosque for Sale 15:23 The Red Fort Becomes a Barracks 16:03 The Mughal Descendants 16:50 The Red Fort in Court 17:58 Five Hundred Pounds for a Crown 18:48 Where the Mughal Treasure Went SOURCES Proceedings of the trial of Muhammad Bahadur Shah, titular King of Delhi (printed 1859; British Library IOR/V/23/341, 1870 edition) Royal Collection Trust, Crown of the Emperor Bahadur Shah II, RCIN 67236 The London Gazette, India Office notice on the Delhi Prize Money, 30 January 1862 Mirza Ghalib, Dastanbuy (1858) Harriet Tytler, An Englishwoman in India: The Memoirs of Harriet Tytler 1828-1858, ed. Anthony Sattin (1986) Amar Farooqui, Zafar and the Raj: Anglo-Mughal Delhi, c.1800-1850 (2013) Nayanjot Lahiri, "Commemorating and Remembering 1857: The Revolt in Delhi and Its Afterlife", World Archaeology 35:1 (2003) William Dalrymple, The Last Mughal (2006) Supreme Court of India, Sultana Begum v. Union of India, 5 May 2025 (LiveLaw report) Figures for the value of the treasure are contemporary estimates, not audited values. #MughalTreasure #BahadurShahZafar #HistoryDocumentary #RiseAndFallOfCrowns #BahadurShahZafar #LastMughalEmperor #MughalEmpire #1857Rebellion #RedFort #Delhi1857 #MughalCrown #SiegeOfDelhi #EastIndiaCompany #IndianHistory #MughalDescendants #FallOfAnEmpire