The Heir To India’s Mughal Empire Lives In A Slum.

The fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire built the Taj Mahal, and at their peak, the empire ruled over one-quarter of the world’s population.

Today, the current claimant to the throne is Sultana Begum, the great-granddaughter-in-law of the last Mughal emperor. She married the male heir, Bedar Bukht, who lived in hiding out of fear that British imperialists would have him killed. Bukht sold charms and talismans, earning a wage that Begum called “too meager for survival.”

Since Bukht’s death, Begum has been living in a shack in a slum where she runs a tea shop. She also receives a political pension of 400 rupees a month—the equivalent of $6.