The fall of Delhi in 1857

[EjazR]

The fall of Delhi in 1857 | TwoCircles.net

It was all over by Sept 20th 1857. Indian forces had retreated from their positions. Mughal Royalty abandoned the Red Fort and people started leaving Delhi in large numbers to escape from looting by the British forces. Same day, last Emperor of India Bahadur Shah Zafar was arrested by the British forces, his three sons murdered in cold blood and their severed heads presented to the King. Delhi had fallen and with it any hope of keeping the foreign occupation out of India. Though some Indian forces continued fighting the occupying powers as late as 1859 it was not until 1947 that Indians will again take charge of their country.

We have all read and heard about the great war of 1857, but unfortunately, most of it is British account or by Indians who wanted to please their British masters. Hardly any research has been done to present the Indian perspective of this war of 1857. Dr. Shamsul Islam, a professor of Political Science in Delhi University has spent more than a decade collecting materials that give detail information of day to day happenings in the Indian camp.

He has published a number of books in Hindi and English presenting original materials and shocking the readers with what he uncovers. A different image of 1857 and particularly the siege of Delhi appear as we read the letters written by spies and traitors present in Delhi but working for the British. These spies were put in service as soon as the native soldiers of British forces declared mutiny. These spies provided valuable information from within the city to the British forces on Delhi Ridge. These letters were translated by the British forces and preserved in different archives and collections which Prof. Shamsul Islam through his painstaking research has collected over the years. He has cross-checked the facts and events mentioned in these letters and now we have an alternate record of a very important part of the Indian history. When these letters are read along with letters and reports by the British forces they provide a valuable insight into how the great war of 1857 was lost by the Indian forces.

British Forces

First reading the British accounts, we find that British forces were demoralized with lot of confusion and indiscipline among the ranks. Consider this, writing in early September 1857 one Officer writes “We had been the Besieged and not the Besiegers.” On Sept. 6th we find William Hodson, the intelligence chief ready to give up. He writes, “If the campaign lasts very long I shall be forced to go home next year.” Nevertheless British forces stormed Delhi by breaching Kashmiri Gate, a plaque commemorating the names of those who attacked it still stands at Kashmiri Gate but we don’t know the names of those who defended the gate from attacks by the British forces. Though British were able to enter the city thanks to the breach but still they met strong resistance. British historian of this period, John William Kaye wrote, “it was plain that we had received a severe check,” he adds that the British troops, “were much exhausted by fatigue, and much depressed by the mortality that surround them.”

On Sept. 16th, Major General Archdale Wilson describes his and his forces condition:
“Our Force is too weak for this street fighting, when we have to gain our way inch by inch, and of the Force we have, unfortunately, there is a large portion besides the Jummoo troops in whom I can place no confidence…. I find myself getting weaker and weaker everyday, mind and body quite worn out… We have a long and hard struggle before us.”

On Sept 19th, a day before the Fall of Delhi, Hodson makes this observation: “We are making slow progress in the city. The fact is, the troops are utterly demoralized… For the first time in my life, I have had to see English soldiers refuse repeatedly to follow their officers.” How this demoralized and indiscipline army able to win Delhi is what Prof. Islam uncovers in letters from spies working for the British.

British Secret Agents

These spies not only provided information about Indian troops preparations and movements to the British but also advised them how and when to attack. They also acted as agent provocateurs for the British masters. These British agents were everywhere in the city and some in the circles closest to Bahadur Shah Zafar.

Dr. Islam identifies three important British agents in Delhi- Rajab Ali, who was awarded Rs. 10,000 for his services during the siege; Jeewan Lal, whose family was always attached to the Mughals, in fact one of his forefather was prime minster of Aurangzeb, was made honorary Magistrate and a Municipal Commissioner for providing critical information to the British during the siege; Mirza Ilahi Bakhsh was very close to King Zafar, one of his daughters married Zafar’s son Mirza Fakhru. In reading through the letters we find Mirza Ilahi Bakhsh planning the fall of Delhi by other nobles of the city including queen Zeenat Mahal. He on one occasion saved the life of Jeewan Lal when rebels arrested him for spying for the British. He also successfully convinced Bahadur Shah Zafar not to leave the city with Indian forces and brought about the surrender of the King and the princes.

There were many other spies working overtime for the British forces and Hodson writes that they were employed to sow the seeds of dissension within Indian Forces, between Delhi residents and defenders of the city and also between Hindus and Muslims.

Indian Forces

Ironically, letters of British spies provide lot of information about activities in the Indian camps. We find Bahadur Shah Zafar actively involved in the civil and military arrangements in Delhi. We find Indian forces very well organized with proper command and control. Corrupt people being punished and grievances of the people redressed. We find Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and even Indians from South and some Whites fighting for the Indian cause. We find a proper Military Council that managed the affairs of the war and planned strategies. Military Council was also responsible for maintaining funds; 12 member Council had representation of a civilian Delhi resident as well. This council was democratic with representation of Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs; Mirza Mughal who though had a seat in this council was not able to have influence in the debates since other members distrusted him for charges of funds embezzlement against him.

Indian forces were divided in sections with doctors attached to each section and fighting organized so that each section gets proper rest without hindering the war effort. They made new advances in making ammunitions and also came up with a rocket gun which was personally inspected by the King on Sept. 6th and employed into the service the next day. Families of those who died in battles were given Rs. 3 monthly pension.

King Zafar seems to be in full command when he orders a ban on cow slaughter. He also removes some of the princes from collecting funds when they were found to be involved in embezzlement. Collection of funds was levied on all irrespective of caste and religion. Funds thus collected were distributed according to the discretion of a committee constituted for this purpose.

In 1972, Government of India offers an amendment to clarify "enemy" on the British memorial

Bakht Khan Rohilla, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian forces (1857-1859)

 

[Patriot]

Well, if we were to believe Bharat Verma prediction then just change the Fall of Delhi in 1857 to The Fall of Delhi in 2012.Replace British with Chinese :toast:
just kidding./.

 

[sadiqams]

nothing has changed the western powers still have these spys in both Delhi, Islamabad and Dacca.

 

[Brainwashed]

india and china have the similar history of being invaded and colonized. there're so many things we have in common, like vast territory, large poplulation, splendid and long survived culture etc. india got independent in 1947, two years later the PRC was founded. why didn't we show some sympathy for each other? we could have been allies.

 

[TopCat]

Bahadur Shah Park (Victoria Park) Dhaka: In the late-nineteenth century it was the centre of the Colonial city in European style with several civic and religious buildings and educational institutions around it. During the eighteenth century, the European started a club for them. They played, among other games, billiard, and hence the premise was called 'Anta Gharer Maidan'. The English later demolished it and created a round-about park facing the St. Thomas Church. The club was shifted elsewhere which later became the famous Dhaka Club.

The park became a major node in the road network of old Dhaka. In the past, it had all important buildings and establishments around it, many of which are gone now. It is where the mutineers of the failed 1857 Revolt ('Sipahi mutiny for freedom fight') were publicly hanged. It was also the scene from where accession by Queen Victoria and annexation of India was announced amidst much funfair in 1858, and hence the original name of 'Victoria Park' bestowed. An obelisk to commemorate a personnel was also erected there.

After Partition, the historically more important monument, symbolising this place, was erected on the Centenary of Sepoy Revolt, and the park was re-named 'Bahadur Shah Park'. In stone throw distance around the park, important institutional buildings such as court, Bank, DC's office and Jagannath College are situated. The Anglican church overlooking the greens was a major focal of the city centre in the nineteenth century.

 

[Kaali]

india and china have the similar history of being invaded and colonized. there're so many things we have in common, like vast territory, large poplulation, splendid and long survived culture etc. india got independent in 1947, two years later the PRC was founded. why didn't we show some sympathy for each other? we could have been allies.

We are the unindentical twins of Asia and that creates the problem. The diffrences are more of sending the message to the rest of the world. the one who looses the territory will send a wrong message to the rest of the world and both of us running a race and defying the time.


But we have started taking steps to reduce down tensions and may be we can keep these issues aside for the moment and concentrate on individual developments.

 

[eastwatch]

I have found a few number of articles in the BBC News on our failed 1857 War of Independence. I will be posting the writing on the Rani of Jhansi. Please click other links to read about this great historical event of a time when all of us together were Hindustanis, and were not divided in religious lines.

My Salaam to the brave queen of Jhansi and all other braves who participated in that war and became Shahhed. May Allah bless their souls and send them to Jannat.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Indian heroine's letter unearthed

Indian heroine's letter unearthed
By Alastair Lawson
BBC News

The Rani of Jhansi: an 'iconic talisman' in the independence struggle
A previously undiscovered letter written by one of India's best known female rebels against British colonial rule has been found by academics.

The letter was written by Lakshmibai, Rani of Jhansi, shortly before the Indian mutiny - or first war of independence - in 1857.

It has been found in London in the archives of the British Library.

The Rani of Jhansi has often been called the "Joan of Arc" of the Indian independence struggle.

Academics say the discovery of the letter is hugely significant, because so little historical evidence from the Rani of Jhansi's lifetime exists.

Fateful events

"The letter is part of a collection of documents known as the Bowring Collection," said Deepika Ahlawat, research curator for the Victoria and Albert Museum's Maharaja exhibition currently being staged in London.

"The collection is named after Lewin Bentham Bowring, a civil servant working in India who gathered a remarkable collection of documents, photographs and ephemera relating to the maharajas."

The letter is one of the few remaining artefacts from the Rani of Jhansi's life
The letter is written by the Rani of Jhansi to the governor-general of the East India Company (EIC), Lord Dalhousie.

In it she describes the fateful events on the night her husband died.

"But under the doctrine of lapse then being imposed by the EIC, any Indian kingdom whose ruler died without an heir, or who was guilty of misrule - was subsumed into Company territory," explained Ms Ahlawat.

Fearing this doctrine, the Rani said that her husband adopted a suitable heir before his death by performing all the necessary rites for her adopted son, Damodar Rao Gangdhar, to be accepted as the next Raja of Jhansi.

But Lord Dalhousie did not recognise the adoption and threatened to annex Jhansi, now in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

In 1857 the Rani joined the rebellion against the British and personally led her troops in battle. At one point she was captured by EIC troops but subsequently made a daring escape from a fort.

"All this made her the stuff of legend," said Ms Ahlawat. "According to some stories she died riding into battle against the British - another story says that she was shot while holding the ramparts of Gwalior Fort.

"Whatever the truth, the story of a female leader battling for her kingdom against the might of the EIC fired the nationalistic imagination when the contested history of 1857 came to be written.

"This a letter written by an iconic talisman for the nationalist narrative in India, and her equestrian statue can be found in town squares all over the country."

 

[niaz]

No matter how low morale of the English forces is supposed to have been; besiegers were properly trained and led by very experienced officers, most of whom were veterans of the Anglo Sikh pitched battles. Defenders on the other hand were largely untried irregular troops. All the ex British soldiers who mutinied and joined Delhi defenders were trained soldiers, but not a single one among the mutineers had any command experience. Therefore these did not exploit numerical superiority and initial weakness of English; instead besieging forces were given time to be reinforced.

Initially overall commander was Mirza Mughal (son the King) who had zero military experience. General Bakht Khan who replaced him was a military man but did not carry much influence over the army. IMO the real reason for the fall of Delhi was not the traitors or spies but the fact that majority of the 30 odd thousand troops inside Delhi were poorly trained and poorly armed. Most of all they were poorly led.

 

[humblehobbes]

Rani of Jhansi fought in the war of independance not because she dint like the British, but she had to abdicate her throne.
The Last Peshwa Nana Saheb would not have joined the struggle, had the British agreed to give him the higher pension which he had asked for.
Most of the iconic leaders of 1857 were nothing more than glorified hot gas. There was never a concerted central effort to dislodge the British. and moreover the 1857 revolt was never a Pan Indian effort. Kindly note that the south was plainly undisturbed during the 1857 revolt. So was the West. The revolt was mainly in the north and Central parts of British India. Also kindly note that it was the Indian Sepoys from the Madras , bombay regiment and the Gurkha regiment that helped in putting down the revolt.

Glorification of these revolutionists happened a good 2 - 3 decades after the revolt, when the Western Educated Elite Indian, who understood the meaning of nation hood and the lack of heroes, decided to glorify the nearest Pan indian event and its participators.(almost)

the rulers of Hyderabad and Gwalior and most of the Rajas and Zamindars were mostly loyal to the British.

Even when a British Historian categorically states that India was burning and they almost never had a place to keep their foot firmly in India, they were able to suppress the whole revolt and rule over the region for another 90 years. That the very foundation of British India almost crumbled as soon as it gained foot has to be noted. But then, we subcontinental natives were never a united lot and hence u see this place being the crown colony during the 19th century and now the cess pool of poverty and illiteracy

Historical events described are from the top of my head which i have read in a book recently.