The Eighth Section of the Series on the Mutiny in Delhi

  The Agony of Delhi

Events during the Mutiny relating to the Royal Family, The Nobility, and the Hindu and Muslim Residents of Delhi.

by Khwaja Hasan Nizami

Authentic Historic Record

Published for the 2^nd time in 1922 by Ibn Arbi

Printed by Delhi Printing Press Works under Lanand Thakur and Sons

(I  translated this book from Urdu  in  2003 and  dedicate  this  translation  to my  dear  school  teacher  Miss Sarwat Qureshi of  Jufelhurst High School  who  introduced me to History.  Readers are free to make use of this translation in any way they like)   

                                                                                                                                                                            A Sattar Kapadia

It seems like it was only yesterday when Hell broke out in Delhi, so aweful that even the mention of it makes ones hair stand on end.  On 11^th  May,  1858, Soldiers mutinying in Meerut travelled to Delhi and started the general massacre of the British in Delhi. From that day until the 14^th of September, the Mutineers tortured the British so badly  that just to recount those events requires a heart of stone.

After September 14^th, when the British Army regained control of Delhi and evicted the Mutineers, the British carried out a wave of terror on the Hindu and Muslim Residents of Delhi.  They specifically singled out the Muslims for their wrath.

The events occurring after 14^th September , 1858 have been described in this book and it is these events which have given this book the title “The Agony of Delhi”.  All the events mentioned in this book are historical.  These are not based on rumours and or prejudice.  For this reason, this book should be considered to be the authentic history of those times.

The events mentioned have been taken from British Historical Texts and these sources have been referred to where relevant,  The other source has been from Munshi Zakaullah’s book Tarekh-Hindustan (History of Hindustan).   Munshi Zakaullah was present in Delhi during those times.  He was an astute and clever historian with the understanding to get the right facts.  As he was also present in Delhi during these times, his writings about Delhi are basically an eye-witness account of what happened.

Apart from books I have also had the opportunity to meet and accumulate the accounts of most of the Hindus and Muslims who were in Delhi at the time of the Mutiny.  From my childhood I have had a great interest in meeting people who were present during those times.   However, in this book I have only included those verbal accounts from the people, which I could authenticate from books.  This is because I have written a separate book under this series where I have included all the accounts.  In the present book only authenticated accounts have been included. 

I have written a total of 7 books relating to the Mutiny.  All these books are popular in Hindustan and have been widely read.  The first book is the one referred to above and relates the verbal accounts, the second refers to the suffering of the British which they endured when the Mutineers took over Delhi,  the third book has letters written by the British during the earlier part of the Mutiny.  Book number four relates to the Trial of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the fifth contains letters from and to the Badshah during the Mutiny period.  These are the letters which the British captured from the Fort after the reoccupation of Delhi.  The sixth book contains extracts from newspapers published in Delhi during the Mutiny, these papers were accused of fuelling the fires of Mutiny in Delhi.  The seventh book is the diary of Mirza Ghalib, which he wrote during the Mutiny.

This is the eighth book in the series and contains the historical facts.  These sufferings of the Delhi resident during the period of the Mutiny were more painful than death itself.

Reasons for writing this book

The main reason for writing this book is to make the nation aware of the effects of revolt on the Capital of Hindustan.  It is also to show what misery and horrors are caused by war and disturbances.  This book will awaken the present day youth to the possible consequences of their warlike intentions.  It will also make the youth aware that it is quite dangerous to carry out sedition against the present day British Government as the last time the efforts of the whole of Hindustan could not manage to get rid of the British Rulers.

Rare pictures

After a lot of effort, it was possible to get a few rare pictures for this book so that the real facts of the people who were around during the Mutiny could be seen.

1          The first picture shows the King with his Nobles.  It is said that this is not the picture of Bahadur Shah Zafar’s Durbar  but that of his father Akbar Shah’s Durbar.  As it shows the glory of the Durbar, it was considered appropriate to include this picture as well.

2          The second picture shows Bahadur Shah Zafar with some of the nobles who were especially related to the events during the Mutiny.  The picture shows Prince Jawan Bakht, Mirza Elahi Bux, Hakim Ehsanullah Khan, Nawab Hamid Ali Khan, Mehboob Ali Khan.

3          The third picture is of Mirza Mughal who was the son of Bahadur Shah Zafar.  He was the Commander in Chief  of the Rebel Army.  This picture is historically very important.

4          Picture of the dying Badshah.  This picture’s poignancy evokes sorrow and regret.

Where were these pictures found

The first picture with the big group is easily available in the shops.  The picture of the group of Nobles was taken from Mr Lala Sri Ram, M.A., writer of “Khamkhane Jawed”.  This picture was part of his manuscript library.  The pictures of Mirza Mughal and Bahadur Shah Zafar were obtained from the Superintendent of the Department of Antiquities.  They can , therefore, be considered as quite authentic.

I had to get the picture of Bahadur Shah Zafar touched up as it was not very clear.  The Hookah was in front of the face so it had to be touched out.

I will now start the main body of the book and it starts from the time when the English began their attack for reoccupation of Delhi.  The events prior and subsequent to the attack have been covered in other books in this series, therefore, those events have not been covered here.

I begin this book on 4^th Shaban 1340 according to the Islamic Hijra calendar, on a Wednesday after the Namaz Zohar prayers (mid afternoon prayers) .  This is in the residential quarters of the Shrine of the beloved Hazrat Khwaja Nizamuddin Aulia (May Allah give him peace), in Delhi.

Signed

Hasan Nizami

Why was Delhi angry with the British

The reasons for the Mutiny in India have been written both by the English and by Hindustani’s and most of these have been covered by Munshi Zakaullah in his historical text.  Sir Syed Ahmed Khan also wrote a distinguished article under the name of “Reasons for the Indian Mutiny”.  This article was also acknowledged by the British Parliament.

However, in this book I do not wish to list all those reasons nor do I find the need to discuss them because this book deals only with matters relating to Delhi.  However, it is important to mention some of those reasons.  By Delhi is meant the Hindu Muslim residents of Delhi, the Badshah Bahadur Shah Zafar and members of his family.  It is these people who supported the Mutiny and afterwards became the target of the British atrocities.

In the reasons for the Mutiny, most of what is in this book relates to Bahadur Shah Zafar and his family’s grievances against the British.  The affects of the problems faced by the  Badshah and his family were felt amongst the residents of Delhi.  Whenever the poet Badshah wrote verses relating to this they became known amongst the residents of Delhi.  Regarding the problem of succession, the Badshah wrote:           

When this verse came out the residents of Delhi were quite upset and the verse was sung in the streets of Delhi like a lament.

However, these matters cannot be understood fully until we look at what happened during the times of Shah Alam Badshah.

Shah Alam Badshah and the British

In 1804 Lord Lake and the soldiers of Wellesley defeated the Marathas and as a result, Shah Alam Badshah came under the protection of the British on the basis of an agreement.  On the surface, Shah Alam gave Robert Clive the Diwani (the right to collect taxes) and made him a Vizier, but in reality the Empire of Hindustan was handed over to the British.

At that time the East India Company’s Directors had no intention of becoming the direct rulers of India.  The East India Company considered it expedient to acquire power under the shadow of the Badshah.  Towards this end the Governor General sent the following letter dated 13^th July 1804 to the East India Company.

“The French had obtained ascendancy and power in the North West of Hindustan,  we managed to take Shah Alam away from the influence of the French and the French Government has been denied this great tool in whose shadow the French wanted to capture Hindustan.  We are now responsible for the welfare and safety of the Badshah and his family as we have released them from the captivity of the Marathas and the French. It is necessary for us to appear in every body’s eyes as the supporters of the Badshah.”

Suggestions to evict the Badshah and his family from the Red Fort of Delhi

Lord Wellesley predicted that if the Badshah continued to stay in the Red Fort and the paraphernalia of Regality was perpetuated, it was a possibility that some successor of Bahadur Shah Zafar may be tempted to re-acquire real power.  It was also possible that the Fort could act as a rallying point for the Muslims and be used as the Head Quarters of a future state.  It was, therefore, suggested that the Badshah and his family should vacate the Red Fort and move to the District of Mongar in Bihar.  When Shah Alam was informed of this he was furious.  He put his hand on the hilt of his sword and said that he was still alive and no one can bury a living person willingly into his grave.  Lord Wellesley realized the dangers of provoking the Badshah and withdrew his suggestion.  The British were at this stage still worried about the Marathas, the Afghans and the French.  For these reasons, the plan was shelved for the time being.  This suggestion and the reaction of the King could be considered as the first major cause of unrest amongst the Royal Family and the residents of Delhi.  

The ascension of Akbar Shah to the throne of Hindustan

Shah Alam died in 1802, and Akbar Shah ascended the throne of Hindustan.  These were the times when the older British Officers respected the Mogul King and held him in great esteem.  Seton was the Resident at Delhi.  he used to stand in the Court of Shah Alam just as any other of Shah Alam’s Nobles.  He used to show full courtesy and deference to the King .  He even extended this respect to the children of the Royal Family.  Charles Metcalfe was the assistant to Stein. Due to his youth and shortcomings in his personality, he hated this state of affairs.  He considered it wrong to accord this level of Regal treatment to the King of Delhi and thought this would lead towards laying a thorny path in the plans of the British towards India.  With this in mind he wrote the following letter to the Governor:

“I am against the policy which Mr Stein has adopted towards the Royal Family.  The person appointed in Delhi by the British Government should not treat the Badshah in a way which would awaken his powers, instead it should be our intention to put to bed any such ideas.  Our actions should not be such as to give the Badshah his power or position.  We should refrain from giving him hopes of acquiring his Regal Powers.  He can be kept well and in comfort, but no actions should be taken to make him dream of coming back to power.”

After a few years Metcalfe was made the Resident at Delhi.  As soon as his appointment was confirmed he started making efforts and took action to humiliate the Badshah.  As a result the King, the Royal Family, the Nobility, the Religious Leaders and the Residents of Delhi were extremely upset and started wondering about how to get rid of the British.

This was the second important reason for the British to have created animosity with the Indians and the results were the events of 1857.

The enthronement of Bahadur Shah Zafar

Akbar Shah Badshah died in the evening on September 28, 1837.  Abu Zafar Sirajuddin Mohammed Bahadur Shah Badshah Gazi ascended the throne of Delhi.  Bahadur Shah was born in the Islamic Hijra Year of 1188 (1777) and at the time of his enthronement he was 60 years of age.  He was a very modest, well spoken, Sufi poet.  His father had tried to pass on the title to his younger brother Mirza Salim also known as Mirza Jahangir.  However, Mirza Salim hated the British and called the Resident Stein by the mocking name of “Lulu”.  He also shot at the resident and as a consequence was exiled to Allahabad.  The British as a result were opposed to making Mirza Jahangir the Crown Prince.  After that Shah Alam Badshah tried to make Mirza Nali the Crown Prince, this too failed and in the end Bahadur Shah ascended the throne.

At the time of Bahadur Shah’s crowning, Lord Auckland was the Governor General in India.  Charles Metcalfe was the Lieutenant Governor.  This was the same Metcalfe who had managed to upset the Royal Family in Delhi.  As soon as Bahadur Shah become King he applied to the British to increase his pension as the British had already promised such an increase to his father Akbar Shah.  As expected Metcalfe opposed the application.  Consequent to this opposition and also due to other reasons the Governor General did not increase the pension.  In reply the Governor General acknowledged that the British had agreed to increase the pension, but this would be done only if the Badshah exempted the Government from all the other obligations of the British.  Bahadur Shah replied that he would do the same as his father had done and not agree to the onerous conditions.  This was the third cause of discontent in the minds of the Badshah and his family against the British.

Akbar Shah Badshah had sent Raja Ram Mohan Roy  a well known Brahmin Socialite to London to act on behalf of the Moghul Family and to appeal directly to the Queen and Parliament in London.  He was very well received but nobody was willing to do anything about the petition.  In the end his mission failed and he returned to Delhi.  This failure created further apprehension in the minds of the Moghul family about their future.

Cessation of the custom of “Nazr”

In 1837 when Bahadur Shah Zafar ascended the throne of Delhi, the Commander in Chief according to old customs came to the King and gave the usual “Nazr” (presents).  This was also done at the time of the two Islamic Festival Days (Eids), and on “Nauroz” (The Moghul New Year’s day according to the Iranian calendar) and on the Badshah’s Birthday.  The Nazr was presented on behalf of the General and Commander in Chief by the Resident in Delhi.  However, Lord Allenborough stopped this custom.   This was a disappointment for the King and for the residents of Delhi.  The British Officials also found different ways of insulting and humiliating the Badshah on a daily basis. The Badshah was in the habit of referring to the  Resident as his son “Farzand Arjumand”.  When Charles Metcalfe died, Mr Harvey was appointed the Resident.  He wrote to the Badshah and said that he did not like to be referred to as “Farzand Arjumand”.

George Thomas

The Badshah appointed George Thomas an Englishman who was a good speaker and writer.  The Badshah wanted him to be his correspondent with the British.  However, all his efforts were of no use.

The Badshah’s Income

The Badshah was given a pension of Rs100,000 per month, on top of this he was getting Rs150,000 from his ownership of the area around Port Qasim and further rental income from houses owned by the Badshah in Delhi.  Out of this income he was sending Rs1,000 to Lucknow each month for the upkeep of members of the Royal Family there.  The rest was distributed amongst the very large number of Royal Family members living in and around the Red Fort of Delhi.

Dispute over the Crown Prince

In 1839 Dara Bakht the Crown Prince died.  At this time the dispute over the appointment of the next Crown Prince arose.

Zeenat Mahal was the King’s favourite wife and she had a son by the name of Jawan Bakht.  Zeenat Mahal was very keen to have her son appointed as the Crown Prince.  With her hold on the King’s affections she managed to persuade him to appoint Jawan Bakht as the Crown Prince.

Lord Dalhousie, the Governor General, meanwhile had other plans.  He wanted to get rid of the Monarchy completely.  On 1st August, 1844 he wrote to the Resident of Delhi instructing him that on the death of the present Badshah all matters relating to the his successor should be referred to the Governor General.  He also referred to the Delhi Resident’s suggestion that the successor should not hold the title of Badshah.  However, he wanted to look at all the advantages and disadvantages of such a move and wanted to think about it carefully.

The death of Crown Prince Dara Bakht gave an excuse to Lord Dalhousie to start scheming about the extinction of the Monarchy.  Bahadur Shah had a son Mirza Fateh Al Mulk also known as Mirza Fakhroo.  He was 30 years of age and was very pro British.  The Governor General found this Prince suitable to his schemes.  The Governor entered into a secret pact with this Prince, and one of the conditions was that after succeeding to the throne he would vacate the Red Fort.  When the Badshah heard this he objected strongly to the appointment of Mirza Fakhroo.  In spite of the Badshah’s objections, Mirza Fakhroo was appointed the Crown Prince.

On 10th July, 1856 Mirza Fakhroo died of cholera.  The dispute over the appointment of the Crown Prince rose once more.  The next day Thomas Metcalfe the Agent in Delhi appeared before the Badshah who gave him a letter demanding the appointment of Mirza Jawan Bakht as the Crown Prince.  Attached to this was a declaration by the eight other sons of Bahadur Shah saying that they were all agreeable that the son of Zeenat Mahal i.e., Mirza Jawan Bakht had the necessary qualities of intellect, education and decency and  he should , therefore, be appointed the Crown Prince.  This document was duly signed and sealed by all the Princes.  However, the very next day Mirza Kivaish wrote to the resident that the Badshah had extracted the signatures from the Princes in return of payments and promise of increased allowances.  He also told the Resident that since he was the eldest son, had visited Mecca for Haj, and knew the Quran by heart it was his right to be the Crown Prince.

It is said that this letter from him was not written upon his wishes but was instigated by the British Officials.  Whatever the reason, the Governor General Lord Canning found this to be a good excuse to implement the policy of his predecessor Lord Dalhousie.  He wrote back to the Resident in Delhi the following letter:

“ A lot of the elements of the glory of the Badshahi have finished and it is no longer as bright as it was.  Most of the rights of the Badshah have finished. It is, therefore, not difficult to think that on the death of the Badshah by just a few lines on paper the title could be abolished.  The Nazr presented to the Badshah has stopped, the coins issued under his name have been abolished, reference to the Badshah in the seal of the Governor have been taken out, and the various rulers in the Indian States have been instructed to do the same.  After all these actions it has been decided that there is nothing left to show that the British Rule is in any way subject to the will of the Badshah.  Therefore, continuing the title is dependent entirely on the will of the British Government.”

The Governor General then instructed the Resident to confirm that Mirza Kavaish was to be the Crown Prince and the suggestion to appoint Mirza Jawan Bakht in his place was rejected.  In addition Mirza Kavaish was told that the conditions of his being made Crown Prince would not include the Clauses included in the agreement with Mirza Fakhro.  He would not get the title of Badshah but would instead be referred to as the Prince.  He would have to vacate the Red Fort and instead of being paid Rs100,000 per month he would get only Rs15,000 per month.

The most interesting aspect of this was the instruction to relay all these conditions verbally to the Prince and not in writing.  When the Badshah and the citizens  of Delhi became aware of these, they were furious and the citizens of Delhi realised that just as the British were depriving their Badshah of his rights in the same manner the populace will slowly but surely lose all their rights too.

On the one hand this turmoil was created in the former Capital of India and at the same time other problems were created across the regions under the control of the British.  All these have been discussed in detail by Sir Syed and others.    In 1856, Mirza Kavaish became Crown Prince  and in 1857 the Mutiny started.  In a way the ulcer was there for a long time it just erupted on 11th May, 1857.

Opinion

I am not a writer just  a collector of ideas and facts.  However, looking at the events of the time any person would come to the conclusion that what was happening with Bahadur Shah Zafar was a slow strangulation.  In these conditions of hopelessness, although the Mutiny in Delhi started because of the pressure of the soldiers, nevertheless it cannot be disputed that the Badshah and his companions had reached the conclusion that it was better to fight and die rather than to have a slow, lingering and painful death.

The start of Mutiny in Delhi

The second, third, and fourth books in this series cover the events relating to the Mutiny.  For the sake of continuity it is necessary to state here the events prior to the Mutiny.  It is not necessary to state all the deep rooted and basic reasons for the Mutiny as Sir Syed Ahmed Khan has already done this in his book “Causes of the Mutiny in India”.  This book can be purchased from Aligarh College Duty Shop for a sum of Eight Annas (Rs 0.50).  In this book I have just stated the grievances of the Citizens of Delhi itself as Sir Syed did not cover them fully.

The situation in Delhi during the Mutiny

The Mutiny started in the Meerut Barracks.  On 10th May, 1857, on a Sunday, the British were preparing to attend the local church and there were no visible signs of any major problems.  The problems arising from the issuance of the new cartridges for the rifles were known to the British.  Two days earlier the new cartridges had been issued and it was explained to the soldiers by Colonel Smyth that the cartridges were not coated with pig or cow fat.  They were also told that if they did not want to strip the fat with their teeth, they could use their fingers to pull off the fat.  They were told that these were the same cartridges which were used for the last 30 to 40 years.  However, the Sepoys were not impressed with this speech and refused to take the cartridges.  As a result 85 Sepoys were arrested  and taken into custody.  On the morning of 8th May, 1857, these 85 Sepoys were brought on to the Parade Ground  and in view of all the other Sepoys their uniforms were taken off, they were put in chains and sentenced to ten years imprisonment .  The other Sepoys watched, but the captives, kept shouting at their compatriots asking them to get some bangles and sit with their women folk,  The captives shouted that the rest of the soldiers were not men  and nor were they Hindustanis as a Hindustani would sacrifice his own life to save his compatriots.

In spite of these insults, the Sepoys maintained their calm and discipline as they were surrounded by white British Soldiers.  The Sepoys though it would be unwise to take any action while they were unarmed and unprepared.   However, their faces were burning with suppressed rage, some were biting their lips, others running their fingers over their moustaches , which is a symbolic gesture of anger and an indicator of future vengeful actions.

After the captives departed the Sepoy army returned to their barracks, but they were furious with the day’s events.  Lord Canning in a later statement said that “To have put chains on the Sepoys when it would have taken hours to do so in the Parade Ground in front of their compatriots was an unnecessarily sharp sting on the Sepoys pride and was a stupidity beyond belief by the British Officers.  This was especially bad when the Sepoys were already upset by the incidents over the cartridges and many of whom still believed the story about the cartridges”.

The Commander in Chief considered the Court Martial as appropriate but thought the idea of a chaining in front of the troops to be out of order.  On the same day the Bazaars of Meerut were rife with the rumours that the British had ordered an additional 2000 chains for the rest of the Sepoys.  That same day the British Officers were informed at Dinner time that the Muslims had put up posters on the walls of Meerut declaring Jihad against the British.

In spite of the incidents on May 9^th, the British Officers were quite relaxed on Sunday 10^th and were preparing for Sunday Service at the Church.  Although things looked calm the sky looked very ominous.  The servants serving the British either did not arrive or they ran off towards the Bazaars.  The British on the other hand were quite arrogant about their position, and took no notice of the local population.  There was a lot of unrest in the Barracks of the Sepoys and rumours were flying around that the British soldiers were armed from head to foot and they would put chains on all the native soldiers, loot the markets and murder the civilians.

After a while this led to the mounted and foot sepoys going to the Jail, some of the Sepoys were in uniform whilst others wore their native dress.  They were armed with revolvers and guns.  They destroyed the jail and brought the Captives to the iron-smiths who cut them out of their chains.

The British Officers meanwhile, were at prayer in the Church while the Captives were being released.  At this point the Sepoys refrained from attacking the Church, had this happened then none of the British Officers and men would have escaped as they were unarmed and totally defenceless.  After prayers, the British Soldiers lined up on the parade ground and the Sepoys thought that they would be attacked.  The Sepoys set fire to their barracks and when the British Officers became aware of the commotion, they rushed over and tried to stop the Sepoys.  They used a combination of threats and pleadings.  The Sepoys took no notice of this and informed their officers that as far as the Sepoys were concerned the Rule of the Company had ended.  They told them to go away as it was not the intention of the Sepoys to harm the British , but neither was it their intention to accept them as their Masters.  The British Officers kept threatening the Sepoys and this resulted in the Sepoys taking out their rifles and firing at the British.  The first British to die in the Mutiny was Colonel Fintis who was shot.  After that there was complete mayhem with looting and murders taking place all over Meerut.  Apart from Colonel Fintis, seven other British soldiers and three families of British soldiers were killed.  Wherever any British men , women or children were seen they were immediately killed.  Victor Hugof wrote “ The houses in Indian Cities are like Jungle Caves, whose residents resemble humans  but can behave like beasts.  During the Mutiny this is exactly what was seen, the beasts came out of their caves both Hindus and Muslims and behaved towards the British in a beastly manner.”

In short the entire native army was destabilised and in the evening they started towards Delhi.  The British Soldiers were so confused that they could neither stop the mutiny nor could they come out in pursuit of the Rebel Army.  They were not even aware of where the mutinying soldiers were headed.  According to Hugof, Brigadier General Wilson in Meerut was in such shock that although he laid siege to Meerut all night, he could not stop the native soldiers from going towards Delhi.  If he had stopped them at this point, there may never have been a Mutiny in Delhi.

May 11, the Revolt in Delhi

Munshi Zakaullah wrote “On May 9, on a Saturday Mr F Taylor Principal of Delhi College asked Maulvi Syed Mohammed who was the Head of Arabic Department about what was happening in the City.  The Maulvi told him that there were rumours that there was an uprising in Meerut, and it was said that the days of the Raj were over.  However, the Maulvi told him that this was just mad talk and the organisation of the Government was such that no such cracks were likely to occur in it.  On hearing this the Principal raised his hands towards the heavens and said that the Destiny of Nations was up to Providence and was not dependent on men’s organisation.

In Meerut the British Force slept in the Parade Grounds while the Sepoys benefiting from a moon lit night continued moving towards Delhi.  They stopped for nothing and by the time of early morning prayers (Fajr, which is at Dawn), they reached Delhi.  The moment they reached Delhi they attacked the British there, burnt their houses and killed any British they could find.  They even killed women and children.

The heartless Hindustanis and their cruelty

This book has various references to the atrocities of the British and the soldiers under their command, however, it is only fair to mention that at the initial stages of the revolt, the Indian soldiers and the Indian civilians were so cruel to the British such that no punishment would be enough for the atrocities they committed.  They murdered helpless women, and did not even refrain from slaughtering pregnant women.  They threw up small children and impaled them on their spears.  They even stuck swords in the stomachs of pregnant women.  In short there was no limit to their cruelty towards the British soldiers and their families.

Munshi Zakaullah wrote that “I witnessed, a Memsahib, a British lady surrounded by the rebel Indian soldiers.  She had a baby in her arms and was trying to cover it with a towel.  She also had a toddler with her.  On the way the soldiers were showing them their swords and making gestures to indicate that they wanted to cut off their heads. The young boy kept clinging to his mother in fear and this continued until they reached the Red Fort.

The murder of the women and children within the Red Fort was a nasty event, no nation would murder women and children in disputes of State.  Bahadur Shah Zafar was totally against the killing these British prisoners and was extremely angry at the idea.  However, in spite of his opposition the soldiers carried out the evil deed.  The killers of these innocents were all Indians and this murder was a blot on the sense of Hindustani kindness and justice.

The British Army’s reaction was also unreasonable in that they hung many innocents.  Apart from killing the culprits, they also killed many people who had nothing to do with these events and all this was done without any proper investigations.  Other than these murders, the British soldiers were also responsible for other atrocities which will be narrated further in this book.  Nevertheless, my head bows down with shame when I think of the activities of the Hindustanis on May 11, 1857 and in the following months.

While travelling from Meerut to Delhi, the rebel soldiers were quite apprehensive about the British soldiers coming up behind them.  But , the British soldiers stayed on at the Meerut Parade Grounds and when the rebel soldiers reached the Jumna River near Delhi, they raised the slogan “Victory to our Mother Jumna”.

Mistakes made by the Commissioner of Delhi

Mr Simon Fraser who is still known in the villages surrounding Delhi, was the Commissioner of Delhi prior to the Mutiny.  It was said by the residents of Delhi that his sleep was the cause of inflaming the Mutiny.  Had he not been so fond of his sleep, then Delhi would have been better organised and the mutinying soldiers would not have managed to enter Delhi.

When the mutiny started in Meerut, the British Officers paid a large sum of money to some Indians to get a message across to the Commissioner of Delhi.  The message was that the mutinying soldiers may try to enter Delhi and the Commissioner should make arrangements to stop them from doing so.  This letter reached the Commissioner’s House at about midnight.  By that time the Commissioner had retired to sleep (it was rumoured that he was drunk).  His servants woke him up and gave him the letter.  He pocketed the letter and went back to sleep.  The messenger told the servants that the situation in Meerut was serious and that the Commissioner should be woken up  and asked to read the letter.  The servants replied that the master was prone to getting angry easily and they did not dare wake him up again.  In the morning when he read the letter, he started to make preparations  to defend Delhi but by that time the rebel soldiers had entered Delhi.

Munshi Zakaullah said that the news of the arrival of the letter was well known, but subsequent events relating to it were not so clear.  It was not possible to clarify this matter as on May 11, 1857, the Commissioner was murdered.  The details relating to this matter may have been suppressed by the senders of the message in order to protect the name of the deceased and there is no reason for the Hindustanis to have spread this as an untrue rumour.

If this matter about the letter is true, the mistake of the Commissioner cost Delhi dearly.  The responsibility of the murders and deaths in Delhi rests on this mistake.  In Meerut the responsibility lay with the British soldiers who did not go in pursuit of the rebel army and instead stayed resting in the Parade Grounds.  Had they followed the rebel soldiers the matter could have ended there.

Munshi Zakaullah has written “ I saw Mr Simon Fraser riding in a two horse carriage.  He stopped his carriage near the Magazine.  There some Telego Soldiers were standing guard and were in uniform.  He called the Subehdar of the Telego Company and asked him if he and his soldiers were loyal to him and the British.  The Subehdar replied that they were loyal to their faith.  They did  not even return his salute properly.  He went ahead and soon his carriage was surrounded by a number of people.  I then went ahead and came to the Red Diggit Street, there I saw the Magistrate of Delhi Mr Hutchinson as he came riding  and behind him were two orderlies plus the Kotwal (Police Inspector)  Mr Sharf Al Haq.  After a little while I saw 7/8 riders riding furious looking horses and following in the same direction as the Magistrate.  At this point I turned around and returned home.”

Mr Fraser had arranged to close the Calcutta Gate.  When the rebels saw this shut, they went along the river under the walls of the Fort until they arrived at the  Watch Tower , at the corner of the Fort.  From there,  they cried out to the King saying We need the help of the King to fight for our religion.  The King did not respond but called on Hakim Ahsanullah Khan and Ghulam Abbas Shams Uddaulah and ordered them to go to Captain Douglas, the keeper of the Fort and inform him of the arrival of the rebel soldiers.  After a while Ghulam Abbas came back with Captain Douglas, who immediately went to the corridor and told the rebel soldiers who were standing under the Balcony, and told them that this was the bedroom of the Badshah and they must not disturb him with their complaints.  If they had to say anything they should go to the Chief Police Station and make their complaints there, and a hearing could be held there.  The riders then went off in the direction of the Ghats.  The Badshah had by now come out into the open courtyard of the Diwan Khas (The Chamber of Special Hearing), and met Captain Douglas who told him not to worry and that all this disturbance will soon be stopped.

The rebel soldiers rode towards the gate near the Ghats but Captain Douglas had already ordered these gates to be shut.  However, as soon as the rebels approached the doors, they were opened.  There were strange rumours about the opening of these gates.  Some said that a rider clad in Green descended from the skies and opened the gates, others said that the Guards on Duty opened it.   Whatever the reasons, the Rebel Soldiers on finding the gates open, entered the City of Delhi and started murdering the British.  They were shouting “Deen, Deen”, (meaning “religion, religion”).  When these shouts were heard by the residents, crowds of Muslims gathered around them and started bringing sweet drinks for the soldiers to drink.

The Commissioner, Captain Douglas, Sir Thomas Metcalfe, Hutchinson and other British Officials had all collected at the Chief Police Station.  The rebel soldiers and the citizens of Delhi had surrounded them.  At this point, Fraser shot a soldier who was approaching him, the soldier turned around and fell dead.  His compatriots stepped back but the crowd of citizens in total disregard of the guns started raising slogans  and attacked.  The British started running towards their homes but before they could reach them , Mr Fraser,  Mr Douglas, and Mr Hutchinson were killed.

The loyalty of a Hindustani

Munshi Zakaullah said that he was informed by Judge Roy Shankar Das of the Sessions  Court that on hearing of the disturbances, Session Judge Smith dismissed the Court,  got on his horse and went riding towards the disturbances.  An old tailor who used to work for him previously, stopped his horse and getting hold of the reins turned the horse around saying to the judge “Sahib why are you going towards your death” and thus stopped him from going any further.

There were two young women in the house of Captain Douglas.  Both of them were killed by the rebels.  Delhi Bank was looted and its European Manager was killed.  The  Christian employees of Delhi Gazette were killed, basically on the surface the British and their Government was wiped out from Delhi.  The rest of the events have been narrated in my Book No 2 called the “Story of the British”, and in Book No. 4 called the “Trial of Bahadur Shah Zafar”, therefore, there is no need to repeat these matters here.  The main point is that wherever in Hindustan the revolt started, the soldiers headed towards Delhi and Delhi became the centre of the Revolt.  Bahadur Shah’s two sons Mirza Mughal and Mirza Kazr Sultan and some of his other sons accepted the leadership of the Revolt.

The British in spite of the difficult circumstances managed to collect the Sikhs from Punjab, the Gurkhas from Nepal and other Muslims from the Punjab.  With this force, they occupied the ridge around Delhi.  Conquering Delhi became their main aim as the course of future events could only be determined by what happened at Delhi.

The Rebels in Delhi and the British Forces faced each other for the final battle across the walls of Delhi, and this went on for several months.

Preparations for the attack on Delhi 

In September 1857, the British had agreed that whatever it took, it was necessary to take Delhi back.  Towards this end their engineers, soldiers and labourers were working hard at the preparations.  First they prepared a defence at the Canning House and fixed six cannons on it, so that they could contain the attacks coming from the Lahori Gates and to stop the smoke emitting cannon fire coming from the Bastion of the Mori Gate.  The other plan was to give the indication that the main attack would come from the front and while the attention of the defenders was shifted there to attack at another front.

On September 6 all the soldiers who could come for the siege had already arrived.  The force consisted of 2500 foot soldiers, 1000 cavalry and 600 Gunners.  In this force there were only 3317 white soldiers, the rest of the force was made up of Sikhs, Gurkhas and Punjabi Muslims.  They  had a lot of  Coolies too.  To fill up the trenches, the Engineers had collected 10,000 bundles of wood and 100,000 bags of sand.  They also got together a lot of baskets and ladders.

On September 7 after dusk when it started getting dark, they loaded all this on camels and with the help of the coolies they started moving the material forward towards the walls of the city.  The idea was to move it all forward before the morning.  Unfortunately for the British, the moon came out and the rebel soldiers were able to see the material being moved.  The guns at the Mori Gate and blasted the Coolies and the Camels away.  However, the losses were not too great as the guns stopped firing as soon as the front of the column had been destroyed,  as the Gunners thought that they had destroyed the lot.  This gave the British some time to breath and re-group..

Next morning the British Forces started firing their cannons and the bombardment was so furious that by the afternoon the defences at the Mori Gate were destroyed and the City Walls developed a lot of cracks.  The Rebel Soldiers opened up with their guns and the British sustained heavy losses.  The Major’s defences opposite the Kashmiri Gate from where they were firing cannon, sustained direct hits and caught fire which was put out with great difficulty.  Opposite the Kashmiri Gate was the Ludlow Castle at a distance of about 500 yards.  Until then the Kashmiri Gate had been used by the Rebel Soldiers to make sorties against the British.  On September 8, the British took Ludlow Castle,  militarily this was quite a strategic position.   On December 10, the British prepared a position in Qudsia Bagh and on the same day Captain Taylor prepared another position opposite the Water Bastion  at a distance of about 150 yards.  This position was at the Customs House and proved to be a very successful position.  It is strange that the Rebels did not think of defending it previously.  However, while the British were preparing it , the rebels kept them under cannon and gun fire which caused considerable damage.  On 11th September, both sides used their cannons and a furious cannon battle took place.  The guns at the Kashmiri Gate were put out of action, but the Rebels made holes in the walls and mounted their cannons in such a manner that for every British Gun the Defenders had one firing back.  They fired their shells so furiously and accurately that it caused considerable damage to the British.  There were no sections of the British Force which were untouched.  The attacking British Force lost 337 men and there were numerous injured.

On the night of September 13, Mr Medley and Mr Lang who were both Army Engineers were asked to check out the Bastion of the Kashmiri Gate and the Water Gate to see if the walls had been sufficiently damaged to make an assault.  Both the Engineers entered the moat near these gates and were trying to get to the top of the holes in the wall when they heard voices overhead and the sound of guns being loaded.  At this they lay down on the grass and stayed there for several hours.  They noted that the breaches in the wall were quite wide, but when they tried to get out they were spotted by the Sepoys who started firing at them.  Fortunately for them , their luck held and in spite of the bullets whistling past them they managed to return to their positions.  They reported that the breaches in the walls were quite large and with this news, Mr Home and Mr Grant gave the instructions to carry out an all out assault on September 14.

The attacking force was formed into 5 columns.  The first column was commanded by General Nicholson.  These columns added up to 5000 strong soldiers.  The sick and the injured were left to defend the camp.  Major Hudson was the Intelligence Chief who was getting information from spies within the city.  Even some members of the Royal Family were sending him news.  The Head of the spies was Munshi Rajab Ali who was relied upon by the British for their information.  Inside the Fort, Mirza Ilahi Bux who was the  father in law of the King was sending the news to the British through Munshi Rajab Ali.

Defeat of Delhi on September 14

The British had decided to attack Delhi early in the morning, but their soldiers had spent the night on piquet duty all along the camp and they were therefore late.  First the 60^th Rifles came forward shouting and advancing rapidly.  At the same time General Nicholson attacked from the Qudsia Bagh and started moving towards the breaches in the city walls.  The Rebels showered the advancing forces with cannon and rifle fire and as a result the attackers suffered heavy losses, but soon they came up with ladders and the soldiers nearest to the wall started laying the ladders against them.  The first person to climb the wall was General Nicholson together with some other British soldiers and some native troops.  All of them were killed or had to retreat. The space below the walls was soon filled with dead bodies.

The force that attacked from the direction of the Permit House also suffered heavy casualties but managed to enter the City.  Near the Kashmiri Gate,, the British blew up a window and entered through the breach.  When they got through, they realised that there was just one cannon together with the bodies of a few Telugu Soldiers.  The force entering from the Water Bastion, and the force coming from the Kashmiri Gate joined up in the Church grounds and there they established themselves instead of going forward.

The fourth column moved from the Sabzi Mandi towards KusharGanj and attacked at PaharGanj, but right at the beginning Mr Reed who was commanding this column was mortally wounded and many of the Officers were either killed or wounded.  After heavy losses, this column retreated towards the compound of Hindu Rao, there they joined up with the Kashmiri contingent which had suffered heavy losses and lost 4 of their cannon to the Rebels.

On the instructions of Mr. Nicholson, one part of the army moved towards the Ajmer Gate and the other section moved from the Kabuli Gate towards the Jama Masjid.  The British Flag was planted on the Kabuli Gate but the rebels fought back so ferociously that the British near the Ajmeri Gate had to retreat towards the Kabuli Gate.    The Burn Bastion was retaken by the Rebels.  Seeing this Mr Nicholson made a concerted attack on the Burn Bastion.  However, as soon as they advanced, Major Jacob was shot and a number of other Officers were also killed.  When the soldiers saw their Officers dying, they started retreating, but Mr Nicholson ran forward and asked them to follow him, however, he was also shot in the chest and the soldiers ran off towards the Kabuli Gate.

The Fight at the Jama Masjid

One part of the army was under Sir Thomas Metcalfe.  He knew Delhi very well as he had been working there previously as a Collector and as a Magistrate.  He guided the force under him through the back alleyways, well away from the line of fire of the Rebels.  His force managed to reach the Jama Masjid and waited there for reinforcements.  This is where the Lady Dufferin Hospital now stands.  He thought that the forces from the Ajmeri Gate, the Kabuli Gate and the Sabzi Mandi will join up.  He waited for half an hour but the forces did not arrive.  At this time there were thousands of Muslims praying their Juma Prayers at the Jama Masjid.  They realised that the British were attempting to blow up the Mosque with gunpowder.  They were armed only with swords and did not have any guns or cannon.  One of them got up on the Mimbar and told his fellow men “The time for your test has arrived.  Those who want to fight should go to the North Gate, and those who want to escape should go to the South Gate as there is no enemy there”.  Not a single person went to the South Gate.  All of them came out shouting Allah O Akbar and drew their swords, they cut off the scabbards and threw them away in a symbolic gesture of not willing to return their swords to their scabbards.  They attacked Metcalfe’s forces, but he was ready with guns and the moment they came out his forces fired and about 200 of the attackers died on the steps of the Jama Masjid, however, the rest of them kept attacking and sword fights broke out between the two forces.  The attackers fought with such valour that Metcalfe and his forces had to retreat towards the Church grounds at the Kashmiri Gate.  The Muslims followed them but in view of the large number of troops there they did not go any further.

The  General in Panic

Mr Campbell who was injured in the fighting said that if reinforcements had arrived in time and had he the bags of gunpowder available he would have blown up the Jama Masjid on that day. 

Lord Roberts in his book Forty Years in India said:

 “ We joined the General at Ludlow Castle and watched the progress of the fighting from its roof.  When he was satisfied that his attack had proved successful, he rode through the Kashmir Gate to the Church, where he remained for the rest of the day. 

He was ill and tired out, and as the day wore on and he received discouraging reports, he became more and more anxious and depressed. He heard of Reid's failure, and of Reid himself having been severely wounded; then came the disastrous news that Nicholson had fallen, and a report (happily false) that Hope Grant and Tombs were both killed. All this greatly agitated and distressed the General, until at last he began seriously to consider the advisability of leaving the city and falling back on the Ridge.

I was ordered to go and find out the truth of these reports, and to ascertain exactly what had happened to No. 4 column and the Cavalry on our right.

Just after starting on my errand, while riding through the Kashmir gate, I observed by the side of the road a palanquin (doolie) , without bearers , and with evidently a wounded man inside. I dismounted to see if I could be of any use to the occupant, when I found, to my grief and consternation, that it was John Nicholson, with death written on his face. He told me that the bearers had put the doolie down and gone off to plunder; that he was in great pain, and wished to be taken to the hospital. He was lying on his back, no wound was visible, and but for the pallor of his face, almost colourless, there was no sign of the agony he must have been enduring. On my expressing a hope that he was not seriously wounded, he said: "I am dying; there is no chance for me." The sight of that great man lying helpless and on the point of death was almost more than I could bear. Other men had died around me, friends and comrades had been killed beside me, but I never felt as I felt then—to lose Nicholson seemed to me at that moment to lose everything.

I searched about for the doolie-bearers, who, with other camp-followers, were busy ransacking the houses and shops in the neighbourhood, and carrying off everything of the slightest value they could lay their hands on. Having with difficulty collected four men, I put them in charge of a sergeant of the 61st Foot. Taking down his name, I told him who the wounded officer was, and ordered him to go directly to the field hospital.

That was the last I saw of Nicholson. I found time to ride several times to the hospital to inquire after him, but I was never allowed to see him again.

Continuing my ride, I soon found both Hope Grant and Tombs .  It seemed so important to acquaint the General without delay that Hope Grant and Tombs were both alive, that the Cavalry had been relieved from their exposed position, and that there was no need for further anxiety about Reid's column, that I galloped back to the church as quickly as possible.

The news I was able to give for the moment somewhat cheered the General, but did not altogether dispel his gloomy forebodings; and the failure of Campbell's column. (which just at that juncture returned to the church), the hopelessness of Nicholson's condition, and, above all, the heavy list of casualties he received later, appeared to crush all spirit and energy out of him. His dejection increased, and he became more than ever convinced that his wisest course was to withdraw from the city. He would, I think, have carried out this fatal measure, notwithstanding that every officer on his staff was utterly opposed to any retrograde movement, had it not been his good fortune to have beside him a man sufficiently bold and resolute to stimulate his flagging energies. Baird-Smith's indomitable courage and determined perseverance were never more conspicuous than at that critical moment, when, though suffering intense pain from his wound, and weakened by a wasting disease, he refused to be put upon the sick-list; and on Wilson appealing to him for advice as to whether he should or should not hold on to the position we had gained, the short but decisive answer, "We must hold on," was given in such a determined and uncompromising tone that it put an end to all discussion.

Neville Chamberlain gave similar advice. Although still suffering from his wound, and only able to move about with difficulty, he had taken up his position at Hindu Rao's house, from which he exercised, as far as his physical condition would allow, a general supervision and control over the events that took place on the right of the Ridge. He was accompanied by Daly and a very distinguished Native officer of the Guides, named Khan Sing Rosa, both of whom, like Chamberlain, were incapacitated by wounds from active duty. From the top of Hindu Rao's house Chamberlain observed the first successes of the columns, and their subsequent checks and retirements, and it was while he was there that he received two notes from General Wilson. In the first, written after the failure of the attacks on the Jama Masjid and the Lahore gate, the General asked for the return of the Baluch battalion, which, at Chamberlain's request, had been sent to reinforce Reid's column, and in it he expressed the hope that "we shall be able to hold what we have got." In the second note, written at four o'clock in the afternoon, the General asked whether Chamberlain "could do anything from Hindu Rao's house to assist," adding, "our numbers are frightfully reduced, and we have lost so many senior officers that the men are not under proper control; indeed, I doubt if they could be got to do anything dashing. I want your advice. If the Hindu Rao's piquet cannot be moved, I do not think we shall be strong enough to take the city." Chamberlain understood General Wilson's second note to imply that he contemplated withdrawing the troops from the city, and he framed his reply accordingly. In it he urged the necessity for holding on to the last; he pointed out the advantages already gained, and the demoralization thereby inflicted upon the enemy. The dying Nicholson advocated the same course with almost his latest breath. So angry and excited was he when he was told of the General's suggestion to retire, that he exclaimed, "Thank God I have strength yet to shoot him, if necessary." There was no resisting such a consensus of responsible and reliable opinion, and Wilson gave up all idea of retreating.”

The Delhi which had been lost by the British on May 11, 1857 was recaptured by them on September 14, 1857.  In the fighting the British casualties were 66 Officers and 1104 soldiers.    The City had been captured but was not fully under the control of the British.  Armed men were present in the City and they were also in possession of Cannon.  However, the British had managed to capture strong positions and fighting continued on 15,16,17 and 18 September.  However, the Rebels were suffering defeats and were slowly retreating from their positions.  On September 19, 2003 the whole City came under the control of the British

The Capture of Bahadur Shah Zafar and the Speech of Lord Governor Bakht Khan

On the night of  September 19, the British consolidated their hold on Delhi.  Bahadur Shah Zafar at that point decided to leave the fort.  At this time the Rebels were under their famous Commander Muhammad Bakht Khan, he was originally from Bareilly.  He was such a competent military commander and managed the affairs so ably that he was acknowledged by all the nobles, the army and the other Rebel Officers.   As a result he had so much influence over Bahadur Shah Zafar that the Badshah refused to take any action without consulting him.  He was also given the title of Lord Governor.  He told the Badshah:  "Although the British have taken the City, militarily it is not a big blow to the Rebel Army as the whole of Hindustan is up in arms against the British and everyone is looking up to you for guidance.  Travel with me to the mountains from where the fight can be continued in such a way that the British would not be able to break through.  He explained to the Badshah that Delhi was the Capital not a fortress.  For war a place like Delhi was not suitable, and that the few months that the Rebels have managed to defend it was in itself no mean achievement.  The British were on a Hill and even an untrained Army would have succeeded from such a favourable position.  The appointment of your son  Mirza Mughal as the Commander in Chief had created problems.  Mirza Mughal was not trained as an army commander and was , therefore, continuously getting in the way.  He also did not know how to control the unruly Rebel Soldiers.  Had all the people cooperated and not been suspicious of each other’s motives, it would not have been impossible to defeat the well trained and disciplined British Forces facing them on the Hills.  Unfortunately our lack of cooperation and distrust resulted in our defeat, as instead of fighting the enemy we were continuously spending our resources in fighting and distrusting each other.

Even now not everything was lost and in fact nothing was lost.  All the Indian States were watching things carefully to see which side starts winning the war.  The Indian States are all fed up with the British and realise that they only want to swallow them one after another based on any excuses they can come up with.  The moment we start showing some success the Indian States will move to our side and start sending reinforcements.   The Rulers of all the Indian States love their religion, they can see that the British want to force the yolk of Christian Religion round all our necks and thus make us their slaves.  If you  could move to a safe place and fight the British from there, the whole country will support us.  All that was needed were fighting men, food for them, money and arms.  As India has so much of these that if the British were to bring everyone of their countrymen including their children we could still fight them for Centuries.  Even now the people helping them are our own countrymen who have been misled into supporting the British.  They have been bought with promises of Loot and Prizes.  Tomorrow when we get stronger, we can make them similar promises and I am sure they will come over to our side.

Telling you the following is like showing the Sun a candle, in that your ancestors faced bigger defeats and setbacks then this and yet fought on.  ShahanShah Babar was at times so surrounded by his enemies that he had to make his escape alone, ShahanShah Humayun escaped to Iran in a state of utter helplessness, yet his steadfastness overcame all difficulties and his descendants ruled over this land for many years afterwards.  You too are a candle of that Universal Light and you even have the support of the whole nation including every child in it.  The whole of Hindustan is ready to collect under your banner to die and to fight for their country.  If you come with me I will in a few days sort out all the problems and will keep you safe from all problems and discomfort."

The Badshah was quite impressed with the speech of Bakht Khan.  He told him that he  wished to proceed to the Shrine of Humayun and that Bakht Khan should meet him there the next morning when the Badshah will decide on the future course of action.

The Speech of  Mirza Ilahi Bux

On this side all this was going on , and on the other hand Mirza Ilahi Bux was in league with the British to make sure that under no circumstances would the Badshah leave with the Rebel Army.  Munshi Rajab  Ali who was also in league with the British and was one of their main spies was constantly in touch with Mirza Ilahi Bux and was telling him that if he could persuade Bahadur Shah Zafar to stay where he was and not to go with the Rebels, the British would make sure that Mirza Ilahi Bux was well rewarded.  Not only that but for the rest of his and his children’s life they would look after him and reward him (actually the British did fulfil their promise and the children of Mirza Ilahi Bux got a pension of Rs1200 for life). 

After the departure of  Bakht Khan from the presence of  Bahadur Shah Zafar, Mirza Ilahi Bux approached him and said  :

“I agree with every word that Lord Governor Bakht Khan said, however, I would ask the question whether this fight is between you and the British or is it between the British and the rebel army.  It is obvious that the army was disillusioned with the way they were being treated, they came to you and you were helpless.  You did not have the forces to stop them.  The British are well aware of your problems.  They also know  that the actions taken and the orders issued by the rebels under your name had nothing to do with you.  Therefore, there is no need for you to worry about any of these matters.  However, if you do go with the Rebels the British will question your intentions and they will get an excuse to declare you guilty.

I am sure that there is no place where the Rebels will stop and put up a fight against the British.  What Bakht Khan told me, I agree with you word by word,  and it is quite true that the States in India and in the hearts of the Hindus and Muslims of Hindustan you are beloved, but I cannot see that the Rebel forces will remain under either your control or that of Bakht Khan.  The forces which could not be controlled by the British who had wisdom, technology and money cannot be expected to be controlled by Bakht Khan.

The weather is hot, the rainy season is going to start, in your old and feeble age how will you put up with all the problems faced outside your own home.  During times of war, problems are even worse.  How will you go around with all the young Princes, Princesses and Veiled Queens.  My suggestion is that you do not go with the Rebels. I will meet the British and arrange with them to give safe conduct for  your life and that of your family against any harm.  Whatever happens to the country at least your welfare will be looked after.”

After listening to this speech from Mirza Ilahi Bux,  the Badshah went quiet.  However, one of his Eunuchs said “ Your Highness ,  Mirza Ilahi Bux has joined up with the British, you should not listen to him.  Please listen to the request of Bakht Khan and do not go with what these others are saying,  Death and suffering is linked to everybody”, to this the Badshah said “I will listen to both sides and give my response tomorrow”.

The next day the Badshah with his Queens arrived at the Tomb of Humayun.  He sent the Queens and children to the Tomb but he himself went off to the Shrine of Hazrat Khwaja Nizamuddin Aulia, he paid his respects and came back to the Tomb of Humayun.  Meanwhile Mirza Ilahi Bux reported everything to Hudson through Munshi Rajab Ali and told him that he had stopped the Badshah from going with Bakht Khan and the rebels.  He also said that the next day he will meet the King again at the Tomb of Humayun.  He requested that Hudson should come to the Western Gate of the Tomb with some soldiers as Bakht Khan was going to come from the Eastern Gate as his army was waiting in the sand at the River side.  He suggested that as soon as Bakht Khan had departed, Hudson should enter the Tomb and capture the Badshah.

Hudson informed General Wilson and ordered Munshi Rajab Ali to ask Mirza Ilahi Bux  to as far as possible prevent the Badshah from leaving with Bakht Khan.  He told him that after Bakht Khan has left, Mirza Ilahi Bakht should try and keep the Badshah at the tomb for the next 24 hours after which the arrangements for his arrest will be made.  When Bakht Khan came to take the King with him,  arguments started.  Bakht Khan wanted the Badshah to go with him, the Badshah wanted to go but Mirza Ilahi Bux kept stopping the Badshah.  Arguments broke out and there was some exchange of hard words between Mirza Ilahi Bux and Bakht Khan.  Mirza Ilahi Bux told Bakht Khan.

 "Lord Governor Sahib, yesterday you said that you want to protect  His Highness from all troubles, does this mean that under his name you want to rule Hindustan.  Why are you taking His Highness out in this severe weather so that you get to rule Hindustan and thereby take revenge from the Mughals for snatching Hindustan from the Pathans.  I know that you are a Pathan and Pathans keep grievances for scores of years”.

When Bakht Khan heard this from Mirza Ilahi Bux he got so angry that he was going to attack and kill him, but the Badshah stopped him and said

“Brave, I believe every word you say and I respect all your opinions from my heart, but now my body has no strength, therefore, I have decided to let fate decide things for me.  Leave me to my fate, take the name of Allah and go from here and do something .  If it is not me, if it is not my family, you or some other Hindustani should keep up our honour, do not worry about me, just go and do your duty”.

When Bakht Khan heard this he was disheartened, and biting his lip he left from the Eastern Gate.  He then went down to the river and together with his forces departed to some place so remote and unknown that nobody found out where he had gone.  Bakht Khan was an intelligent men and his forces were completely devoted to him.  From the time he arrived in Delhi, until its defeat he managed his forces so well that they suffered hardly any losses.  He managed to command the rest of the Rebel Army so well that they managed to defend Delhi, without him they were so disorganised that they would not have been able to fight even for a couple of days.

After leaving Bahadur Shah, Bakht Khan aided by his superior intellect and disappeared in such a manner that neither he nor his soldiers were touched by the vengeance of the British.  He was the main instrument in sustaining the rebellion and its leader.  Luck did not side with him otherwise he could have ruled Hindustan and would have not only succeeded in expelling the British from Hindustan but would have removed the weak Mughals from the centre and would have been history’s next Sher Shah.

Major Hudson found out through Mirza Ilahi Bux that the rebels had been unable to take the Badshah with him and that the Badshah was now in the tomb without the help of any of his supporters.  He then asked General Wilson’s permission to go and capture the Badshah from the tomb.  General Wilson gave his permission but at that point  discussions started about whether to bring the Badshah out alive or dead.  It was General Wilson’s opinion that the Badshah should be murdered, but the other officers were opposed to it.  In the end it was agreed not to murder the Badshah as at that point only Delhi had been captured and the rest of Hindustan was still under the flames of rebellion and it would be tactful to capture the Badshah alive.

Major Hudson took 50 mounted solders and moved towards the West Gate of the Tomb of Humayun, he stood outside and sent a message to the Badshah that he had arrived to arrest the Badshah and asked him to come to the gate so that he could be taken away.

Hudson was a hard hearted and cruel person, one British historian has written about him  that :  “

The battlefield was his dance hall, other than warlike pursuits he had no interest in song or music, he had no consideration for human suffering, the injuring of any person made no effect on him and killing a person was like breaking a twig to him.  Attacking escaping and unarmed men and looting their goods gave him heartfelt pleasure.  The cruelty inflicted on the inhabitants of Delhi could be traced directly to his character and was not a reflection of British attitudes.”

In spite of this cruel streak, he was decent enough to stay outside the Tomb and did not enter it.  However, this reluctance to go in could also be due to his suspicion that Bakht Khan’s men could be hidden inside the Tomb and he had no intention to risk his life entering it.

Anyway, when the message of Hudson reached the Badshah he glared at Mirza Ilahi Bux and said  “You stopped me from going with Bakht Khan, if the British have nothing to do with me as you had suggested, why is it that they have now come to arrest me?”   Mirza Ilahi Bux stood there saying nothing with his head hanging down looking at the floor.  The Badshah then decided to send for Bakht Khan , but the people who were in sympathy with the British had already prepared Zeenat Mahal Begum , who said “There is no time left to call Bakht Khan, and there is  no surety of finding him.  It would be better to get Major Hudson to promise that no harm will come to you, me and Mirza Jawan Bakht before you agree to surrender, and unless you get this promise you should not go to him”.

Following this suggestion, a message was sent to Major Hudson that the British promise that no harm would come to the Badshah, his Queens and his children, and upon this promise the Badshah would surrender.

Hudson agreed to this and after two hours of these negotiations the Badshah came out of the Tomb.  Zeenat Mahal Begum and Jawan Bakht were both in palkins and the Badshah went on foot escorted by his Eunuchs.

Anguished Scene

Major Hudson had posted his riders behind the ruins and grave stones and with two or three white soldiers he stood alone near the entrance.  When the Badshah came out he saw Hudson and the two glared at each other.  The Badshah who was used to dealing only with the Governor and the senior most of British Officers now had to deal with a lowly British soldier.  The Badshah said to Hudson “Are you Hudson”,  and Hudson said “Yes my name is Hudson”, to this the Badshah said “ If you are Hudson then I want to hear from you the promise you made via your message to me in the Tomb, that is that you will be responsible for my and wife Zeenat Mahal’s and my son Jawan Bakht’s safety”.

In spite of his haughty nature, Hudson said to the Badshah “Be assured there is no danger to your life or to that of Zeenat Mahal and Jawan Bakht”.

After that a palkin was brought over and the Badshah got into it and they started with the escort of the riders.

In Lord Curzon’s Delhi Durbar there was placed a hand painted picture of this event and after looking at it I wrote an article about it.  This was published in the first of this series of books and it would be useful to copy it here so that the reader can get an idea of what happened at that time.  The article is as follows:

Picture of Mutiny

Allah, Allah , the rise and fall of times throws up such scenes.  This  Delhi throw which so many hopeful souls have passed one day saw its conquest by Babar who with the force of his sword conquered it and in front of the relatives of Ibrahim Lodhi he spilled his blood to irrigate the soil of Delhi, and today it is his descendents who through their own actions have reduced themselves to this state of helplessness.

As soon as you entered the Delhi Durbar there was the picture of the descendents of the Timurs, Abu Zafar Bahadur Shah being captured at the gates of the Tomb of Humayun.  In the background is the Tomb of Humayun all draped in sadness.   Bahadur Shah is wearing a cloak, in his hands is a staff,  he looks old and forlorn, Major Hudson in a red uniform is holding on to him and behind Hudson are two of his soldiers.  Looking at this affront to the dignity of the Badshah one of the old servants of the Badshah drew his sword and armed just with this weapon and a shield to protect him he charged, but before he could reach Hudson he was shot by one of the soldiers thus ending the valiant attempt to protect the honour of his master. 

The pathetic thing is that even at the sad end of worldly matters, people still have a desire for what it offers.  Just as I was going out I saw an open page of the Diwan of Hafiz and the first verse of it was::

(my Persian is not good enough to translate the above)

The picture showing Hudson holding the cloak of Bahadur Shah and the attack by his attendant, is purely fiction and is a result of the artist’s imagination.  However, the coincidence of seeing Hafiz’s Diwan and the page being opened on this very verse is quite moving.   No doubt at that moment Bahadur Shah was a great catch for the British and a matter of  abject sorrow for Hindustan.

The intention of Hudson

At this point it would be a historically correct to say that like General Wilson Major Hudson too wanted to murder Bahadur Shah.  However, due to the insistence of other British Officers quite reluctantly he had agreed to promise the safety of Bahadur Shah’s life.  It was his personal intention to murder Bahadur Shah and Hudson wrote in his personal diary “I would have liked to bring back Bahadur Shah back to Delhi dead rather than alive”.

The irony is that in the same text he has written that “Bahadur Shah did not take any active part in the revolt”.

In short Hudson took the Badshah, Zeenat Mahal and Jawan Bakht towards the Lahore Gate of Delhi, and went through the market in Chandni Chowk to the Red Fort and there he took them to the Palace of Zeenat Mahal.

The reason for going through the Lahore Gate and walking through Chandni Chowk  was to make sure that the whole city was aware of the arrest of Bahadur Shah.

After reaching the Fort,  Bahadur Shah asked to see General Wilson who replied that “ There is no need for him to see me now and I have no wish to see him”, after that General Wilson sent his Aide De Camp Lieutenant Turnel to the Badshah and he put a guard of British soldiers around the house of the Badshah.

Imagine the conditions

Although Bahadur Shah and his father Akbar Shah and his grandfather Shah Alam were all in a way the prisoners of the British Government, imagine the feelings of Bahadur Shah when he realised he was a prisoner in his own Fort.  Think of  the feelings of his lovely wife Zeenat Begum and the condition of Prince Jawan Bakht.

There is no way of realising what went on except to imagine their condition and their feelings.  In spite of the assurances given by Hudson they could not have been sure about their personal safety.  They would be feeling the passing away of their life of peace, quite and luxury and the Badshah would have been worried sick about the welfare of his subjects and about the safety of his other children.

The murder of the Badshah’s sons

Munshi Zakaullah has stated that “On the second day of the capture of the Badshah, Munshi Rajab Ali and Mirza Ilahi Bux reported that Mirza Mughal and Mirza Khazr Sultan the two sons of the Badshah and his nephew Mirza AbuBakar were also in the Tomb of Humayun and these were the very men who were responsible for the murder of the British women and children in the Fort.  Major Hudson was furious at this news and after taking permission from General Wilson he departed on his mission to murder the Princes.  Mr MacDonald also accompanied Major Hudson.  Taking 100 instead of 50 riders with him, he went to the Tomb and at that time he was accompanied by the spies Munshi Rajab Ali and Mirza Ilahi Bux.

All three Princes were inside the Tomb, but in spite of his large force, Major Hudson was again reluctant to enter the Tomb as the Princes were surrounded by a group of their fierce supporters. 

 Just like their father, the Princes  refused to surrender until they were given guarantees of safe conduct and a promise that they would not be harmed.  Major Hudson replied that he had no authority to give any such guarantees to them  as he was under the command of General Wilson.  He told them that in the case of Bahadur Shah he had instructions from General Wilson to give him such a guarantee.  He asked them to surrender unconditionally and that the matter will be settled when they got to General Wilson.

 On getting this response the Princes turned to their supporters for advice and they said to them “Members of the Timur family do not give themselves up in this way, we will take our swords and fight after that it is up to fate.  When Aurangzeb tried to get Dara Sikoh murdered when he was in the Jail, he picked up a kitchen knife and fought for a while against his opponents.  We should do the brave thing, we can defeat Hudson and his riders in a short time.  We have to die today or tomorrow, why not meet death bravely”.

 The Princes liked this suggestion, but Mirza Ilahi Bux intervened .  He opened up with his advice and raised so many objections to this suggestion that the Princes were moved to change their minds in view of the sympathetic attitude and suggestions of Mirza Ilahi Bux.  They said their farewells to their sympathisers and came out of the Tomb.

When the Princes came in front of Hudson, he glared at them but kept quiet.   He ordered them to get into four wheeled carriages, they were then surrounded by Hudson's men and started moving towards Delhi.  When they were one mile outside Delhi, Hudson ordered them out of the carriages and remove their clothes.  The Princes looked at each other but at that point they were not aware that their lives were in danger. They had been given reassurance that Hudson had no powers to take their lives.  It would be up to General Wilson who was most likely to guarantee their safety just as he had done for the Badshah.  The Princes were, therefore, quite surprised at the order to get off the carriages and to disrobe.

They got off the carriages and took off their upper garments, and then looked at Hudson to see what he was going to do next.  They thought that possibly he was going to ask them to walk on foot from there onwards.

When Hudson saw them standing there, he went completely mad, took a loaded carbine from a rider and shot the Princes one after the other, they fell on the ground and after going through death throes and thrashing about on the ground they died.

Hudson drank the blood of the Princes,

Young sons heads were cut off and presented to their father

The above account of the deaths of the Princes was as stated by Munshi Zakaullah in his historical account.  However, there is another account of the deaths which was well known in Delhi at that time.  This was corroborated by a friend of Mirza Ilahi Bux who was present on the occasion, and who stated this to my father.  Apart from him I have heard this account repeated by many people and all their statements are similar.

Munshi Zakaullah has also mentioned this account on page 650 in his book, but he has added his comment to it saying that it is an incorrect account.

Mirza Mughal who was the commander in chief of the rebel  forces, and was murdered by Major Hudson.

 This account says that Mirza Mughal, Mirza Khazr Sultan, and Mirza Abu Bakr were also captured at the same time as Bahadur Shah Zafar.  When the captives reached close to where the present day Jail exists, Hudson asked for the palankins of the Badshah, Zeenat Mahal and Jawan Bakht to be parked on one side.  He asked Mirza Mughal, Mirza Khazr Sultan, Mirza Abu Bakr and Mirza Abdullah to get off their carriages.  He then murdered them with his own hands.  After killing them he took a sip from their blood and said that if he did not taste their blood he would go mad as these were the Princes responsible for the murder of helpless women and children from his country.

 After their murder he got their heads cut off and presented them to the Badshah saying that “This is your  (Nazr - gift), which had closed and to renew it you had taken part in the rebellion.”   The Badshah looked on at his sons heads and with surprising composure said ”Thanks to Allah, the descendents of Timur always come in front of their fathers in this brave way”.  After that the bodies were hung out in front of the Police Station and the heads were hung on the Khuni Darwaza (Bloody Gate).

 This was the same gate on which the head of Dara Sikoh was hung and the heads of the sons of Abdul Rahim Khan Khan Khanan were hung.   That is the reason the residents of Delhi still call it the Bloody Gate.  The walls of this gate are made of a type of mortar which has traces of iron in it.  When it rains the rust from this iron leeches out of the stone and the walls run red.  When people look at it they say that this is the sign of the blood of the Princes and Khuda (God) has made it such that these blood stains will stay there until the Day of Judgement.

 Lord Roberts who later on became the Commander in Chief in India , and who later on died in Europe, was present during the Mutiny.   Commenting on the actions of Major Hudson he wrote “By this act Hudson ruined his reputation and killed the Princes to no purpose”.

 The account that Hudson drank the