Flipping through the pages of this fascinating, well researched book which takes you back on a Time Machine to mid 19th century - into the days, months and years surrounding the year 1857 when occurred the First War of Indian Independence, otherwise known as "The Sepoy Mutiny".
Let me narrate in my own words some interesting aspects and anecdotes from the book (will continue with other interesting stories of the mutiny in my subsequent blogs). Today let me cover the intelligence gathering and the spying networks used by both the British and the Marauding Sepoys who after revolting in Meerut marched, occupied and looted Delhi, proclaiming an 81 year old Bahadur Shah Zaffer from a tottering Mughal Dynasty as their Emperor.
Post capturing Delhi, the rampaging Sepoys had an inkling that the British won't seat quite and do their best to gather information from the Walled City. Any one leaving the city was thoroughly checked by the Rebels, their SALWARS (trousers) and DHOTIs (loin clothes) were thoroughly searched. A few caught were summarily executed in public in order to discourage any further attempts to stealthy pass their secrets to KAFIR FIRANGIS (Infidel Foreigners).
But the secret service network of a bunch of rag tag Rebels without any central command was hardly extensive and well entrenched, as the formidable British who ran a professional spy network of informers from both Hindus and Muslim communities. They moulded the art of SHAAM (Persuasion), DAAM (Bribery), DAND (Punishment) and BHED (Division) to perfection serving their aim.
Prominent spy recruits of English included one one- eyed MAULAVI (Preacher) Rajab Ali who set up a widely stretched spy network, and a Black Sheep amongst the Sepoy Commanders Brigadier Major Gauri Shankar Sukul who provided incessant string of information about the Sepoy Army, even falsely accusing his honest counterparts as British agent to forment division. But the central figure, the Jewel and Ace of British pack of spies was Munshi Jiwan Lal of Delhi who ran an efficient network of informers in the guise of SADHUs and FAQIRs (mendicants).
For the British a recent invention called Telegraph came handy, yet vindicating how technology can be a real game changer. Time is the essence of any war. Soon after the Rebels entered Delhi and before they sieged it, two young English operators managed to send Morse code messages alerting the Military bases in Ambala, Simla, Lahore and Peshawar which may sound fortuitous but eventually proved propitious.
The Englishman in charge of Peshawar was John Nicholson, a General who loved butchering the natives ever since he saw in his own eyes his brother's corpse stuffed with his genital inside his mouth during the ill fated British - Afghan War not long ago. He once killed the leader of a Dacoit gang, severed his and kept on his table for days as trophy.
Nicholson lost no time in marching towards Delhi, containing the sporadic mutinies on the way. One fine evening in the hot summer month of May 1857, a group of hungry British Officers from his Regiment were eagerly waiting for their cooks' call for dinner as they were resting near Jalandhar, Punjab.
But to their surprise instead came a smiling Nicholson who told them not to worry about food as he just killed all the cooks. The perplexed Officers looked on. The cooks earlier laced their soup with poison but somehow Nicholson got a tip from someone who betrayed the plotters.
Nicholson challenged the cooks to drink the soup. When they refused to do so, he force fed the hot soup to a monkey. The simian soon went into convulsions and frothed from mouth before laying still. He promptly hung the cooks from the nearest tree until they shook to death as his battalion moved on.
While Nicholson saved his Officers by preventing their dinner turning into their last supper, his counterpart from Punjab the ruthless William Hodson's spy network was so elaborate that one of his officers said his boss knew exactly what the Rebel Sepoys ate for dinner. Known for his band of Hodson's Horse, he led a Cavalry of selected, brave Sikhs from Punjab who accompanied him covering 250 miles in 2 days with little or no rest, as soon as Lahore's telegraph office delivered the news of the mutiny.
Hodson motivated the Sikh cavalry with the opportunity to take revenge on the last of the Mughals in Delhi whose ancestors killed at least 2 of their venerated Sikh Gurus - plus the promise of a lion share of the loot with additional pleasure of the famed Courtesans of Delhi, mostly Muslims. (The Sikhs no fans of Muslims were swayed by a Punjabi legend among them that Muslim girls were too hot to handle).
The energetic but stoic and heartless Hodson had no patience for tying the hanging noose or knots on back of the Rebel Sepoys brought to him, betrayed by their own brethren. Without any qualms and mercy, he emptied his pistol from point blank on the Rebels caught before instructing his "Hodson's Horses" to the bigger target - the city of Delhi already fortified by thousands of Sepoys. More later...
Let me narrate in my own words some interesting aspects and anecdotes from the book (will continue with other interesting stories of the mutiny in my subsequent blogs). Today let me cover the intelligence gathering and the spying networks used by both the British and the Marauding Sepoys who after revolting in Meerut marched, occupied and looted Delhi, proclaiming an 81 year old Bahadur Shah Zaffer from a tottering Mughal Dynasty as their Emperor.
Post capturing Delhi, the rampaging Sepoys had an inkling that the British won't seat quite and do their best to gather information from the Walled City. Any one leaving the city was thoroughly checked by the Rebels, their SALWARS (trousers) and DHOTIs (loin clothes) were thoroughly searched. A few caught were summarily executed in public in order to discourage any further attempts to stealthy pass their secrets to KAFIR FIRANGIS (Infidel Foreigners).
But the secret service network of a bunch of rag tag Rebels without any central command was hardly extensive and well entrenched, as the formidable British who ran a professional spy network of informers from both Hindus and Muslim communities. They moulded the art of SHAAM (Persuasion), DAAM (Bribery), DAND (Punishment) and BHED (Division) to perfection serving their aim.
Prominent spy recruits of English included one one- eyed MAULAVI (Preacher) Rajab Ali who set up a widely stretched spy network, and a Black Sheep amongst the Sepoy Commanders Brigadier Major Gauri Shankar Sukul who provided incessant string of information about the Sepoy Army, even falsely accusing his honest counterparts as British agent to forment division. But the central figure, the Jewel and Ace of British pack of spies was Munshi Jiwan Lal of Delhi who ran an efficient network of informers in the guise of SADHUs and FAQIRs (mendicants).
For the British a recent invention called Telegraph came handy, yet vindicating how technology can be a real game changer. Time is the essence of any war. Soon after the Rebels entered Delhi and before they sieged it, two young English operators managed to send Morse code messages alerting the Military bases in Ambala, Simla, Lahore and Peshawar which may sound fortuitous but eventually proved propitious.
The Englishman in charge of Peshawar was John Nicholson, a General who loved butchering the natives ever since he saw in his own eyes his brother's corpse stuffed with his genital inside his mouth during the ill fated British - Afghan War not long ago. He once killed the leader of a Dacoit gang, severed his and kept on his table for days as trophy.
Nicholson lost no time in marching towards Delhi, containing the sporadic mutinies on the way. One fine evening in the hot summer month of May 1857, a group of hungry British Officers from his Regiment were eagerly waiting for their cooks' call for dinner as they were resting near Jalandhar, Punjab.
But to their surprise instead came a smiling Nicholson who told them not to worry about food as he just killed all the cooks. The perplexed Officers looked on. The cooks earlier laced their soup with poison but somehow Nicholson got a tip from someone who betrayed the plotters.
Nicholson challenged the cooks to drink the soup. When they refused to do so, he force fed the hot soup to a monkey. The simian soon went into convulsions and frothed from mouth before laying still. He promptly hung the cooks from the nearest tree until they shook to death as his battalion moved on.
While Nicholson saved his Officers by preventing their dinner turning into their last supper, his counterpart from Punjab the ruthless William Hodson's spy network was so elaborate that one of his officers said his boss knew exactly what the Rebel Sepoys ate for dinner. Known for his band of Hodson's Horse, he led a Cavalry of selected, brave Sikhs from Punjab who accompanied him covering 250 miles in 2 days with little or no rest, as soon as Lahore's telegraph office delivered the news of the mutiny.
Hodson motivated the Sikh cavalry with the opportunity to take revenge on the last of the Mughals in Delhi whose ancestors killed at least 2 of their venerated Sikh Gurus - plus the promise of a lion share of the loot with additional pleasure of the famed Courtesans of Delhi, mostly Muslims. (The Sikhs no fans of Muslims were swayed by a Punjabi legend among them that Muslim girls were too hot to handle).
The energetic but stoic and heartless Hodson had no patience for tying the hanging noose or knots on back of the Rebel Sepoys brought to him, betrayed by their own brethren. Without any qualms and mercy, he emptied his pistol from point blank on the Rebels caught before instructing his "Hodson's Horses" to the bigger target - the city of Delhi already fortified by thousands of Sepoys. More later...
No comments:
Post a Comment