Delhi in 1857

On 2oth September, 1857 British recaptured Delhi and hoisted their flag from the ramparts of Red Fort, and then started the indiscriminate massacre of Delhi’s population. Swathes of Delhi population was eliminated by the British in revenge for the killings of Christian men, women and children by the revels. Atrocities ere committed on both sides. As in its past history, Delhi suffered again grievously at the hands of the conquerors. The British surpassed even Timur, Abadali and Nadir Shah in the slaughter, plunder the destruction of Delhi. Lamenting the fat4e of Delhi, the Great Indian Poet Mirza Ghalib who was an eye witness, observed, : Here there is a vast ocean of blood before me. Thousands of my friends are dead..none is left to shed tears on my death. However, as in its past history, the city of Delhi rose again like a Phoenix out of the ashes with a renewed glory as the capital of the country. The Great Revolt of 1857 was the most serious armed challenge to the 19th century which shook the British Empire to its very foundation. Delhi was the main centre of this great movement where the rebel soldiers assembled from Meerut and after to fight the British under the leadership of Bahadurshah Zafar, the last Mughal monarch. Though the rebel sepoys fought with all the zeal and velour to drive out the British from the country, the military strategy and supremacy f the British ultimately triumphed. The revolt was crushed with a heavy hand.