David - The Indian Mutiny: 1857

The Indian Mutiny

1857

SAUL DAVID

VIKING an imprint of PENGUIN BOOKS

Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England Penguin Putnam Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2 Penguin Books India (P) Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi - 110 017, India Penguin Books (NZ) Ltd, Cnr Rosedale and Airborne Roads, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank 2196, South Africa

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England www.penguin.com

First published 2002

Set in 11/13.75pt Monotype Bembo Typeset by Rowland Phototypesetting Ltd, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Printed in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

For Yarah

Acknowledgements

List of Illustrations

Maps:

Location of Mutinies in Northern India

Delhi

Lucknow

Cawnpore

Glossary

Prologue: The Electric Telegraph has saved us

AppendixOne: Was 31 May 1857 the Date Fixed for a General Mutiny of the Bengal Army?

AppendixTwo: The Civilian Conspiracy and Rebel Chiefs

AppendixThree: The Motive for Mutiny

AppendixFour: The Post-mutiny Reform of the Indian Army

SequenceofEvents

Acknowledgements

During the four years it took to research and write this book, I was assisted by a number of people. My greatest debt of gratitude is to Hew Strachan, the newly appointed Chichele Professor of The History of War at Oxford University, who encouraged me from the start.

I am also beholden to the trustees of the General Palit Military Studies Trust in particular Major-General D. K. Palit himself, John Miller and T. K. Mukherjee for awarding me a Fellowship and supporting my research in India. Other advice, assistance and companionship during my trip to India and Pakistan in 2000 was provided by my sister Catherine, Dr Kaushik Roy, Dr Ganeswar Nayak of the National Archives of India, Nigel Bryan, Khurshid Sohail, Lieutenant-Colonel Hameed Ullah Afridi and the officers of the Khyber Rifles. Thank you.

The following people were especially helpful during my research in Britain and I am grateful: Professor Sam Cohn, Professor Evan Mawdsley, Dr Simon Ball, Dr David Omissi, Alison Peden, Chris Fildes, Pamela Strachan, Dr Stewart and Noreen Harper, Paul Strathern, Lieutenant-Colonel John Inglis (the direct descendant of Brigadier John Inglis of Lucknow fame), the Revd Giles Goddard (ditto), Mary Jane Gibbons (a descendant of the Gough brothers) and Dr Margaret Bruce (a descendant of John Nicholson).

As ever, I must acknowledge the invaluable help given to me by the staffs of various institutions: the British Library, London Library, University of Glasgow Library, Monmouth Library, National Army Museum, National Archives of India, National Archives of Scotland and National Library of Scotland.

Finally, I would like to thank my new editor Andrew Kidd (for sticking with me through some very protracted negotiations), my agent Julian Alexander (for conducting those negotiations) and, last but not least, my wife Louise.

The spelling of place names is generally the one in current usage. The exceptions are those places which are far better known to a British readership by their colonial spelling: Benares (Varanasi), Cawnpore (Kanpur), Oudh (Awadh), Madras (Chennai) and Bombay (Mumbai), among others. When Indian personal names are shortened, the first name is used.

ListofIllustrations