Bakht Khan
Bakht Khan | |
---|---|
Born | 1797 |
Died | 1859 (aged 61–62) |
Occupation(s) | Subedar in the East India Company Army, Commander-in-chief of Indian rebels under the Mughal Emperor |
Known for | Indian Rebellion of 1857 |
General Bakht Khan (1797–1859) was the commander-in-chief of the Indian rebel forces in the city of Delhi during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the East India Company.
Early life
Though many
He was born at Bijnor in Rohilkhand and later became a subedar, the chief native commanding officer, in the army of the East India Company, gaining forty years of experience in the Bengal horse artillery and seeing action in the First Anglo-Afghan War.[1] In the British Indian artillery, North Indian MusIims were generaIIy preferred and made the majority of the establishment.[3]
Before the rebellion, Bakht Khan was well known to a number of British officers, including several who were to serve against him during the Siege of Delhi in 1857. One colonel described him as being "a most intelligent character".[4]
The revolt
With the outbreak of the mutiny in
The emperor's eldest son, Mirza Mughal, also called Mirza Zahir-ud-din, had been given the title of chief general, but this prince had no military experience.[7] This was the moment when Bakht Khan along with his forces arrived in Delhi. With his arrival, the leadership position did improve. Bakht Khan's administrative abilities quickly became evident, and the emperor gave him actual authority and the title of Saheb-e-Alam Bahadur, or Lord Governor General. Khan was the virtual commander of sepoy forces, although Mirza Zahir-ud-din was still the commander-in-chief.[1]
Bakht Khan faced many problems which needed his immediate attention. The first and foremost problem was financial, to solve it he obtained from the Emperor authority to collect taxes. The second problem was the logistical one of supplies, which became more and more acute with the passage of time and even more so when British forces assaulted the city in September 1857. The British had many spies and agents in the city and were constantly pressuring Bahadur Shah to surrender. The situation around Delhi proceeded to deteriorate rapidly; Bakht Khan's leadership could not compensate for the rebels' lack of organization, supplies and military strength.[5] Delhi was besieged by the British on 8 June 1857. On 14 September, the British captured the Kashmiri Gate and Bahadur Shah fled to Humayun's Tomb before surrendering to the British (against Bakht Khan's pleas) on 20 September. The emperor was arrested, and his sons Mirza Abu Bakr and Mirza Khizr Sultan were executed by the British. In the aftermath of the city's capture, the victorious troops sacked the city for several days before order was eventually restored.[1][8]
Bakht Khan himself left Delhi and joined rebel forces in Lucknow and Shahjahanpur.[citation needed] Later, Bahadur Shah Zafar was tried on the charges of treason and exiled to Rangoon in Burma where he died in 1862.[5][8]
Death
After being forced out of Delhi, he was mortally wounded by the British in the last days of the mutiny and died in the Terai plains of Nepal in 1859, where he is said to have entered along with Begum Hazrat Mahal in 1858/1859 after Awadh came under British control.[1][9]
An unnamed tomb in the graveyard of Nanser village in Buner district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan has been apocryphally claimed by local historians to be that of Khan, who claim that he came to the region after the war was lost and spent the rest of his life under the protection of Akhund of Swat.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Bakht Khan: shrouded by the sands of time The Express Tribune (newspaper), Published 27 January 2011, Retrieved 1 January 2018
- ^ a b c d Husain, Iqbal 1985, p. 373.
- ISBN 9781136790874.
Most of the South Asians in the Bengal Army's artillery establishment were low caste Hindus from Bengal and Muslims from North India. Muslims were preferred as they were willing to go for overseas service.
- ISBN 978-0-7475-8726-2.
- ^ a b c Time check: British India War of independence Dawn (newspaper), Published 17 December 2011, Retrieved 1 January 2018
- ISBN 0-141-00554-8.
- ISBN 978-0-7475-8726-2.
- ^ a b Time check: British India: Bahadur Shah Zafar Dawn (newspaper), Published 6 January 2012, Retrieved 1 January 2018
- ISBN 8178240270.
Further reading
- Metcalf, Thomas (2009). "Bakht Khān". In Fleet, Kate; ISSN 1873-9830.
- T. Rice Holmes. A History of the Indian Mutiny. London. 1898.
Sources
- Husain, Iqbal (1985). "Bakht Khan–a Leading Sepoy General of 1857". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 46: 373–386. JSTOR 44141377.