1.
Second Anglo-Maratha War
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The Second Anglo-Maratha War was the second conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. The English had supported the fugitive Peshwa Raghunathrao in the First Anglo-Maratha War, continued with his fugitive son, though not as martial in his courage as his father, the son was a past master in deceit and intrigue. Coupled with his streak, Baji Rao II soon provoked the enmity of Malhar Rao Holkar when he had one of Holkars relatives killed. After the fall of Mysore in 1799–1800, the Marathas were the major power left outside British control in India. The Maratha chiefs were engaged in quarrels among themselves. Wellesley had repeatedly offered a treaty to the Peshwa and Scindia. In October 1802, the armies of Peshwa Baji Rao II and Scindia were defeated by Yashwantrao Holkar, ruler of Indore. The treaty would become the death knell of the Maratha Confederacy, the British strategy included Wellesley securing the Deccan Plateau, Lake taking Doab and then Delhi, Powell entering Bundelkhand, Murray taking Badoch, and Harcourt neutralizing Bihar. The British had available over 53,000 men to accomplish their goals. In September 1803, Scindia forces lost to Lord Gerard Lake at Delhi, on 18 October, British forces took the pettah of Asirgarh Fort with a loss of two killed and five wounded. The forts garrison surrendered on the 21st after the attackers had erected a battery. British artillery pounded ancient ruins used by Scindia forces as forward operating bases, in November, Lake defeated another Scindia force at Laswari, followed by Wellesleys victory over Bhonsale forces at Argaon on 29 November 1803. The Holkar rulers of Indore belatedly joined the fray and compelled the British to make peace, Wellesley, who went on to defeat Napoleon at Waterloo, would later remark that Assaye was tougher than Waterloo. On December 17,1803, Raghoji II Bhonsale of Nagpur signed the Treaty of Deogaon in Odisha with the British after the Battle of Argaon, the British started hostilities against Yashwantrao Holkar on 6 April 1804. The Treaty of Rajghat, signed on 24 December 1805, forced Holkar to give up Tonk, Rampura, at the Point of the Bayonet, A Tale of the Mahratta War. - historical fiction describing the war Third Anglo-Maratha War List of Maratha dynasties and states Fort of Ahmednagar Pettah of Ahmednagar Alexander Adams Citations Bibliography Chaurasian, new Delhi, Atlantic Publishers and Distributors
2.
Indian Rebellion of 1857
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The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major, but ultimately unsuccessful, uprising in India in 1857–58 against British rule. For nearly 100 years, that rule had been presided over by the British East India Company, the rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form of a mutiny of sepoys of the Companys army in the garrison town of Meerut,40 miles northeast of Delhi. It then erupted into other mutinies and civilian rebellions chiefly in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, though incidents of revolt also occurred farther north and east. The rebellion posed a threat to British power in that region. On 1 November 1858, the British granted amnesty to all rebels not involved in murder, though they did not declare the hostilities formally to have ended until 8 July 1859. The rebellion is known by names, including the Sepoy Mutiny, the Indian Mutiny, the Great Rebellion, the Revolt of 1857, the Indian Insurrection. Many Indians did rise against the British, however, very many also fought for the British, after the outbreak of the mutiny in Meerut, the rebels very quickly reached Delhi, whose 81-year-old Mughal ruler, Bahadur Shah Zafar, they declared the Emperor of Hindustan. Soon, the rebels had captured large tracts of the North-Western Provinces. The East India Companys response came rapidly as well, with help from reinforcements, Kanpur was retaken by mid-July 1857, and Delhi by the end of September. However, it took the remainder of 1857 and the better part of 1858 for the rebellion to be suppressed in Jhansi, Lucknow. Other regions of Company controlled India—Bengal province, the Bombay Presidency, in the Punjab, the Sikh princes crucially helped the British by providing both soldiers and support. In some regions, most notably in Awadh, the took on the attributes of a patriotic revolt against European presence. However, the rebel leaders proclaimed no articles of faith that presaged a new political system, even so, the rebellion proved to be an important watershed in Indian- and British Empire history. India was thereafter administered directly by the British government in the new British Raj, on 1 November 1858, Queen Victoria issued a proclamation to Indians, which while lacking the authority of a constitutional provision, promised rights similar to those of other British subjects. In the following decades, when admission to these rights was not always forthcoming, the victory was consolidated in 1764 at the Battle of Buxar, when the East India Company army defeated Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II. After his defeat, the granted the Company the right to the collection of Revenue in the provinces of Bengal, Bihar. The Company soon expanded its territories around its bases in Bombay and Madras, later, the Anglo-Mysore Wars, in 1806, the Vellore Mutiny was sparked by new uniform regulations that created resentment amongst both Hindu and Muslim sepoys. After the turn of the 19th century, Governor-General Wellesley began what became two decades of accelerated expansion of Company territories and this was achieved either by subsidiary alliances between the Company and local rulers or by direct military annexation
3.
Delhi
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Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory of Delhi or NCT, is a city and a union territory of India. It is bordered by Haryana on three sides and by Uttar Pradesh to the east, the NCT covers an area of 1,484 square kilometres. According to 2011 census, Delhis city population was about 11 million, Delhis urban area is now considered to extend beyond the NCT boundary to include an estimated population of over 26 million people making it the worlds second largest urban area. As of 2016 recent estimates of the economy of its urban area have ranked Delhi either the top or second most productive metro area of India. Delhi is the second wealthiest city after Mumbai in India, with a wealth of $450 billion. Delhi has been inhabited since the 6th century BC. Through most of its history, Delhi has served as a capital of various kingdoms and it has been captured, ransacked and rebuilt several times, particularly during the medieval period, and modern Delhi is a cluster of a number of cities spread across the metropolitan region. New Delhi is jointly administered by the government of India and the local government of Delhi. Delhi is also the centre of the National Capital Region, which is a unique interstate regional planning area created by the National Capital Region Planning Board Act of 1985, Delhi ranks among the cities with the worst air pollution in the world. There are a number of myths and legends associated with the origin of the name Delhi, one of them is derived from Dhillu or Dilu, a king who built a city at this location in 50 BC and named it after himself. The coins in circulation in the region under the Tomaras were called dehliwal, according to the Bhavishya Purana, King Prithiviraja of Indraprastha built a new fort in the modern-day Purana Qila area for the convenience of all four castes in his kingdom. He ordered the construction of a gateway to the fort and later named the fort dehali, another theory suggests that the citys original name was Dhillika. The people of Delhi are referred to as Delhiites or Dilliwalas, the city is referenced in various idioms of the Northern Indo-Aryan languages. Dilli dilwalon ka shehr or Dilli Dilwalon ki meaning Delhi belongs to the large-hearted/daring, aas-paas barse, Dilli pani tarse, literally meaning it pours all around, while Delhi lies parched. An allusion to the sometimes semi-arid climate of Delhi, it refers to situations of deprivation when one is surrounded by plenty. The area around Delhi was probably inhabited before the second millennium BC, the city is believed to be the site of Indraprastha, the legendary capital of the Pandavas in the Indian epic Mahabharata. According to Mahabharata, this land was initially a huge mass of forests called Khandavaprastha which was burnt down to build the city of Indraprastha, the earliest architectural relics date back to the Maurya period, in 1966, an inscription of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka was discovered near Srinivaspuri. Remains of eight cities have been discovered in Delhi
4.
Mughal Empire
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The dynasty, though ethnically Turco-Mongol, was Persianate in terms of culture. The Mughal empire extended over parts of the Indian subcontinent. The beginning of the empire is conventionally dated to the victory by its founder Babur over Ibrahim Lodi, the Mughal emperors were Central Asian Turco-Mongols belonging to the Timurid dynasty, who claimed direct descent from both Genghis Khan and Timur. During the reign of Humayun, the successor of Babur, the empire was briefly interrupted by the Sur Empire, the classic period of the Mughal Empire started in 1556 with the ascension of Akbar the Great to the throne. Under the rule of Akbar and his son Jahangir, the region enjoyed economic progress as well as harmony. Akbar was a warrior who also forged alliances with several Hindu Rajput kingdoms. Some Rajput kingdoms continued to pose a significant threat to the Mughal dominance of northwestern India, the reign of Shah Jahan, the fifth emperor, between 1628 and 1658 was the golden age of Mughal architecture. He erected several monuments, the best known of which is the Taj Mahal at Agra, as well as the Moti Masjid, Agra, the Red Fort, the Jama Masjid, Delhi. By the mid-18th century, the Marathas had routed Mughal armies, during the following century Mughal power had become severely limited, and the last emperor, Bahadur Shah II, had authority over only the city of Shahjahanabad. He issued a firman supporting the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and following the defeat was therefore tried by the British East India Company for treason, imprisoned and exiled to Rangoon. Contemporaries referred to the empire founded by Babur as the Timurid empire, which reflected the heritage of his dynasty, another name was Hindustan, which was documented in the Ain-i-Akbari, and which has been described as the closest to an official name for the empire. In the west, the term Mughal was used for the emperor, and by extension, the use of Mughal derived from the Arabic and Persian corruption of Mongol, and it emphasised the Mongol origins of the Timurid dynasty. The term gained currency during the 19th century, but remains disputed by Indologists, similar terms had been used to refer to the empire, including Mogul and Moghul. Nevertheless, Baburs ancestors were sharply distinguished from the classical Mongols insofar as they were oriented towards Persian rather than Turco-Mongol culture, ousted from his ancestral domains in Central Asia, Babur turned to India to satisfy his ambitions. He established himself in Kabul and then pushed steadily southward into India from Afghanistan through the Khyber Pass, Baburs forces occupied much of northern India after his victory at Panipat in 1526. The preoccupation with wars and military campaigns, however, did not allow the new emperor to consolidate the gains he had made in India, the instability of the empire became evident under his son, Humayun, who was driven out of India and into Persia by rebels. Humayuns exile in Persia established diplomatic ties between the Safavid and Mughal Courts, and led to increasing Persian cultural influence in the Mughal Empire, the restoration of Mughal rule began after Humayuns triumphant return from Persia in 1555, but he died from a fatal accident shortly afterwards. Humayuns son, Akbar, succeeded to the throne under a regent, Bairam Khan, through warfare and diplomacy, Akbar was able to extend the empire in all directions and controlled almost the entire Indian subcontinent north of the Godavari River
5.
British Empire
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The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It originated with the possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, 23% of the population at the time. As a result, its political, legal, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread, during the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, England, France, the independence of the Thirteen Colonies in North America in 1783 after the American War of Independence caused Britain to lose some of its oldest and most populous colonies. British attention soon turned towards Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, after the defeat of France in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Britain emerged as the principal naval and imperial power of the 19th century. In the early 19th century, the Industrial Revolution began to transform Britain, the British Empire expanded to include India, large parts of Africa and many other territories throughout the world. In Britain, political attitudes favoured free trade and laissez-faire policies, during the 19th Century, Britains population increased at a dramatic rate, accompanied by rapid urbanisation, which caused significant social and economic stresses. To seek new markets and sources of raw materials, the Conservative Party under Benjamin Disraeli launched a period of imperialist expansion in Egypt, South Africa, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand became self-governing dominions. By the start of the 20th century, Germany and the United States had begun to challenge Britains economic lead, subsequent military and economic tensions between Britain and Germany were major causes of the First World War, during which Britain relied heavily upon its empire. The conflict placed enormous strain on the military, financial and manpower resources of Britain, although the British Empire achieved its largest territorial extent immediately after World War I, Britain was no longer the worlds pre-eminent industrial or military power. In the Second World War, Britains colonies in Southeast Asia were occupied by Imperial Japan, despite the final victory of Britain and its allies, the damage to British prestige helped to accelerate the decline of the empire. India, Britains most valuable and populous possession, achieved independence as part of a larger movement in which Britain granted independence to most territories of the empire. The transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997 marked for many the end of the British Empire, fourteen overseas territories remain under British sovereignty. After independence, many former British colonies joined the Commonwealth of Nations, the United Kingdom is now one of 16 Commonwealth nations, a grouping known informally as the Commonwealth realms, that share a monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The foundations of the British Empire were laid when England and Scotland were separate kingdoms. In 1496, King Henry VII of England, following the successes of Spain and Portugal in overseas exploration, Cabot led another voyage to the Americas the following year but nothing was ever heard of his ships again
6.
East India Company
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The company also ruled the beginnings of the British Empire in India. The company received a Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600, wealthy merchants and aristocrats owned the Companys shares. Initially the government owned no shares and had only indirect control, during its first century of operation the focus of the Company was trade, not the building of an empire in India. The company eventually came to rule large areas of India with its own armies, exercising military power. Despite frequent government intervention, the company had recurring problems with its finances, the official government machinery of British India had assumed its governmental functions and absorbed its armies. Soon after the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, London merchants presented a petition to Queen Elizabeth I for permission to sail to the Indian Ocean, one of them, Edward Bonventure, then sailed around Cape Comorin to the Malay Peninsula and returned to England in 1594. In 1596, three ships sailed east, however, these were all lost at sea. Two days later, on 24 September, the Adventurers reconvened and resolved to apply to the Queen for support of the project, the Adventurers convened again a year later. For a period of fifteen years the charter awarded the newly formed company a monopoly on trade with all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Straits of Magellan. Anybody who traded in breach of the charter without a licence from the Company was liable to forfeiture of their ships and cargo, the governance of the company was in the hands of one governor and 24 directors or committees, who made up the Court of Directors. They, in turn, reported to the Court of Proprietors, ten committees reported to the Court of Directors. According to tradition, business was transacted at the Nags Head Inn, opposite St Botolphs church in Bishopsgate. Sir James Lancaster commanded the first East India Company voyage in 1601, in March 1604 Sir Henry Middleton commanded the second voyage. Early in 1608 Alexander Sharpeigh was appointed captain of the Companys Ascension, thereafter two ships, Ascension and Union sailed from Woolwich on 14 March 1607–8. Initially, the company struggled in the trade because of the competition from the already well-established Dutch East India Company. The company opened a factory in Bantam on the first voyage, the factory in Bantam was closed in 1683. During this time belonging to the company arriving in India docked at Surat. In the next two years, the company established its first factory in south India in the town of Machilipatnam on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal
7.
Sepoy
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A sepoy was formerly the designation given to an Indian soldier. In the modern Nepalese Army, Indian Army, Pakistan Army, the term sepoy is derived from the Persian word sepāhī meaning infantry soldier in the Mughal Empire. In the Ottoman Empire the term Sipahi was used to refer to cavalry troopers, in its most common application, sepoy was the term used in the British Indian Army, and earlier in that of the British East India Company, for an infantry private. Initially it referred to Hindu or Muslim soldiers without regular uniform or discipline and it later generically referred to all native soldiers in the service of the European powers in India. Close to ninety-six percent of the British East India Companys army of 300,000 men were native to India, a Sipahi or a sepoy was an infantryman in both the Mughal Empire and the Kingdom of Mysore. The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb raised battalions of sepoys variously armed with matchlocks, rockets and these troops were successfully employed in siege warfare, particularly during the Siege of Bidar, the Siege of Bijapur and the Siege of Golconda. Initially the British recruited sepoys from the communities in the Madras and Bombay Presidencies. In the Bengal Army however, recruitment was only amongst high caste Brahmin and Rajput communities, mainly of the Uttar Pradesh, recruitment was undertaken locally by battalions or regiments often from the same community, village and even family. The commanding officer of a battalion became a form of substitute for the chief or gaon bura. He was the mai-baap or the father and mother of the making up the paltan. There were many family and community ties amongst the troops and numerous instances where family members enlisted in the battalion or regiment. The izzat of the unit was represented by the regimental colours and these colours were stored in honour in the quarter guard and frequently paraded before the men. They formed a point in battle. The oath of fealty by the sepoy was given to the East India Company, the salary of the sepoys employed by the East India Company, while not substantially greater than that paid by the rulers of Indian states, was usually paid regularly. Advances could be given and family allotments from pay due were permitted when the troops served abroad, there was a commisariat and regular rations were provided. Weapons, clothing and ammunition were provided centrally, in contrast to the soldiers of local kings whose pay was often in arrears, in addition local rulers usually expected their sepoys to arm themselves and to sustain themselves through plunder. Following the Indian Rebellion of 1857 the surviving East India Company regiments were merged into a new Indian Army under the control of the British Crown. The designation of sepoy was retained for Indian soldiers below the rank of lance naik, following the formation of the French East India Company in 1719, companies of Indian sepoys were raised to augment the French regulars and Swiss mercenary troops available
8.
Mutiny
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Mutiny is a criminal conspiracy among a group of people to openly oppose, change, or overthrow a lawful authority to which they are subject. The term is used for a rebellion among members of the military against their superior officers. During the Age of Discovery, mutiny particularly meant open rebellion against a ships captain, until 1689, mutiny was regulated in England by Articles of War instituted by the monarch and effective only in a period of war. In 1689, the first Mutiny Act was passed which passed the responsibility to enforce discipline within the military to Parliament. The Mutiny Act, altered in 1803, and the Articles of War defined the nature and punishment of mutiny until the latter were replaced by the Army Discipline and this, in turn, was replaced by the Army Act in 1881. The same definition applies in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, the military law of England in early times existed, like the forces to which it applied, in a period of war only. Troops were raised for a service and were disbanded upon the cessation of hostilities. The crown, by prerogative, made known as Articles of War for the government and discipline of the troops while thus embodied. This power of law-making by prerogative was however held to be applicable during a state of war only. Subject to this limitation, it existed for more than a century after the passing of the first Mutiny Act. The Mutiny Act 1873 was passed in this manner, such matters remained until 1879 when the last Mutiny Act was passed and the last Articles of War were promulgated. The act and the articles were not to harmonize in all respects. Their general arrangement was faulty, and their sometimes obscure. In 1869, a commission recommended that both should be recast in a simple and intelligible shape. In 1878, a committee of the House of Commons endorsed this view, in 1879, passed into law a measure consolidating in one act both the Mutiny Act and the Articles of War, and amending their provisions in certain important respects. This measure was called the Army Discipline and Regulation Act 1879, as the punishment of every conceivable offence was provided, any articles made under the act could be no more than an empty formality having no practical effect. These rules, however, must not be inconsistent with the provisions of the Army Act itself, thus in 1879 the government and discipline of the army became for the first time completely subject either to the direct action or the close supervision of parliament. A further notable change took place at the same time, each session therefore the text of the act had to be passed through both Houses clause by clause and line by line
9.
John Nicholson (East India Company officer)
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Brigadier-General John Nicholson CB was a Victorian era military officer known for his role in British India. A charismatic and authoritarian figure, Nicholson created a legend for himself as an officer under Henry Lawrence in the frontier provinces of the British Empire in India. He was instrumental in the settlement of the North-West Frontier and played a part in the Indian Mutiny. Nicholson was born in Dublin, Northern Ireland, the eldest son of Dr Alexander Jaffray Nicholson and Clara Hogg. Dr. Nicholson died when J. N. was nine and he then set out for a military career in India in 1839. Nicholson was present at the British garrison at Ghazni when it was besieged by Afghan tribesmen during a freezing winter between 20 November 1841 and 10 March 1842 and they were taken to join other British prisoners in Kabul on 24 August. He was feared for his temper and authoritarian manner, but also gained the respect of the Afghan and North Punjabi tribes in the area for his fairhandedness. He inspired the Nikal Seyn, or Nikal Seyni cult, which had a short and popular hey-day but survived in surprising forms and ways in some parts of North-West Pakistan. Nicholson was best known for his role in the Indian Mutiny and he had been told that the regimental chefs had poisoned the soup with aconite. When they refused to taste it for him, he force fed it to a monkey -, Nicholson also called for the Mutiny to be punished with greater severity. Nicholson never married, the most significant people in his life being his fellow Punjab administrators Sir Henry Lawrence and Herbert Edwardes. At his deathbed he dictated a message to Edwardes saying, Tell him that, if at this moment a good fairy were to grant me a wish, my wish would be to have him here next to my mother. The love between him and Edwardes made them, as Edwardes wife latter described it more than brothers in the tenderness of their whole lives. He died on 23 September 1857, in a bungalow in the cantonments of Delhi. He was 34, not as the tombstone gives it,35 and he became the Victorian Hero of Delhi inspiring books, ballads and generations of young boys to join the army. Nicholson is referenced in literary works, including Rudyard Kiplings Kim, in which the protagonist, Kim, traveling with his companion the Buddhist Lama. The man turns out to be a veteran of the Great Uprising of 1857, Nicholson features in a number of works about this period in history. This from Flashman is a rare compliment and he also appears as one of the main characters in James Leasors novel about the Indian Rebellion, Follow the Drum, which describes his death in some detail
10.
William Stephen Raikes Hodson
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Brevet Major William Stephen Raikes Hodson was a British leader of irregular light cavalry during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, commonly referred to as the Indian Mutiny or the Sepoy Mutiny. He was known as Hodson of Hodsons Horse and his most celebrated action was to apprehend Bahadur Shah II, the king of Delhi. The following day he rode to the camp, heavily outnumbered by the rebels. Hodsons career received praise from a number of military commanders, such as General Hugh Gough. There were also a few politicians who felt the killing of Mughal princes by Hodson had been dishonourable, however, Hodsons career received praise from more senior politicians including the prime minister and the secretary of state for India. Hodson is credited with being responsible for the introduction of the khaki uniform. William Hodson was born on 19 March 1821 at Maisemore Court, near Gloucester, third son of the Rev. George Hodson and his older brother was Rev. Dr James Stephen Hodson FRSE who served for many years as Rector of Edinburgh Academy. He was educated at Rugby School under Thomas Arnold and at Trinity College, Cambridge and he accepted a cadetship in the Indian Army at the age of twenty-three, and after joining the 2nd Bengal Grenadiers he went through the First Anglo-Sikh War. He was soon transferred to the 1st European Bengal Fusiliers. Hodson delighted in fighting and his weapon was the hog spear. He was a brilliant horseman with the capacity to sleep in the saddle and he was described as the finest swordsman in the army. The initial assistance he gave in organising the newly formed Corps of Guides in December 1846 had been one of Sir Henry Lawrences projects in which Hodson excelled, the Guides Corps had Lt Harry Burnett Lumsden as its commandant and Lt Hodson as adjutant. One of his duties was equipping the new regiment, including choosing the regiments uniform, with Lumsdens approval, Hodson decided upon a lightweight uniform of Khaki colour - or drab as it was then referred to. This would be comfortable to wear and make them invisible in a land of dust, accordingly, in May 1848 he liaised with his brother Rev. George H. Hodson, in England, to send drab cloth for 900 men as well as 300 carbines. As a result, Hodson and Lumsden had the joint distinction of being the first officers to clothe a regiment in Khaki, later on, he was transferred to the Civil Department as Assistant Commissioner in 1849 and stationed at Amritsar. From there he travelled in Kashmir and Tibet, in 1852 he was appointed Commandant of the Corps of Guides. On 5 January 1852, he married Susan Annette, daughter of Capt C, Henry, RN and widow of John Mitford of Exbury, at Calcutta Cathedral, whom he had known and liked for some time prior to her first marriage. A daughter, Olivia, was born in 1853 but died in July 1854, while it was unusual at that time for a British soldier in India to be a Cambridge graduate, William further differed from the norm by enjoying classical literature for relaxation
11.
James Hope Grant
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General Sir James Hope Grant, GCB, was a British Army officer. He served in the First Anglo-Chinese War, First Anglo-Sikh War, Indian Rebellion of 1857, Grant was the fifth and youngest son of Francis Grant of Kilgraston, Perthshire, and brother of Sir Francis Grant, President of the Royal Academy. He was uncle to sculptor Mary Grant and he entered the British Army in 1826 as cornet in the 9th Lancers, and became lieutenant in 1828 and captain in 1835. In 1842 he was brigade-major to Lord Saltoun in the First Opium War, and distinguished himself at the capture of Chinkiang, after which he received the rank of major and the CB. There is a popular, possibly apocryphal, story that he was selected by Saltoun because he wanted a cellist to accompany him and he was promoted brevet lieutenant-colonel and shortly afterwards to the same substantive rank. In 1854 he became brevet-colonel, and in 1856 brigadier of cavalry and he took a leading part in the suppression of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, holding for some time the command of the cavalry division, and afterwards of a movable column of horse and foot. Before the work of pacification was quite completed he was created KCB, the object of the campaign was accomplished within three months of the landing of the forces at Pei-tang. The Taku Forts had been carried by assault, the Chinese defeated three times in the open and Peking occupied. For his conduct in this, which has called the most successful. The introduction of annual army manoeuvres was largely due to Sir James Hope Grant, in 1872 he was gazetted general. He died in London on 7 March 1875 and he is buried in Grange Cemetery in Edinburgh. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh. Knollys, Henry, ed. Incidents in the Sepoy War 1857-58, compiled from the Private Journals of General Sir Hope Grant, K. C. B. Knollys, Henry, ed. Incidents in the China War of 1860, compiled from the Private Journals of General Sir Hope Grant G. C. B
12.
Bahadur Shah Zafar
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Mirza Abu Zafar Sirajuddin Muhammad Bahadur Shah Zafar was the last Mughal emperor. He was the son of and became the successor to his father, Akbar II. He used Zafar, a part of his name, for his nom de plume as an Urdu poet and he was a nominal Emperor, as the Mughal Empire existed in name only and his authority was limited only to the city of Delhi. Following his involvement in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British exiled him to Rangoon in British-controlled Burma, Zafars father, Akbar II had been imprisoned by the British and he was not his father’s preferred choice as his successor. One of Akbar Shahs queens, Mumtaz Begum, pressured him to declare her son as his successor, however, The East India Company exiled Jahangir after he attacked their resident, in the Red Fort. Bahadur Shah Zafar presided over a Mughal Empire that only ruled the city Delhi, the Marathas installed Shah Alam II in the throne in 1772, under the protection of the Maratha general Mahadaji Shinde and maintained suzerainty over Mughal affairs in Delhi. The East India Company became the dominant political and military power in mid-nineteenth century India, outside the region controlled by the Company, hundreds of kingdoms and principalities, fragmented their land. The emperor was respected by the Company and had him a pension. The emperor permitted the Company to collect taxes from Delhi and maintain a force in it. Zafar never had any interest in statecraft or had any imperial ambition, after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British exiled him from Delhi. Bahadur Shah Zafar was a noted Urdu poet, having written a number of Urdu ghazals, while some part of his opus was lost or destroyed during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, a large collection did survive, and was compiled into the Kulliyyat-i-Zafar. The court that he maintained was home to several prolific Urdu writers, including Mirza Ghalib, Dagh, Mumin, because of his neutral views on religions, some Indian kings and regiments accepted Zafar as the Emperor of India. On 12 May 1857, Zafar held his first formal audience in years after defeating. It was attended by several sepoys who treated him familiarly or disrespectfully, when the sepoys first arrived at Bahadur Shah Zafar’s court, he asked them why they had come to him because he had no means of maintaining them. Bahadur Shah Zafar’s conduct was indecisive, however, he yielded to the demands of the sepoys when he was told that they would not be able to win against the East India Company without him. On 16 May, sepoys and palace servants killed 52 Europeans who were prisoners of the palace, the executions took place under a peepul tree in front of the palace, despite Zafars protests. The aim of the executioners who were not the supporters of Zafar was to him in the killings. Once he had joined them, Bahadur Shah II took ownership for all the actions of the mutineers, though Zafar was dismayed by the looting and disorder, he gave his public support to the rebellion
13.
Surrender (military)
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Surrender, in military terms, is the relinquishment of control over territory, combatants, fortifications, ships or armament to another power. A surrender may be accomplished peacefully, without fighting, or it may be the result of defeat in battle, a sovereign state may surrender following defeat in a war, usually by signing a peace treaty or capitulation agreement. A battlefield surrender, either by individuals or when ordered by officers, normally, a surrender will involve the handing over of weapons, the commanding officer of a surrendering force symbolically offers his sword to the victorious commander. Flags and ensigns are hauled down or furled, and ships colors are struck or the raising of a flag to the masts signals a surrender. When the parties agree to terms, the surrender may be conditional, that is, the leaders of the surrendering group negotiate privileges or compensation for the time, expense and loss of life saved by the victor through the stopping of resistance. Alternatively, in a surrender at discretion, the victor makes no promises of treatment, an early example of a military surrender is the defeat of Carthage by the Roman Empire at the end of the Second Punic War. Over time, generally accepted laws and customs of war have developed for such a situation, most of which are laid out in the Hague Convention of 1907. Normally, a belligerent will agree to surrender only if completely incapable of continuing hostilities. Traditionally, a ceremony was accompanied by the honors of war. The Third Geneva Convention states that prisoners of war should not be mistreated or abused, US Army policy, for example, requires that surrendered persons should be secured and safeguarded while being evacuated from the battlefield. While not a military law, the Code of the US Fighting Force disallows surrender unless all reasonable means of resistance exhausted. Certain death the only alternative, the Code states, I will never surrender of my own free will, if in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist. False surrender is a type of perfidy in the context of war and it is a war crime under Protocol I of the Geneva Convention. False surrenders are usually used to draw the enemy out of cover to attack them off guard, accounts of false surrender can be found relatively frequently throughout history. One of the more infamous examples was the false surrender of British troops at Kilmichael. Capitulation, an agreement in time of war for the surrender to an armed force of a particular body of troops. Debellatio occurs when a war ends because of the destruction of a belligerent state. No quarter occurs when a victor shows no clemency or mercy, under the laws of war, it is especially forbidden
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Mirza Mughal
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Sultan Muhammad Zahir ud-din better known as well Mirza Mughal was a Mughal prince. He played a significant role during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Mirza Mughal was the fifth son of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the 12th and last Mughal emperor. His mother, Sharif-ul-Mahal Sayyidini, came from an aristocratic Sayyid family that claimed descent from Prophet Muhammad, following the death in 1856 of his elder step-brother Mirza Fakhru, Mirza Mughal became the eldest surviving legitimately born son of Bahadur Shah Zafar. However, the British refused to recognize anybody as heir to the throne of Delhi, in May 1857, sepoys of the British Indian army rebelled against their British officers and streamed into Delhi. A few days later, Mirza Mughal and some of his half-brothers petitioned their father to be appointed in charge of the rebel troops and their plea was initially refused but later granted, and Mirza Mughal was designated commander-in-chief. Shortly after his arrival, the emperor appointed Bakht Khan commander-in-chief, a few weeks later, following another reshuffle of offices, Mirza Mughal was given charge of administering the city of Delhi. Following the failure of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Emperor Bahadur Shah II left the Red Fort and took refuge in Humayun’s Tomb, with him were Mirza Mughal and two other princes. Their whereabouts was reported by spies to Major Hodson, who sent them a message saying that the party had no hope of escape and should surrender. After negotiations, Hodson accepted the surrender of Bahadur Shah II, the Emperor emerged from the tomb and exchanged greetings in person with Hodson. Finding the old man extremely frail with exertion, Hodson bid the Emperor take rest under a shady tree, as a sign of surrender the Emperor handed over his arms. The capture of the Emperor in the face of a threatening crowd dealt the mutineers a heavy blow, Mirza Mughal and the other sons of the king had refused to surrender, demanding guarantees of safety for themselves. On the following day with a few horsemen Hodson went back, again a crowd of thousands gathered, and Hodson ordered them to disarm, which they did. He sent the princes on with an escort of ten men, the princes were mounted on a bullock-cart and driven towards the city of Delhi. Shortly afterwards, with the Emperor secured but clearly in no condition to be transported to the city and he soon caught up with the party carrying the princes. As they approached the gates of the city, he found that a crowd of townsmen had gathered in the expectation of witnessing the return of the Emperor and the princes. Also, a crowd of villagers had followed in the wake of the Princes as they travelled the few miles to the gates of Delhi. It has been suggested that Hodson lost his nerve upon beholding the crowds, yet others have suggested that Hodson had made the agreement with the old Emperor in bad faith and that he had never intended to keep his word. At the city gate, Hodson ordered the three princes to get off the cart and they were then stripped of their upper garments
15.
Capital punishment
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Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is a government sanctioned practice whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. The sentence that someone be punished in such a manner is referred to as a death sentence, etymologically, the term capital in this context alluded to execution by beheading. Fifty-six countries retain capital punishment,103 countries have abolished it de jure for all crimes, six have abolished it for ordinary crimes. Capital punishment is a matter of controversy in various countries and states. In the European Union, Article 2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union prohibits the use of capital punishment, also, the Council of Europe, which has 47 member states, prohibits the use of the death penalty by its members. The United Nations General Assembly has adopted, in 2007,2008,2010,2012 and 2014, non-binding resolutions calling for a moratorium on executions. Although most nations have abolished capital punishment, over 60% of the population live in countries where executions take place, such as China, India. Execution of criminals and political opponents has been used by nearly all societies—both to punish crime, in most countries that practise capital punishment it is reserved for murder, terrorism, war crimes, espionage, treason, defection or as part of military justice. In many countries use the death penalty, drug trafficking is also a capital offence. In China, human trafficking and serious cases of corruption are punished by the death penalty, in militaries around the world courts-martial have imposed death sentences for offences such as cowardice, desertion, insubordination, and mutiny. The use of formal execution extends to the beginning of recorded history, most historical records and various primitive tribal practices indicate that the death penalty was a part of their justice system. Communal punishment for wrongdoing generally included compensation by the wrongdoer, corporal punishment, shunning, banishment, usually, compensation and shunning were enough as a form of justice. The response to crime committed by neighbouring tribes or communities included a formal apology, a blood feud or vendetta occurs when arbitration between families or tribes fails or an arbitration system is non-existent. This form of justice was common before the emergence of a system based on state or organized religion. It may result from crime, land disputes or a code of honour, acts of retaliation underscore the ability of the social collective to defend itself and demonstrate to enemies that injury to property, rights, or the person will not go unpunished. However, in practice, it is difficult to distinguish between a war of vendetta and one of conquest. Elaborations of tribal arbitration of feuds included peace settlements often done in a religious context, compensation was based on the principle of substitution which might include material compensation, exchange of brides or grooms, or payment of the blood debt. Settlement rules could allow for animal blood to replace human blood, the person offered for execution did not have to be an original perpetrator of the crime because the system was based on tribes, not individuals
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Kashmir
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Kashmir is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range. In the first half of the 1st millennium, the Kashmir region became an important centre of Hinduism and later of Buddhism, later still, in the ninth century, in 1339, Shah Mir became the first Muslim ruler of Kashmir, inaugurating the Salatin-i-Kashmir or Swati dynasty. Kashmir was part of the Mughal Empire from 1586 to 1751 and that year, the Sikhs, under Ranjit Singh, annexed Kashmir. The Sanskrit word for Kashmir was, the Nilamata Purana describes the Valleys origin from the waters, a lake called Sati-saras. A popular, but uncertain, local etymology of Kashmira is that it is land desiccated from water, an alternative, but also uncertain, etymology derives the name from the name of the sage Kashyapa who is believed to have settled people in this land. Accordingly, Kashmir would be derived from either kashyapa-mir or kashyapa-meru, the Ancient Greeks called the region Kasperia which has been identified with Kaspapyros of Hecataeus and Kaspatyros of Herodotus. Kashmir is also believed to be the country meant by Ptolemys Kaspeiria, Cashmere is an archaic spelling of present-Kashmir, and in some countries it is still spelled this way. In the Kashmiri language, Kashmir itself is known as Kasheer, the Buddhist Mauryan emperor Ashoka is often credited with having founded the old capital of Kashmir, Shrinagari, now ruins on the outskirts of modern Srinagar. Kashmir was long to be a stronghold of Buddhism, as a Buddhist seat of learning, the Sarvāstivādan school strongly influenced Kashmir. East and Central Asian Buddhist monks are recorded as having visited the kingdom, in the late 4th century CE, the famous Kuchanese monk Kumārajīva, born to an Indian noble family, studied Dīrghāgama and Madhyāgama in Kashmir under Bandhudatta. He later became a translator who helped take Buddhism to China. His mother Jīva is thought to have retired to Kashmir, vimalākṣa, a Sarvāstivādan Buddhist monk, travelled from Kashmir to Kucha and there instructed Kumārajīva in the Vinayapiṭaka. Karkota Empire was a powerful Hindu empire, which originated in the region of Kashmir and it was founded by Durlabhvardhana during the lifetime of Harshavardhan. The dynasty marked the rise of Kashmir as a power in South Asia, avanti Varman ascended the throne of Kashmir on 855 A. D. establishing the Utpala dynasty and ending the rule of Karkota dynasty. According to tradition, Adi Shankara visited the pre-existing Sarvajñapīṭha in Kashmir in the late 8th century or early 9th century CE, the Madhaviya Shankaravijayam states this temple had four doors for scholars from the four cardinal directions. The southern door of Sarvajna Pitha was opened by Adi Shankara, abhinavagupta was one of Indias greatest philosophers, mystics and aestheticians. He was also considered an important musician, poet, dramatist, exegete, theologian, and logician – a polymathic personality who exercised strong influences on Indian culture
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Siege of Lucknow
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The Siege of Lucknow was the prolonged defence of the Residency within the city of Lucknow during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. After two successive relief attempts had reached the city, the defenders and civilians were evacuated from the Residency, the state of Oudh/Awadh had been annexed by the British East India Company and the Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was exiled to Calcutta the year before the rebellion broke out. This high-handed action by the East India Company was greatly resented within the state, the first British Commissioner appointed to the newly acquired territory was Coverley Jackson. He behaved tactlessly, and Sir Henry Lawrence, an experienced administrator. Lawrence was well aware of the mood of the Indian troops under his command. On 18 April, he warned the Governor General, Lord Canning, of some of the manifestations of discontent, on 1 May, the 7th Oudh Irregular Infantry refused to bite the cartridge, and on 3 May they were disarmed by other regiments. On 10 May, the Indian soldiers at Meerut broke into open rebellion, on 23 May, Lawrence began fortifying the Residency and laying in supplies for a siege, large numbers of British civilians made their way there from outlying districts. On 30 May, most of the Oudh and Bengal troops at Lucknow broke into open rebellion. In addition to his locally recruited pensioners, Lawrence also had the bulk of the British 32nd Regiment of Foot available, on 4 June, there was a rebellion at Sitapur, a large and important station 51 miles from Lucknow. This was followed by another at Faizabad, one of the most important cities in the province, thus, in the course of ten days, British authority in Oudh practically vanished. On 30 June, Lawrence learned that the rebels were gathering north of Lucknow and ordered a reconnaissance in force, although he had comparatively little military experience, Lawrence led the expedition himself. The expedition was not very well organised, whilst they were under attack, some of Lawrences sepoys and Indian artillerymen defected to the rebels, overturning their guns and cutting the traces. His exhausted British soldiers retreated in disorder, some died of heatstroke within sight of the Residency. Lawrence retreated into the Residency, where the siege now began, the actual defended line was based on six detached smaller buildings and four entrenched batteries. The position covered some 60 acres of ground, and the garrison was too small to defend it effectively against a prepared and supported attack. Also, the Residency lay in the midst of several palaces, mosques and administrative buildings, Lawrence initially refused permission for these to be demolished, urging his engineers to spare the holy places. During the siege, they provided good vantage points and cover for rebel sharpshooters, one of the first bombardments following the beginning of the siege, on 30 June, caused a civilian to be trapped by a falling roof. Corporal William Oxenham of the 32nd Foot saved him while under intense musket and cannon fire, the first attack was repulsed on 1 July
18.
Siege of Cawnpore
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The Siege of Cawnpore was a key episode in the Indian rebellion of 1857. The besieged Company forces and civilians in Cawnpore were unprepared for a siege and surrendered to rebel forces under Nana Sahib. However, under circumstances, their evacuation from Cawnpore turned into a massacre. Following the recapture of Cawnpore and the discovery of the massacre, the murders greatly embittered the British rank-and-file against the Sepoy rebels and inspired the war cry Remember Cawnpore. Cawnpore was an important garrison town for the East India Company forces, located on the Grand Trunk Road, it lay on the approaches to Sindh, Punjab and Awadh. By June 1857, the Indian rebellion had spread to areas near Cawnpore, namely Meerut, Agra, Mathura. However, the Indian sepoys at Cawnpore initially remained loyal, the British General at Cawnpore, Hugh Wheeler, knew the local language, had adopted local customs, and was married to an Indian woman. He was confident that the sepoys at Cawnpore would remain loyal to him, the rest were the native servants, who left soon after the commencement of the siege. In the case of a rebellion by the sepoys in Cawnpore and it had thick walls, ample ammunition and stores, and also hosted the local treasury. However, General Wheeler decided to take refuge in the south of the city, there was a military building site to the south of Cawnpore, where nine barracks were being constructed at the dragoon barracks. The British soldiers found it difficult to dig trenches, as it was hot summer season. The area also lacked good sanitary facilities, and there was one well. Also, there were several buildings overlooking the entrenchment that would cover for the attackers. General Wheelers choice of location to make a stand remains controversial, given the availability of safer. It is believed that he was expecting reinforcements to come from the part of the city. He also assumed that, in case of a rebellion, the Indian troops would probably collect their arms, ammunition and money, the first sign of the rebellion at Cawnpore came in the form of a rebellion at Fatehgarh, a military station on the banks of the Ganges. To disperse the Indian troops away from Cawnpore, and lessen the chances of a rebellion, on one such mission, he sent the 2nd Oudh Irregulars to Fatehgarh. On the way to Fatehgarh, General Wheelers forces under the command of Fletcher Hayes, on the night of 31 May 1857, Hayes and Carey departed to a nearby town to confer with the local magistrate
19.
Capture of Lucknow
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The Capture of Lucknow was a battle of Indian rebellion of 1857. Oudh had been annexed by the East India Company only a year before a mutiny broke out in the Companys Bengal Army. Many sepoys of the Companys Bengal Army had been recruited from high-caste, there was increasing unrest in the Bengal Army, as privileges and customary allowances they had previously enjoyed were withdrawn. With uncertainty over their rights to property in Oudh, they felt that their status both as soldiers and citizens was under threat, from 1 July to 26 November,1857, the British had withstood the siege of the Residency to the north of the city. When the besieged garrison was relieved by the British commander-in-chief, Sir Colin Campbell. He returned to Cawnpore from where the expedition had been mounted, with all the civilians evacuated from the Residency. However, he left a division of 4,000 men under Sir James Outram to hold the Alambagh, during the following winter campaigning season, Campbell re-established his communications with Delhi and with Calcutta. He also received reinforcements from Britain and built up a substantial transport. However, the Governor General, Lord Canning, insisted that Oudh be recaptured, Campbells army consisted of seventeen infantry battalions, twenty-eight cavalry squadrons and 134 guns and mortars, with a large and unwieldy baggage train and large numbers of Indian camp followers. The army crossed the Ganges River in late February, and advanced to rendezvous with Outram at the Alambagh on 1 March, the army was then reorganised into three infantry divisions under Outram, Brigadier Walpole and Brigadier Lugard, and a cavalry division under James Hope Grant. A force of 9,000 Nepalis was approaching Lucknow from the north, the defenders of Lucknow were said to number 100,000. The British were not able to gain any reliable reports of their numbers, the rebels were nevertheless equipped with large numbers of cannon and had heavily fortified the Charbagh Canal, the city and the palaces and mosques adjoining the Residency to the north of the city. They had however not fortified the approaches to the city on the north bank of the Gumti River. Campbell began by repeating his moves of the relief of the Residency the previous year. He moved to the east of the city and Charbagh Canal to occupy a walled park, on 5 March, Campbells engineers constructed two pontoon bridges across the Gumti. Outrams division crossed to the bank, and by 9 March. Under covering fire from his guns, his division captured the grandstand of the King of Oudhs racecourse. Meanwhile, Campbells main body captured La Martiniere and forced their way across the Charbagh Canal with few casualties, by 11 March, Outram captured two bridges across the Gumti near the Residency although heavy rebel artillery fire forced him to abandon the stone bridge
20.
Central Indian campaign of 1858
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The Central India Campaign was one of the last series of actions in the Indian rebellion of 1857. A small British and Indian Army overcame a disunited collection of states in a rapid campaign. The area known to the British at the time as Central India is now occupied by parts of Madhya Pradesh, a large part of it was included in the region of Bundelkhand named after its former Bundela rulers. News of this spread rapidly, and most other units of the Bengal Army also rebelled. Nine regiments of Bengal Native Infantry and three of cavalry were stationed in Central India, almost all these units rose up against their officers during June and July. There were very few British units to oppose them, and Central India fell entirely out of British control, at Jhansi, British officers, civilians and dependents took shelter in a nearby fort on 5 June. They emerged three days later after being assured of their safety and were murdered by the rebellious sepoys. Rani Lakshmibai had no complicity in this act but was blamed by the British. Over the next few months, most of the former Company regiments marched to take part in the Siege of Delhi, the Gwalior Contingent remained largely inactive until October, when they were led to defeat at Cawnpore by Tantya Tope. These defeats deprived the rebels of a body of trained and experienced troops. Meanwhile, most of the now independent princes began raising levies and warring with each other, the Nawab of Banda, who induced several units of sepoys to join his service on the promise of loot, appears to have been particularly rapacious. One Mogul prince, Firuz Shah, attempted to lead an army into the Bombay Presidency to the south, Durand then overawed the Holkar Tukojirao II, into surrender. The Central India Field Force, under Sir Hugh Rose took the field around Indore in late December 1857, the force consisted of two small brigades only. About half the troops were Indian units from the Bombay Presidency army, Rose was initially opposed only by the various armed retainers and levied forces of the Rajahs, whose equipment and efficiency were sometimes in doubt. Roses first mission was to relieve the town of Saugor, where a small European garrison was besieged and he accomplished this on 5 February after some hard-fought battles against Afghan and Pakhtun mercenaries at Rathgar. Thousands of local villagers welcomed him as a liberator, freeing them from rebel occupation and his force had then to wait at Saugor for several weeks while transport and supplies were collected. Rose assembled his forces at Madanpur then advanced towards Jhansi by two routes, each column capturing and destroying numerous forts. When the British forces finally arrived at Jhansi they found that the city was well defended, Rose demanded the surrender of the city, if this was refused it would be destroyed
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Assam
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Assam (English pronunciation, /əˈsæm/ listen is a state in northeastern India. Located south of the eastern Himalayas, Assam comprises the Brahmaputra Valley, Assam, along with Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, and Meghalaya, is one of the Seven Sister States. Geographically, Assam and these states are connected to the rest of India via a 22 kilometres strip of land in West Bengal called the Siliguri Corridor or Chickens Neck. Assam shares a border with Bhutan and Bangladesh, and its culture, people. Assam is known for Assam tea and Assam silk, the first oil well in Asia was drilled here. The state has conserved the one-horned Indian rhinoceros from near extinction, along with the water buffalo, pygmy hog, tiger. It provides one of the last wild habitats for the Asian elephant, the Assamese economy is aided by wildlife tourism, centred around Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park which are World Heritage Sites. Sal tree forests are found in the state which, as a result of abundant rainfall, Assam receives more rainfall compared to most parts of India. This rain feeds the Brahmaputra River, whose tributaries and oxbow lakes provide the region with a hydro-geomorphic and aesthetic environment, the precise etymology of Assam came from Ahom Dynasty. In the classical period and up to the 12th century the region east of the Karatoya river, largely congruent to present-day Assam, was called Kamarupa, in medieval times the Mughals used Asham and Kamrup, and during British colonialism, the English used Assam. Though many authors have associated the name with the 13th century Shan invaders the precise origin of the name is not clear. It was suggested by some that the Sanskrit word Asama was the root, which has been rejected by Kakati, among possible origins are Tai and Bodo. Assam and adjoining regions have evidences of settlements from all the periods of the Stone ages. The hills at the height of 1, 500–2,000 feet were popular habitats probably due to availability of exposed dolerite basalt, useful for tool-making. According to a text, Kalika Purana, the earliest ruler of Assam was Mahiranga Danav of the Danava dynasty. The last of these rulers, also Naraka, was slain by Krishna, narakas son Bhagadatta became the king, who fought for the Kauravas in the battle of Kurukshetra with an army of kiratas, chinas and dwellers of the eastern coast. Samudraguptas 4th century Allahabad pillar inscription mentions Kamarupa and Davaka as frontier kingdoms of the Gupta Empire, ruled by three dynasties Varmanas, Mlechchha dynasty and Kamarupa-Palas, from their capitals in present-day Guwahati, Tezpur and North Gauhati respectively. All three dynasties claimed their descent from Narakasura, an immigrant from Aryavarta, in the reign of the Varman king, Bhaskar Varman, the Chinese traveller Xuanzang visited the region and recorded his travels
22.
Peshawar
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Peshawar is the capital of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It also serves as the centre and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Situated in a valley near the eastern end of the historic Khyber Pass, close to the border with Afghanistan. Making it the oldest city in Pakistan and one of the oldest in South Asia, Peshawar is the largest city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. According to the last census, it is also the ninth-largest city of Pakistan, the earliest settlement established in the area of Peshawar was called Puruṣapura, from which the current name Peshawar is derived. The Arab historian and geographer Al-Masudi noted that by the mid 10th century, after the Ghaznavid invasion, the citys name was again noted to be Parashāwar by Al-Biruni. The city became to be known as as Peshāwar by the era of Emperor Akbar, a name which is traditionally said to have been given by Akbar himself. The new name is said to have been based upon the Persian for frontier town, or more literally, forward city, though transcription errors and linguistic shifts may also account for the citys new name. Akbars bibliographer, Abul-Fazl ibn Mubarak, lists the name by both its former name Parashāwar, transcribed in Persian as پَرَشاوَر, and Peshāwar. Peshawar was founded as the ancient city of Puruṣapura, on the Gandhara Plains in the broad Valley of Peshawar, the city likely first existed as a small village in the 5th century BCE, within the cultural sphere of eastern ancient Persia. Puruṣapura was founded near the ancient Gandharan capital city of Pushkalavati, in the winter of 327-26 BCE, Alexander the Great subdued the Valley of Peshawar during his invasion of ancient India, as well as the nearby Swat and Buner valleys. Following Alexanders conquest, the Valley of Peshawar came under suzerainty of Seleucus I Nicator, a locally-made vase fragment that was found in Peshawar depicts a scene from Sophocles play Antigone. Following the Seleucid–Mauryan war, the region was ceded to the Mauryan Empire in 303 BCE, as Mauryan power declined, the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom based in modern Afghanistan declared its independence from the Seleucid Empire, and quickly seized Puruṣapura around 190 BCE. The city was ruled by several Iranic Parthian kingdoms. Puruṣapura was then captured by Gondophares, founder of the Indo-Parthian Kingdom, Gondophares established the nearby Takht-i-Bahi monastery in 46 CE. In the first century of the Common era, came under control of Kujula Kadphises, the city was made the empires winter capital. The Kushans summer capital at Kapisi was seen as the capital of the empire. Ancient Peshawars population was estimated to be 120,000, which would make it the seventh-most populous city in the world at the time, around 128 CE, Puruṣapura was made sole capital of the Kushan Empire under the rule of Kanishka
23.
Bengal Presidency
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The Bengal Presidency was once the largest colonial subdivision of British India, with its seat in Calcutta, the capital of British-held territories in South Asia until 1911. At its territorial peak in the 19th century, the presidency extended from the present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan in the west to Burma, Singapore, the Governor of Bengal was concurrently the Viceroy of India for many years. Most of the territories were eventually incorporated into other British Indian provinces. In 1905, Bengal proper was partitioned, with Eastern Bengal and Assam headquartered in Dacca, British India was reorganised in 1912 and the presidency was reunited into a single Bengali-speaking province. The Bengal Presidency was established in 1765, following the defeat of the last independent Nawab of Bengal at the Battle of Plassey in 1757, Bengal was the economic, cultural and educational hub of the British Raj. It was the centre of the late 19th and early 20th century Bengali Renaissance, the Partition of British India resulted in Bengals division on religious grounds, between West Bengal and East Bengal. Under Warren Hastings the consolidation of British imperial rule over Bengal was solidified, while the formation of a regularised system of legislation was brought in under John Shore. Acting through Lord Cornwallis, then Governor-General, he ascertained and defined the rights of the landholders over the soil. In 1793 Lord Cornwallis declared their rights perpetual, and gave over the land of Bengal to the previous quasi-proprietors or zamindars and this piece of legislation is known as the Permanent Settlement of the Land Revenue. It was designed to introduce ideas of property rights to India, the former aim misunderstood the nature of landholding in India, and the latter was an abject failure. The Cornwallis Code, while defining the rights of the proprietors, failed to give recognition to the rights of the under-tenants. Furthermore, the Permanent Settlement took no account of inflation, meaning that the value of the revenue to Government declined year by year, whilst the heavy burden on the peasantry grew no less. This was compounded in the early 19th century by compulsory schemes for the cultivation of Opium and Indigo, the former by the state, peasants were forced to grow a certain area of these crops, which were then purchased at below market rates for export. This added greatly to rural poverty, so unsuccessful was the Permanent Settlement that it was not introduced in the North-Western Provinces after 1831, in Punjab after its conquest in 1849, or in Oudh which was annexed in 1856. These regions were part of the Bengal Presidency, but remained administratively distinct. Officially Punjab, Agra and Allahabad had Lieutenant-Governors subject to the authority of the Governor of Bengal in Calcutta, the only all-Presidency institutions which remained were the Bengal Army and the Civil Service. The partition of the province of Bengal, which was decided upon by Lord Curzon, was carried into execution in October 1905. The princely states of Sikkim and the states of Odisha and Chhota Nagpur were not part of Bengal
24.
Meerut
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Dilavar automobiles workshop Meerut is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is an ancient city with settlements dating back to the Indus Valley civilisation having been found in, the city lies 70 km northeast of the national capital New Delhi, and 453 km northwest of the state capital Lucknow. Meerut is the second largest city in the National Capital region, and as of 2011 the 33rd most populous urban agglomeration and it ranked 292 in 2006 and is projected to rank 242 in 2020 in the list of largest cities and urban areas in the world. The municipal area is 141.89 km2 with the cantonment covering 35.68 km2, the city is one of the largest producers of sports goods, and the largest producer of musical instruments in India. The city is also a hub in western Uttar Pradesh. Meerut is also known as the Sports City Of India, the city is famous for being the starting point of 1857 rebellion for the freedom of the country. The city may have derived its name from Mayarashtra, the capital of the kingdom of Mayasura, Mandodaris father and this name may have mutated to Mairashtra, Mai-dant-ka-khera, Mairaath and eventually Meerut. Tradition also has it that the city formed a part of the dominions of Mahipala, the king of Indraprastha, Meerut also contained a Harappan settlement known as Alamgirpur. It was also the easternmost settlement of the Indus valley civilisation, Meerut had been a centre of Buddhism in the period of Mauryan Emperor Ashoka, and remains of Buddhist structures were found near the Jama Masjid in the present day city. He was later defeated by Mahmud Ghazni in 1018, a prominent local landmark, the Jama Masjid, dates from this period and is said to have been built by Mahmuds vizir. Shortly after its capture the city was regained by the local Hindu Raja and part of his fortifications, built for the city’s defence, but, eventually they were all defeated. Thereafter he went on to attack Delhi, where he massacred the local population, and returned to attack Meerut, then ruled by an Afghan chief, Ilias. The city then came under the rule of the Mughal Empire, during the rule of Mughal Emperor, Akbar the Great, there was a mint for copper coins here. The city saw Sikh and Maratha invasions in the 18th century, with interruptions by Jats, walter Reinhardt, an English soldier, established himself at Sardhana and some parts of the district came under his rule. Upon his death, they came into the hands of Begum Samru, during this time, the southern part of the district had remained under Maratha rule. In 1803, with the fall of Delhi, Daulat Rao Scindia of the Marathas ceded the territory to the British, the city was made headquarters of the eponymous district in 1818. Meerut is famously associated with the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the British East India Company, the famous slogan Dilli Chalo was first raised here. Meerut cantonment is the place where the rebellion started when Hindu, the revolt, which catapulted Meerut into international prominence, started in March,1857 at Barrackpore, Bengal
25.
Pattern 1853 Enfield
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The Enfield Pattern 1853 rifle-musket was a. The term “rifle-musket” originally referred to muskets with the smooth-bored barrels replaced with rifled barrels, the weapon would also be sufficiently long when fitted with a bayonet to be effective against cavalry. Such guns manufactured with rifled barrels, muzzle loading, single shot, the 39 in barrel had three grooves, with a 1,78 rifling twist, and was fastened to the stock with three metal bands, so that the rifle was often called a three band model. The rifles cartridges contained 68 grains of powder, and the ball was typically a 530-grain Pritchett or a Burton-Minié. It was developed by William Pritchett in the 1850s, the Enfield’s adjustable ladder rear sight had steps for 100 yards – the default or “battle sight” range –200 yards,300 yards, and 400 yards. For distances beyond that, an adjustable flip-up blade sight was graduated from 900 yards to 1,250 yards, British soldiers were trained to hit a target 6 feet by 2 feet – with a 2 feet diameter bulls eye, counting 2 points – out to 600 yards. The target used from 650 yards to 900 yards had a 3 feet bulls eye, with war breaking out between the Russians and the Turks, Britain realized that it was only a matter of time before they would be drawn into the conflict. The British Army was in the midst of a significant weapons transformation from smoothbore muskets to rifled muskets, by the end of 1853, the Enfield rifle-musket was approved by the War Department for the army and was put into production. The Enfield saw extensive action in the Crimean War, 1854–1856, the Enfield P53 was introduced to Indian troops under British colonization in 1856. The Enfield rifle-musket was a cause of the Indian rebellion of 1857. This seemed to prove that the cartridges were, in fact. As a consequence of British fears, the native infantrys long arms were modified by reaming out the rifling of the Pattern 1853 as a smooth bore bullet does not require greasing. This greatly reduced the effectiveness, as did replacing the variable distance rear sight to a fixed sight. However, due to the new walls, the barrel would bulge. Furthermore, with the bayonet fitted excessive flexing became an issue, to remedy this, new barrels were made with thicker walls. The first Enfield rifles were issued to the 58th and 65th Regiments, stationed in the country, the Enfield was not the ideal weapon for use in the dense bush covered hills of New Zealand because of its long length and weight.36 and Beaumont–Adams.44 revolvers. The special units kept a handful of 1853 Enfields for long range sniping, the Enfields continued to be used by the many British line regiments in the more open fern and tussock covered country of the Waikato interior. The Confederates imported more Enfields during the course of the war than any other arm, buying from private contractors
26.
Hindu
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Hindu refers to any person who regards themselves as culturally, ethnically, or religiously adhering to aspects of Hinduism. It has historically used as a geographical, cultural, or religious identifier for people indigenous to South Asia. The historical meaning of the term Hindu has evolved with time, by the 16th century, the term began to refer to residents of India who were not Turks or Muslims. The historical development of Hindu self-identity within the Indian population, in a religious or cultural sense, is unclear, competing theories state that Hindu identity developed in the British colonial era, or that it developed post-8th century CE after the Islamic invasion and medieval Hindu-Muslim wars. A sense of Hindu identity and the term Hindu appears in texts dated between the 13th and 18th century in Sanskrit and regional languages. The 14th- and 18th-century Indian poets such as Vidyapati, Kabir and Eknath used the phrase Hindu dharma, the Christian friar Sebastiao Manrique used the term Hindu in religious context in 1649. In the 18th century, the European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus, in contrast to Mohamedans for Mughals, scholars state that the custom of distinguishing between Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs is a modern phenomenon. Hindoo is a spelling variant, whose use today may be considered derogatory. At more than 1.03 billion, Hindus are the third largest group after Christians. The vast majority of Hindus, approximately 966 million, live in India, according to Indias 2011 census. After India, the next 9 countries with the largest Hindu populations are, in decreasing order, Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, United States, Malaysia, United Kingdom and Myanmar. These together accounted for 99% of the worlds Hindu population, the word Hindu is derived from the Indo-Aryan and Sanskrit word Sindhu, which means a large body of water, covering river, ocean. It was used as the name of the Indus river and also referred to its tributaries, the Punjab region, called Sapta Sindhava in the Vedas, is called Hapta Hindu in Zend Avesta. The 6th-century BCE inscription of Darius I mentions the province of Hidush, the people of India were referred to as Hinduvān and hindavī was used as the adjective for Indian in the 8th century text Chachnama. The term Hindu in these ancient records is an ethno-geographical term, the Arabic equivalent Al-Hind likewise referred to the country of India. Among the earliest known records of Hindu with connotations of religion may be in the 7th-century CE Chinese text Record of the Western Regions by the Buddhist scholar Xuanzang, Xuanzang uses the transliterated term In-tu whose connotation overflows in the religious according to Arvind Sharma. The Hindu community occurs as the amorphous Other of the Muslim community in the court chronicles, wilfred Cantwell Smith notes that Hindu retained its geographical reference initially, Indian, indigenous, local, virtually native. Slowly, the Indian groups themselves started using the term, differentiating themselves, the poet Vidyapatis poem Kirtilata contrasts the cultures of Hindus and Turks in a city and concludes The Hindus and the Turks live close together, Each makes fun of the others religion
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Muslim
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A Muslim is someone who follows or practices Islam, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion. Muslims consider the Quran, their book, to be the verbatim word of God as revealed to the Islamic prophet. They also follow the teachings and practices of Muhammad as recorded in traditional accounts, Muslim is an Arabic word meaning one who submits. Most Muslims will accept anyone who has publicly pronounced Shahadah as a Muslim, the shahadah states, There is no god but the God and Muhammad is the last messenger of the God. The testimony authorized by God in the Quran that can found in Surah 3,18 states, There is no god except God, which in Arabic, is the exact testimony which God Himself utters, as well as the angels and those who possess knowledge utter. The word muslim is the active participle of the verb of which islām is a verbal noun, based on the triliteral S-L-M to be whole. A female adherent is a muslima, the plural form in Arabic is muslimūn or muslimīn, and its feminine equivalent is muslimāt. The Arabic form muslimun is the stem IV participle of the triliteral S-L-M, the ordinary word in English is Muslim. It is sometimes transliterated as Moslem, which is an older spelling, the word Mosalman is a common equivalent for Muslim used in Central Asia. Until at least the mid-1960s, many English-language writers used the term Mohammedans or Mahometans, although such terms were not necessarily intended to be pejorative, Muslims argue that the terms are offensive because they allegedly imply that Muslims worship Muhammad rather than God. Other obsolete terms include Muslimite and Muslimist, musulmán/Mosalmán is a synonym for Muslim and is modified from Arabic. In English it was sometimes spelled Mussulman and has become archaic in usage, the Muslim philosopher Ibn Arabi said, A Muslim is a person who has dedicated his worship exclusively to God. Islam means making ones religion and faith Gods alone. The Quran states that men were Muslims because they submitted to God, preached His message and upheld His values. Thus, in Surah 3,52 of the Quran, Jesus disciples tell him, We believe in God, and you be our witness that we are Muslims. In Muslim belief, before the Quran, God had given the Tawrat to Moses, the Zabur to David and the Injil to Jesus, who are all considered important Muslim prophets. The most populous Muslim-majority country is Indonesia, home to 12. 7% of the worlds Muslims, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Egypt. About 20% of the worlds Muslims lives in the Middle East and North Africa, Sizable minorities are found in India, China, Russia, Ethiopia. The country with the highest proportion of self-described Muslims as a proportion of its population is Morocco
28.
Berhampur
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It is one of the oldest and largest cities of Odisha. Nicknamed The Silk City, it is famous for its silk saris, temples, the population of the city is 355,823 as of the 2011 Census of India without agglomeration, making it the fourth most populous urban city in Odisha state and 126th in India. The city is situated at 19° 20’ N Latitude 84° 50’ E Longitude and its average elevation above Mean Sea Level is 24.000 m. As of 2011 Census of India, the population of Brahmapur is 355,823, the effective literacy rate of Brahmapur is 90. 04%, higher than the national average of 74. 04%. Male and female rates are 93. 83% and 85. 92%. 8. 2% of the population are children aged 0–6 years, the adult and child sex ratios are 917 and 898 females per 1000 males, respectively. River Rushikulya is called the Ganga of Ganjam and it flows at a distance of about 30 kilometres from the city and discharges into the Bay of Bengal near Gopalpur port. Maximum summer temperature is 40o C whereas minimum temperature is 22o C. The mean daily temperature varies from 33o C to 38o C, may is the hottest month in the year whereas December is the coldest. The average annual rainfall is 1250 mm and the region receives Monsoon, the city is administered by the Brahmapur Municipal Corporation. This organization was a municipality from 1867 until 29 December 2008, the Revenue Divisional Commissioner of South zone is located at Brahmapur and covers the undivided Ganjam, Koraput, Kandhamal and Kalahandi districts. The Odisha State Government has proposed to have a service center in Brahmapur. Theatre has been prominent since the late 1930, and was the main source of entertainment until the advent of motion pictures. Ganjam Kala Parishad and Prakasam Hall, located here, are some of the oldest drama halls in India, the oldest theatre in the history of Odisha was the Sri Sitaram Vilas Talkies, which was closed down following severe damage by a super cyclone on 29 October 1999. Brahmapur city is connected with National Highways NH-5, NH-59 and NH-217 and other cities, the three-wheeler auto taxis are the most important mode of transportation in this city. Taxis also ply on the citys roads, Brahmapur railway station is situated on the East coast railway line, a major route connecting the two metros Kolkata and Chennai of India. Cuttack – Brahmapur connectivity is popular connectivity to reach Cuttack and it is one of the busiest railway stations in Odisha. The nearest airports are Biju Patnaik Airport, Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam Airport, rangeilunda airstrip is located at about 9 kilometres east of the city and was built by the British during World War II
29.
Barrackpore
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Barrackpore, or Barrackpur, is the headquarters of the Barrackpore subdivision in the North 24 Parganas district, and is situated in North Kolkata. Barrackpore is a part of the covered by the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority in the Indian state of West Bengal. Historically, the town was a military and administrative center under British rule, the oldest cantonment in India and the Police Training Academy in West Bengal are both located in Barrackpore. Barrackpore is also the seat for the Sub-Divisional Court of Northern 24 Parganas District, the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate is responsible for law enforcement in the city. The name Barrackpore may have originated from the English word barracks, alternatively, the Ain-i-Akbari suggests that the name comes from Barbakpur. Manasa Vijay, written by Bipradas Pipilai, refers to Barrackpore as Chanak, the earliest references to the Barrackpore region are found in the writings of the Greek navigators, geographers, chronicles and historians of the 1st century BC to the 3rd century AD. These authors generally referred to the country of a people called the Gangaridae. By the 15th and 16th centuries, Chanak and the towns in the region had become populous river towns. Baranagar, Dakhineswar, Agarpara, Panihati, Sukchar- Khardah, Barrackpur, Nawabganj, Ichapore, Shyam Nagar, Naihati, under the Mughal Empire, Bengal was divided into Circars, or administrative subunits, each of which was ruled over by a Mahal. The name Barbuckpur, another name for Barrackpore, is associated with a Mahal in the Ain-e-Akbari, from the 17th century, the area was ruled over by a line of Zamindars based in Nona Chandanpukur, Barrackpore. The first British barrack or cantonment in India was built in the town in 1772, two rebellions against British authority took place in Barrackpore in the 19th century. The first of these was Barrackpore Mutiny of 1824, led by Sepoy Bindee Tiwary, in this rebellion, 47th Bengal Native Infantry refused to board boats to cross the sea for various reason including social taboo Kala pani to Burma in the First Anglo-Burmese War. Consequently, British-manned artillery fired upon and erased them and his regiment was disbanded, an action which offended a number of sepoys and is considered to have contributed to the anger that fueled the rebellion. In order to commemorate his sacrifice, a park named Sahid Mangal Pandey Udyan was opened in the serenity of river Hoogly, the Army cantonment of Barrackpore also houses another significant historical landscape called the RCTC area, now populated by the defence quarters. Barrackpore is located at 22. 76°N88. 37°E /22.76,88.37 and it has an average elevation of 15 metres. The city is about 23 kilometres from Kolkata, and 115 kilometres from the Bangladeshi border, the city is situated on the eastern bank of the Ganges River. The subdivision is served by road, rail and air transport and it benefits from the Hooghly River, which flows through the western part of this subdivision. The presence of the river aided the establishment of a number of industries on its banks early in Indias industrial development, including jute, engineering, paper
30.
Ambala
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Politically, Ambala has two sub-areas, Ambala Cantonment also known as and Ambala City, approximately 3 kilometers apart, therefore it is also known as Twin City. It has a large Indian Army and Indian Air Force presence within its cantonment area. Ambala separates the Ganges river network from the Indus river network and is surrounded by two rivers – Ghaggar and Tangri – to the north and to the south. Gurudwara Manji Sahib is situated in Ambala. It is said that Ambala District was founded by Amba Rajput during the 14th century AD, another version is that the name is a corruption of Amba Wala meaning the mango-village, from mango groves which existed in its immediate neighborhood. Still, another version is that the District has taken its name after goddess Bhawani Amba whose Temple still exists in Ambala city, the cantonment houses the 2 Corps, one of the three Strike Corps of the Indian Army. Ambala Cantonment is location of historic Ambala European Cemetery, in its 160 years of existence as a district, Ambala has witnessed many changes in its boundaries. Previously, it extended across tehsils of Ambala, Saphera, Jagadhri, Pipli, Kharar, Ropar, kalka-cum-Kurari State, Pinjore, Mani Majra, Kasauli & Sanawar were also merged later into the district at different times. Ambala Air Force Base is one of the oldest and largest airbases that were inherited from the British by the IAF and it was from this airbase that Spitfires and Harvards flown by Instructors of the Advanced Flying Training School took part in the 1947-48 Kashmir Operations. Subsequently, Ambala was the front line airfield for many years and it was home to various aircraft that were inducted into the Indian Air Force. Vampires, Ouragans, Hunters, etc. all flew from this base, the airbase was briefly attacked in 1965 by B-57 bombers of the Pakistan Air Force. Today, the Airbase houses the 7 Wing with squadrons of Jaguars, a unit of the French-made Dassault Rafale will also be based at Ambala air base. In November 1949 Mahatma Gandhis assassin, Nathuram Godse was hanged at Ambala Central Jail along with Narayan Apte, Ambala Cantt is also mentioned in Kim by Rudyard Kipling. As of 2011 India census, Ambala UA had a population of 207,934 consisting of 112,840 males and 95,094 females, a ratio of 843. There were 20,687 children 0-6 and Ambala had a literacy rate of 89. 31%. Cloth Market is the charm of the city, which draws shoppers from surrounding areas, the cloth market has a dense cluster of 900-1000 wholesale shops. The market possesses a range of cloth items, Hand-loom Silk. Market provides all kinds of cloth tailoring related and other occupations to semi-urban areas around. This market remains closed on Thursday, Holi, Republic Day, Independence Day, himachal Pradesh and Punjab are major parts from which shopkeepers come to this market
31.
Telegraph
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Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of textual or symbolic messages without the physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pigeon post is not, telegraphy requires that the method used for encoding the message be known to both sender and receiver. Such methods are designed according to the limits of the medium used. The use of signals, beacons, reflected light signals. In the 19th century, the harnessing of electricity led to the invention of electrical telegraphy, the advent of radio in the early 20th century brought about radiotelegraphy and other forms of wireless telegraphy. The word telegraph was first coined by the French inventor of the Semaphore line, Claude Chappe, a telegraph is a device for transmitting and receiving messages over long distances, i. e. for telegraphy. The word telegraph alone now generally refers to an electrical telegraph, Wireless telegraphy is also known as CW, for continuous wave, as opposed to the earlier radio technique of using a spark gap. Contrary to the definition used by Chappe, Morse argued that the term telegraph can strictly be applied only to systems that transmit. This is to be distinguished from semaphore, which transmits messages. Smoke signals, for instance, are to be considered semaphore, according to Morse, telegraph dates only from 1832 when Pavel Schilling invented one of the earliest electrical telegraphs. A telegraph message sent by a telegraph operator or telegrapher using Morse code was known as a telegram. A cablegram was a sent by a submarine telegraph cable. Later, a Telex was a sent by a Telex network. A wire picture or wire photo was a picture that was sent from a remote location by a facsimile telegraph. A diplomatic telegram, also known as a cable, is the term given to a confidential communication between a diplomatic mission and the foreign ministry of its parent country. These continue to be called telegrams or cables regardless of the used for transmission. Commercial electrical telegraphs were introduced from 1837, the first telegraphs came in the form of optical telegraph, including the use of smoke signals, beacons, or reflected light, which have existed since ancient times. Early proposals for a telegraph system were made to the Royal Society by Robert Hooke in 1684 and were first implemented on an experimental level by Sir Richard Lovell Edgeworth in 1767
32.
Flagstaff Tower
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Flagstaff Tower is a one-room, castellated tower, built around 1828 as a signal tower. It is located in Kamla Nehru Ridge near the North Campus of Delhi University in Delhi, built by the British Indian Army, the building was part of the British cantonment and was used as a signal tower. Before forestation started in 1910, the area where the tower was built was the highest point on the ridge and was mostly barren, today it is a memorial and protected monument under Archaeological Survey of India. Flagstaff Tower played an important role during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, a month later the Company army returned to capture Delhi, which was now with the sepoys. On 7 June, they faced resistance from the sepoys at the Flagstaff Tower. A fierce battle followed which led to the killing and wounding of a number of soldiers. However, by five in the evening the ridge had been recaptured and was now under British control, Siege of Delhi Siege of Cawnpore Siege of Lucknow Rosie Llewellyn-Jones. The Great Uprising in India, 1857-58, Untold Stories, Indian, the Last Mughal, The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi 1857
33.
British Army
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The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom. As of 2017 the British Army comprises just over 80,000 trained Regular, or full-time, personnel and just over 26,500 trained Reserve, or part-time personnel. Therefore, the UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the Army by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, day to day the Army comes under administration of the Ministry of Defence and is commanded by the Chief of the General Staff. Repeatedly emerging victorious from these decisive wars allowed Britain to influence world events with its policies and establish itself as one of the leading military. In 1660 the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were restored under Charles II, Charles favoured the foundation of a new army under royal control and began work towards its establishment by August 1660. The Royal Scots Army and the Irish Army were financed by the Parliament of Scotland, the order of seniority of the most senior line regiments in the British Army is based on the order of seniority in the English army. At that time there was only one English regiment of dragoons, after William and Marys accession to the throne, England involved itself in the War of the Grand Alliance, primarily to prevent a French invasion restoring Marys father, James II. Spain, in the two centuries, had been the dominant global power, and the chief threat to Englands early transatlantic ambitions. The territorial ambitions of the French, however, led to the War of the Spanish Succession and the Napoleonic Wars. From the time of the end of the Seven Years War in 1763, Great Britain was the naval power. As had its predecessor, the English Army, the British Army fought the Kingdoms of Spain, France, and the Netherlands for supremacy in North America and the West Indies. With native and provincial assistance, the Army conquered New France in the North American theatre of the Seven Years War, the British Army suffered defeat in the American War of Independence, losing the Thirteen Colonies but holding on to Canada. The British Army was heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars and served in campaigns across Europe. The war between the British and the First French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte stretched around the world and at its peak, in 1813, the regular army contained over 250,000 men. A Coalition of Anglo-Dutch and Prussian Armies under the Duke of Wellington, the English had been involved, both politically and militarily, in Ireland since being given the Lordship of Ireland by the Pope in 1171. The campaign of the English republican Protector, Oliver Cromwell, involved uncompromising treatment of the Irish towns that had supported the Royalists during the English Civil War, the English Army stayed in Ireland primarily to suppress numerous Irish revolts and campaigns for independence. Having learnt from their experience in America, the British government sought a political solution, the British Army found itself fighting Irish rebels, both Protestant and Catholic, primarily in Ulster and Leinster in the 1798 rebellion. The Haldane Reforms of 1907 formally created the Territorial Force as the Armys volunteer reserve component by merging and reorganising the Volunteer Force, Militia, Great Britains dominance of the world had been challenged by numerous other powers, in the 20th century, most notably Germany
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East India Company
