8,455
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
no edit summary
The mutineers were Muslims, and if the outbreak at Bangalore had proved successful, it was to be followed by similar outbreaks at Bellary, Jaulnah, Hyderabad, and Nagpore. Doubtless, too, it would have spread far and wide.
To Major Inglis, commanding the [[48th Native Infantry]], however, on the morning of October 28th came [[Jemadar ]] Emaun Khan, a native officer of his regiment, and to the astonishment of his commanding officer revealed the whole plot. Prompt measures were at taken, the European regiments then at Bangalore, the 62nd Foot and the 13th Light Dragoons, were immediately warned. Parties were sent out, and all those named by the [[Jemadar]] were immediately arrested. The ringleader was a certain Hyder Ali Khan, who liked to be styled the " Nawaub," and who lived in the Pettah (walled part of a city) of Bangalore. With him were associated Syfut Ali Shah, a fakir who pretended to be an alchemist, and who promised those who joined the conspirators pecuniary rewards in this world and rewards of another, but equally satisfactory, nature in the next. A Muslim butter-merchant was also deeply implicated.
Had, however, the sedition been confined to these civilian natives, it would not have been particularly formidable, but unfortunately several havildars (the highest rank of non-commissioned officers among native troops in India and Ceylon) and sepoys of the native horse artillery, and certain regiments of native infantry and cavalry, had been seduced from their allegiance, and, what is more, would probably have received a certain amount of support from their comrades when once the trouble had begun.
By means of a clever ruse, a [[havildar]] favourable to the conspiracy had been appointed on the Mysore gate at Bangalore for that night, and his task was to open it and admit the mutineers. How this appointment was managed is worth relating. It appears that his brother, also a mutineer, met the havildar major coming out of the Adjutant's quarters. To the havildar major he presented a couple of silk handkerchiefs which had been provided for the purpose by the " Nawaub." The handkerchiefs were accepted and the traitor then proceeded to ask a favour. "As my child's ear is diseased," said he, " and the doctors tell me that the blood of swallows is good for it, if you will put my brother on the Mysore gate he will be able to get some for me." The petition was granted, and Shaik Ismael, havildar in the 9th Native Infantry, was duly posted on the gate. The mutineers divided themselves into three groups. The first was to be admitted through the Mysore gate, where the arsenal and magazine were to be seized and arms distributed, the European guard having been killed. Next the European Main guard was to share the same fate, after which the garden of the general commanding the district (Major-General Hawker) was to be surrounded, and that officer murdered. A gun was then to be fired from the ramparts, and a green flag displayed. This gun was to be a signal for the other two parties of mutineers to get to their allotted work, and to warn the Native Horse Artillery as well that their time for action had arrived.
Now at Bangalore there was a detachment of European artillery, and the European gunners were to be butchered. Then the guns, with their draught bullocks, were to be carried off, and together with those of the Native Horse Artillery, were to be trained on the barracks of the 62nd Regiment and of the 13th Light Dragoons. Immediately the head and foot ropes of the dragoons' horses were to be cut, and the animals mounted by the Pindarees. Then the guns were to open fire on the barracks of the 13th Light Dragoons and [[62nd Regiment of Foot]].
A third party of mutineers was to take the barracks in the rear. It was calculated that if grape-shot (hundreds of lead balls, or 'shot' linked together in chains and fired from a cannon) was well plied into the barracks there would be little chance of the Europeans escaping, roused as they were in the dead of the night. The officers in general, who lived in bungalows apart and in a rather scattered way, were destined to be shot or cut down as they rushed from their dwellings.
The plot had many elements of success in its conception, and even assuming that in the long run the mutiny had been suppressed, it is certain that a great deal of bloodshed would have occurred. The "Nawaub" proposed to install himself as King of Bangalore, with one Seyd Tippoo, a prominent mutineer, as his Prime Minister. Twenty-three native soldiers were brought before the Court of Inquiry, and some forty scamps from the bazaar. A court- martial was held later, which began its sittings on December 19. Four of the accused were sentenced to be blown from guns (i.e., strapped to a cannon, which is then fired), and some others to be shot. Several more were sentenced to death, but the sentences were commuted to transportation for life. The executions duly took place at Bangalore, in presence of the garrison, on December 24. Rewards were given to the loyal native officers and sepoys who gave information. Several did so, but a few hours later than the time the [[Jemadar ]] of the 48th came to Major Inglis. A searching investigation was made to find out the full extent of this conspiracy, but not much came to light. In the house of one of the rebels, a certain Abbas Ali, and in his own handwriting, was found a draft proclamation and a part of a fair copy thereof; but all other documents had been destroyed. The whole affair is remarkable in a way. There was no grievance of any kind among the native sepoys. Some of those condemned had even been years in the service. One had nineteen years service and several had had fathers and other relatives who had died in battle honourably.
Rewards were given to all who had given information, promotion in all cases, and sometimes in addition a pecuniary grant of 500 Rupees. Forewarned, it was easy to nip this mutiny in the bud. But what if the warning of trouble had been withheld?
The 13th Light Dragoons, however, were not destined to leave India without employment on active service in the field. The story of the brief campaign of 1839 is as follows. A fanatical spirit was abroad among the Muslim chiefs and the people of India which appears to have originated in Scinde, whence emissaries were sent to induce the chiefs to engage in a holy war against the British raj. Among the chiefs implicated was the Nawab of Kurnool - a potentate of some power and not a little wealth. By treaty he was precluded from storing and collecting war materiel, but nevertheless he had amassed a huge quantity of guns, muskets, shot, shell, bullets, swords, matchlocks, English double-barrelled guns and pistols, salt petre, sulphur, copper, lead, reams of cartridge paper, and about 600,000 lbs. of gunpowder. These warlike stores were cunningly concealed, some within the zenana (women's quarters) at Kurnool, and hundreds of cannon were ranged in the courtyards hidden by grass which had been allowed to grow over them. The Nawab was called upon for an explanation and refused to offer one. The Government therefore moved up a force towards Kurnool.
On August 13th, the [[34th Madras Light Infantry]] left Bangalore, to join the 13th Light Dragoons and other troops. The total force amounted to about 6000 men. On September 24th the force reached Kopatoal, thirty or forty miles from Kurnool. Here the Sappers were left to prepare materials for a siege, as it was anticipated that strong resistance would be offered by the Nawab. A company of the [[29th Native Infantry]], and one of the 16th, also remained, while the main force encamped about six miles to the front. So matters rested for a fortnight, when the Sappers were ordered to the front and encamped two miles in advance of the main force. The main camp was on the right bank of the river, while the artillery, engineers, and ordnance stores were on the left. On October 10, the Sappers, a Squadron of 13th Light Dragoons and other troops moved off. Meanwhile another group of native and a small body of Sappers had taken possession of the fort of Kurnool without resistance a few days before.
The force with the 13th Light Dragoons reached Kurnool on October 12, encamping about two miles off. For six days the troops were employed in searching for the Nawab's concealed guns and stores - only seven or eight being found mounted on the walls. Among the guns was found forty or fifty light field-pieces with carriages complete and ready for the field - mostly two-pounders or six-pounders. A "Malabar" gun, ten feet long, mounted on a carriage with 10 ft wheels, and a 24-foot trail, was discovered behind a wall, but commanding the main street from the gate. It had a 12-inch bore and carried a shot weighing two hundred and forty pounds. Three or four hundred guns were found in the grass in the courtyard, and in another place guns, mortars, and howitzers in large numbers. A huge amount of treasure was also seized. Most of the shells were made of pewter, and some were of most fanciful design. The fact was that the British force had arrived six months too soon, and the Nawab's force did not amount to more than 1000 men. While his stores were being disclosed the Nawab remained in an enclosure near the tomb of his father to which he had retired. The fort technically was still his own, and he was permitted to send things in and out - and some treasure was no doubt removed.
