Agra Burns

“The result of the divided counsel was again too painfully apparent. For fear of apparent timidity, the records, save those of the Board of Revenue, had not been removed into the one place of safety, while the refugees were forbidden to take with them any but the smallest amount of personal property. In their helpless rage at the destruction of the belongings before their eyes, they openly abused the authorities and murmurs against Mr. Colvin were rife, but those were properly treated by Lord Canning as “screeches from Agra.” However, it seems everyone was screeching equally – at Delhi, many letters were received from Agra from the complainants, leading some men to exclaim, “The Agra-Wallahs are howling again!” but the Agra Garrison would, in their turn, complain they too received letters from Delhi, which were unrestrained in their howling. As long as there were any means of communication, everyone used it to display their grievances against everyone else.
Some enterprising civilians had ignored Colvin and his absurd ruling from the onset. They continued to smuggle their personal belongings into the fort until the 5th of July, so like at Lucknow, some were better equipped for a siege than others, having had the foresight to provision themselves with stocks of champagne, beer and foodstuff. Others, like Ruth Coopland, would be left to rely on the kindness of others and the meagre commissariat stores. However, many suddenly found themselves on the brink of ruin, everything they owned had gone up in smoke, and they now stood in the fort, destitute and penniless. Their rage was made worse when it became apparent that not all of their property was burned on the 5th of July. The majority of the city was plundered over the next two days and nights, the 6th and 7th of July. The servants, who had hitherto protected their employer’s property, waited in vain for the British to come out of the Fort – when they didn’t, they gave it all up as a bad job and left. As the rebels retreated towards Delhi via Muttra, the inmates of Agra Fort saw a line of fire spring up in their wake. For days to come, they watched as their property floated down the river past them – chairs, tables and sundry furnishings- much of which ended up stuck in the sandbanks. As for the fire itself, it could be seen 6 miles away and would give Mark Thornhill, as we shall see in a later post, quite a shock.

The few civilians who had been rash enough to remain in the city paid for their mistakes with their lives. Some refused to leave their property behind and stubbornly stayed in the city, while others trusted their friends to protect them. In all, 20 Christians lost their lives – although one, who must have been quite a character, deserves a moment’s thought. An eccentric, drunk clerk from the Accountants Office had opted to stay at home, where it was, in his estimation, far more comfortable than some hot, crowded fort. He calmly stayed behind as his neighbours fled, drink in hand. When the mob came to burn his house, he invited them in, offered them a drink and then helped them smash up his own furniture. Regarding him quite mad, the rioters left him unharmed. In all the confusion, Major Jacob, whose family had long been settled in Gwalior and had all held high commands in Scindia’s army ( Jacob himself had fought against the British in Maharajpore), was persuaded not to enter the fort by his servants. The next day, they murdered him. Thornhill contemptuously writes that whatever European blood was left in Jacob’s veins was French! As such, he was hardly considered a gentleman. Another man who lost his life through his own imprudence was 28-year-old Reverend Frederick Cairns Hubbard, who, according to Ruth Coopland, returned to the city on the night of the 5th to see after the Agra College – he was killed. His brother, the Reverend A.R. Hubbard, had been murdered at Delhi on the 11th of May, so perhaps the young Mr. Hubbard should have been a little wiser. The head of Mr. Christie was placed on a raised sidewalk in front of the police station, and Mr. and Mrs. Davidson and their children were murdered at the door of their house. Their ayah managed to save two other children, though she was severely wounded in the process. She took them to the same police station where Christie’s head was displayed and managed to keep them hidden until the 8th of July. Another child, a boy of 12, succeeded in escaping by dodging through the legs of the murderers and by traversing alone through the city, reached the fort. Mr. Hare, an old man, paralysed and unable to flee, was murdered by two of Drummond’s policemen as was his son, who endeavoured to protect him. His wife and two other children fled to the river. They were found by a sweeper who concealed them in his hut until it was safe enough to lead them to the fort, 2 days later. 65-year-old Elizabeth Nolan was murdered at her home. In all, 22 people – who should have been in the fort -were killed, including 3 children.

The following can serve as evidence of their grisly demise:

Mr. Allen, pensioner. Attacked by a mob of police and town badmashes who broke down the door of the house and killed him
Mr. Alexander Derridon, Mrs. Derridon, and 2 children – a girl and a boy – were killed in their house by five men who broke in.
Mr. Christie, called out of his house, supposedly by a friend, was chased through the streets and finally beheaded by the mob, his head put on display at the Kotwali.
Mr Lamburn, killed in his own house, gunshot wounds and sword cuts
Major Jacobs, killed by his servants and neighbours
Mr. Piaggeo was mobbed on the street, chased down and killed
Roostum and Peter, both killed in their own houses by the town mob
Mr. Lewis Maxwell was followed to his house by two Najibs and killed on the doorstep
A drummer, who sought protection in a labourer’s house, was dragged out and killed in the street
Mr. and Mrs. Dennis, killed in their own house by a mob
Mr. Anthony, killed by a mob while hiding in an indigo vat
Mr. J. Danslem, killed by town butchers
Mrs. Matthews was found in her house and killed

Some servants endeavoured to join their employers in the fort during the following days, but to their dismay as soon as they approached the gates, the soldiers standing sentry shot at them. They prudently fled back to the city, hoping that the British would either come and secure the city or the rioters would not murder them as traitors.
For the months to come, Agra Fort would be home to a heterogenous mass of humanity, which Charles Raikes describes as, ” There were unwilling delegates from many parts of Europe and America. Nuns from the banks of the Garonne and the Loire, priests from Sicily and Rome, missionaries from Ohio and Basle, mixed with the rope-dancers from Paris and pedlars from Armenia. Besides these, we had Calcutta Babus and Parsi merchants. Although all the Christians alike were driven by the mutinous legions into the Fort, the circumstances of the multitude were as various as their races. There were men who had endured more than all the afflictions of Job, who had lost like him not only their sons, daughters, and everything they possessed, but also mourned over the fate of wife, mother and sister! Reserved, silent, solitary amongst the crowd, they longed either to live alone in their grief or to quench the fire within by some hurried act of vengeance or despair.”

On 8 July, Mr. Harington received word from Munshi Raja Ram, the Tahsildar of Khandauli, that the mutineers had departed, and now it was only the badmashes who were keeping up a lively scene. It was determined thus that a military demonstration, aided by guns and infantry, was needed to march through the city. This display put an end to rioting in Agra and had a good effect on the people. Almost immediately, the Fort was crowded with dhobis, bheesties, durzies, shepherds, cooks and sweepers – it was now possible to buy millinery and perfumery but strangely enough, beer, wine and tobacco remained scarce. As for the inhabitants of the fort, there was no station to return to and no road safe enough to flee by. Until succour came from without, nearly 6000 people would remain in Agra, the fort their makeshift home. They would be spared the miseries of a siege, mainly due to the exertions of Major Macpherson, who, during his whole captivity in Agra, kept up an unceasing correspondence with Scindia and Dinkar Rao at Gwalior, who successfully kept the Gwalior Contingent at bay.
Through all of this tumult, Mr. Colvin remained ill in bed, and anger devolved on Mr. Drummond. There was a near-universal cry for his removal – as it was no longer believed Colvin could conduct government, it was equally believed Drummond should be blamed for everything that had gone wrong. On the 9th of July, Drummond was removed from office – the others of the council had given Colvin a choice, either Drummond goes or they would remove Colvin. As for Polwhele, he was now forced to follow the advice of the engineers. Though never officially named, Colonel Fraser became the commandant of the Agra Fort.

In the next post, we shall follow the further trials of Mark Thornhill, who had returned to Muttra. Then we shall proceed with events at Agra to their conclusion.


^{Sources:
Chick, N.A.  Annals of the Indian Rebellion. Calcutta: Sanders’ Cones & Co.,1859
Coopland, Ruth M. A Lady’s Escape from Gwalior and Life in the Fort of Agra during the Mutinies of 1857. London: Richard Bentley, 1859.
Dodd, George. The History of the Indian Revolt and of the Expeditions to Persia, China, and Japan, 1856-7-8. London: W. & R. Chambers, 1859
Hibbert, Christopher. The Great Mutiny: India 1857. London: Penguin Books, 1978.
Holmes, Thomas Rice Edward. A History of the Indian Mutiny. 4th ed. London: W.H. Allen & Co., 1891.
Kaye, John William. A History of the Sepoy War in India, 1857–1858. Vol. 3. London: W.H. Allen & Co., 1876.
Muir, William. Agra in the Mutiny and the Life of W. & E.H. Muir in the Fort, 1857: A Sketch for the Children. Privately printed, 1896.
Mukerji, Abhay Charan. A Traveller’s Guide to Agra. Allahabad: Sen & Co., 1892.
Nevill, H. R. Agra: A Gazetteer. Vol. 8 of District Gazetteers of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. Allahabad: F. Luker, 1905.
Phillips, Alfred Lisle March. Anecdotes and Reminiscences of Service in Bengal. N.p., 1878.
Raikes, Charles. Notes on the Revolt in the North-Western Provinces of India. London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans & Roberts, 1858.
Roberts, Frederick Sleigh, Field Marshal Lord. Forty-One Years in India: From Subaltern to Commander-in-Chief. Vol. 1. London: Richard Bentley & Son, 1897
White, Samuel Dewé. Indian Reminiscences. London: W.H. Allen & Co., 1880.}

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