Delhi, June 1857

The Delhi of 1857 was a very different city from the one we know today.

This was the city of Shahjahanabad, or the seventh city of Delhi, built by the Moghul emperor, Shah Jahan, in 1649. Constructed as a fortress on the right bank of the Jamuna River, the city was then confined to an area of five and a half miles, with nearly one and a half taken up by the King’s Palace.
The strong walls were made of stone and lime that had been kept in excellent repair and even strengthened by the British. These walls consisted of long curtains, punctuated at irregular intervals by bastions. While the curtains were adapted for musketry fire only, the bastions had been a modern construction and were capable of mounting from eight to twelve guns at a time. Additionally, there were fourteen entrance gates and sixteen wicket gates or Khirkis (literally translated as windows). A number of these bastions had been added by the British, who, in addition to repairing the original fortifications, added to it to make it more secure.
On the river side stood the strongly fortified palace of the King of Delhi, and the Selimgarh, another fort, which commanded the Bridge of Boats that connected the city with Meerut. Entrance to the palace was given by one main gate that directly ran into the main street of Chandni Chowk. Within the city walls was “a maze of houses, some of masonry, some of mats, some of mud.. The larger houses contained underground rooms, enclosed courtyards…”

What remains today of this magnificent structure is the King’s Palace, or Red Fort. Of the fourteen gates, some of which were of British construction, only five remain. It must be noted here that the Lahore Gate, which we know today as the entrance to the King’s Palace or Red Fort, is not the same gate which would figure during the final assault on Delhi. Of this gate, very little remains today at the far end of the Lahori Bazaar crossing.

Taking the Ridge

The victory at Badli-ki-Serai was by no means the end of the day’s work. There was a real danger the mutineers, though routed, might rally – the British were outnumbered and desperately out-gunned; another fight so soon as Badli-ki-Serai would have meant their defeat. With that in mind, General Bernard decided to push home his advantage and mustered the men to move forward to Delhi. The goal for the 8th of June was not the recapture of Delhi – for that, Barnard had too few men. Instead, he set his sights on a more practical target, a rocky hill called the Ridge.

General Barnard divided his force into two separate columns – the column under his command took its way across the plain.
“Crossing the half-ruined bridge over the canal, our force was fired down upon by some guns which had stopped beside the Flagstaff Tower, but their balls were ill-directed, breaking down the tombstones in the churchyard to the right. The parade ground, with the blackened shells of the officers’ bungalows, now came into view. A little above were the sepoy’s huts. Captain Money’s troop then wheeled to the right of the Flagstaff. The firing was admirable. The enemy fled after a few shots, leaving three guns behind them, and disappeared down the covered road which led to the city…”

The other column, under General Archdale Wilson, led an attack through the suburbs of Sabzi-Mandi. The area was quiet and deserted, and no one stopped the advancing soldiers from setting the houses on fire. The spirit of vengeance was still very much alive. From the Kabul Gate, the column then turned left, skirting towards the Ridge. No sooner had they been seen from the city walls than the firing commenced, the round shot whizzing and whirring around their heads.

“They pushed hastily under the shelter of the walls and gates of a large stone building called Hindoo Rao’s House, where they met with the victorious column of Sir Henry Barnard and the Ghoorkas, who had ascended the front of the hill. The enemy had taken the range of the house, and the justness of their aim was surprising. A gun limber was blown up, and the clothes of a young officer of artillery caught fire; he was most cruelly burned.”

Rising 60 feet above the city, the Ridge covered the main line of communication with the Punjab which was essentially the lifeline of the British in Delhi. To the left ran the Jamuna River, then unfordable due to the high volume of meltwater from the Himalayas and by the onset of the monsoon rains. The river was also sufficiently wide enough to prevent the enemy from engaging in any meaningful bombardment; however the immediate right of the position of the numerous bazaars, buildings and garden- walls would provide the mutineers with enough cover to launch attacks but the ground itself was too difficult to allow to make any deliberate advances consisting of jungle, forest, rocks and scrub brush. Thus protected from attacks to their flank or rear, the British would further be covered by the Najafgarh jhil or swamp which during the rainy season simply turned vast areas of land into a lake. The Ridge ran for one and a half miles, abruptly ending at the Sabzi Mandi and then continuing away towards the southwest. The East Jumna Canal and the Grant Trunk Road to the Punjab entered the city at this point, while “this ridge formed the front of our position, and covered our camp, which was pitched with its left resting on the river, and protected thereby, but its right rested on the Subzee Mandi Suburb, which thus became the key of our position, as by it alone could our flank be turned, and our communications with the Punjab threatened.”

The side of the city facing the Ridge had several points of note, namely on the right, and close to the river, the Water Bastion, on the left and nearly opposite to the point where the Ridge ended at Sabzi Mandi, stood the Moree Bastion. Between the two points was the Kashmiri Bastion, while again to the left, the Lahore Gate, which was untenable by the British guns. As this was the main gate of the city and sheltered by two areas occupied by the rebels – Paharipore and Kishanganj- the rebels could enter and leave the city unhindered. They used this to obvious advantage, sallying out from the Sabzi Mandi to attack the British flank.

The distance of the Ridge to the city walls varied distinctly. On the right, it stood only some 1200 yards from the walls but from the Flagstaff tower the distance increased to a mile and half, while still further along, at the end near the river, it measured nearly two and a half miles. This of course made the left side reasonably safe and being behind the Ridge, an ideal location for the main part of the camp.

Above all, it commanded an excellent view of the city of Delhi – a better position could not have been wished for.