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Prelude to the 1857 Mahua Dabar massacre: Flight From Faizabad

These web pages present contemporary sources in an attempt to sort out the confused story of the massacre of British army officers near the village of Mahua Dabar, south of Basti in northern India, in June 1857, and the subsequent reprisals by the British. Please note that I have not (except for the substitution [N-word]) changed the quoted texts, which very often display 19th-century attitudes and terminology, plus a wide variety of attempts to transliterate local names and other words. However, I have sometimes added my own comments and clarifications [in italics in square brackets].

This supplementary prologue page describes the ejection of British army officers from Faizabad, and the first stage of their journey eastward. The main narrative of the Mahua Dabar massacre can be found here.

"Morning Chronicle" (London newspaper; 14 Aug 1857, second edition, 1pm)

"THE OVERLAND MAIL. THE INDIAN MUTINY. ... summary of the Bombay Times, of July 14 :- ... The rising at Fyzabad occurred on the night of Sunday, the 8th ult. [i.e. 8 June], the 6th Regiment Oude Irregular Infantry giving the signal, which was immediately answered by the 22d Regiment Native Infantry. They at once took possession of the battery, and would not allow the officers to approach, but do not seem to have offered them any further violence. Fyzabad is in the very heart of Oude, and is situate upon a branch of the Ganges. The officers determined to endeavour to escape by boat, and were allowed quietly to embark. What followed is thus related by one of the party :-

'I remember the officers in the two boats; I accompanied Lieutenant Bright, 22d Native Infantry, Lieutenant Parsons, 6th Oude Irregulars, Lieutenant Cautley, 22d Native Infantry, Sergeant Busher, sergeant-major quartermaster-sergeant, 27th Native Infantry, and myself, were in one boat. Colonel Goldney, Lieutenant Currie, Artillery; Lieutenant Ritchie, 22d Native Infantry; Sergeant Edwards, and Sergeant-Major Matthews, in the second boat; three other boats followed behind; we waited two hours for them, but as they did not come we pushed off. ... On reaching a place called Begumgunge, about ten miles below Fyzabad, we met some mutineers encamped. At half-past one these men fired on us. There were 800 or 900 of them. About 100 men fired on us when we were 600 yards off. Colonel Goldney advised our pushing off to the opposite bank of the Gogra. We got on an island among some jhow fields. The mutineers got into dinghies and followed us. We made for the main boat from the island. There were about forty or fifty yards of water between us. Major Mills was drowned. The sergeant-major, Lieutenant Bright, and I were taken prisoners, and taken to the camp of the mutineers, who were the men of the 17th and 37th Native Infantry and the 17th Irregular Cavalry. ...' "

"Morning Chronicle" (London newspaper, 30 Sep 1857)

"THE MUTINY AT FYZABAD.
We have been favoured with the following statement by Colonel Lennox, lately commanding the troops at Fyzabad :-
[Lennox describes the co-ordinated movements of the mutinous troops to take control of Fyzabad and its artillery, signalled by a bugle alert at 10pm on 8 June, and his attempts to assert his authority:] I again visited the guns, but was refused admittance, the subadar (the prime leader of the mutiny, Dhuleep Singh) telling me it was necessary to guard the guns, and he would take care of them, requesting me to go to the quarter-guard and take my rest, and that nothing should happen to myself and officers so long as we remained with the regiment; a guard with fixed bayonets surrounded me, and escorted me to my charpoi. The oficers also of the regiment were not allowed to move twelve paces without a guard following them. Several officers asked me leave to flee away. I told them I had no power, and that I was a prisoner as well as themselves, but if they would remain quiet in their lines till daybreak Dhuleep Singh would give them an escort to the boats at Meerum Ghat, and send them off down the Gogra. Two officers trying to escape were fired at by the cavalry patrols, and brought back into the lines. About sunrise on the 9th the officers were allowed to take to the boats, myself and family alone remaining in cantonments. ... [Lennox and his family set off by boat down the Gogra at 2pm:] In the morning, about daybreak, some men coming down to bathe told me that there were men on the look-out for Europeans, and advised us to leave our boats as soon as we could and follow some six or seven Sahibs (officers) who the day before had gone on towards Goruckpore. ... [About 10am, after walking some 6 miles, the party were captured by an armed horseman, eager to earn a 500 rupee reward, so they went with him until they met a local lad:] The lad, however, persuaded him to let us drink water and rest near a village, and while so doing he sent a boy to bring men to our rescue. It appears that a Nagim, Meer Mahomed Hossein Khan [elsewhere transliterated Nazim Syed Muhammad Hasan Khan; see below], had a small force close by, about three-quarters of a mile off. The Nagim immediately sent out 10 or 12 footmen armed, who on coming up directed us to follow them, and also led the horseman by the bridle, having disarmed him. One of the men sent out for our rescue greatly abused me, and looking at his pistol and priming, swore he would shoot those Englishmen who had come to take away their caste and make them Christians. About midday we reached the fortified dwelling of the Nagim ... [They remained hidden there several days] On Thursday, the 18th of June, an alarm was given that an enemy was in full force coming against the fort; my wife and daughter were immediately laid in the zenanah, and myself hid in a dark wood (go down). The horsemen, however, on nearing the fort, were found to be a party sent by the colector of Gorruckpore for our rescue. The Nagim furnished my wife and daughter with palkees, and the rest of us on horses left the noble and considerate Nagim at eleven a.m., and, passing Amorah, reaching Captain Gunge at four p.m., where I found Farrier-Sergeant Busher, of the Artillery, who had also been rescued from captivity by Mr. Pippy [i.e. Peppé], with a guard of the 12th Irregular cavalry. ...

TROOPS STATIONED AT FYZABAD AT THE TIME OF THE MUTINY.
No. 5 company 7th battalion of Artillery and No. 13 Horse Battery.- Major Mil, Lieutenants Percival and Currie, Sergeant Edwards and wife and child, and Sergeant Busher and wife and child.
22d Regiment of Native Infantry.- Colonel Lennox (commanding regiment and station), Captain Morgan, Lieutenants Fowle, English, Bright, Lindesay, Thomas, Ouseley, and Courtly, Ensigns Anderson and Ritchie, Assistant-Surgeon Daniel.
6th Regiment of Irregular Oude Infantry.- Lieutenant-Colonel O'Brien, Lieutenants Gordon and Parsons, Assistant Surgeon Collison.
5th troop of 15th Irregular Cavalry.

Syed Muhammad Hasan Khan, referred to above as Meer Mahomed Hossein Khan, who had reclaimed his old status of Nazim (district governor) during the rebellion, was requested in November 1858 to surrender to the British authorities under the general amnesty which had been proclaimed by the government. As his authority stemmed from the former rulers of the state of Oudh, whose dispossession on very flimsy grounds by the British in 1856 had been a major reason for the spread of the rebellion into the area, he refused to recognise British authority over him, writing two letters to the Gorakhpur magistrates, quoted in:

"Eighteen Fifty-Seven" by Surendra Nath Sen (1957)

p364 [from the first letter, explaining his understanding of his legal status, and the status of the British claim to rule]: "I have never killed any official or subject, although the European officers and their soldiers have slaughtered thousands of innocent and insignificant men, including women, blind men and mendicants, and have burned down their dwellings, looting their property."
p366 [from the second letter]: "The Government having committed every description of oppression, it is foolish in me, to have any hope, for my having saved Col. Lake [i.e. Lennox] and his two ladies. ... I do not consider my submission would be lawful, but criminal. ..."
p367 [a note on the vindictiveness of the local British administrator, Commissioner Wingfield, after the Nazim did finally surrender]: "Wingfield complained that Sir Hope Grant had shown the rebel chief special marks of regard and Muhammad Hasan was accused of encompassing the death of a European, Mr. Peppe. Hope Grant roundly denied that Muhammad Hasan had received any special treatment in his camp, and Mr. Peppe, luckily for the Nazim, was found alive."

"Banner of Ulster" (newspaper, 1 Sep 1857)

... extract from a letter written at Dinapore, June 30, by an officer of the 6th Oude Irregular Infantry:-
'The troops mutinied [at Faizabad] on the eve of Sunday, the 8th June. Captain Gordon and myself were prisoners at the quarter guard all night. About 3 o'clock on the morning of the 9th we were told to prepare to go to the river, and were only allowed to take a change of clothes, when we were put on board a little country boat and told to shift for ourselves. There were four boats, and in one of them were our Colonel, Captain Gordon, myself, and one officer of the Artillery, and one of the 22d. Colonel Goldney and the remaining officers were in the other boats. In this manner we started. Before we had got far down the river we saw the officers of the 22d had got into an English cutter and were sailing away at a great rate, so we put in shore and got a larger boat and some boatmen to pull. In the afternoon we passed them, and on we went until we came near a fort called Tandah by which no boats are allowed to go and all Europeans killed. As we passed down the river we had to lie in the bottom of the boat, for if we had been recognised we should have been murdered. About six miles below Adjudhea we were ordered to go ashore by some policemen, but we told the boatmen to go ahead as if they did not hear them, whereupon they said they would shoot us; but we still kept on, as we had a good stiff breeze in our favour. About six miles further we came upon the rear-guard of the 17th Native Infantry, which was marching towards Fyzabad, and here they had muskets piled and sentries who looked and shouted at the boat, but not seeing any Europeans did not make much noise. Two miles further on we saw six irregular cavalrymen on the bank of the river, and although they looked hard at the boat and shouted, yet none fired. When within two miles of Tandah we had to halt until dark, so as to pass the fort; here Captain Gordon's bearer and one of the boatmen ran away, and I had to bring the only servant we had and the four remaining boatmen down the bank into the boat at the point of my sword- talking to them was no use. Passing Tandah we had to go within twenty yards of the shore. The water was so shallow we could see the natives cooking and hear them talking, yet it was too dark for them to see us. The forts at this place extend for about 14 miles down the river. Just as we had got past the moon rose. While passing we came within five yards of a boat, but our boatmen happened to know those of the other boat, so they asked where each other were going, and never saw us at the bottom of the boat. Captain Gordon's servant was almost frightened to death, and I had the greatest difficulty in keeping him quiet. A [N-word] is a great coward when danger is near. As soon as day began to break, we had to lie by a sandbank; for there were more forts, and we were within two miles of the first fort. We had nothing to eat the whole of the day before, and now our food was flour and water, baked in a fire of dried cows' dung, with muddy water to drink. We remained there until 4, P.M., when we were suddenly surprised to see about fifty villagers running with all their might towards us- some with guns, others with swords, and the remainder with clubs. We immediately put into the stream and cocked our pistols, saw the rascals run into the water breast-high when they stopped and fired a volley at us, but fortunately without effect. It was too evident the whole country had risen, and that escape across the country was impossible. After pulling a short way down the river, the natives, seeing they could not get at us, ceased their pursuit. We then halted until dark, to enable us to pass the forts. Often the boatmen told us not to whisper, but to keep down ready for an attack; for we had often to go close in-shore, and were determined to fight through if possible. Next morning we had to stay in a creek close by a village called Gola; but before arriving there we were made to put in shore at a large village, where we paid ten rupees to a policeman to let us off. The boatmen said it was no use firing, the rupees would answer much better. Before the policeman put his head into the boat the men told him it was a 'yanana,' [Hindi for an official cargo inspector] but as soon as he got into the boat and saw five fellows armed to the teeth, he was well pleased to take the 'dibs,' [English slang for something to which one is entitled] and shouted for us to proceed immediately. The people on shore shouted out for him to rob the boat, but he knew better. At Gola we were so tired that we all fell asleep, and upon my awakening I discovered that all the boatmen and our only servant had run away, taking with them the few rupees we had. However, there was a large village close by, where a native prince and an indigo planter (a Frenchman) resided, so we set off to walk in a blazing hot sun. The prince happened to be one of the few remaining faithful to the British, and the planter seeing the whole country up around him agreed to start, with his wife and family, along with us the following morning. We got the first meal there that we had had for three days, and from that place our diet was spare and bad, and the water extremely dirty. We had a guard of thirty sepoys from the Rajah to take us to Dinapore, for we had to pass a very strong fort about ten miles below Gola, and it was on account of this place, no doubt, that our boatmen deserted us on the previous day. However, we managed to get on all right after this, and arrived here on the morning of the 17th, when we heard that many officers who left Fyzabad on the morning of the 9th had been murdered and drowned. Upon our arrival here we were received most heartily by the officers of the 8th Native Infantry, who did their utmost to make us comfortable. All the ladies were left at Fyzabad under the charge of Rajah Mann Singh [see below], who promised to protect them, but, as he was our prisoner within two days of the mutiny, I doubted his fidelity. I was to have remained with the ladies at Fyzabad, but as my regiment promised to fight I was kept with it, and sent off with the other officers. Almost all the ladies arrived here last night from Fyzabad in a pitiful condition. They had been robbed of everything at Gorrickpore, and only escaped with their lives. They were kept prisoners in a fort on the river for a week, and were almost starved to death. I cannot describe half the miseries they have endured. I have lost nearly everything I have, but Adjutant Grant, of the 8th Native Infantry, with whom Captain Gordon and myself are staying, has given us abundance of shirts, flannels, &c., and he is a noble specimen of a Scotchman. We seem to have escaped by Providence, as almost every man who started with us from Fyzabad has been either murdered or drowned. To give you an account of men coming up the country and the way in which Europeans and natives hung in return would occupy too much time, but every day brings us some fresh account of bloodshed.'

Mann Singh (aka Maun Singh) was a significant local ruler in Awadh, who attempted to assert his rights against both the British and the rebels, which of course led to trouble with both sides:

"An account of the mutinies in Oudh and of the siege of the Lucknow Residency" by Martin R. Gubbins (1858)

p292: In 1854 and 1855, serious disturbances broke out at Fyzabad between the Hindoos and Mahomedans: in consequence of some unauthorized aggressions which were attempted by the latter sect, who endeavoured to intrude by force into the sacred Hindoo temples at Adjooddea [i.e. Ayodhya].

This is a place of great antiquity, and reputed to be of the highest sanctity among the Hindoos, and is distant from Fyzabad three miles, on the banks of the Ghogra. The Mahomedan aggression was secretly favoured by the bigoted and imbecile Court at Lucknow. A great convulsion appeared to be imminent; for the Mussulmans, with a fanatic môlovee at their head, were marching on Adjooddea, resolved to enter the Hindoo shrine or die; while the Rajpoots and Hindoos of all the country round were flocking to defend their sanctuary, At this time Man Singh took the lead and placed himself at their head, becoming the acknowledged leader of the Hindoo party. He raised a large body of men, with whom he took post at the Shiwala, or temple which he had built at his private cost, among the numerous convents and temples which crowd the deeply-shaded dells and ravines of Adjooddea. Fortunately the British residents' interposition prevented an encounter between the hostile parties. The king's troops attacked and dispersed the Mussulmans, and the party which was headed by Man Singh remained victorious. It was commonly believed that Man Singh had then declared, that but for the support which the king would be sure to receive from the British, he would have marched to Lucknow, destroyed the Mahomedan dynasty, and established a Hindoo Government in its place. The introduction of British authority into Oudh found Man Singh deeply embarrassed. The large number of followers which he had maintained, had involved him in debt; the special immunities which he had received from the weakness of the Oudh Court, and corruption of its minister, were questioned; the old proprietors of the villages comprised in his talooquah all sued him to recover their lost rights, and the demand for payment of the Government revenue was instant. Under these circumstances, Man Singh fled the province, and remained absent for five months; during which it is believed that he was in Calcutta in attendance upon the ex-minister.

"Morning Chronicle" (London newspaper, 30 Sep 1857) continued

THE ESCAPE OF FARRIER SERGEANT BUSHER
The following is the statement of Farrier Sergeant R. Busher, of No. 13, Light Field Battery, mentioned in the above narrative :-
On the morning of the 8th of June news was brought into the station that the 17th Native Infantry, mutineers of Azimghur, had encamped a day's journey from Fyzabad, and intended marching into the station the following morning. I received orders from Major Mill, commanding the battery, to send my family without delay to Sheer Gunge, and place them under the protection of Rajah Mann Singh, of that place. I acordingly did so, sending along with them the families of four other non-commissioned officers. In the evening, by order of Colonel Lennox, commanding the station, two companies of the 22d Native Infantry were ordered to support our guns and take up their position [Busher here describes the mutiny, in similar terms to Lennox, though with 'about 11pm' as the time of the bugle call; he confirms that the mutineers arranged the provision of boats for the officers:] as there was no time to proceed in search of boatmen, it was resolved that the boats should be manned by ourselves, so we got in, and, as far as my memory serves me, in the following order :-

IN No. 1, OR THE FIRST BOAT.
1. Colonel Geldney, Commissioner.
2. Lieutenant Currie, Artillery.
3. Lietnenant Cautley, 22d Native Infantry.
4. Lieutenant Ritchie.
5. Lieutenant Parsons, 6th Oude Irregulars.
6. Sergeant-Major Matthews.
7. Sergeant Edwards, 13th Light Field Battery.
8. Sergeant Busher, 13th Light Field Battery.

IN No. 2, OR SECOND BOAT.
1. Major MIll, commanding 13th Light Field Battery.
2. Adjutant Bright, 22d Native Infantry.
3. Sergeant-Major Hollum, 22d Native Infantry.
4. Mrs. Hollum.
5. Quartermaster Sergeant Russell, 22d Native Infantry.
6. Bugler Williamson, 13th Light Field Battery.

IN No. 3, or THIRD BOAT.
1. Colonel O'Brien, 6th Oude Irregulars.
2. Captain Gordon, 6th Oude Irregulars.
3. Assistant-Surgeon Collison, 6th Oude Irregulars.
4. Lieutenant Anderson, 22d Native Infantry.
5. Lieutenant Percival, 13th Light Field Battery.

IN No. 4, OR FOURTH BOAT.
1. Lieutenant Thomas, 22d Native Infantry.
2. Lieutenant Lindesay, 22d Native Infantry.
3. Lieutenant English, 22d Native Infantry.

In the above order we dropped down the river on the 9th a little before sunrise. While dropping down a sepoy of the 22d (Teg Ali Khan), who had not joined the mutineers, was observed following in a canoe. He hailed and requested to be taken with the party. He was accordingly taken into No. 1 boat. An hour or so after he was taken up he made himself useful in procuring boatmen for Nos. 1 and 2 boats near a village.

After a little delay, which occurred in procuring boatmen, we again proceeded, and in a short time boats Nos. 1 and 2 passed the town of Adjoodhea. This was between eight and nine a.m.; boat No. 3 was observed to put in at Adjoodhea, and No. 4 was lost sight of, having dropped far astern. Nos. 1 and 2 proceeded on, and after leaving Adjoodhea about three miles in the rear put to to await the arrival of Nos. 3 and 4. After waiting two hours and seeing no signs of the boats coming we again proceeded on for about nine coss (or eighteen miles) down stream, when we observed what appeared to be scouts running along the right bank of the river, and giving notice of our approach. We then suspected all was not right, that we had been duped, and purposely led into danger. On proceeding a little further we distinctly observed a regiment of mounted cavalry, and another of native infantry in a body, at the narrowest part of the stream, awaiting our approach. We had no alternative but to proceed on. When Nos. 1 and 2 boats arrived opposite to them they opened a brisk fire on us. Sergeant Matthews, who was one of the rowers, was the first who fell, a ball having struck him at the back of the head. Another ball struck my hat and knocked it into the stream, sustaining no injury myself. Those in No. 2 boat, about 100 yards behind, seeing our hazardous situation, put their boat to a sandbanbk, entirely surrounded by water. We in No. 1 then put to also and went ashore, when Colonel Gldney requested us to lay down our arms and wait to see if we could come to terms with the mutineers, they directing their fire on us (Nos. 1 and 2) the whole time. Some boats with mutineers pushed off from the opposite shore and came towards us. When about the centre of the stream they opened fire on us. Colonel Goldney observing this directed that those who could run should, without any further loss of time, endeavour to escape, remarking that there was not even the shadow of a chance of our meeting with mercy at their hands, and at the same time added that he was too old himself to run. We, now seven in number, including Teg Ali Khan, took Colonel Goldney's advice and gave leg bail, taking a direction across country.
I may here mention that from this period we remained in ignorance of the fate of Colonel Goldney and those of No. 2 boat.

We now started, and continued running, but did not do so long before meeting with an obstacle which precluded our further advance in the direction we marked out, and this was the junction of two streams of considerable width. While at a standstill, and deliberating as to our future course, we saw a number of men coming towards us, whom we took for sepoys. All but Teg Ali Khan and Sergeant Edwards jumped into the stream, and thought to escape by swimming to the opposite bank. After swimming a short distance Teg Ali Khan called us and told us to return, as they were only villagers. I, Lieutenant Ritchie, and Lieutenant Cautley returned, but Lieutenant Currie and Lieutenant Parsons got too far into the stream, and in endeavouring to return were both, I regret to say, drowned. I myself narrowly escaped, having twice gone down, but, through the timely aid of one of the villagers, was safely got out.

We had no sooner got out of the water than we were again alarmed at seeing a boat full of people rounding a point, and thought they too were Sepoys. We now ran and continued our course along the bank, not missing sight of the stream, until we were fairly exhausted. We then entered a patch of high grass growing at the river side, or at a short distance from it, and rested ourselves. We missed Teg Ali Khan at this time. While in our place of concealment a boy herding cattle caught sight of us and ran towards the river, and with his herd crossed over, himself holding on by a buffalo's tail. On crossing over, it appears he informed the Jemadar of his village of our situation, for shortly after the Jemadar came down and called out to us, and told us not to be alarmed, and that he would bring a boat for us. This he did, and on reaching his side of the river, he informed us that Teg Ali Khan had reported all tyhe particulars to him, and requested that a party be sent in search of us, and that the boy who had been herding cattle brought him information of where we were. This Jemadar very kindly took us to his hut and entertained us as hospitably as he could, supplying us with provisions and cots to lie on. We remained under his protection till twelve o'clock, and as we had the light of the moon we recommenced our journey, and took the road for Amorah, the Jemadar himself accompanying us to the next village, a little before entering which we were surrounded by a party of freebooters, who demanded money. We told them we had none, but this did not serve them, and they satisfied themselves by searching our persons. When satisfied we possessed nothing they offered no molestation, and allowed us to prosecute our journey. On entering the village the Jemadar who accompanied us made us over to a Chokeedar, and directed him to take us on to the next village, and make us over to the Chokeedar of it; and thus we proceeded on from village to village till we arrived at Amorah. Here we were rejoiced to meet the party who belonged to No. 4 boat, who told us that as they could not get their boat along they deserted her, and proceeded across the country. We were glad to find that these gentlemen had arms, for we who had joined them had not even a stick. I must not forget to mention that Teg Ali Khan again formed one of our party, for we lost sight of him crossing the river, where we experienced the kind treatment at the village jemadar's hands. We did not remain more that a few minutes at Amorah, as we were anxious to renew our journey. The Tussildars, who at this place gave us protection, further aided us by giving each a couple of rupees, and one pony to Lieutenant Ritchie and another to Lieutenant Cautley for the journey. We again started (now at seven a.m. of the 10th), taking the road to Captain Gunge, under the guidance of a couple of Thannah Burkundages.

Before returning to the main narrative, you may also like to read some information about Mahua Dabar before 1857: A Significant Township.