Prior to 1857, British territories in South Asia were controlled by the East India Company. The company maintained the fiction of running the territories on behalf of the Mughal empire. The crushing defeat of Mutineers in 1857 -1858 led to the abolition of the Mughal empire and the British government taking direct control of the Indian territories. In the immediate aftermath of the rebellion, upper-class Muslims were targeted by the British, as some of the leadership for the war came from this community based in areas around Delhi and what is now Uttar Pradesh; thousands of them and their families were shot, hanged or blown by cannon. According to Mirza Ghalib, even women were not spared because the rebel soldiers disguised themselves as women.