page_title: Siege of Delhi
section_title: Capture of Delhi by the rebels
hierarchical_section_title: Siege of Delhi / Outbreak of the rebellion / Capture of Delhi by the rebels
caption_attribution_description: Delhi Flag tower, 1858.
context_page_description: The Siege of Delhi was one of the decisive conflicts of the Indian rebellion of 1857.
  The rebellion against the authority of the East India Company was widespread through much of Northern India, but essentially it was sparked by the mass uprising by the sepoys of the units of the Army which the company had itself raised in its Bengal Presidency. Seeking a symbol around which to rally, the first sepoys to rebel sought to reinstate the power of the Mughal Empire, which had ruled the entire Indian subcontinent during the previous centuries. Lacking overall direction, many who subsequently rebelled also flocked to Delhi.
  This made the siege decisive for two reasons. Firstly, large numbers of rebels were committed to the defence of a single fixed point, perhaps to the detriment of their prospects elsewhere, and their defeat at Delhi was thus a very major military setback. Secondly, the British recapture of Delhi and the refusal of the aged Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah II to continue the struggle, deprived the rebellion of much of its national character.
context_section_description: Delhi was the capital of the Mughal Empire, which had been reduced to insignificance over the preceding century. The Emperor, Bahadur Shah II, who was eighty-two, had been informed by the East India Company that the title would die with him. At the time, Delhi was not a major centre of Company administration although Company officials controlled the city's finances and courts. They and their families lived in the "Civil Lines" to the north of the city.
  There were no units of the British Army or "European" units of the East India Company forces at Delhi. Three Bengal Native Infantry regiments (the 38th, 54th and 74th) were stationed in barracks 2 miles (3.2 km) north-west of the city. They provided guards, working parties and other details to a "Main Guard" building just inside the walls near the Kashmiri Gate on the northern circuit of walls, the arsenal in the city and other buildings. By coincidence, when the regiments paraded early in the morning of 11 May, their officers read out to them the General Order announcing the execution of sepoy Mangal Pandey, who had attempted to start a rebellion near Barrackpur earlier in the year, and the disbandment of his regiment (the 34th Bengal Native Infantry). This produced much muttering in the ranks.
  Later in the morning, the rebels from Meerut arrived quite unexpectedly, crossing the bridge of boats over the Jumna River. The leading sowars (troopers) of the 3rd Light Cavalry halted under the windows of the Palace and called on the Emperor to lead them. Bahadur Shah called for them to go to another palace outside the city, where their case would be heard later. Company officials then tried to close all the city gates but were too late to prevent the sowars gaining entry through the Rajghat Gate to the south. Once inside, the sowars were quickly joined by mobs which began attacking Company officials and looting bazaars.
  Some Company officers and civilians tried to take refuge in the Main Guard, but the sepoys there joined the revolt, and they were slaughtered. Other officers arrived from the barracks, accompanied by two field guns and several companies of sepoys who had not yet joined the rebellion, and recaptured the Main Guard, sending the bodies of the dead officers to the cantonments in a cart. In the city meanwhile nine British officers from the Ordnance Corps, led by George Willoughby were conducting the Defence of the Magazine (containing artillery, stocks of firearms and ammunition). They found that their troops and labourers were deserting, using ladders provided from the palace to climb over the walls. The officers opened fire on their own troops and the mobs, to prevent the arsenal falling intact into the rebels' hands. After five hours, they had run out of ammunition and blew up their magazine, killing many rioters and onlookers, and badly damaging nearby buildings. Only three of them escaped and received the Victoria Cross.
  Shortly after this, the troops at the Main Guard were ordered to withdraw. The sepoys there who had hitherto remained aloof from the revolt turned on their officers, a few of whom escaped after the sepoys left to join the looting.
  About half the European civilians in Delhi and in the cantonments and Civil Lines were able to escape and fled as best they could, first to the Flagstaff Tower on the ridge to the north-west of Delhi where telegraph operators were trying to warn other British stations of the uprising. After it became clear that no help could arrive from Meerut or elsewhere, and the cart carrying the bodies of the officers killed at the Main Guard in the morning arrived at the tower by mistake, most of the Europeans fled to Karnal, several miles west. Some were helped by villagers on the way, others fell prey to plunderers.
caption: The Flagstaff Tower, Delhi, where the British survivors of the rebellion gathered on 11 May 1857
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