1857

Major Eyre driving the Oude rebels from Allahabad

This engraving depicts the battle scene between the British troops led by Major Vincent Eyre and the Oudh (Oude) rebel forces in Allahabad (now, Prayagraj). The revolt of 1857 was a crucial point in India’s colonial history, marking the first widespread form of resistance to the rule of the British East India Company. It spread… Read more »

Fugitive British officers and their families attacked by mutineers

This engraving depicts British officers, a woman and a child facing the rebel soldiers while escaping during the revolt of 1857-58. The revolt of 1857 was a crucial moment in India’s colonial past and the first widespread and semi-structured form of rebellion against the rule of the British East India company. It was widespread across… Read more »

Colonel Platt killed by the mutineers at Mhow

This engraving portrays a morbid scene depicting the shooting of Colonel John Platt of the 23 Regiment Bengal Native Infantry and Station Commander Mhow by the mutineers in 1857. Mhow in Madhya Pradesh was a critical battlefield during the Rebellion of 1857 in Central India. On July 1, 1857, the revolt reached Mhow, when numerous… Read more »

Disarming the 11th Irregular Cavalry at Berhampore in 1857

This engraving depicts scenes from the disarming of cavalry of soldiers by the British units at Berhampur in present-day West Bengal during the revolt of 1857. On the 27th of February 1857, Berhampur (now Berhampore) was one of the first places of sepoy insurrection in the British cantonments at Barrack Square, when the 19th Native… Read more »

Narrative of the Indian Revolt

The Revolt of 1857 was a large-scale display of active resistance against the British East India Company. It was the first time British dominance on the Indian subcontinent was so evidently called into question. The book illustrates and describes the uprising, narrated by Colin Cambell, Commander-in-Chief in India (1846-1853), mostly based on official letters, dispatches… Read more »

The Residency Palace and C. of Lucknow

Edward Weller’s engraving is part of a series of maps from around the world published in the British Weekly Dispatch newspaper. The city of Lucknow is remembered as the site of prolonged siege during the 1857 Sepoy Rebellion. Weller’s engraving emphasises the dividing lines within the recently acquired settlement, highlighting the separation of the British… Read more »

Plan of the Siege-Works, June to September 1857

As the title suggests, this map is a plan of the siege of 1857 and was printed after the British recapture of Delhi, on 22nd September, 1857. This map shows Shahjahanabad prominently and precisely points to various battalions and batteries by their placement and their respective commands. The position of the British camp and the… Read more »

Map of India, 1857

This map of India probably first appeared in The Illustrated London News in 1857. While some of the magazine’s illustrations were provided by artist-travellers or proprietors, others were contributed by men stationed abroad with specific designations, such as soldiers, naval officers and government officials on foreign stations. They became sources for visual information on India’s… Read more »