Mughal Court After Aurangazeb

The collapse of the Moghul Empire after Aurangzeb's death had been on of the most gruesome, venal and horrifying spectacles in history. Immediately after Aurangazeb's death, his surviving sons, betraying each other at every possible turn, engaged in brutal fratricide. Eventually, the 64-year old eldest son Muazzam survived the mayhem and was installed as Emperor Bahadur Shah. It was the events that followed the death of Bahadur Shah that made the earlier blood baths and treachery appear mundane. Bahadur Shah died on 28 February 1712. Immediately after his death, his sons squared up to battle for the coveted throne. The two youngest brothers were won over by the eldest, Jahander Shah, into jointly opposing the second son, Azim-as-Shan, who had the stonger force. 

A battle took place in which Azim's forces lost. Azim-us-shan drowned in the River Jhelum when his elephant was shot and went berserk, plunging in the quicksand. Jahandar then treacherously turned on the brothers who had supported him. He first blinded his mother for favoring a rival son and then poured molten lead into the eardrums of his unfortunate brother. Later, Jahander had him strangled while the other brother was put to death by more conventional method. Emperor Jahander did not live long to enjoy the fruits of his treachery. Within a few months of proclaiming himself Emperor, the increasingly influential Barha Sayyed brothers, Abdullah and Hussain Ali, assassinated him. The Sayyed brothers then propped up the murdered Azim-us-Shan's son, Farukhsiyar, on the throne, who promptly paraded the streets of the capital with the severed head of his uncle, Emperor Jahandar, trailing behind him on a donkey.

Then began Farrukhsiyars seven-year rule from 9th January 1713 during which he started plotting the downfall of Sayyed brothers. He made treacherous deals with Sayyed Brothers opponents. The Sayyed Brothers, on discovering his treachery, blinded the monarch on 25 February 1719, but felt it expedient to continue propping him up as a monarch. Even this did not prevent Farrukhsiyar from engaging in further deceit until, on 19 April 1719, while he was in a camp leading a force towards the Deccan, Sayyed Abdullah personally strangled the Moghul Emperor to death.

 Two sons of the murdered Emperor Jahandar - the first drugged to his eyeballs and the second a tnasvestite whose main pastime was to dance kathak with his accompanying eunuchs. Both these youths died within months of being crowned and a fourth emperor, Mohammad shah, was installed on the throne in 1720. Surprisingly Mohammad Shah held on till 1748 and his main achievement was to turn tables on the Sayyed brothers. Hussain Ali was assasinated in 1722 and Abdullah locked in prison where he was poisoned to death in 1724.

Sayyed Barha Brothers and Dost Mohammad Khan

During the turbulent times following Aurangazeb's death, a force was sent from Delhi to quell the Rajput rebellion that was taking place in Malwa. Dost was torn between his loyalty to the distant Moghul Court and is commitment to the local Rajput chieftains to whom he had given his allegiance. Eventually Dost sided with the Rajputs, and in the ensuing battle was wounded and lost consciousness. His men fled, abandoning their leader for dead. Long past midnight, on a silent, eerie battleground strewn with dead bodies, Dost regained his consciousness when jackals started nibbling at him. He barely managed to shrug them off when he heard another man, lying a f

ew yards away, moaning loudly and calling for help. Obviously he was also badly wounded. Dost raised his voice and said, "Why are you moaning so loudly? It is not becoming of a warrior to cry out like this. Grieve silently, like a man, and take what is coming to you as God's verdict with dignity". The young man answered Dost by saying "I'm not crying out because of my wounds. I'm only trying to scare the off the jackals eating away at my entrails. In any case I'm dying of thirst. Can you help me?" Dost could not rise from his prone position but he had some water left in his mushuk (leather water-carrier). He summoned enough strength to push the bag with his lance towards the wounded soldier who drank avidly from it.

At dawn, a posse of soldiers from the victorious army began scouring the battlefield evidently looking for one of their leaders. They came upon the very soldier that Dost had saved by giving him water. He was obviously an important man as the soldiers made great fuss of him. Before the rescue party could out him on a stretcher, the young man told the soldiers that their first duty was to help the brave man lying a few yards away, who had saved his life. Accordingly, the soldiers who belonged to the opposing army rescued Dost too. The person that Dost had saved turned out to be Sayyed Hussain Ali Barha, the younger of the Sayyed Barha Brothers who were now the power behind the throne in the Moghul Court at Delhi. Dost Mohammad Khan recuperated under the care of Syyed Hussain Ali Barha, who pleaded with dost to join him and his brother. Dost was also offered to be made governor of Allahabad. Dost gratefully declined, explaining that he had too many roots in Malwa. Hussain Ali reluctantly agreed, gave Dost some gold sovereigns, a sword and a band of horses as he took leave from his friend.

This was a momentous friendship, which steered history of Bhopal in a different direction eventually.

Related posts:

Bhopal - The early days

Dost Mohammad Khan - I

Dost Mohammad Khan - II

Dost Mohammad Khan - Founder of Bhopal

Investor's Meet And Prabasi Bharatiya Divas

Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chauhan's announcement of setting up of NRI facilitation centre at Prabasi Bharatiya Divas at New Delhi has had the desired effect on participants, increasing participants in investors meet to be held at Khajuraho on 16th and 17th January 2007. 

The Bhopali only hopes that the investments actually materialise, inspite of the Indian beaureaucracy and are seen working soon in Madhya Pradesh. However, the Khajuraho meet is promised to be a show piece of the cultural heritage of Madhya Pradesh, with performances from vocalist Mita Pandit and Sarod recital by Ustad Amjad Ali Khan.

Of Sun, Holidays and Spoil sports

Remember when it was such fun to have unusual days off from school? The mass tari (mass bunking of class) of college days was surely no match for this. Many school children of Bhopal are looking forward to a holiday on January 25th, the day designated for Surya Namaskar at schools across Madhya Pradesh. Now only if the spoil sports like State School Education Minister Narottan Mishra would have a heart!

Bhopal and the Indian Mutiny, 1857

Bhopal was under the reign of its second Begum, Sikander Jahan Begum, daughter of Qudasia Begum, when the Sepoy mutiny of India broke out. Surrounded on all sides by hostile neighbours like the Marathas at Indore and Gwalior, Rajputs in Rajasthan and even the Nizam in Deccan, the rulers of Bhopal had already vowed loyalty to the emerging forces of East India Company. In August 1857, Bhopali mutineers under the banner of the Sepoy Bahadur revolt attacked the British garrison in Sehore and Berasia. 

There were three points of revolt in Bhopal. Fazil Mohammad Khan, great-grandson of Dost Mohammad Khan, Non-Commisioned officers Wali Shaha and Mahavir, and the ulema supporting Bahadur Shah Zafar's call to free India. By remaining calm and farsighted, Sikander Begum was able to gain upper hand over the rebels of Sehore garrison, which broke the backbone of the rebels. Rani of Jhansi, Laxmibai the legendary queen, sent a message to Sikander stating "As soon as I have my hands free, I shall deal with you at the point of sword." to which Sikander replied "I have firearms in readiness for you. Come when you will". 

According to an account of a British lady, recorded in Indian Office Library Records, while the Bhopal army surrounded the British garrison in Sehore, Sikander ensured safe passage for important British civilains, including Colonel Durand, the British Resident in Indore, to the safety of Hoshangabad fort which was protected by a loyal Pathan contingent. As the British recovered control, the support given by Sikandar Begum at the time extreme crisis was seen as ultimate proof of Bhopal's loyalty to the British government and earned for the state Her Majesty's lasting gratitude.

The wily woman, when asked by a close confident what she would have done if the British had lost, replied "In that event, the Bhopal army had made sure that the British garrison was neutralized"! Through her canny statecraft, Sikandar had ensured that by surrounding the British garrison in Sehore, she would win in either eventuality.

Bhopal Wanderers

Indian Hockey is on a downfall from bad, worse to worst. The year 2006 saw several high-profile events, and India failed to register its presence on the world scene in every one of them. Beginning with India’s disastrous performance in the Commonwealth Games in March, where the Indian men finished sixth, to the fifth-place finish at the Asiad in Doha, Indian hockey has gone from bad to worse. World Cup outing in September was also a disaster. It is a poor reflection on the planning aspect that, despite so many major tournaments lined up through the year, India did not play more competitive hockey. In fact, now that qualification for the 2008 Beijing Olympics is possible only by winning one of the three qualifying tournaments (from February 2008). It would be fitting to recall the legendary "Bhopal Wanderers", for whom Dhyanchand said "Give me Bhopal Wanderers, and I can beat any team in the world".

Hockey started in Bhopal with inter state forces hockey tournament in 1909, which was organised in the "Kali Parade Ground" and eight teams participated in it. After the tournament, it was observed that the Bhopali youngsters, who found the hockey sticks worth Rs 2/- beyond their reach, had taken to the game using mango tree branches with a bent end known locally as "Khapota". The payjamas used to be lifted and converted to shorts, and the sherwanis remained as it is. The games used to be played in narrow lanes of Bhopal, with open drains and mud on both sides of the road. The stick work was such, that the ball never touched either the drains or mud. There were many yongsters from Bhopal who had gone to study at Aligarh University during 1931. The hockey players of Aligarh University wanted to participate in Mathura Gold Cup, which was disallowed by the university as examinations were due. The players decided to participate anyway, but by the name of "Bhopal Wanderers", as eight players in the team were from Bhopal. In the first four years, Bhopal Wanderers had won ten tournaments, including the initial Mathura Gold Cup. The 1936 Berlin Olympics was played under the captinship of Dhyanchand and the team included two famous bhopali players Ahsan Mohammad Khan and Ahmed Sher Khan. The year 1938 was the pinnacle year of Bhopal Wanderers, who won all the tournaments played in India. The olympics of 1940 were postponed, which would have seen atleast six players from Bhopal representing India. By the time this olympic was played in 1948 at London, three players from Bhopal, Akhtar Hussain, Latif-ur-Rahman and Major Shakur were part of the team. However they wre not played. In 1952 Helsinki Olympics saw four players from Bhopal Akhtar Hussain, Habib-Ur-Rahman, Latif-Ur-Rahman and Anwar Ahmad Khan play for Pakistan team.

Something changed drastically after that, as no player from Bhopal found a place in the Indian hockey team. Even when the great Inam-ur-Rehman, generally accepted as the best inside-left ever produced by the country, was playing at his peak for Calcutta's famous club Mohun Bagan in the early 60s, he could not find a place in the Indian team for the 1964 Olympics.Bhopal's hockey magic found expression again in 1968 when Indian Airlines, in the Jawaharlal Nehru Hockey Tournament in 1968 in Delhi, captained by Inam-Ur-Rahman with 7 other boys from Bhopal, mesmerised team after team with their ball control, short passing, dodging and stickwork. Indian Airlines lifted the trophy on debut, shocking spectators and sports writers alike, that such talent, though available in the country, was being neglected. The shock gave way to questions from the press, and in 1968, Inam-ur-Rehman became the first Bhopal player to represent independent India in the Olympics, twenty years after another Rehman from Bhopal had been selected for the London Olympics.

As in every other stream of Indian life, unsolicited interference of political interests and one up manship has ruined the legacy of Bhopal hockey

Photograph: Team of 1936 Berlin Olympics

Dow's and dont's

After a court in New York observed that any order by it directing Union Carbide to clean up Bhopal will run into technical problems "because of the impracticality of a court-supervised clean-up project on land owned by a foreign sovereign.", the only case pending against DOW about the Bhopal Gas Victims is the case in the Indian High Court of Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh naming Union Carbide, Eveready Industries (Carbide's successor in India) and Carbide's new owner Dow Chemical as respondents.

DOW chemicals has consistently denied being inheritor of the liabilities of Union Carbide, after purchasing Union Carbide Ltd in 1999. DOW CEO Liveris insists that liabilities, if any, is of Union Carbide, and no liability rests with Dow as it was not in the picture when the disaster took place 22 years ago. It may be noted here that 12 years ago, US court deemed that the case for compensation should be tried in India rather than in the U.S. As a result, after five years of legal wrangling, the Indian Government was forced to reach an of court settlement with Union Carbide for 470 million US dollars, a fraction of the three billion dollars, originally claimed. Union Carbide also refused to pay the 220 million dollars demanded by survivors' organizations as interim relief. But the issue of who will eventually pay for the cleaning up thousands of tons of toxic wastes abandoned by Union Carbide in and around its factory site remains. Meanwhile, India has emerged as an economical superpower and DOW chemicals is eyeing the lucrative market. 

Now Ratan Tata wants to set up a corpus with the help of other Indian companies and Dow to clean up the Bhopal plant site. Dow Chemicals will make "substantial financial contributions". Meanwhile, Dow has been allowed collaboration with Reliance Industries Ltd by the Ministry of Industry after taking a green signal from the Law Ministry. The foreign collaboration approval was given to Dow in October, signalling that India has not blacklisted Dow as an investor. West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has also indicated to Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) representatives that he is looking towards Dow setting up a chemical industry in his state. Dow says that while it is comfortable with the case against Union Carbide proceeding in the court, it finds the Department of Chemicals suggestion that Dow fork out Rs 100 crore as an interpretation that the government was holding Dow liable. In a letter to the Ministry of Industry on December 8, the Charge d’ Affairs of the US Embassy in Delhi urged the government to withdraw the Rs 100-crore claim on Dow. A senior Cabinet Minister said: “if we do not help Dow settle this, then the company will move to Thailand or Vietnam.”

Dow wants to evade legal liability, the Indian government is in favor of burying the legacy and telling corporations what they want to hear - that they can come and do as they please in India. Successive Indian governments have failed Bhopali gas victims, right after the terrible incident, till non-disbursal of compensation 22 years after the tragedy