The British Fomented Strife between the Hindus and Muslims

Column for September 23rd, 2007

Messages received from readers in Srinagar and Seattle ask for details of Romila Thapar’s book on Somnath. She called it “Somanatha ; The Many Voices of History”. A paperback has not yet appeared as the hard cover continues to sell well.

The queries arose from the ‘Itihaas’ column of 16th September in which the bitter Hindu communalism manifest in Gujarat of today was traced to the 19th century British ploy of parading the doors looted from the tomb of Mahmoud of Ghazni all over North India in a specially prepared vehicle complete with curtains and accompanied with buglers and drummers in order to attract attention and draw crowds.

As the bugles and drums sounded and crowds gathered to watch the tamaashaa they were treated to a spectacle of the curtains being drawn and the doors being revealed for adoration. The message from the Governor General was then read out. It falsely claimed that the doors were the very doors removed by Mahmoud from the temple of Somnath in order to ‘insult’ Hindu belief and sentiment. The claim was made that the British had brought the doors back to right the wrongs of long ago as a gesture of goodwill and in order to demonstrate their friendship for the Hindus of India. This ploy worked and the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha continue to defend the British Raj in India instead of recognizing that it was a continuing outrage.

In the event the doors were later found to have nothing to do with the timber available in Gujarat or with sandalwood. The timber, style of manufacture and the decorative carving pronounced them irrevocably Afghan.

The evil design for which they were used had however done its job and worked on the Hindu psyche. Congressmen like Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi wrote novels like ‘Jai Somnath’. Vallabhbhai Patel, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of Independent India talked in October 1947 of the need to reinstall an icon at Somnath. Babu Rajendra Prasad, President of India desired to participate in the jeernoaddhaar -resanctification ceremony in his official capacity and Pandit Nehru had to use all his skills and authority to prevent him from attending except in his personal capacity.

We had suggested that the doors be taken out of storage in Red Fort Agra and circulated once again in Gujarat (and Maharashtra) along with greater circulation being given to the landmark book written by Romila Thapar by translating it into regional languages as necessary. In view of the recent Rama Setu developments it is doubtful if anyone in power in the center will have the courage necessary to do the needful. The sins of omission may cause more damage than sins of commission but they rarely cause controversy.

Which brings us to the importance of the date on which this column will appear. The 23rd September 1857 saw Brigadier John Nicholson die of his injury sustained in the storming of Delhi on 14th September 1857. The assault was made just after dawn and the ditch around the city wall soon filled with dead bodies of the British and their mercenary troops. The bombardment over many days had caused a small breach and Nicholson tried to enter with his men. It is said that he clambered over the rubble to climb the Kashmiri Gate and blew the bugle of victory from on top.

At the same time another British group climbed the wall and jumped into the city. Some officers approached the Gate with gunpowder and succeeded in blowing up one of the twin doorways. The assault troops next tried to force the passage to Lahore Gate.

At Burn Bastion they came across fierce resistance from inside the narrow street (gali) through which they had to pass. Each door window and rooftop was poring fire. Nicholson had to fall back and retreat. Major Jacob was the next to lead the assault. He fell injured and Nicholson was asked to retreat. He ignored the order and pressed on—only to fall down mortally wounded.

In the folklore of Dillee the Indian marksmen had become desperate as none of the bullets they fired at Nicholson met the mark. One of them thought that being the devil incarnate Nicholson is impervious to lead. He then cast a bullet out of a silver rupee and this projectile met its mark and severely wounded Nicholson and rendered him ineffectual for the rest of the campaign.

As he lay dying Nicholson heard the welcome news of the fall of Delhi, the massacre of all its inhabitants, the apprehension of the Emperor (20th September) and the arrest and murder of the princes by Hodson (21st September). A grateful and vainglorious British government erected his statue near Kashmiri Gate whence he continued to threaten the city and its inhabitants with a naked sword until the end of British rule in India.