26°51′20.08″N 80°57′8.69″E / 26.8555778°N 80.9524139°E / 26.8555778; 80.9524139
118-478: Sikandar Bagh ( Hindi : सिकन्दर बाग़ , Urdu : سِکندر باغ ), formerly known by the British as Sikunder/Sikandra/Secundra Bagh , is a villa and garden enclosed by a fortified wall, with loopholes, gateway and corner bastions, approx. 150 yards square, c. 4.5 acres (1.8 ha), located in the city of Lucknow , Oudh , Uttar Pradesh , India. It was built by the last Nawab of Oudh , Wajid Ali Shah (1822–1887), as
236-474: A Pathan of Bajaur , one of the leading men of the attack, thrust his left arm and shield between its folds, thus preventing it being shut and barred. Though his left arm was wounded, he still managed to keep his shield between the folds by holding it with his right hand until the door was forced. This took place whilst Lt. McQueen's party and some of the Highlanders, who had entered by the breach, came from
354-497: A flank attack on this army but the rebel soldiers spotted the flanking manoeuvre and opened fire. The battle resulted in heavy casualties on both sides but cleared the road to Cawnpore for the British. By this time it had become clear that Sahib's bargaining attempts had failed and the Company forces were approaching Cawnpore. Nana Sahib was informed that the British troops led by Havelock and Neill were indulging in violence against
472-520: A British loyalist. These carried the British soldiers to the Raja's palace. These four British soldiers were the only male survivors from the British side apart from Jonah Shepherd (who had been captured by Nana Sahib before the surrender). The four men included two privates named Murphey and Sullivan, Lieutenant Delafosse and Lieutenant (later Captain) Mowbray Thomson . The men spent several weeks recuperating, eventually making their way back to Cawnpore, which
590-531: A boatman called Hardev Mallah, for their departure to Allahabad. The Ganges was unusually dry at the Satichaura Ghat and the British found it difficult to drift the boats away. General Wheeler and his party were the first aboard and the first to manage to set their boat off. There was some confusion, since the Indian boatmen jumped overboard after hearing bugles from the banks and started swimming toward
708-585: A core vocabulary of native Prakrit and Sanskrit-derived words. However, Hindi is written in the Devanagari script and contains more direct tatsama Sanskrit -derived words than Urdu, whereas Urdu is written in the Perso-Arabic script and uses more Arabic and Persian loanwords compared to Hindi. Because of this, as well as the fact that the two registers share an identical grammar, a consensus of linguists consider them to be two standardised forms of
826-445: A direct assault on the British entrenchment, but the rebel soldiers displayed a lack of enthusiasm. On 11 June, Nana Sahib's forces changed their tactics. They started concentrated firing on specific buildings, firing endless salvos of round shot into the entrenchment. They successfully damaged some of the smaller barrack buildings and also tried to set fire to the buildings. The first major assault by Nana Sahib's side took place on
944-499: A heap as high as my head, a heaving, surging mass of dead and dying inextricably entangled. It was a sickening site, one of those which even in the excitement of battle and the flush of victory, make one feel strongly what a horrible side there is to war. The wounded men could not get clear of their dead comrades, however great their struggles, and those near the top of this ghastly pile vented their rage and determination on every British officer who approached, by showering upon him abuse of
1062-566: A larger amount are still used in Urdu poetry written in the Devanagari script. Many words borrowed from Persian in turn were loanwords from Arabic (e.g. muśkil "difficult", havā "air", x(a)yāl "thought", kitāb "book"). Hindi also makes extensive use of loan translation ( calqueing ) and occasionally phono-semantic matching of English . Many Hindustani words were derived from Portuguese due to interaction with colonists and missionaries: Siege of Cawnpore The siege of Cawnpore
1180-541: A literary language in the 19th century. Earliest examples could be found as Prēm Sāgar by Lallu Lal , Batiyāl Pachīsī of Sadal Misra, and Rānī Kētakī Kī Kahānī of Insha Allah Khan which were published in Devanagari script during the early 19th century. John Gilchrist was principally known for his study of the Hindustani language , which was adopted as the lingua franca of northern India (including what
1298-475: A major blow to the defenders. Nana Sahib's forces gathered for an attack, but were repulsed by canister shots from the artillery under the command of Lieutenant George Ashe. By 21 June, the British had lost around a third of their numbers. Wheeler's repeated messages to Henry Lawrence , the commanding officer in Lucknow, could not be answered as that garrison was itself under siege . The sniper fire and
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#17328016103131416-536: A medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India and to secure its enrichment by assimilating without interfering with its genius, the forms, style and expressions used in Hindustani and in the other languages of India specified in the Eighth Schedule, and by drawing, wherever necessary or desirable, for its vocabulary, primarily on Sanskrit and secondarily on other languages. It
1534-433: A mud wall. There was a military building site to the south of Cawnpore, where nine barracks were being constructed at the dragoon barracks. The British soldiers found it difficult to dig deep trenches, as it was the hot summer season. The area also lacked good sanitary facilities and there was only one well (which would be exposed to enemy fire in the event of an attack). In addition there were several buildings overlooking
1652-537: A parade, where they were to be massacred. All these factors influenced them to rebel against the East India Company rule. The rebellion began at 1:30 AM on 5 June 1857, with three pistol shots from the rebel soldiers of the 2nd Bengal Cavalry. Elderly Risaldar-Major Bhowani Singh, who chose not to hand over the regimental colours and join the rebel sepoys, was subsequently cut down by his subordinates. The 53rd and 56th Native Infantry, which were apparently
1770-410: A part of the process of Sanskritisation , new words are coined using Sanskrit components to be used as replacements for supposedly foreign vocabulary. Usually these neologisms are calques of English words already adopted into spoken Hindi. Some terms such as dūrbhāṣ "telephone", literally "far-speech" and dūrdarśan "television", literally "far-sight" have even gained some currency in formal Hindi in
1888-401: A result of sunstroke and lack of water. As the ground was too hard to dig graves, the British would pile the dead bodies outside the buildings, and drag and dump them inside a dried well during the night. The lack of sanitation facilities led to the spread of diseases such as dysentery and cholera , further weakening the defenders. There was also a small outbreak of smallpox , although this
2006-552: A second language. A Hindi proponent, Indian-born Paramananda Jha , was elected vice-president of Nepal. He took his oath of office in Hindi in July 2008. This created protests in the streets for 5 days; students burnt his effigies, and there was a general strike in 22 districts. Nepal Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that his oath in Hindi was invalid and he was kept "inactive" as vice-president. An "angry" Jha said, "I cannot be compelled to take
2124-532: A simplified or pidginised variety such as Bazaar Hindustani or Haflong Hindi ). Outside India, several other languages are recognised officially as "Hindi" but do not refer to the Standard Hindi language described here and instead descend from other nearby languages, such as Awadhi and Bhojpuri . Such languages include Fiji Hindi , which has an official status in Fiji , and Caribbean Hindustani , which
2242-478: A single man with difficulty it was immediately rushed under heavy fire by some of the 93rd Highlanders and some men of the 4th Punjab Infantry (4th P.I.) under Lieutenant McQueen, 14 managing to enter the Sikaddar Bagh. At the same time the rest of the 4th P.I. under Lieutenant Paul assaulted the gateway. The gate was in the process of being closed by the mutineers, when Subadar Mukarab Khan, 4th P.I.,
2360-584: A standardised form of Hindustani separate from Urdu took form. In 1881, Bihar accepted Hindi as its sole official language, replacing Urdu, and thus became the first state of India to adopt Hindi. However, in 2014, Urdu was accorded second official language status in the state. After independence, the Government of India instituted the following conventions: On 14 September 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted Hindi written in
2478-635: A summer residence. The name of the villa signifies '"Garden of Sikandar", after Sikandar Mahal Begum, the Nawab's favourite wife. It was stormed in 1857 by the British during the Indian Rebellion and witnessed within its walls the slaughter of all 2,200 sepoy mutineers who had made it a stronghold during their Siege of Lucknow . The site now houses the National Botanical Research Institute of India. The garden
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#17328016103132596-657: Is a standard register of the Hindustani language; additionally, Indian media are widely viewed in Pakistan. A sizeable population in Afghanistan , especially in Kabul , can also speak and understand Hindi-Urdu due to the popularity and influence of Bollywood films, songs and actors in the region. Hindi is also spoken by a large population of Madheshis (people having roots in north-India but having migrated to Nepal over hundreds of years) of Nepal . Apart from this, Hindi
2714-465: Is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of the Republic of India . Apart from the script and formal vocabulary, standard Hindi is mutually intelligible with standard Urdu , another recognised register of Hindustani, as both Hindi and Urdu share a core vocabulary base derived from Prakrit (a descendant of Sanskrit). Hindi is also spoken, to a lesser extent, in other parts of India (usually in
2832-409: Is an official language of Gujarat , along with Gujarati . It acts as an additional official language of West Bengal in blocks and sub-divisions with more than 10% of the population speaking Hindi. Similarly, Hindi is accorded the status of official language in the following Union Territories : Delhi , Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu . Although there
2950-550: Is based on the language that was spoken in the Ganges-Yamuna Doab ( Delhi , Meerut and Saharanpur ) called Khariboli ; the vernacular of Delhi and the surrounding region came to replace earlier prestige languages such as Awadhi and Braj . Standard Hindi was developed by supplanting foreign loanwords from the Hindustani language and replacing them with Sanskrit words, though Standard Hindi does continue to possess several Persian loanwords. Modern Hindi became
3068-628: Is borrowed from Sanskrit as tatsam borrowings, especially in technical and academic fields. The formal Hindi standard, from which much of the Persian, Arabic and English vocabulary has been replaced by neologisms compounding tatsam words, is called Śuddh Hindi (pure Hindi), and is viewed as a more prestigious dialect over other more colloquial forms of Hindi. Excessive use of tatsam words sometimes creates problems for native speakers. They may have Sanskrit consonant clusters which do not exist in Hindustani, causing difficulties in pronunciation. As
3186-455: Is commonly used to specifically refer the modern literary Hindi language, as opposed to colloquial and regional varieties that are also referred to as Hindi in a wider sense . Like other Indo-Aryan languages, Hindi is a direct descendant of an early form of Vedic Sanskrit , through Shauraseni Prakrit and Śauraseni Apabhraṃśa (from Sanskrit apabhraṃśa "corrupt"), which emerged in the 7th century CE. The sound changes that characterised
3304-525: Is mirror to a hand with bangles, What is Persian to a literate. The emergence of Modern Standard Hindi in the 19th century went along with the Sanskritisation of its vocabulary, leading to a marginalisation of Persian vocabulary in Hindi, which continued after Partition when the Indian government co-opted the policy of Sanskritisation. However, many Persian words (e.g. bas "enough", khud "self") have remained entrenched in Standard Hindi, and
3422-609: Is no specification of a national language in the constitution, it is a widely held belief that Hindi is the national language of India. This is often a source of friction and contentious debate. In 2010, the Gujarat High Court clarified that Hindi is not the national language of India because the constitution does not mention it as such. Outside Asia , the Awadhi language (an Eastern Hindi dialect) with influence from Bhojpuri , Bihari languages , Fijian and English
3540-526: Is now present-day Pakistan ) by British colonists and indigenous people. He compiled and authored An English-Hindustani Dictionary , A Grammar of the Hindoostanee Language , The Oriental Linguist , and many more. His lexicon of Hindustani was published in the Perso-Arabic script , Nāgarī script , and in Roman transliteration .In the late 19th century, a movement to further develop Hindi as
3658-572: Is said that more Victoria Crosses were awarded for that single day than ever, many for the assault on the Sikandar Bagh. The recipients were as follows: Sgt Samuel Hill and Major John Guise - for going to the aid of wounded, elected by the regiment Articles such as cannonball, swords and shields, parts of muskets and rifles, dug out of the garden over the years are now displayed in the NBRI Exhibition and scars from cannonball on
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3776-740: Is spoken by the large Indian diaspora which hails from, or has its origin from the "Hindi Belt" of India. A substantially large North Indian diaspora lives in countries like the United States of America , the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates , Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, South Africa, Fiji and Mauritius , where it is natively spoken at home and among their own Hindustani-speaking communities. Outside India, Hindi speakers are 8 million in Nepal ; 863,077 in
3894-464: Is spoken in Suriname , Trinidad and Tobago , and Guyana . Hindi is the fourth most-spoken first language in the world, after Mandarin, Spanish and English. If counted together with the mutually intelligible Urdu, it is the third most-spoken language in the world, after Mandarin and English. According to reports of Ethnologue (2022, 25th edition) Hindi is the third most-spoken language in
4012-481: Is spoken in Fiji. It is an official language in Fiji as per the 1997 Constitution of Fiji, where it referred to it as "Hindustani"; however, in the 2013 Constitution of Fiji , it is simply called " Fiji Hindi " as the official language. It is spoken by 380,000 people in Fiji. Hindi is spoken as a first language by about 77,569 people in Nepal according to the 2011 Nepal census , and further by 1,225,950 people as
4130-879: Is the dominant form of Hindi online. In an analysis of YouTube comments, Palakodety et al., identified that 52% of comments were in Romanised Hindi, 46% in English, and 1% in Devanagari Hindi. Traditionally, Hindi words are divided into five principal categories according to their etymology: Hindi has naturally inherited a large portion of its vocabulary from Shauraseni Prakrit , in the form of tadbhava words. This process usually involves compensatory lengthening of vowels preceding consonant clusters in Prakrit, e.g. Sanskrit tīkṣṇa > Prakrit tikkha > Hindi tīkhā . Much of Standard Hindi's vocabulary
4248-570: Is written in the Devanagari script, an abugida . Devanagari consists of 11 vowels and 33 consonants and is written from left to right. Unlike Sanskrit, Devanagari is not entirely phonetic for Hindi, especially failing to mark schwa deletion in spoken Standard Hindi. The Government of India uses Hunterian transliteration as its official system of writing Hindi in the Latin script. Various other systems also exist, such as IAST , ITRANS and ISO 15919 . Romanised Hindi , also called Hinglish ,
4366-586: The Hindi Belt ), as well as an official language of the Government of India, along with English. In Northeast India a pidgin known as Haflong Hindi has developed as a lingua franca for the people living in Haflong , Assam who speak other languages natively. In Arunachal Pradesh , Hindi emerged as a lingua franca among locals who speak over 50 dialects natively. Hindi is quite easy to understand for many Pakistanis , who speak Urdu, which, like Hindi,
4484-537: The Hindustani language written in Devanagari script . It is the official language of India alongside English and the lingua franca of North India . Hindi is considered a Sanskritised register of the Hindustani language , which itself is based primarily on the Khariboli dialect of Delhi and neighbouring areas. It is an official language in nine states and three union territories and an additional official language in three other states. Hindi
4602-855: The United States of America ; 450,170 in Mauritius; 380,000 in Fiji; 250,292 in South Africa; 150,000 in Suriname; 100,000 in Uganda ; 45,800 in the United Kingdom; 20,000 in New Zealand ; 20,000 in Germany ; 26,000 in Trinidad and Tobago; 3,000 in Singapore . Linguistically , Hindi and Urdu are two registers of the same language and are mutually intelligible. Both Hindi and Urdu share
4720-569: The bombardment continued until 23 June 1857, the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Plassey , which had taken place on 23 June 1757 and been one of the pivotal battles leading to the expansion of British rule in India . One of the driving forces of the sepoy rebellion was a prophecy of the downfall of East India Company rule in India exactly one hundred years after the Battle of Plassey. This prompted
4838-427: The sandbanks . On one such sandbank Lieutenant Thomson led a charge against the rebel soldiers and was able to capture some ammunition. Next morning the boat again stuck on a sandbank, resulting in another charge by Thomson and eleven British soldiers. After a fierce fight on shore, Thomson and his men decided to return to the boat but did not find it where they expected. Meanwhile, the rebels had launched an attack on
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4956-673: The war cry "Remember Cawnpore!" . Cawnpore was an important garrison town for the East India Company forces. Located on the Grand Trunk Road , it was connected directly to the Sindh (Sind), Punjab and Awadh (Oudh) regions. By June 1857 the Indian rebellion had spread to several areas near Cawnpore, namely Meerut , Agra , Mathura and Lucknow . However the Indian sepoys at Cawnpore initially remained loyal. The British General at Cawnpore, Hugh Wheeler , knew
5074-512: The 1st, 53rd and 56th Native Infantry, and the 2nd Bengal Cavalry. Although the sepoys in Cawnpore had not rebelled, the European families began to drift into the entrenchment as the news of rebellion in the nearby areas reached them. The entrenchment was fortified , and the Indian sepoys were asked to collect their pay one by one, so as to avoid an armed mob. The Indian soldiers considered
5192-401: The 2nd Oudh Irregulars to Fatehgarh. On the way to Fatehgarh, General Wheeler's forces under the command of Fletcher Hayes and Lieutenant Barbour met two more Englishmen, Mr Fayrer and Lieutenant T. Carey. On the night of 31 May 1857 Hayes and Carey departed to a nearby town to confer with the local magistrate . After their departure the Indian troops rebelled and decapitated Fayrer. Barbour
5310-432: The 4th P.I. Lt. McQueen led the assault against the right gate, and Lt. Willoughby tackled the left. The defenders had expected an attack from the opposite quarter and had bricked up the door to their rear and in doing so blocked their retreat. After a long struggle they were all slain, no quarter being given. With cries such as "Cawnpore! You bloody murderers", it was clear that the British attackers blamed these mutineers for
5428-631: The 50th birthday of Beohar Rajendra Simha on 14 September 1949, the efforts came to fruition following the adoption of Hindi as the official language. Now, it is celebrated as Hindi Day . Part XVII of the Indian Constitution deals with the official language of the Indian Union. Under Article 343, the official languages of the Union have been prescribed, which includes Hindi in Devanagari script and English: (1) The official language of
5546-588: The Bibighar and therefore also avoiding the Bibighar massacre . Of these known survivors were Ulrica Wheeler , Amelia Horne , the drummers wives Eliza Bradshaw and Elizabeth Letts, and the twelve year old Eliza Fanthome . Amy Horne , a 17-year-old Anglo-Indian girl, had fallen from her boat and had been swept downstream during the riverside massacre. Soon after scrambling ashore she met Wheeler's youngest daughter, Margaret Frances Wheeler . The two girls hid in
5664-537: The British as a Mughal subordinate, but Azimullah Khan advised him that leading the rebels in Kanpur would increase his prestige more than serving a weak Muslim king. Nana Sahib asked the rebel soldiers to go back to Cawnpore, and help him in defeating the British. The rebels were reluctant at first, but decided to join Nana Sahib, when he promised to double their pay and reward them with gold, if they were to destroy
5782-433: The British entrenchment. On 5 June 1857, Nana Sahib sent a polite note to General Wheeler, informing him that he intended to attack on the following morning, at 10 AM. On 6 June Nana Sahib's forces (including the rebel soldiers) attacked the British entrenchment at 10:30 AM. The British were not adequately prepared for the attack, but managed to defend themselves for a long time, as the attacking forces were reluctant to enter
5900-406: The British forces under General Havelock defeated Bala Rao's army in the Battle of Aong , just outside the village of Aong. On 16 July Havelock's forces started advancing to Cawnpore. During the Battle of Aong, Havelock was able to capture some of the rebel soldiers, who informed him that there was an army of 5,000 rebel soldiers with 8 artillery pieces further up the road. Havelock decided to launch
6018-436: The British side. The British garrison had taken heavy losses as a result of successive bombardments , sniper fire and assaults. It was also suffering from disease and low supplies of food, water and medicine. General Wheeler's personal morale had been low after his son Lieutenant Gordon Wheeler had been decapitated by a roundshot. With approval of General Wheeler, a Eurasian civil servant called Jonah Shepherd slipped out of
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#17328016103136136-409: The British. The rebel cavalry sowars moved into the water to kill the remaining British soldiers with swords and pistols. The surviving men were killed whilst the women and children were taken into captivity since Nana Sahib did not approve of their killing. Around 120 women and children were taken prisoner and escorted to Savada House, Nana Sahib's headquarters during the siege. By this time two of
6254-644: The Devanagari script as the official language of the Republic of India replacing the previous usage of Hindustani in the Perso-Arabic script in the British Indian Empire . To this end, several stalwarts rallied and lobbied pan-India in favour of Hindi, most notably Beohar Rajendra Simha along with Hazari Prasad Dwivedi , Kaka Kalelkar , Maithili Sharan Gupt and Seth Govind Das who even debated in Parliament on this issue. As such, on
6372-418: The East India Company forces under General Havelock and Colonel Neill retreat to Allahabad. However the Company forces advanced relentlessly towards Cawnpore. Nana Sahib sent an army to check their advance. The two armies met at Fatehpur on 12 July, where General Havelock's forces emerged victorious and captured the town. Nana Sahib then sent another force under the command of his brother, Bala Rao. On 15 July
6490-469: The East India Company. The Company forces, consisting of around 1,000 British, 150 Sikh soldiers, and 30 irregular cavalry, had set out from Allahabad under the command of General Henry Havelock to retake Cawnpore and Lucknow. The first relief force assembled under Havelock included 64th Regiment of Foot and 78th Highlanders (brought back from the Anglo-Persian War ), the first arrivals of
6608-402: The Hindi heartland. Persian borrowings reached a heyday in the 17th century, pervading all aspects of life. Even grammatical constructs, namely the izafat , were assimilated into Hindi. The status of Persian language then and thus its influence, is also visible in Hindi proverbs : हाथ कंगन को आरसी क्या, पढ़े लिखे को फ़ारसी क्या। Hāth kaṅgan ko ārsī kyā, Paṛhe likhe ko Fārsī kyā. What
6726-580: The Hindu/Indian people') was often used in the past, for example by Amir Khusrau in his poetry. The terms Hindi and Hindu trace back to Old Persian which derived these names from the Sanskrit name Sindhu ( सिन्धु ), referring to the Indus River . The Greek cognates of the same terms are Indus (for the river) and India (for the land of the river). The term Modern Standard Hindi
6844-526: The Indian troops would probably collect their arms, ammunition and money and head to Delhi and therefore he did not expect a long siege. The first sign of the rebellion at Cawnpore came in the form of a rebellion at Fatehgarh (or Futteghur), a military station on the banks of the Ganges . To disperse the Indian troops away from Cawnpore and lessen the chances of a rebellion, General Wheeler decided to send them on various "missions". On one such mission he sent
6962-477: The Indian villagers. Pramod Nayar believes that the ensuing Bibighar massacre was a reaction to the news of violence being perpetrated by the advancing British troops. Other suggestions are that there was a fear of future identification of key ringleaders if the prisoners were liberated. Nana Sahib and his associates, including Tatya Tope and Azimullah Khan , debated what to do with the captives at Bibighar. Some of Nana Sahib's advisors had already decided to kill
7080-499: The Nawabganj area. Amid the chaos in Cawnpore in 1857, Nana Sahib entered the British magazine with his contingent. The soldiers of the 53rd Native Infantry, who were guarding the magazine, were not fully aware of the situation in the rest of the city. They assumed that Nana Sahib had come to guard the magazine on behalf of the British, as he had earlier declared his loyalty to the British, and had even sent some volunteers to be at
7198-548: The Official Languages Act of 1963, which provided for the continued use of English indefinitely for all official purposes, although the constitutional directive for the Union Government to encourage the spread of Hindi was retained and has strongly influenced its policies. Article 344 (2b) stipulates that the official language commission shall be constituted every ten years to recommend steps for
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#17328016103137316-551: The President may, during the said period, by order authorise the use of the Hindi language in addition to the English language and of the Devanagari form of numerals in addition to the international form of Indian numerals for any of the official purposes of the Union. Article 351 of the Indian constitution states: It shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language, to develop it so that it may serve as
7434-460: The Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script. The form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union shall be the international form of Indian numerals. (2) Notwithstanding anything in clause (1), for a period of fifteen years from the commencement of this Constitution, the English language shall continue to be used for all the official purposes of the Union for which it was being used immediately before such commencement: Provided that
7552-534: The besieged Residency. On the morning of 16 November 1857, whilst passing by its eastern side in a southerly direction, in a sunken lane, the British force was surprised and stopped in its tracks by overwhelmingly heavy fire coming from the Sikander Bagh. A staff officer remarked to a comrade "If these fellows allow one of us to get out of this cul-de-sac alive, they deserve every one of them to be hanged". The cavalry were jammed together, unable to advance, and
7670-556: The boat from the opposite bank. After some firing, the British men on the boat decided to fly the white flag . They were escorted off the boat and taken back to Savada House. The surviving British men were sat on the ground and Nana Sahib's soldiers got ready to fire on them. Their wives insisted that they would die with their husbands but were pulled away. Nana Sahib granted the request of the British chaplain Moncrieff to read prayers before they died. The British were initially wounded by
7788-446: The boats had been able to drift away: General Wheeler's boat and a second boat, which was holed beneath the waterline by a round shot fired from the bank. The British people in the second boat panicked and attempted to reach General Wheeler's boat, which was slowly drifting to safer waters. General Wheeler's boat had around sixty people aboard and was being pursued along the riverbanks by the rebel soldiers. The boat frequently grounded on
7906-426: The captives at Bibighar as revenge for the executions of Indians by the advancing British forces. The women of Nana Sahib's household opposed the decision and went on hunger strike but their efforts were in vain. Finally, on 15 July, an order was given to murder the women and children imprisoned at Bibighar. The details of the incident, such as who ordered the massacre, are not clear. The rebel sepoys executed
8024-442: The defence whilst the second group was willing to trust Nana Sahib. During the next 24 hours there was no bombardment by Nana Sahib's forces. Finally General Wheeler decided to surrender in return for a safe passage to Allahabad. After a day of preparation and burying their dead the British decided to leave for Allahabad on the morning of 27 June 1857. On the morning of 27 June a large British column led by General Wheeler emerged from
8142-541: The disposal of General Wheeler. However, Nana Sahib joined the rebels. After taking possession of the treasury, Nana Sahib advanced up the Grand Trunk Road . His aim was to restore the Maratha Confederacy under Peshwa tradition, and he decided to attempt to capture Cawnpore. On his way, Nana Sahib met with rebel soldiers at Kalyanpur . The soldiers were on their way to Delhi, to meet Bahadur Shah II. Nana Sahib initially decided to march to Delhi and fight
8260-478: The diverted China expedition , 5th Fusiliers , part of the 90th Light Infantry (seven companies), the 84th (York and Lancaster) from Burma and EIC Madras European Fusiliers brought up to Calcutta from Madras . Havelock's initial forces were later joined by the forces under the command of Major Renaud and Colonel James Neill , which had arrived in Allahabad from Calcutta on 11 June. Nana Sahib demanded that
8378-507: The earth banks which allowing two 18-pounder heavy guns of Travers's battery of the Artillery Brigade to be brought up out of the lane. After half an hour of bombardment from a range of only 80 yd (73 m), an aperture was created in the south-east angle of the wall in a bricked-up doorway, "an ugly blind hole", about 3 ft (0.91 m) square and 3 ft (0.91 m) off the ground. Although only large enough to admit
8496-480: The entrenchment in disguise to ascertain the condition of Nana Sahib's forces. He was quickly imprisoned by the rebel soldiers. At the same time Nana Sahib's forces were wary of entering the entrenchment since they believed that it had gunpowder-filled trenches. Nana Sahib and his advisers came up with a plan to end the deadlock. On 24 June they sent a European prisoner, Mrs Rose Greenway, to the entrenchment with their message. In return for surrender, Nana Sahib promised
8614-411: The entrenchment that would provide cover for the attackers, allowing them to shoot down on the defenders easily. General Wheeler's choice of this location to make a stand remains controversial given the availability of safer and more defensible places in Cawnpore. It is believed that he was expecting reinforcements to come from the southern part of the city. He also assumed that, in event of a rebellion,
8732-477: The entrenchment. Nana Sahib sent a number of carts, dolis and elephants to enable the women, the children and the sick to proceed to the river banks. The British officers and military men were allowed to take their arms and ammunition with them and were escorted by nearly the whole of the rebel army. The British reached the Satichaura Ghat by 8 am. Nana Sahib had arranged around forty boats, belonging to
8850-486: The entrenchment. Nana Sahib's forces had been led to falsely believe that the entrenchment had gunpowder -filled trenches that would explode if they got closer. As the news of Nana Sahib's advances against the British garrison spread, several of the rebel sepoys joined him. By 10 June, he was believed to be leading around twelve to fifteen thousand Indian soldiers. The British held out in their makeshift fort for three weeks with little water and food supplies. Many died as
8968-401: The evening of 12 June. However, the attacking soldiers were still convinced that the British had laid out gunpowder-filled trenches, and did not enter the area. On 13 June, the British lost their hospital building to a fire, which destroyed most of their medical supplies and caused the deaths of a number of wounded and sick artillerymen who burned alive in the inferno. The loss of the hospital was
9086-410: The fighting, the British and loyal native Punjab Infantry dead were buried in a deep trench. Later elephants were used to drag the corpses of the mutineers out of the Sikandar Bagh, where they were slightly covered over in a ditch which they themselves had recently dug outside the north wall in order to strengthen the defences. The 4th Punjab Infantry remained quartered in the Sikandar Bagh until Lucknow
9204-415: The fortification, and the artillery being primed, as a threat. On the night of 2 June 1857, a British officer named Lieutenant Cox fired on his Indian guard while drunk. Cox missed his target, and was thrown into the jail for a night. The very next day, a hastily convened court acquitted him, which led to discontent among the Indian soldiers. There were also rumours that the Indian troops were to be summoned to
9322-684: The foulest description". Those killed or wounded during the assault included 9 officers and 90 men of the 93rd Highlanders, and 3 officers and 69 men from the 4th Punjabi Infantry. Key : (1) Position of 18-pounder guns; (2) Breach made in wall; (3) Gateway; (4) Bastion stormed from inside by 4th. Punjab Infantry Regt., cutting off enemy's retreat; (5) Centre pavilion with verandah; (6) Two-storied building overlooking whole garden with own courtyard behind; (7) East bastion, exploded, killing Lt. Paul, in command of 4th P.I.; (8) Spot occupied by Sir Colin Campbell, C-in-C, and Staff from 18 to 22 November. After
9440-413: The guns and then killed with swords. The women and children were confined to Savada House, to be reunited later with their remaining colleagues, who had been captured earlier at Bibighar . Being unable to find the boat Thomson's party decided to run barefoot to evade the rebel soldiers. The party took refuge in a small shrine, where Thomson led a last charge. Six of the British soldiers were killed whilst
9558-512: The high banks on either side seemed to offer an impassable barrier to artillery. However Blunt of the Bengal Horse Artillery led his troop and "conquering the impossible", brought them with their guns into an open space to the east of the Sikandar Bagh, galloping through enemy fire. Here he unlimbered with remarkable coolness and self-possession. The six guns opened fire on the Sikandar Bagh. Sappers and miners demolished part of
9676-539: The last 125 years, there are no academic studies of any of them – of their use in South Africa, their evolution and current decline. Hindi is adopted as the third official court language in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi . As a result of this status, the Indian workforce in UAE can file their complaints to the labour courts in the country in their own mother-tongue. Hindi is the lingua franca of northern India (which contains
9794-573: The last Nawab had a great appreciation for, indeed possibly too great a one as history has judged him to have been over-fond of his leisure interests. During the Indian Rebellion , the Sikander Bagh was used as one of many strongholds of sepoy mutineers during their siege of the British Residency in Lucknow. It stood in the way of the Commander-in-Chief Sir Colin Campbell 's planned route to relieve
9912-541: The lineage would not be passed on to Nana Sahib, as he was not a natural born heir. Nana Sahib had sent his envoy Dewan Azimullah Khan to London, to petition the Queen against the company's decision, but failed to evoke a favourable response. In May 1857, Nana Sahib arrived in Cawnpore with 300 soldiers, stating that he intended to support the British: Wheeler asked him to take charge of the government treasury in
10030-535: The local language, had adopted local customs and was married to an Indian woman. He was confident that the sepoys at Cawnpore would remain loyal to him and sent two British companies (one each of the 84th and 32nd Regiments ) to besieged Lucknow . The British contingent in Cawnpore consisted of around nine hundred people, including around three hundred military men, around three hundred women and children and about one hundred and fifty merchants, business owners, drummers (salesman), engineers and others. The rest were
10148-560: The most loyal units in the area, were awoken by the shootings. Some soldiers of the 56th attempted to leave. The European artillery assumed that they were also rebelling, and opened fire on them. The soldiers of the 53rd were also caught in the crossfire . The 1st N.I. rebelled and left in the early morning of 6 June 1857. On the same day, the 53rd N.I. also went off, taking with them the regimental treasure and as much ammunition as they could carry. Around 150 sepoys remained loyal to General Wheeler. After obtaining arms, ammunition and money,
10266-422: The mud as possible on purpose to cause delay. They also claimed that Nana Sahib's camp had previously arranged for the rebels to fire upon and kill all the British. Although the East India Company later accused Nana Sahib of the betrayal and murder of innocent people, no evidence has ever been found to prove that Nana Sahib had planned or ordered the massacre. Some historians believe that the Satichaura Ghat massacre
10384-443: The native servants, who left soon after the commencement of the siege. In the case of a rebellion by the sepoys in Cawnpore, the most suitable defensive location for the British was the magazine in the north of the city. It had thick walls, ample ammunition and stores and also hosted the local treasury. However General Wheeler decided to take refuge in the south of the city, in an entrenchment composed of two barracks surrounded by
10502-670: The oath now in Nepali. I might rather take it in English." Hindi is a protected language in South Africa . According to the Constitution of South Africa , the Pan South African Language Board must promote and ensure respect for Hindi along with other languages. According to a doctoral dissertation by Rajend Mesthrie in 1985, although Hindi and other Indian languages have existed in South Africa for
10620-582: The official language of the imperial court during the reign of Shah Jahan . It is recorded that Emperor Aurangzeb spoke in Hindvi . The Hindustani vernacular became an expression of Indian national unity during the Indian Independence movement , and continues to be spoken as the common language of the people of the northern Indian subcontinent, which is reflected in the Hindustani vocabulary of Bollywood films and songs. Standard Hindi
10738-430: The old walls of the garden still bear witness to the event. Another visible reminder of the battle is the statue, erected some years ago in the old campus of the garden, of Uda Devi , a Pasi (a Dalit community) lady, who fought side by side with the besieged mutineers. Attired in male battle dress, she had perched herself atop a tree in the garden, gun in hand, and kept the British attackers at bay until her ammunition
10856-491: The opening volley from the British. They had hoped to get protection from cotton bales; however the bales caught fire from the canister shot and became a hazard to them. On the other side of the entrenchment some of the rebel soldiers engaged in hand-to-hand combat against 17 British men led by Lieutenant Mowbray Thomson . By the end of the day the attackers were unable to gain entry into the entrenchment. The attack left more than 25 rebel soldiers dead, with very few casualties on
10974-490: The place of the English borrowings (ṭeli)fon and ṭīvī . Hindi also features significant Persian influence, standardised from spoken Hindustani . Early borrowings, beginning in the mid-12th century, were specific to Islam (e.g. Muhammad , Islām ) and so Persian was simply an intermediary for Arabic. Later, under the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire , Persian became the primary administrative language in
11092-522: The progressive use of Hindi language and impose restrictions on the use of the English language by the union government. In practice, the official language commissions are constantly endeavouring to promote Hindi but not imposing restrictions on English in official use by the union government. At the state level, Hindi is the official language of the following Indian states: Bihar , Chhattisgarh , Haryana , Himachal Pradesh , Jharkhand , Madhya Pradesh , Rajasthan , Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand . Hindi
11210-422: The rear of the many defenders of the gateway. After a long hand-to-hand struggle the British forced their way in greater numbers into the Sikandar Bagh through the gate, and through the breach which had been enlarged by the sappers. Slowly forced back, the main body of about 2,000 mutineers took refuge in a large 2-storied building and the high-walled enclosure behind it. The 2 doors to the enclosure were assaulted by
11328-469: The rebel soldiers under Nana Sahib to launch a major attack on the British entrenchment on 23 June 1857. The rebel soldiers of the 2nd Bengal Cavalry led the charge but were repulsed with canister shot when they approached within 50 yards of the British entrenchment. After the cavalry assault, the soldiers of the 1st Native Infantry launched an attack on the British, advancing behind cotton bales and parapets. They lost their commanding officer, Radhay Singh, to
11446-481: The rebel troops started marching towards Delhi to seek further orders from Bahadur Shah II , who had been proclaimed the Badshah-e-Hind ("Emperor of India"). The British officers were relieved, thinking that they would not face a long siege. Nana Sahib was the adopted heir to Baji Rao II , the former peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy . The East India Company had decided that the pension and honours of
11564-458: The rebels were butchered in what came to be known as the Bibi Ghar massacre, their remains then thrown down a nearby well. Following the recapture of Cawnpore and the discovery of the massacre, the angry Company forces engaged in widespread retaliation against captured rebel soldiers and local civilians. The murders greatly enraged the British rank-and-file against the sepoy rebels and inspired
11682-483: The rest managed to escape to the riverbank, where they tried to escape by jumping into the river and swimming to safety. However a group of rebels from the village started clubbing them as they reached the bank. One of the soldiers was killed whilst the other four, including Thomson, swam back to the centre of the river. After swimming downstream for a few hours they reached shore, where they were discovered by some Rajput matchlockmen who worked for Raja Dirigibijah Singh,
11800-518: The safe passage of the British to the Satichaura Ghat, a landing on the Ganges from which they could depart for Allahabad . General Wheeler rejected the offer because it had not been signed and there was no guarantee that the offer was made by Nana Sahib himself. The next day, 25 June, Nana Sahib sent a second note, signed by himself, through another elderly female prisoner, Mrs Jacobi. The British camp divided into two groups – one in favour of continuing
11918-502: The same language, Hindustani or Hindi-Urdu. Hindi is the most commonly used scheduled language in India and is one of the two official languages of the union , the other being English. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan and is one of 22 scheduled languages of India , also having official status in Uttar Pradesh , Jammu and Kashmir , Delhi , Telangana , Andhra Pradesh and Bihar . Hindi
12036-413: The shore. As they jumped, some fires on the boats were knocked over, setting a few of the boats ablaze. Though controversy surrounds what exactly happened next at the Satichaura Ghat and who fired the first shot, soon afterwards the departing British were attacked by the rebel sepoys and either killed or captured. Some of the British officers later claimed that the rebels had placed the boats as high in
12154-572: The slaughter of European civilians earlier in the Mutiny, including women and children, particularly during the Siege of Cawnpore , which caused outrage throughout British India and in Britain. Lord Roberts who witnessed the assault later recalled: "'Inch by inch they were forced back to the pavilion, and into the space between it and the north wall, where they were all shot or bayoneted. There they lay in
12272-563: The survivors from General Wheeler's boat. Another group of British women and children from Fatehgarh and some other captive European women were also confined to Bibighar. In total there were around 200 women and children in Bibighar. Nana Sahib placed these survivors under the care of a prostitute called Hussaini Khanum (also known as Hussaini Begum). She put the captives to grinding corn for chapatis . Poor sanitary conditions at Bibighar led to deaths from cholera and dysentery . Nana Sahib decided to use these prisoners for bargaining with
12390-471: The transition from Middle Indo-Aryan to Hindi are: During the period of Delhi Sultanate in medieval India , which covered most of today's north India, eastern Pakistan, southern Nepal and Bangladesh and which resulted in the contact of Hindu and Muslim cultures , the Sanskrit and Prakrit base of Old Hindi became enriched with loanwords from Persian , evolving into the present form of Hindustani. Hindi achieved prominence in India after it became
12508-428: The undergrowth for a number of hours until they were discovered by a group of rebels. Margaret was taken away on horseback, never to be seen again. Amy was led to a nearby village, where she was taken under the protection of a Muslim rebel leader in exchange for converting to Islam . Just over six months later she was rescued by Highlanders from Sir Colin Campbell 's column on their way to relieve Lucknow. Bibi Ghar
12626-677: The world including first and second language speakers. Hindi is the fastest growing language of India , followed by Kashmiri , Meitei , Gujarati and Bengali according to the 2011 census of India . The term Hindī originally was used to refer to inhabitants of the Indo-Gangetic Plain . It was borrowed from Classical Persian هندی Hindī ( Iranian Persian pronunciation: Hendi ), meaning ' of or belonging to Hind (India) ' (hence, ' Indian ' ). Another name Hindavī ( हिन्दवी ) or Hinduī ( हिन्दुई ) (from Persian هندوی 'of or belonging to
12744-522: Was a key episode in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 . The besieged East India Company forces and civilians in Cawnpore (now Kanpur ) were duped into a false assurance of a safe passage to Allahabad by the rebel forces under Nana Sahib . Their evacuation from Cawnpore thus turned into a massacre, and most of the men were killed and women and children taken to a nearby dwelling known as Bibi Ghar. As an East India Company rescue force from Allahabad approached Cawnpore, 120 British women and children captured by
12862-470: Was also killed as he tried to escape. When Hayes and Carey came back the next morning, an older Indian officer galloped towards them and advised them to run away. However, as the Indian officer explained the situation to them, the rebel Indian sowars (cavalry troopers) raced towards them. Hayes was killed as he tried to ride away while Carey escaped to safety. There were four Indian regiments in Cawnpore:
12980-484: Was by that time back under British control. Murphey and Sullivan both died shortly after from cholera , Delafosse went on to join the defending garrison during the siege of Lucknow and Thomson took part in rebuilding and defending the entrenchment a second time under General Windham, eventually writing a firsthand account of his experiences entitled The Story of Cawnpore (London, 1859). A handful of women were taken prisoner by individual captors, avoiding being placed in
13098-572: Was envisioned that Hindi would become the sole working language of the Union Government by 1965 (per directives in Article 344 (2) and Article 351), with state governments being free to function in the language of their own choice. However, widespread resistance to the imposition of Hindi on non-native speakers, especially in South India (such as those in Tamil Nadu ) led to the passage of
13216-488: Was evacuated by the British 11 days later on 27 November, while the Commander-in-Chief and his staff occupied a site to the west of the gate, under the south wall, from 18 to 22 November. In early 1858 Felice Beato photographed the Sikandar Bagh, showing skeletal remains strewn across the grounds of the interior. These were apparently disinterred or rearranged to heighten the photograph's dramatic impact. It
13334-413: Was exhausted, upon which she dropped dead to the ground, her body riddled with bullets. As far as the legend goes Uda Devi was one of the female bodyguards of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah. She was fiercely dedicated. Trained in martial Arts and espionage she also learned the art of guerrilla warfare and fought with her gun till the last bullet. The British were also surprised and stunned by her marksmanship until she
13452-499: Was laid out in about 1800 as a royal garden by Nawab Saadat Ali Khan . It was later improved upon by Nawab Wajid Ali Shah , the last native ruler of Oudh , during the first half of the 19th century, who used it as his summer villa. The garden has a small pavilion in the middle, which was likely the scene of innumerable performances of the Ras-lilas , and Kathak dances, music and poetic ' mehfils ' and other cultural activities which
13570-526: Was relatively confined. During the first week of the siege, Nana Sahib's forces encircled the entrenchment, created loopholes and established firing positions in the surrounding buildings. Captain John Moore of the 32nd (Cornwall) Light Infantry countered this by launching night-time sorties . Nana Sahib withdrew his headquarters to Savada House (or Savada Kothi ), situated about two miles away. In response to Moore's sorties, Nana Sahib decided to attempt
13688-409: Was spotted by the soldiers, who fired relentlessly at her till she died from her wounds. Indian Mutiny by Saul David 2002 ISBN 0-14-100554-8 My Indian Mutiny Diary by WH Russell 1967 ISBN 0-527-78120-7 Hindi language Modern Standard Hindi ( आधुनिक मानक हिन्दी , Ādhunik Mānak Hindī ), commonly referred to as Hindi , is the standardised variety of
13806-664: Was the remains of Sir George Parker's residence, who was a magistrate at Cawnpore. The name "Bibi Ghar" is coined from two words, "Bibi" and "Ghar", where "Bibi" means a mistress, and "Ghar" means a house. Even today in India, Bibi is used as an honorific for mistress, as in Bibi Saab, or Bibi Ji. The original use of this place was to house the lady of the house or the wife of the occupant۔ The surviving British women and children were moved from Savada House to Bibi Ghar. Initially around 120 women and children were confined to Bibighar. They were later joined by some other women and children,
13924-417: Was the result of confusion and not of any plan implemented by Nana Sahib and his associates. Lieutenant Mowbray Thomson , one of the four men who survived of the massacre, believed that the rank-and-file sepoys who spoke to him did not know of the killing to come. After the fighting began, Nana Sahib's general Tatya Tope allegedly ordered the 2nd Bengal Cavalry unit and some artillery units to open fire on
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