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The first war of independence in 1857 was described by the British as an international Islamic conspiracy, whose roots they claimed extended from Constantinople, Mecca, Iran to the walls of the Red Fort. How unaware the last Mughal Bahadur Shah Zafar was about this theory of the British can be realized from his answer during the trial.

Zafar was asked whether he rebelled against Iran's conspiracy? In reply, Zafar asked whether Iranians and Russians are the same community? Read some related incidents of that historical case.

Now a prisoner in his own court!

The revolution of 1857 had failed. Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was now a prisoner of the British. The old king was very ill. On January 27, 1858, he was brought in a palanquin to the Diwan-Khas, where till a few days ago he used to hold his court. Now those people, whom till now they considered their subordinates, were going to be prosecuted for the crime of treason. To make Zafar realize that he was no longer the king but a prisoner and a subject, neither morchal nor hookah was allowed.

The last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. Photo: Getty Images

The trial proceedings were to be conducted in the Indian language, but the five junior rank member officers of this military court could neither read nor understand this language. Brigadier Shaver, who presided over this court, could undoubtedly understand the Indian language. But at the very beginning of the trial proceedings, he came to the court only to say that he had received orders to go to Agra and take command there.

Zafar unaware of the case

Amid the delay in court proceedings, Zafar was kept under close surveillance of riflemen. The charges were read. He was asked whether he accepted them? Zafar was almost unaware of them. Very soon it became apparent that he was completely unaware of the court proceedings. It took a long time to convince them to say that they did not accept the allegations. In the following days, evidence papers would be presented against him. His lawyer Ghulam Abbas would have been shown. The lawyers would point out to the king his denial of signatures and his ignorance of the papers, but Zafar generally remained indifferent. Sometimes he tried to listen carefully and understand, but most of the time he remained dozing with his head bowed.

Strong effort to prove Islamic conspiracy

It became clear in the initial phase of the trial that the British did not consider this struggle as a rebellion of only the soldiers or the native kings and landlords. Government lawyer Major Harriot accused Zafar of being the mastermind of an international Islamic conspiracy that spread from Constantinople to Mecca, Iran and the walls of the Red Fort. His aim was to destroy the British rule and with the help of Muslim countries to install the Mughals on the throne of Delhi. While including Iran's involvement in the rebellion, Harriot completely ignored the differences between Delhi's Sunni Muslims and Iran's Shias.

In the eyes of the British, the rebellion was the contribution of Muslims.

Harriot's attempt was to justify the theory that at the center of the entire conflict were Muslims, who united to establish an Islamic dynasty. William Dalrymple quotes Harriot in “The Last Mughal”, “We may call the terrible crisis of 1857 the result of Muslim intrigue and Islamic conspiracy. The rebels were in touch with Zafar.

From the very beginning, this conspiracy was not limited to the soldiers only, nor did it start from them. Its roots were spread throughout the fort and the city and Zafar was their leader.” Further pointing to Zafar, he said, “This shriveled embodiment of malice, ignorant of any feeling that can arise in the heart of man, would not have chosen an unworthy center of the wicked gathered around him… We see how quickly and how intensely the Muslim mullahs took an interest and part in the matter and how this rebellion was thoroughly Islamic in its character. “

Bahadur Shah Zafar was kept prisoner in the Red Fort.

British press was giving headlines to Muslim conspiracy

Harriot's theory of proving the Revolution of 1857 as an Islamic conspiracy may not have been accepted by Indians, but Britain and the Western press gave it a lot of importance. The readers there, who were unaware of the ground situation in India, were also influenced by it. Harriet, who suffers from a phobia of anti-Islamism, and her master are hell-bent on taking revenge on Jafar. On 3 February 1858, he cited in the court those 12 soldiers of the Company Army who had come to Zafar in 1853 and asked if they could become his followers. In reality, apart from being a king, Zafar also had the fame of a Sufi peer. The soldiers had reached him for these reasons. But through this meeting of 1853, Harriet had tried to prove that long before 1857, Zafar was especially trying to provoke the Muslim soldiers.

Government lawyer gave clean chit to Hindus!

The military court sat for the last time on 9 March 1858. In his two and a half hour long debate, Major Harriot strongly reiterated the 1857 revolution in an attempt to prove it as an international Islamic conspiracy. He said that this prisoner (Zafar) was leading this conspiracy in his capacity as the leader of the Muslims of India. Now that the treachery of the Muslims has been proved, is there any scope left for not believing that it is not related to that conspiracy?

If we look at the entire situation, we will find that all its threads are connected to Muslims and Muslims are at the center of it. A Muslim cleric who claims to have miraculous powers. A Muslim king. His partner Iran and Türkiye's intelligence Islamic Embassy. Muslims' predictions of the downfall of the British. The killings of the British by Muslim murderers. Religious war between Muslims. A Muslim press which is one-sidedly their helper. Harriot had emphatically said, “The mutiny was started by the Muslim soldiers. I say that the Hindus had no part in all this.”

Hindu-Muslim unity: British did not accept

Of course the British had the upper hand on the rebels. He had once again captured the ruling power. But this victory also gave him some lessons. Hindu-Muslim unity in the events of 1857 was an alarm bell for them and if it continued, it was a clear message that the days of the British in India were numbered. In Zafar's case, the British started trying to distance Hindus and Muslims from each other by using the theory of international Muslim conspiracy and by blaming Muslims for the entire rebellion.

Government lawyer Harriot's turning the case on a religious angle was part of this plan. He not only gave a clean chit to the Hindus but also added, “It is completely wrong to say that the rebellion has any connection with the Christian missionaries or their religious propagation.” The decision came that day as was already decided. The court, finding every charge against Zafar proven, said, "A traitor and a criminal is given death sentence. But due to the guarantee of Hudson's life being spared, it sentenced, "Zafar will have to spend the rest of his life in Andaman or in such prison as the Governor General may decide."