Black Hole Incident of Calcutta

The ‘Black Hole’ was a tragic incident that happened in the run-up to the Battle of Plassey that took place in 1757. The incident served as casus belli for the invasion by the British on Murshidabad.

Siraj ud Daulah, the then Nawab of Bengal, resented to the interference by the East India Company in his province. He was also livid with the company’s abuse of the commercial privileges which was granted by the Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar under the firman of 1717.

Though inexperienced and devoid of taking decisions, Siraj ud Daula set out to begin a military campaign against the English. During his military campaigns he captured Calcutta on 20^th June, 1756. Consequently, John Zephaniah Holwell, a narrator of the ‘Black Hole’ tragedy and a number of Europeans were taken prisoners who were confined in a chamber 18 feet by 14 inches, with only on window, throughout the hot and humid night of June in Calcutta. According to Holwell, they numbered about 165 or 170, and the next morning only about 16 came alive, the rest being suffocated to death. This event has been described by the British historians as the Black Hole tragedy.

Holwell’s account of Black Hole tragedy remained in vogue for about two centuries. However, Holwell’s account has been challenged in modern times. Authorities are of the opinion that only sixty prisoners met the death at a result of their confinement at the dungeon. And Siraj ud Daula was in no way personally responsible for the consequence of the incarceration of the prisoners which was arranged by his officers.

The First Anglo-Afghan War: A Disaster for Britain

William Brydon riding into Jalalabad/Wikipedia Commons

The First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-1842) caused the greatest misfortune that ever befell the British army and dealt a severe blow to their prestige in India.

With the fall of Napoleonic France in 1814, Russia had emerged as Britain’s potential rival by 1830s. India was the prized possession of the British Empire at that time. Russia has made its Asiatic ambitions clear. But to realize its ambition it would have to gain a diplomatic and military foothold in Afghanistan, an insignificant and impoverished tribal society in the early 19th century.

Instead of entering into an alliance with Afghanistan’s ruler, Dost Mohammad, Britain chose to back Shah Shuja, the deposed ruler of Afghanistan, who had been living in exile in India for three decades.

In 1837, Alexander Burnes, an envoy sent by  George Eden (Lord Auckland), the then Governor-General of India, reached Afghanistan. The Afghanistan’s ruler Dost Mohammad was willing to have the British as his ally but he sought British help in restoring the lost province of Peshawar to him from the Sikh leader Ranjit Singh.  Lord Auckland cited the doctrine of non-intervention in the affairs of the States for his inability to help Dost Muhammad. Consequently the negotiation, which was not conducted in right earnest, failed. Auckland was adamant on deposing Dost Mohammad who was a capable ruler. He chose to back Shah Shuja. Unable to secure British friendship, Dost Muhammad sought Russian help. Until treated insignificantly, Russian envoy Viktevitch was now received by him with favour.  

Now the stage was set for the inevitable war of the English with Afghanistan. Britain initially gained success. Under the supreme command of Sir John Keane, the British army occupied Qandahar in April 1839, stormed Ghazni on 23rd July and Kabul fell into their hands on 3rd August.  Shah Shuja was enthroned in Kabul by the British thirty years after he had lost the throne to Dost Mohammad. Dost Muhammad surrendered in 1840 and was sent to Calcutta as a prisoner.

However, Shah Shuja was not welcomed by the people of Afghanistan. They resented the stationing of the British troops in their own country.  Meanwhile the position of the British army became untenable with the rebellion of the populace. On the 2nd November, 1841, Captain Alexander Burnes was pulled out his house by a mob and murdered along with his brother Charles and lieutenant William Broadfoot.

The situation came to such a pass that British were left with no choice but to evacuate Afghanistan. However, on 6 January 1842, the retreat of the British troops and camp-followers, 16,500 men in all, began from Kabul. Of them only one, the British doctor Dr. Bbrydon, reached Jalalabad to tell the painful story of the destruction of the rest due to the attacks by the rebellious Afghans. The invincibility of the British Empire was shattered.

In 1842 Lord Auckland was replaced as Governor-General of India by Lord Ellenborough who released Dost Mohammad from prison and reinstalled him on the throne in Kabul.

Udham Singh (1899-1940)

Born on 26th December in Sunam Village in Sangrur district of the north-western Indian state of Punjab, Udham Singh was a great revolutionary. He avenged the infamous Jalianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar by murdering Michael O’Dwyer, who was the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab in 1919 when Brigadier General Reginald Dyer, the military commander of Amritsar had ordered the firing on the innocent people who have gathered here to protest the arrest of Congress leaders Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satya Pal under Rowlatt Act.

Udham Singh killed O’Dwyer in London on 13th March 1940. He was arrested on the spot and sentenced to death on 21st July in the same year.

Muhammad Shah Rangila

Aurangzeb, the last great Mughal emperor, died in 1707. Muhammad Shah became Mughal emperor in 1719. During the interregnum, Bahadur Shah I, Jahandar Shah, Farrukhsiyar, Rafi-ud-Darajat and Rafi-ud-Daula ascended the Mughal throne. Jahandar Shah was murdered on the orders of Farrukhsiyar who had the support of the two powerful Mughal nobles Sayyid Abdullah and his brother Sayyid Husain Ali at that time. They are famous in history as Sayyid brothers, the King-makers.

In 1719, Farrukhsiyar were murdered in utter disregard of a Mughal emperor by Sayyid brothers. Rafi-ud-Darajat died of consumption in a few months. Rafi-ud-Daula was addicted to opium and died in 4 months. Sayyid brothers now chose Raushan Akhtar, a son of Jahan Shah (the fourth son of Bahadur Shah I), to be the emperor. Raushan Akhtar ascended the throne under the title of Muhamamd Shah in September 1719.

In the beginning Muhammad Shah was a puppet in the hands of Sayyid brothers who soon began to lose their grip over the Mughal polity. The Mughal emperor, with the support of Chin Qulich Khan or Nizam-ul-Mulk, hatched a conspiracy to get rid of them. In October 1720, Sayyid Husain Ali, then governor of Deccan, was killed. A month later, Sayyid Abdullah was made prisoner and later poisoned to death.

Muhammad Shah celebrating Holi ca. 1737 by Bhupal Singh Photo: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford

When Muhamamd Shah ascended the throne he was only 17 years old. He was given to pleasure. He loved to spend his time in the company of eunuchs and ladies of the harem. This earned him the nickname of Rangila (merrymaker). His favourite courtesan was Gulab Bai. Watching elephant fights in the morning was his favourite pastime. In the evening, he enjoyed the company of jugglers. 

Muhammad Shah Making Love. ca. 1735 Photo: British Library, London

It was during the reign of Muhamamd Shah that Nadir Shah, the ‘Napolean of Iran’ invaded India in 1739. Muhammad Shah died in 1748 and was succeeded to the throne by his only son Ahmad Shah.

Kalkin, Tenth Incarnation of Vishnu

A popular feature of Vaishnavism is the worship of the avataras, i.e. descents or incarnations of Vishnu. According to popular tradition there are ten incarnations of Vishnu. While the nine avatars have already appeared, Kalkin or Kalki is yet to come.

At the end of Kali- yuga (dark age) marked by utter confusion resulting from disappearance of religion and virtue, Kalki will appear in the form of a man mounted on a white horse named Devadatta, with a flaming sword raised in his hand. We are presently in the Kali-yuga, which started according to popular tradition in 3012 B. C. Kalki will destroy the wicked, reward the good and usher in the age of gold.

This 10^th incarnation of Vishnu appears to be a late addition to the Vaishnavite concept of avataras. This can be gauged from the fact that there have already been references to the concept of the coming of Maitreya Buddha (future Buddha) in Buddhism.

There are many temples dedicated to Kalkin. The Kalkin temple near the Hawa Mahal in Jaipur was built by Sawai Jai Singh II.  

Charvaka, Indian Materialist Philosophy

Charvaka is an ancient Indian philosophical system which propounded materialism and rejected the notions of an afterlife. According to the Charvaka school of thought, all religious observance and morality were useless. The school encouraged making most of the life and seeking after the happiness that can be found in life.

As long as he lives a man should live happily

And drink ghee, though he run into debt,

For when the body is turned to ashes

How can there be any return to life?”

Ajita Kesakambalin (“Ajita of the Hair-blanket), a contemporary of the Buddha, is the earliest known proponent of complete materialism. He taught that pleasure is the chief end of life. According to him, “When the body dies both fool and wise alike are cut-off and perish. They don’t survive after death.”

According to Buddhist sources, Ajita founded a sect of monks. It is not possible to pinpoint the exact influence of the tenets of Carvaka or Lokayata, as the materialist schools were called. However, they have been condemned in no uncertain terms in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina literature of the period. Sometimes these references contain an undertone of fear. This goes to show that Ajita was certainly one of the chief rivals to these sects. 

Mirabai, Great Vaishnavite Saint and Poetess

Mirabai (also spelt as Meerabai) was a Rajput princess who was one of the greatest saints of the Krishna cult of Vaishnavism in 16^th century India. She was the only child of Ratna Singh Rathor of Merta in Rajasthan.  Mirabai was born at the village of Kudki in the Pali district in or about AD 1498. In 1516, she was married to Bhoraj, eldest son of Rana Sanga, the ruler of Mewad with its capital at Chittor. Bhoraj was heir-apparent to Mewad but he died in 1526.  

Mirabai was highly religious from her childhood. Like her grandfather Dudaji and father she was a devotee of Krishna. After her husband’s death she completely addressed herself to the devotion of Krishna. She patronized learned men. Devotees who were drawn from both sexes made a beeline to Mirabai. Consequently, her fame spread far and wide.

However, Mirabai’s religious activities were resented by her in-laws who took exception to the fact that a royal princess would sing and dance before the image of Krishna in full glare of the public. Her choice of Raidas, a leather worker as her spiritual guru, did not go down well with them. Tradition has it that in-laws tried to poison her. As her relation with the Mewad rulers took a turn for the worse, she went to Merta to live with her uncle Biram Deva.

However, when Mal Deva of Jodhpur seized Merta, Mira undertook a pilgrimage to the sacred city of Dwarka in Gujarat and spent rest of her life as a devotee of Krishna. She died in 1546. 

Mira’s greatness and popularity rest on her many devotional poems and lyrics. She wrote her works in Brajbhasha and partly in Rajasthani. She also wrote some of her verses in Gujarati.