The unsung victims of 1857

Rana Safvi offers an evocative translation of an account that recalled how Mughal royals, especially women, suffered after the exile of Bahadur Shah Zafar

The Uprising of 1857 is often remembered as a rebellion against the British East India Company initiated by Hindu and Muslim sepoys who were upset about being forced to use rifle cartridges with grease derived from beef and pork. This historical moment is also valorised for the emergence of leaders such as Mangal Pandey and Rani Lakshmibai, who have leapt out of school textbooks and become protagonists in Bollywood films such as Ketan Mehta’s Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005) as well as Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi and Kangana Ranaut’s Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (2019).

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