Freedom struggle of 1857 – Sikh cavalry and Jama Masjid:
The Jama Masjid, a majestic monument and spiritual centre for Muslims and mutiny, did not suffer any less than any other buildings of Shahjahnabad. Although, the building structure survived its soul was taken away. The Mosque was desecrated by the British and Sikhs. Muslims were prohibited to enter the mosque for 5 long years; it was transformed into an army barrack for the Sikh regiment. They used it as a stable, bakery and the main Mihrab was used by them for their own religious purpose. It was only after the death of Bahadur Shah Zafar in Rangoon that it was permissible for Muslims once to enter the mosque and use it as a spiritual place to worship. Below are descriptions from two books; ‘The Indian Mutiny’ (by David Saul) and ‘The Last Mughal’ (by William Dalrymple).
“That evening, 20 September, Lang and others celebrated the taking of Delhi by riding their horses up the steps of Jama Masjid, dancing jigs and drinking toasts of beer and brandy. Sikh soldiers celebrated by lighting fires in the sacred mosque.”
The Indian Mutiny by Saul David page: 303
“That evening, as British soldiers dancing jigs inside the Jama Masjid and as the Sikhs lit victory fires next to the mosque’s holy mihrab,”
The Last Mughal by William Dalrymple page: 384
“Now a regiment of Sikhs camped in the desecrated courts of the Shwe Dagon, just as their cousins sat lighting their cooking fires in the arcades of the Delhi Jama Masjid.”
The Last Mughal by William Dalrymple page: 453
Below is a photograph of the main structure of Majestic Jama Masjid (New Delhi) taken in the year 1858 at its state of ruin when it was vandalized and molested by British Army and Sikh Cavalry. Sikh Cavalry stationed there for a period of five years, Muslims were not allowed to enter or pray. (Collage of 3 photos)

Bibi ka Maqbara (Tomb of the Lady)

Commissioned – by Azam Shah son of Aurangzeb in memory of her mother Rabia ud Durrani posthumously.
Located – in Aurangabad (Maharashtra) India
Constructed – between 1668-69
Cost – 700,000 Rupees
Engineer- Hanspat Rai
Designed and erected – by Ataullah, son of Ustad Ahmad Lahori-principal designer of Taj Mahal.

Dilras Banu Begum or Rabia ud Durrani.

Dilras Banu Begum was born a princess of the prominent Safavid dynasty of Iran (Persia) and was the daughter of Mirza Badi-uz-Zaman Safavi (titled Shahnawaz Khan), who was the Viceroy of Gujarat. She married Prince Muhi-ud-din (later known as Aurangzeb upon his accession) on 8 May 1637 in Agra. Dilras was his first wife and chief consort, as well as his favourite. She bore her husband five children: Zeb-un-Nissa, Zinat-un-Nissa, Zubdat-un-Nissa, Muhammad Azam Shah and Sultan Muhammad Akbar.

After giving birth to her fifth child, Muhammad Akbar, Dilras Banu Begum possibly suffered from puerperal fever, due to complications caused by the delivery and died a month after the birth of her son on 8 October 1657. Upon her death, Aurangzeb’s pain was extreme and their eldest son, Azam Shah, was so grieved that he had a nervous breakdown. It became Dilras’ eldest daughter, Princess Zeb-un-Nissa’s responsibility to take charge of her newborn brother. Zeb-un-Nissa doted on her brother a lot, and at the same time, Aurangzeb greatly indulged his motherless son and the prince soon became his best-loved son.

In 1668, Prince Azam Shah commissioned a mausoleum at Aurangabad to act as her final resting place, known as Bibi Ka Maqbara (“Tomb of the Lady”). Here, Dilras was buried under the posthumous title of ‘Rabia-ud-Daurani’ (“Rabia of the Age”). The Bibi Ka Maqbara bears a striking resemblance to the famous Taj Mahal, the mausoleum of Dilras’ mother-in-law, Empress Mumtaz Mahal, who herself died in childbirth. Aurangzeb, himself, is buried a few kilometers away from her mausoleum in Khuldabad.

(Malabar – Moplah Mosque:)

The Moplah are Muslim residing in the costal region of Kerala (India). They are believed to be Arabs who landed in India in the 3rd century, later they converted to Islam.

They started remarkable resistance against the British rule at the beginning of the 20th century. As per Britisher’s usual tricks, they tried to recruit them and form a ‘Moplah Regiment’ to serve the British cause like they did with other Indians; including Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. However the British miserably failed to tame them and make them loyal to British Empire. The ‘Moplah Regiment’ was disbanded in 1907.

Below is a rare photograph of Moplah Mosque in Kerala taken before the ‘Moplah Revolt’. Mosques were built according to local architecture and design using local materials. We can see worshipers are sitting out side the mosque sporting skull cap and turban.

(One of the earliest photographs of Taj Mahal.)
Felice Beato – 1858.

Felice Beato (1832 – 1909), also known as Felix Beato,was an Italian–British photographer. He was one of the first people to take photographs in East Asia and one of the first war photographers.

In February 1858 Beato arrived in Calcutta and began travelling throughout Northern India to document the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. During this time he produced possibly the first-ever photographic images of corpses. It is believed that for at least one of his photographs taken at the palace of Sikandar Bagh in Lucknow he had the skeletal remains of Indian rebels disinterred or rearranged to heighten the photograph’s dramatic impact. He was also in the cities of Delhi, Cawnpore, Meerut, Benares, Amritsar, Agra, Simla, and Lahore.

(Taj Mahal from the Jumna, Agra by Felice Beato, 1859)

One of the earliest photographic records of the Taj Mahal taken from the bank of river Yamuna.

(Sher Shah Mausoleum – Sasaram, Bihar by Francis Swain Ward (c.1734-94).)

Francis S Ward showed this beautiful oil painting at the Society of Artists exhibition in London in 1770, six years after he had returned to England from a period of military service in India with the Company. This large work (81 by 129.5 cm) was presented by him to the Company when he rejoined in 1773. It was duly passed to the India Office Library, where it remains today.

“Indians claim that Shah Shujah Durrani (ruler of Durrani empire in present day Afghanistan from 1803-1809) gave the diamond to Maharaja Ranjit Singh of the Sikhs. But Shah Shujah’s autobiography clearly mentions that his son was tortured by Maharaja Ranjit Singh before he took away the diamond. So if the Indian case rests on the claim that the British took it by force, so did the Indians,” – William Dalrymple(Historian & author)