Story of how three Mughal Princes Mirza Mughal, Mirza Khizr Sultan and Mirza Abu Bakar were shot dead by Major Hodson and hung on the Khooni Darwaza after the fall of Delhi in 1857.
I came across this interesting piece of history on pages 25 and 26 of the book 'Tears of the Begums: Stories of Survivors of the Uprising of 1857' (originally in Urdu as Begumat ke Aansoo) written by Khwaja Hasan Nizami and translated by Rana Safvi which I had reviewed on 6th of October, 2023.
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Coming up: What is the connection between three Mughal princes, Major Hodson and Khooni Darwaza?
Namaste Friends. My name is 'Shinil Subramanian Payamal' and you are listening to the Historylogy podcast.
There is a description of this particular event in Khwaja Hasan Nizami’s book ‘Dilli ki Jan Kuni’ (The Agony of Delhi). Events during the Mutiny of 1857 related to the Royal Family, The Nobility, and the Hindu and Muslim residents of Delhi, translated by A. Sattar Kapadia. I quote from that:
Munshi Zakaullah has stated that, “On the second day of the capture of the Badshah (Bahadur Shah Zafar), Munshi Rajab Ali and Mirza Ilahi Bux reported that Mirza Mughal and Mirza Khizr Sultan the two sons of the Badshah and his nephew Mirza Abu Bakar were also in the Tomb of Humayun and these were the very men who were responsible for the murder of the British women and children in the (Red) Fort. Major Hodson (also spelled Hudson in some places) was furious at this news and after taking permission from General Wilson he departed on his mission to murder the Princes. Mr. MacDonald also accompanied Major Hodson. Taking 100 instead of 50 riders with him, he went to the Tomb and at that time he was accompanied by the spies Munshi Rajab Ali and Mirza Ilahi Bux.”
All three Princes were inside the Tomb, but in spite of his large force, Major Hodson was again reluctant to enter the Tomb as the Princes were surrounded by a group of their fierce supporters.
Just like their father, the Princes refused to surrender until they were given guarantees of safe conduct and a promise that they would not be harmed. Major Hodson replied that he had no authority to give any such guarantees to them as he was under the command of General Wilson.
They said farewells to their sympathizers and came out of the Tomb.
When the Princes came in front of Hodson, he glared at them but kept quiet. He ordered them to get into four wheeled carriages; they were then surrounded by Hodson’s men and started moving towards Delhi.
When they were one mile outside Delhi, Hodson ordered them out of the carriages and remove their clothes. The Princes looked at each other but at that point they were not aware that their lives were in danger. They had been given reassurance that Hodson had no powers to take their lives.” They were shot by Hodson and their bodies stripped and hung on the Lal Darwaza near Firoz Shah Kotla. This earned the Darwaza the name of Khooni Darwaza’.
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