On March 29, 1857, Mangal Pandey, a sepoy [infantry soldier] in the British East India Company (EIC) army, set in motion the great Indian ‘Revolt’. By the time the ‘rebellion’ was quelled, more than half of the 9,000-strong British forces were dead or wounded and 5,000 of the estimated 40,000 rebels. Members of the Mughal royal family and the elite were hunted down and killed, while others tried to blend into the populace to escape.

However, the reprisals of the 1857 revolt did not just result in the loss of life. There was a systematic effort to erase the memory of the Mughals altogether. The crown of the last emperor, his throne, the royal hookah, wall panels, manuscripts, jewels and artwork were looted and taken to Britain. What could not be transported was destroyed. Eighty percent of the walled city of Delhi was razed to the ground — including the magnificent palace, gardens, mosques and homes of elite residents, guards and servants. It was only stopped from complete erasure by the intervention of Sir John Lawrence, Viceroy of India from 1864-1869.

The Jama Masjid survived but would be used as stables and an army camp. The Diwan-i-Aam [Hall of Audience] became a military hospital. The tree-lined canals were filled to build paved military........

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