May 11 is special!
May saw an empire wobbling. On May 1857, a few disgruntled sepoys decided they’d had enough of the East India Company and marched into Delhi with all the subtlety of a dust storm. And May 11 is special! It is on this day that the sepoys had politely informed the British that their services were no longer required and reinstated Bahadur Shah Zafar as emperor. This was done less out of administrative confidence and more for symbolic gravitas. Thus began Delhi’s starring role in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. A clear reminder that even in oppressive heat, Dilliwalahs have historically found the energy to rebel.
May in Delhi is oppressive. It is inconvenient. It is occasionally unbearable. But it is also historic, political, cultural, and deeply, unapologetically alive. Because in Delhi, even the heat has a personality. And in May, it’s positively tyrannical.
StateOfDelhi suggests: Read William Dalrymple’s Anarchy and The Last Mughal if you haven’t already indulged in these two amazing books.
And here is a quote attributed to Zafar:
“Ghaziyon mein boo rahegi jab talak imaan ki, Tab talak London tak chalegi tegh-e-Hindustan ki.” Roughly this translates as: So long as faith lives in the hearts of the warriors, the sword of Hindustan shall strike even unto London.