PRIMARY DOSSIER № 03 / 08
BEGUM HAZRAT MAHAL
REGENT OF AWADH · LEADER OF 1857 LUCKNOW RESISTANCE
Ruler of Awadh who rallied Hindu and Muslim soldiers and talukdars to besiege the British Residency in Lucknow, rejecting Queen Victoria's 1858 amnesty proclamation.
PRIMARY INVESTIGATION & FINDINGS
Following Dalhousie’s 1856 annexation of Awadh and Nawab Wajid Ali Shah's exile, she seized control of Lucknow in June 1857, crowning her 11-year-old son Birjis Qadr and establishing a functioning insurgent government.
Mobilized an army of over 100,000 sepoys, talukdars, and peasants, leading the protracted siege of the Lucknow British Residency for eight months.
Issued a counter-proclamation rejecting Queen Victoria’s 1858 pardon, warning Indians that British promises were deceptive. Refused British pensions and died in exile in Kathmandu (1879).
RELATED DOSSIERS IN THIS ARCHIVE