William Hodson

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The capture of the Great Mogul on September 19, 1857
Grave of William Hodson in the park of La Martiniere Lucknow

William Stephen Raikes Hodson (March 10, 1821 - March 11, 1858 ) was one of the British officers who were instrumental in the suppression of the Indian uprising of 1857 . His contemporaries considered him an excellent rider and fighter. However, after the reconquest of Delhi, he was instrumental in the cruel retaliation of the British against the Indian population. William Hodson is known because he the last Mughal emperor of India, Bahadur Shah Zafar II. , Captured by his son after the betrayal. Two of his sons and one of his grandsons were shot dead by William Hodson immediately after they were captured.

Life

William Hodson was the son of a pastor and, unlike most of his fellow British officers, had attended university. He came to India when the Sikh wars were being waged there. In India he was quickly appointed District Commissioner in Amritsar . In 1854, however, Hodson was removed from office because it was assumed that he had used regimental funds for his purposes. He was later acquitted of the allegations. However, among other things he was said to have killed an Indian moneylender to whom he owed large sums of money. When the Indian uprising broke out on May 10, 1857, investigations into these allegations were discontinued. William Hodson was considered one of the men who stood up to the insurgents with fearless bravado. He was also instrumental in spying on the situation of the insurgent forces that were occupying Delhi.

Aftermath

Impressed by the murders of British civilians during the uprising, the British people revered William Hodson, much like the notorious James Neill, as one of the people who took vengeance on the Indians. However, critical voices also increased very early on. In particular, the contemporary historiographer Montgomery Martin sharply condemned the actions of William Hodson, describing him as a man who had increased his wealth by plundering simple rural people.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lawrence James: Raj - The Making of British India , Abacus, London 1997, p. 260
  2. ^ William Dalrymple: The Last Mughal - The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857. Bloomsbury Publishing, London 2006, p. 202.
  3. ↑ Christopher Herbert: War of no pity. The Indian Mutiny and Victorian Trauma , Princeton University Press, Princeton 2008 p. 177

literature

  • William Dalrymple : The Last Mughal - The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857. Bloomsbury Publishing, London 2006, ISBN 978-0-7475-8726-2 .
  • Christopher Herbert: War of no pity. The Indian Mutiny and Victorian Trauma. Princeton University Press, Princeton 2008, ISBN 978-0-691-13332-4 .
  • Christopher Hibbert: The great mutiny: India 1857. Penguin Books, London [u. a.] 1988.
  • Lawrence James: Raj - The Making of British India. Abacus, London 1997, ISBN 978-0-349-11012-7 .
personal data
SURNAME Hodson, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hodson, William Stephen Raikes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British officer
DATE OF BIRTH March 10, 1821
DATE OF DEATH March 11, 1858