325. Indian Uprising 1857: The Siege of Lucknow (Part 4)

Hello and welcome to Empire with me, Anita Arnim. And me, William Derymple. So today this is part four of our series on the Great Indian Uprising of 1857. Some call it the mutiny here in Britain, in India. They like to call it the First War of Independence.

And today we're going to look, really, at how Lucknow became one of the most bitterly fought over cities in India. It might be really useful to just talk a little bit more about that, give us a bit more context of of why Lucknow is front and centre of this story. So Lucknow, I think, was a much bigger city in the 19th century than it is today. Today it's the provincial capital of Uttar Pradesh and it's an important provincial city, but it is, you know, not the centre of things. In the mid-19th century, when the uprising breaks out, Lucknow is probably the richest Indian city of all.

And the Nawabs have othered, um, have just been toppled, and the British have toppled them with a view to getting their hands on the loot of Lucknow. And therefore, this is a place that rises up as one. It's the main centre of resistance. And it's not just the sepoys like it is in Delhi, where, you know, Galib and all the aristocracy are slightly wondering who these sort of, you know, uh rural peasantry turning up and and ragamuffins. Who are these people?

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