Siege of Delhi Descendants Reunion

The British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia invites descendants of participants in the Siege of Delhi, 1857, to attend a lecture on Brigadier John Nicholson, victor of Delhi. The lecture will be followed by a wine reception and is the fourth in their series ‘The Raj Re-Examined’ (BACSA in association with the South Asia Centre, LSE). Others with an interest in the Mutiny are also welcome.

Dark Hero: Nicholson of Delhi

Brigadier General John Nicholson, mortally wounded in the storming of Delhi in 1857, was one of the great heroes of Victorian Britain. Dubbed the ‘Lion of the Punjab ‘ by contemporaries he has been more recently referred to as an ‘imperial psychopath ‘. Barely out of action from the age of 17 to his death at 34, he followed service in the First Afghan War, Second Sikh War and administration of Bannu, most turbulent province of the Punjab, by marching his mobile column on Delhi, crushing all opposition in his way. His inspirational command at Delhi, decisive battle of the Indian Mutiny, made him a hero for his times and generations after. His brutality and ruthlessness, controversial then, make him an equivocal one now.

Stuart Flinders, BBC journalist and broadcaster and author of Cult of a Dark Hero: Nicholson of Delhi (2018) considers Nicholson ‘s life and reputation.

Time/place/price

11 February, 6.30-8.00pm

Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building, London School of Economics, 54 Lincoln ‘s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3LJ

Tickets: £8.50 (BACSA members £6) include a glass of wine

Online booking: http://www.bacsa.org.uk/?page_id=2180