WD4501

View of Delhi from the Centre Battery on the Ridge, 1857.

‘No. 5. View of Delhi from the rear of the centre mortar battery. The white Line in the distance on the very left is part of the river passing on the other side of the palace, then comes the long red palace wall with two conspicuous gateways and little domes at intervals, then two very large mosques, then the Jumma Musjid and beyond it a hill covered with houses; and to the right, away beyond the whole city, the ruined remains of the old city. With regard to the walls the yellow house you first come to on the left is the Main Guard House in the Cashmere Bastion, close to it is St. James’s Church, then comes a round tower to flank the wall, the Moree Gate – Moree Bastion – another flanking tower called by the men “the hole in the wall” – the Cabul Gate – the Lahore Gate and in the road in front of this last a small temple which is a favourite rendezvous of theirs when they come out to attack the Sammy House. The Battery looks idle enough now, it generally is if possible about mid-day for the men go to sleep under the tarpaulin sheds they have made for themselves, leaving only one unfortunate man as a look out. Lieut. F.L. Tandy, R.E., Bengal Sappers & Miners.’

Note: the Centre battery was established in the grounds of Hindu Rao’s house. The two ‘large mosques’ are the Zinat al-Masajid and the Akbarabadi mosques south of the palace, the hill covered with houses Bhojila Pahari.