Sher Ali Afridi

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{{Short description|Indian assassin}}
[[File:Mayo assasin.jpg|thumb|Sher Ali Afridi, photograph taken after he killed Lord Mayo]]
'''Sher Ali Afridi''', also called '''Shere Ali''', is known for killing [[Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo|Lord Mayo]], the [[Viceroy of India]], on 8 February 1872. He was a prisoner on the [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]] at the time, sentenced for murder.

==Early life==
Sher Ali worked for the [[British Raj|colonial government]] in the Punjab Police in the 1860s.<ref name=andaman>{{cite web|title=The Murder of Lord Mayo 1872|url=http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/app-o/texto.htm|publisher=andaman.org|accessdate=18 November 2012}}</ref> He came from the [[Tirah]] valley in the [[Khyber Agency]] and worked for the Commissioner of Peshawar.<ref name=khyber>{{cite web|title=Sher Ali Afridi|url=http://www.khyber.org/people/sarfaroshan/SherAliAfridi.shtml|publisher=Khyber.org|accessdate=18 November 2012}}</ref> He was in [[Bengal Army|colonial army]] at Ambala in a cavalry regiment.<ref name=khyber/> He served in the [[Presidency armies]] in [[Rohilkhand]] and [[Oudh]] during the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]].<ref name=journal>{{cite web|last=Hussain|first=Hamid|title=Tribes and Turbulance|url=http://www.defencejournal.com/2003/june/tribesandturbulence.htm|publisher=defencejournal.org|accessdate=18 November 2012}}</ref> He worked under Major Hugh James as a cavalry trooper in [[Peshawar]] and as a mounted orderly for [[Reynell Taylor]], who awarded Sher Ali with a horse, pistol and certificate.<ref name=Halen/> Due to his good character, Sher Ali was popular among Europeans and was taking care of Taylor's children.<ref name=Halen/> In a family feud, he killed one of his relatives named Hydur<ref name=Halen/> at Peshawar in broad daylight and although he pleaded innocence, he was sentenced to death on 2 April 1867. On appeal, his sentence was reduced by a judge, Colonel Pollock,<ref name=Halen/> to life imprisonment<ref name=andaman/> and he was deported to ''Kala Pani'' or the [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]], to serve his sentence.<ref name=khyber/> He was permitted to work as a barber at [[Port Blair]] as he was acknowledged to have behaved well since his arrival.<ref name=Halen/>

==Murder of Lord Mayo==
[[Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo]], [[Viceroy of India]] from 1869, was visiting the [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]] in February 1872. The island group was then used as a British penal colony for convicts from India, both criminals and political prisoners.<ref name=Halen/> Lord Mayo was involved in drafting the regulations of Port Blair, the principal town of the islands.<ref name=andaman/> On 8 February, when the Viceroy had almost completed his inspection and was returning at 7:00 PM to his boat, where Lady Mayo was also waiting, Sher Ali Afridi appeared from the dark and stabbed him.<ref name=andaman/> Sher Ali was immediately arrested by twelve security personnel. Lord Mayo soon bled to death.<ref name=andaman/> This incident, which attracted much attention to the island group, happened at the foot of [[Mount Harriet National Park|Mount Harriet]].<ref name=kapse>{{cite news|last=Kapse|first=Ram|title=Hundred years of the Andamans Cellular Jail|url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/12/21/stories/2005122107881100.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061213184157/http://www.hindu.com/2005/12/21/stories/2005122107881100.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 December 2006|accessdate=18 November 2012|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=21 December 2005}}</ref>

==Aftermath==
The murder of the Viceroy, the supreme official of India appointed by the [[British Crown]], sent shock waves throughout Britain and British India.<ref name=Halen>{{cite web|last=James|first=Halen|title=The Assassination of Lord Mayo : The "First" Jihad?|url=http://ijaps.usm.my/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/HelenJames_LordMayoAssassination.pdf|publisher=IJAPS,Vol 5, No.2 (July 2009)|accessdate=18 November 2012}}</ref> Sher Ali Afridi wanted to kill two white people, the Superintendent and the Viceroy, as a revenge for his sentence, which he thought was more severe than he deserved.<ref name=andaman/> He waited for a full day and only in the evening, found an opportunity to kill the Viceroy. He said that he killed on the instructions of God.<ref name=Halen/> He readily posed for photographs.<ref name=andaman/> Some jihadist-inspired prisoners were jailed at Andaman during the same period but the British found no link to the murder of the Viceroy and the presence of these prisoners.<ref name=Halen/> Sher Ali Afridi was condemned to death and was hanged on the gallows of [[Viper Island]] prison,<ref name=andaman/> on 11 March 1872.<ref name=khyber/>

==See also==
*[[Mohammad Abdullah (India)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*F. A. M. Dass (1937): ''The Andaman Islands.''
*Prof. Sen : ''Disciplining Punishment: Colonialism and Convict Society in the Andaman Islands.'' Oxford University Press.

[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:1872 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century executions by British India]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian criminals]]
[[Category:Afridi people]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army soldiers]]
[[Category:Executed assassins]]
[[Category:Executed Indian people]]
[[Category:Indian assassins]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian Muslims]]
[[Category:Indian people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by India]]
[[Category:People executed by British India by hanging]]
[[Category:People from Khyber District]]
[[Category:People from Peshawar]]

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Sher Ali Afridi