Sher Ali Afridi: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Indian assassin}}
[[File:Mayo assasin.jpg|thumb|Sher Ali Afridi, photograph taken after he killed Lord Mayo]]
[[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.
'''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==
==Early life==
Sher Ali worked for the [[British Raj|British administration]] in the Punjab Mounted 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 served the British in Ambala in a cavalry regiment.<ref name=khyber/> He served in the [[Presidency armies]], (that is, serving the [[East India Company]]) 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/>
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==
==Murder of Lord Mayo==
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==Aftermath==
==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 and his partner in this act was only 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/>
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==
==See also==
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[[Category:Executed Indian people]]
[[Category:Executed Indian people]]
[[Category:Indian assassins]]
[[Category:Indian assassins]]
[[Category:Indian Muslims]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian Muslims]]
[[Category:Indian people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:Indian people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by India]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by India]]

Latest revision as of 16:01, 28 October 2022


Sher Ali Afridi, photograph taken after he killed Lord Mayo

Sher Ali Afridi, also called Shere Ali, is known for killing 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[edit]

Sher Ali worked for the colonial government in the Punjab Police in the 1860s.[1] He came from the Tirah valley in the Khyber Agency and worked for the Commissioner of Peshawar.[2] He was in colonial army at Ambala in a cavalry regiment.[2] He served in the Presidency armies in Rohilkhand and Oudh during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.[3] 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.[4] Due to his good character, Sher Ali was popular among Europeans and was taking care of Taylor's children.[4] In a family feud, he killed one of his relatives named Hydur[4] 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,[4] to life imprisonment[1] and he was deported to Kala Pani or the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, to serve his sentence.[2] He was permitted to work as a barber at Port Blair as he was acknowledged to have behaved well since his arrival.[4]

Murder of Lord Mayo[edit]

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.[4] Lord Mayo was involved in drafting the regulations of Port Blair, the principal town of the islands.[1] 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.[1] Sher Ali was immediately arrested by twelve security personnel. Lord Mayo soon bled to death.[1] This incident, which attracted much attention to the island group, happened at the foot of Mount Harriet.[5]

Aftermath[edit]

The murder of the Viceroy, the supreme official of India appointed by the British Crown, sent shock waves throughout Britain and British India.[4] 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.[1] 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.[4] He readily posed for photographs.[1] 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.[4] Sher Ali Afridi was condemned to death and was hanged on the gallows of Viper Island prison,[1] on 11 March 1872.[2]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "The Murder of Lord Mayo 1872". andaman.org. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Sher Ali Afridi". Khyber.org. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  3. Hussain, Hamid. "Tribes and Turbulance". defencejournal.org. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 James, Halen. "The Assassination of Lord Mayo : The "First" Jihad?" (PDF). IJAPS,Vol 5, No.2 (July 2009). Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  5. Kapse, Ram (21 December 2005). "Hundred years of the Andamans Cellular Jail". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 13 December 2006. Retrieved 18 November 2012.

Bibliography[edit]

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