Sher Ali Afridi
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]
- ↑ 1.0 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.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Sher Ali Afridi". Khyber.org. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
- ↑ Hussain, Hamid. "Tribes and Turbulance". defencejournal.org. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.
- 1872 deaths
- 19th-century executions by British India
- 19th-century Indian criminals
- Afridi people
- British East India Company Army soldiers
- Executed assassins
- Executed Indian people
- Indian assassins
- 19th-century Indian Muslims
- Indian people convicted of murder
- People convicted of murder by India
- People executed by British India by hanging
- People from Khyber District
- People from Peshawar