Siege of Delhi

Six days of street fighting end at the Ajmir Gate

The assault on Delhi began on 14 September 1857, after siege artillery breached the walls, and days of street fighting followed. Early on 20 September the British-led force took the Lahore Gate, Garstin Bastion and Ajmir Gate.

It then occupied the Mughal palace in the Red Fort, Selimgarh and the Jama Masjid, completing military control of the city. Most rebel sepoys had evacuated during the night of 19–20 September, so several of the final advances met little resistance.

"British" covers a mixed army

The National Army Museum puts about 9,000 troops before Delhi by 14 September, of whom roughly one-third were British; the rest were Sikhs, Punjabi Muslims and Gurkhas.

John Nicholson, commanding a storming column, was mortally wounded in the opening assault on 14 September and died on the 23rd.

British and allied troops ransacked Delhi after taking it, and contemporary and museum accounts document extensive looting and killing.

The emperor was taken the next afternoon

Bahadur Shah Zafar was not in the palace when it fell; he had taken refuge at Humayun's Tomb. Charles John Griffiths, who took part in the siege, places his capture by William Hodson on the afternoon of 21 September, so the listed title compresses two related events.

Guards were posted at Delhi's gates and armed patrols entered the streets, replacing rebel control with military occupation by the end of 20 September.