Sikandra Bagh

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Exterior of Sikandra Bagh, 1858. Albumen silver print by Felice Beato.

Interior of the Secundra Bagh after the slaughter of 2,000 rebels by the 93rd Highlanders and 4th Punjab Regt. Albumen silver print by Felice Beato.

Sikandra Bagh, also known as Secundra Bagh (among numerous other spellings), is a villa and garden estate located on the outskirts of Lucknow, India. It was built for the nawab of Awadh (Oudh), Wajid Ali Shah (1822-1887), as a summer house. The complex takes its name from the nawab's favourite wife, Begum Sikander Mahal. The site now houses the National Botanical Research Institute of India.

During the siege of Lucknow in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 (i.e. the so-called Indian Mutiny) it was used as a refuge by hundreds of sepoys who were under siege by British and colonial troops. The villa was overrun on 16 November 1857 and the British killed a reported 2000 sepoys. After the fighting the British dead were buried in a deep trench but the Indian dead were left to rot. In early 1858 Felice Beato took an infamous photograph of the skeletal remains of the sepoys strewn across the grounds of the interior of the complex.

[edit] References

• Brown University Library; Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection: Photographic views of Lucknow taken after the Indian Mutiny. Accessed 2 November 2006.
• NIC District Unit, Lucknow. Historical Places At Lucknow. Accessed 2 November 2006.

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