1857 – The Siege in North India

1857 – The Siege in North India (Tour Code: IN/new) – 1857 was an year of all out siege in India and the most affected was the norther part of India. The event devastated the British and shook the foundations of the East India Company and finally in 1858 the reigns of the colony passed on to the imperial crown, bringing an end to the company rule and establishing the Raj in India that lasted till 1947 when India was freed from the British rule. On this tour we take you through Delhi, Meerut, Kanpur, Lucknow and Agra for 16/17 days.

Tour Itinerary

Day 01 Arrival Day in Delhi

Arrive Delhi where our representative will meet, assist and transfer to hotel. Delhi, Centre point of uprising, In May 1857 furious sepoys amassed to Delhi to declare it as the capital of their newly freed nation.

Day 02  Delhi – Meerut – Delhi

Breakfast will be served at the hotel and post breakfast we drive to Meerut (70 kms / 2 hrs). Influenced by an event at Barrackpur (near Calcutta), On 10^th May sepoy at Meerut revolted, actual virus of revolt started from here. Explore the mutiny sites, St John’s garrison church and the cemetery with graves of  victims .Back to Delhi en route visiting Badli-Ki-Sarai, the battle site. It was here that a battle was fought in June 1857 between Gordon Highlanders and the high-spirited sepoys. It is actually in the memory of the Gordon Highlanders that a memorial stands nearby this area and overnight at the hotel in Delhi.

Day 03  Delhi

This day in the early morning you have an opportunity to be a part of either one of the Heritage Walk i.e. “1857 Uprising: Kashmiri Gate and Neighborhood” or “Landmarks of 1857: Northern Ridge”. Packed breakfast will be provided to you during your walk. Back to hotel and day up to lunch at leisure. Post lunch you will visit Old Delhi to see some of the capital’s major historical sites, including the Jama Mosque, Red Fort and Mahatma Gandhi’s Memorial. Later back to hotel by evening. Overnight at the hotel in Delhi.

Day 04  Delhi / Lucknow

Breakfast at our hotel and post breakfast checkout and visit New Delhi, seeing Qutub Minar, Humayun’s Tomb where Major Hodson captured Bahadur Shah Jafar and drive past through the India Gate, the Parliament building and the Rastrapathi Bhawan. Also stroll a bit at the Khan Market, that is an up-market shopping destination for the diplomats, expatriates and who’s who of New Delhi. Also enjoy your lunch at any of the restaurants here. Transfer to Delhi airport in time to connect your flight to Lucknow. Arrive Lucknow, transfer to hotel and overnight at the hotel in Lucknow.

Day o5  Lucknow – Kanpur – Lucknow

Post breakfast today we will drive to Kanpur (Cawnpore) (100 km / 2 hrs). Enroute stop at Havelock’s Memorial and the battle-scarred Alambagh Palace. Kanpur (Cawnpore), Gen Wheeler, was besieged in June for three week by native troops in a unfinished mud walled fort “ Wheeler’s Entrenchment” , we visit this barren Entrenchment, All Souls Church, the Massacre Ghat on Ganges where Europeans were promised for safe passage but were promptly fired upon in one of the worst scenes in the Mutiny and the Bibi Ghar where survived women and children were mercilessly butchered. An exclusive lunch will be served at an old colonial bungalow, that has now been converted to a small hotel, but is still in use by the family that has inherited it. Post lunch we will drive back to Lucknow. Arrive Lucknow by evening, check-in and overnight at hotel in Lucknow.

Day 06  Lucknow

Breakfast at hotel and explore Mutiny sites the centrepiece being the British Residency. lying to south of Gomti river its roofless buildings and smashed walls, witness to one of the most gruesome siege in July 1857 until, in September, after this we visit La Martiniere School ,The principal, masters and boys of the college successfully defended the perimeter of the grounds in 1857 and Hodson’s Tomb. Also visit Dilkusha Palace that fell in the hands of the mutineers and it was here that General Henry Havelock took his last breath. Post lunch we reach Hazratganj for a Victorian Walk to understand the evolution of this market place since the pre-1857 days to the present day and of course its role in the siege of 1857. Back to hotel and overnight at the hotel in Lucknow.

Day 07  Lucknow

Breakfast at the hotel. Post breakfast you will be visiting Asafi Imambada, Rumi Darwaza, Husainabad Imambara and the Clock Tower. Back to hotel by lunch and for this evening we have planned an exclusive dinner with a Royal Family, at their Victorian Place and we will have an opportunity to meet the family that holds the title of KCIE, bestowed to their ancestors by HE Queen Victoria. Enjoy your evening drinks and home cooked dinner with this family. Later back to hotel and overnight at the hotel in Lucknow.

Day 08  Lucknow / Agra

This morning after our breakfast in Lucknow we drive to Agra (350 km / 4.5 hrs) In August 1857 Col. Greathead rushed with 3,000 Soldiers from Delhi to recapture the besieged Agra.  Post lunch we explore Agra Fort and understand its role in the siege of 1857. a cannon ball mark on the Sheesh Mahal (Mirror Palace) and tomb of Col. John Russell, Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Provinces, who died here in 1857.

Day 09  Agra

A pre-breakfast visit of Taj Mahal today which is a symbol of eternal love and was built by Shah Jahan in the memory of his wife Mumtaj Mahal. Return to hotel for breakfast and then n the forenoon we visit Havelock’s Church and explore the old British Cantonment, also enjoy a private lunch at an old colonial bungalow. Post lunch  we drive to Fatehpur Sikiri (40 kms / 1 hr). This walled city contains the mausoleum of the Sufi saint, Saleem Chisti who is said to have granted Akbar and his Hindu queen Jodhabai their wish for a son. The main entrance to Fatehpur Sikri is through a gate of 175 feet high known as Buland Darwaza, which happens to be the highest gateway in the world. Back to hotel and overnight at hotel in Agra.

Day 10  Agra / Delhi / Home

Breakfast at hotel and later we drive to Delhi (220 km / 3 hrs). From here we have an option to either connect our international flight back home or extend to another of Indian Frontiers destination

 Tour Highlight

Mutiny Trail Walk in Delhi and Curated Mutiny Tour of Lucknow and Kanpur.

Victorian Walk in Lucknow.

Exclusive Lunch at an old Colonial Bungalow in Kanpur & Agra and Dinner with the Maharaja’s Family at a Palace from the Raj in Lucknow.