Sher Ali Afridi (died 11 March 1872) was the assassin of the Viceroy of British India,

Lord Mayo Richard Southwell Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, (; ; 21 February 1822 – 8 February 1872) styled Lord Naas (; ) from 1842 to 1867 and Lord Mayo in India, was a prominent British statesman and Conservative politician. He served as Chief Secreta ...

whom he killed on 8 February 1872. An Indian soldier of

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

background, he was convicted of murder and imprisoned at the penal colony of

Port Blair Port Blair (), officially named Sri Vijaya Puram, is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headqu ...

, Andaman Islands. He is known for assassinating the

Viceroy of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the Emperor of ...

in 1872. The British sources described him as a "fearless soldier and one who would have been selected for any service of danger".

Early life

Sher Ali was born in the

Tirah Valley Tirah, also spelled Terah (), also called the Tirah Valley (), is a mountainous region located in the Orakzai District and the southern part of the Khyber District, positioned between the Khyber Pass and the Khanki Valley in Pakistan. Due to ...

in the

Khyber Agency Khyber District (, ) is a district in the Peshawar Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Until 2018, it was an agency of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas. With the merger of FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in ...

of the

North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ) was a province of British India from 1901 to 1947, of the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955, and of the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan from 1970 to 2010. It was established on 9 November ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

into the Kuki Khēl Afridi tribe of

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghan (ethnon ...

. He worked for the colonial government in the Punjab Police in the 1860s. Afridi worked for the Commissioner of Peshawar. He was in colonial army at Ambala in a cavalry regiment. He served in the

Presidency armies The presidency armies were the armies of the three Presidencies of British India, presidencies of the East India Company's Company rule in India, rule in India, later the forces of the the Crown, British Crown in British Raj, India, composed pr ...

Rohilkhand Rohilkhand (today Bareilly, Moradabad, Badaun and Rampur; ) is a region in the northwestern part of Uttar Pradesh, India, that is centered on the Bareilly and Moradabad divisions. It is part of the upper Ganges Plain, and is named after the ...

and

Oudh The Kingdom of Awadh (, , also Oudh State, Kingdom of Oudh, Awadh Subah, or Awadh State) was a Mughal subah, then an independent kingdom, and lastly a British protectorate in the Awadh region of North India until its annexation by the Br ...

during the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

. He worked under Major Hugh James as a cavalry trooper in

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

and as a mounted orderly for Reynell Taylor, who awarded Sher Ali with a horse, pistol and certificate. Due to his good character, Sher Ali was popular among Europeans and was taking care of Taylor's children. Afridi had murdered a robber who attempted to steal his cattle and his wife. Afridi was pardoned for this murder.

Transportation to Andaman

In 1867, he killed Hyder who was one of his enemies at Peshawar (Indian territory where British jurisdiction applied) in broad daylight for alleged molestation of his sister. Although he pleaded innocence, he was sentenced to death on 2 April 1867. On appeal, his sentence was reduced by a judge, Colonel Pollock, to life imprisonment and he was deported to the

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India comprising 572 islands, of which only 38 are inhabited. The islands are grouped into two main clusters: the northern Andaman Islands and the southern Nicobar Islands, separated by a ...

, to serve his sentence. He was permitted to work as a barber at

as he was acknowledged to have behaved well since his arrival.

Murder of Lord Mayo

Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo Richard Southwell Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, (; ; 21 February 1822 – 8 February 1872) styled Lord Naas (; ) from 1842 to 1867 and Lord Mayo in India, was a prominent British statesman and Conservative politician. He served as Chief Secreta ...

from 1869, was visiting the

in February 1872. The island group was then used as a British penal colony for convicts from India, both criminals and political prisoners. Lord Mayo was involved in drafting the regulations of Port Blair, the principal town of the islands. 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. Sher Ali was immediately arrested by twelve security personnel. Lord Mayo soon bled to death. This incident, which attracted much attention to the island group, happened at the foot of Mount Harriet (now

Mount Manipur Mount Manipur, formerly known as Mount Harriet, is the third highest peak in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. The mountain houses the Mount Manipur Memorial, which commemorates the Manipuri freedom fighters of the Anglo-Manipur War ...

Aftermath

The murder of the Viceroy, the supreme official of India appointed by the

British Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

, sent shock waves throughout Britain and British India. Sher Ali Afridi wanted to kill two British people, the Superintendent and the Viceroy, as a revenge for his sentence, which he thought was more severe than he deserved. 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. He readily posed for photographs. 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. Sher Ali Afridi was condemned to death and was hanged on the gallows of Viper Island prison, on 11 March 1872. He has been hailed as a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

.Remembering Freedom fighter Mohammad Sher Ali who killed British Viceroy
(2022) Syed Nasir Ahmed

References

Bibliography

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

External links

{{Commonscatinline Year of birth unknown 1872 deaths 19th-century executions by British India 19th-century Indian criminals Afridi people British East India Company Army soldiers Indian nationalist assassins Executed Indian people 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 Pashtun military personnel Indian independence activists