'The Mughals lost because the British had far superior intelligence and also they spent all
the money on technology; the Mughals were only constructing huge monuments,' feels Mohammad Yusuf, a shopkeeper near Jama Masjid.
"Muslims were no longer pious in 1857 and therefore they lost," adds Faisal Mirza, another shopkeeper. "Islam says if you don’t follow your religion piously you will be defeated. They didn't pray and therefore they lost. Allah defeated them. It was Allah's will that the
British win and Muslims lose."
Mohammad Ikhlas, a student, pitches in with his opinion: "You cannot deny the greatness of the Mughals. Today, 100 tourist buses come daily to Jama Masjid -- only because of the Mughals."
Adds Ikhlas' friend Mohammad Siddiqui: "Mughals never made a dance bar or a club, but they made beautiful monuments. Even if they are 450 years old they look like they have been built today."
After the fall of Delhi in 1857, the British did not allow devotees to enter the Jama Masjid, which was built by Shah Jahan. It was reopened five years later, in 1862.
Image: Jama Masjid
Also see: The glorious example of the heroes of 1857
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