Irvine (1922), thieves, p. 287, and deserters, p. 415.
In a letter dated 30 August 1857, received by William Muir working as an intelligence officer, the persons were Mr. Bridges (an indigo planter), his wife, his mother-in-law and their daughter Mrs. Eckford. Muir, Coldstream (1902), p. 501.
Tate (1911), on treachery, p. 115, on blowing from a gun, p. 121.
February 1781Parlby (1822), p. 188, May 1783Baillie (1788), p. 490, July 1783Forbes (1815), p. 123, October 1783Forbes (1815), p. 133November 1783Baillie (1788), p. 468
"It is a curious fact, and well attested by many persons present, that a number of kites (a bird of prey very common in India) actually accompanied the melancholy party in their progress to the place of execution, as if they knew what was going on, and then kept hovering over the guns from which the culprits were to be blown away, flapping their wings, and shrieking, as if in anticipation of their bloody feast, till the fatal flash, which scattered the fragments of bodies in the air; when, pouncing on their prey, they positively caught in their talons many pieces of the quivering flesh before they could reach the ground! At sight of this the native troops employed on this duty, together with the crowd which had assembled to witness the execution, set up a yell of horror." The description is from the execution of those found guilty in the Vellore Mutiny in 1806, Blakiston (1829), p. 309.
In an 1845 Herat case: "It was a scene that I shall never forget—a horrid spectacle, and touched me to the very heart. The broken limbs of the unfortunate man were scattered in all directions, while his bowels, which had not been thrown to so great a distance, were in an instant devoured by the dogs that were loitering about the spot." Ferrier (1856), p. 189.
See, for example, Heathcote (1995), p. 105, and Fremont-Barnes (2007), p. 79[dead link].
According to the same source, this punishment was only inflicted in cases of rebellion, otherwise, deportation was the most severe punishment Thoman (1869), p. 111
For 1764 and 1775 events, Butalia (1998), p. 273. Hector Munro's report on 24 executed to the House of Commons may be read here: Adolphus (1840), p. 268. In his letter dated 18 September to the East India Company, however, Monro says 25, detailing where they were sent for execution, Long (1869), p. 397–398.
February 1781Parlby (1822), p. 188, May 1783Baillie (1788), p. 490, July 1783Forbes (1815), p. 123, October 1783Forbes (1815), p. 133, November 1783Baillie (1788), p. 468
Grey, Garrett (1996), p. 216. However, a case from 1784 in the cantonment at Arcot says that a mutiny over reduced pay broke out in October among European troops, and that one active serjeant was condemned to be blown from a gun. Baldwin (1785), p. 390.
In this case, however, the viceroy of India, Richard Bourke, earl of Mayo, disowned the action of Mr. Cowan, who presided over the first 49 executions and dismissed that officer responsible for the proceedings. Knight (2012), p. 13. However, this was on basis of a procedural point concerning how the trial under Cowan had been held; Mr. Forsyth, Mr. Cowan's hierarchical superior, also blew the last 16 from guns, some time thereafter, but according to requirements of "fair trial". Singh (1995), p. 503–507.
Apart from blowing from guns, the source mention as well that people could be bayoneted to death, hanged, crucified, disemboweled, sawn in two, hanged or dragged to death behind horses. Akbarzadeh, Macqueen (2008), p. 93. Lord Curzon, visiting Kabul in 1894, narrates the following chilling story about a rapist: "One official who had outraged a woman was stripped naked and placed in a hole dug for the purpose on the top of a high hill outside Kabul. It was in mid-winter; and water was then poured upon him until he was converted into an icicle and frozen alive. As the Amir sardonically remarked, "He would never be too hot again"." Edwards (1996), p. 111.
Lee (1996), p. 551. In 1891 Herat, a rebel leader was also blown from a gun, p. 580.
Letter from Humphreys to the foreign secretary from 20 January 1929, cited in Roberts (2003), p. 51 and p. 61. For the case of Ali Ahmad Khan blown by guns in July 1929, see Lee (1996), p. 378.
