Contents: Foreword. Preface. 1. Peoples war. 2. The war theatre of Oudh. 3. The city of Allahabad. 4. The Maulvi of Allahabad--his early life. 5. Allahabad Fort and its vicinity 1857. 6. Khusro Bagh and Sarai of Khuldabad. 7. The start of uprising at Allahabad. 8. Maulvi taking control at Allahabad. 9. Maulvi joins Nana Sahib at Kanpur and his letter to Bahadur Shah. 10. Neil's atrocities at Allahabad. 11. The last Flicker-battle of Fatehpur and Soraon activities and his escape to Gujarat and Bombay. 12. End of a saga of a man-court trail at Allahabad, Life transportation to Andaman Islands and death. 13. Triumph and tribulations of M.L.A. 14. National Memorial in the memory of a great patriot and son of Allahabad. 15. Appendices. References.

"Maulvi Liaqat Ali : Icon of 1857 Uprising at Allahabad, a historic account of the Mughal Governor of Allahabad who fought against the British in 1857. Illustrated with 25 photographs and 2 maps. 

It was past the dinnertime of night 6 June 1857. The place was mess of 6 Native Infantry Cantonment of Allahabad. The guest English officers were dining and wining amidst the tinkering of glasses and loud merry making noises, and at the same time sharing pleasantries with the soldiers. The occasion of celebration was the Commendation message for the Regiment sent by the Governor General. Dinner was all over. The officers were preparing to leave. The silence of night was broken by boom-boom gunfire that took the English officers to surprise. Somebody shouted that the Pandes from Banaras had come. They had no time to dress themselves fully but got hold of their arms and rushed out. There was only one thing waiting for them, their death, as the native infantry soldiers started shooting their own officers from close range. That was the announcement of the Uprising of 1857 and more was to follow. Allahabad city and district was thrown at the mercy of Hooligans. Widespread destruction, looting and bona-fire followed. Precious human lives were lost. 

Maulvi Liaqat Ali of Mahgoan then arrived on the scene and took control of the situation. He enforced the law and order in the city. He introduced discipline amongst his followers. He enthused the people to join the Freedom Struggle against the British. From his military operational headquarters at Khusro Bagh, he conducted the war against the so-called "Infidels". He attempted to take the Allahabad Fort then under English occupation but failed. He had severe resource constraints but had the masses behind him. The English constantly chased him but he eluded them for the rest of the six months of 1857 by remaining in North India. With the top Uprising leaders mostly defeated and driven in the Nepal Tharai, Maulvi Liaqat Ali travelled to Bhopal and settled in Surat district of Gujarat. In 1872, he was apprehended at Bombay V.T. Railway Station due to the treachery of his friends. He was tried in the Court of Law and sentenced to Penal Settlement in Andamans (Kaala Paani) where he died in the year 1892. This is saga of a man who stood but never bent before the tyranny of a Foreign Rule." (jacket)