Nearby

Islamabad

capital city of Pakistan

33.6944273.06458

Taxila

archaeological site of the ancient Indian subcontinent, at Taxila, Punjab, Pakistan

33.7487572.81292

we will see

Nicholson's Obelisk

Pakistan
Captain John Nicholson, from Ireland, was one of the most colourful characters of the British Army in Victoria's time, a much-decorated officer and an effective administrator, but also a bit of a madman. He hunted tigers armed with only a sword and personally went after one bandit chief, cut off his head, and kept it on his desk for months as a warning to others. At one point he learned of a plot to poison the British officers, hanged all the cooks, then calmly proceeded to dinner.During the Mutiny of 1857 Nicholson planned a bold attack on Delhi, and bullied the aged and conservative General in charge into approving it. He was shot while leading the attack and died a few days later, aged 35, but the British took Delhi and ended the mutiny. The British considered him a major hero, and some of the natives (much to his dismay) treated him as a rather odd sort of saint, creating a cult of "Nikal Seyn" which lasted well into the 20th century. His tomb is in Delhi and there are statues in both Delhi and Ireland, but this monument is on the frontier where he spent most of his career.