Munshi Sandhe Khan: Delhi’s ruthless ‘top cop’ in the 1900s

 This post is on Munshi Sandhe Khan, the Kotwal (Chief of police) of Delhi at the turn of the 20^th century. Alas, the picture above doesn’t feature Sandhe Khan - my search for an image of the man was in vain. Instead, this is a postcard of the Punjab police, under whose jurisdiction Delhi fell at the time, giving us a sense of what police forces looked like in the early 1900s. The image below is a sketch I came across online depicting Indian police forces (including in Delhi) during the colonial era (if further source attribution is needed, please let me know).

During my time working in the archives many years ago, I came across a reference to Munshi Sandhe Khan and his exploits in Delhi, particularly during a period of widespread anxiety over “Satta” (opium) gambling. As I have mentioned in a previous post about Egerton Road (Nai Sarak), the early 1900s saw growing fears of disorder and social unrest linked to the opium gambling trade. Colonial officials were becoming aware that the telegraph network was being exploited for betting on the price of opium that was being carried on ships from Bombay. To tackle this form of numbers gambling, Sandhe Khan was assigned as the lead native officer with two constables under his authority. 

 

From what we know, Khan was a hardnosed operator employing strongarm tactics to dismantle gambling rings. His efforts were quite successful, earning him praise in the local press. In 1901, the Curzon Gazetteer, a local newspaper lauded Khan as “best kotwal Delhi had ever had,” highlighting his achievements in breaking up up gangs of “budmashes” (rogues) and making the city safer.

 

However, it seems that Khan’s aggressive methods ultimately led to his downfall. He was suspended as soon after as he had ‘extorted by torture’ a confession from an individual under investigation. This generated some controversy, with the Curzon Gazetteer suggesting that the ‘public’ was excluded from Khan’s hearing and the case was still pending before the local magistrate, Mr Kirk. 

 

Despite this, we learn that Sandhe Khan’s story didn’t end badly. It seems that a few years later, Khan was exonerated and reinstated. By 1907 he was even given the honorific title of ‘Khan Sahib’ (loosely translated as ‘master’) for his services to law enforcement.

And that is the brief tale of ‘Khan Sahib’ Munshi Sandhe Khan. See you next Friday for more on Delhi’s history.