Bloodlust found free play in recaptured Delhi. Wilson ordered that anyone found with a weapon should be killed, not taken prisoner. In the event, the empty-handed too were slain. Sikh and Muslim Punjabis, Pashtuns and Gurkhas joined the British in the slaughter. The Punjabi/Hindustani ‘divide’ was shrieked up. ‘Poorbeah dogs’ and ‘quaking’ Hindustanis, as they were dubbed, received no mercy.148 Delhi’s residents were not spared. Without remorse, a British official wrote at the time:
