1857: The Great Indian `Revolt`

Adaptation by- Priya Goswami

There has not been a single event like this in Indian History, which to this date remains hotly debatable and yet inspiring. Interrogating the idea of community feeling and fabricating what we today know as National Consciousness, the ‘Revolt’ of 1857 is the cornerstone of India’s struggle for freedom from the oppressive British rule. Today in the wake of the 150th year since the revolution, the need of the hour is that we turn the pages of history and demystify what has been almost a semi mythical reality to us Indians. Even though largely glorified in the pages of history rewritten from postcolonial sensibility, the uprising has always felt the threat of being a contested narrative. It is as though that there is an irresolvable tangle of whether it could be construed as the ‘First war of India’s struggle for freedom’ or a ‘Sepoy Mutiny’ as the British understood it. Another issue of debate is whether it was merely a sporadic and localized movement or did it assume a truly national character as it spread onto the various parts of the country. Amidst the diverse standpoints on the same, there are a few facts that cannot be denied, which may help us clear the dead leaves around the saga of this time bound narrative. It was in the summer of 1857 that the brewing resentment over British rule was first felt at its severest form. The problem was not on their being British, but the real problem lied in British insensitivity towards Hindu and Muslim religious sentiments as they issued cow and pig fat greased cartridges for their Enfield rifles. The cartridge was to be bitten in order to fill the gunpowder in the muzzle. This was obviously unforgivable for the vigorously religious Indian population of the times. So, on the fateful day of 24th April they refused to use the cartridges for it was an attack on their religious sentiments. It was not the case however, that the greased cartridge was the only emblem of British insensitivity. Nor was it the only reason of mushrooming discontent among Indian soldiers, but this act of non-cooperation of the soldiers was construed as a mighty act of sedition. With that came the tide of revolt engulfing the soldiers first, before it spread out to the common people and Britishers on their front were quick to turn to brutality. On 9th May in Meerut; eighty-five soldiers from the 3rd Bengal light cavalry were court marshalled on the charges of sedition against the British orders. Notably, the first to suffer were the most affected by the cartridge incident because the Bengal Army recruited its regular soldiers from amongst the landowning Bhumihar Brahmins and Rajputs of the Ganga Valley. For them an act of mouthing the greased cartridge would not have just meant tresspass but also a far deal greater as it would have been like losing one’s caste. The10th of May in Meerut marks a defining moment as the 11th and 20th ‘native’ cavalry of Bengal revolted against their commanding officer laying the foundation of the first quest for freedom. With this the stage was set. Now was the time when one of the greatest and most dramatic incident in Indian Hisotoriography would be staged which would finally culminate in India’s Independence 90 years since the incident. This is a story about unsung heroes who were doomed to fade away into the morass of oblivion carrying their heroic dignity to their graves. One such name among many others is that of Mangal Pandey, a solider from the 34th native Bengal Infantry that time. So goes his story alongwith stories of many voiceless and nameless others, who are now the first martyrs of the ‘Nation’. Carrying forth the same indignation on greased cartridges, on the 29th of March 1857, Mangal Pandey, only twenty- six years old then, came forth in the ground prepared to face the British. Armed with the gun, his gunshot hit the horse of a British officer. Following this Pandey was arrested and he was given death sentence. On 8th April 1857, Mangal Pandey resigned from this world to be transported into martyrdom forever. Before the British could understand the much criticized, so-called local ‘ insurgency’, had already transformed into a full-fledged umbrage against the British policies. It was now manifested through the metaphoric act of the passing of Lotus and ‘Rotis’ as a symbol of togetherness against the cause. It is believed that ‘Rotis’ and Lotus are tropes of ‘Indianess’ and hence pointing out to the extensively growing awareness of the people of being countrymen fighting against a common oppressor. In fact it was quite unnerving for the British for not being able to understand the cryptic symbolism behind the act but for the Indians now there was no looking back. Initiating sparks from the focal point of Meerut, it wasn’t for long that the revolutionaries with their burning flame knocked the doors of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor, posted at Delhi. On the 11th of May they reached the palace doors and were confronted by Connell Ripley. Victory went in the Indian league and with the consent of the already time ruined, looted emperor, slogans of Revolution were hollered. It was perhaps the death of Mangal Pandey or perhaps just the revolutionary mood aroused due to numerous reasons like increasing taxes, posting of soldiers to Burma or the infamous ruling of the Doctrine of Lapse, now the clarion call was clearly heard from all the directions. The already ripe revolution got its added dimension as the legendary Rani Laxmi Bai of Jhansi, widow of Gandhar Rao, got involved in the power struggle for the empire as a consequence of the conspiracy of the British to oust her from the rule. March 20th of 1958 marked the opening of the war of Jhansi. Although Jhansi was soon captured, Rani Laxmi Bai did not give up her struggle. Turning towards Tantya Tope, the Maratha ruler, on the 31st of March 1858 she herself assumed the role of a combatant fighting for her cause at the battlefield. Failing support from Tope too couldn’t demoralize her and now she headed towards Kalpi for support from various other rulers. In 1858 Sir Hugh Rose (Lord Strathnairn) defeated a force of about 10,000 freedom fighters under Rani of Jhansi. Everything being lost she lived her life to the last breath as that of a fighter and closed her eyes without seeing the rising sun of victory. Now was the time for the strongest link of the revolution to take control of the losing battle. This saving grace came in the form of Nana Sahib, the ruler of the Peshwars of Marathas. This also serves as an example for the skeptics who may feel the revolution was not unified. Contrary to that, the Rebellion, or the First War of Indian Independence, was fought by a joint army of the Marathas and the Mughals alongside the sepoys from the Bengal Army of the East India Company. This happned as the the 53rd and 56th Infantry soldiers accpeted Nana Sahib to be their ruler and with that hitherto a British loyal, Nana shifted his allegiance towards the revolutionaries. Now on the one hand were the league formed with Bahadur Shah Zafar and on the other was Nana Sahib at Kanpur. This was followed by what is called as the seige of Kanpore wherein hapless non combatants including women and children got massacred. Finally under the leadership of General Havelock the British were able to overthrow the rebels and recapture Kanpore. After the defeat no one knows what happened to Nana Sahib and this remains a mystery till date. The next prominent destination for the rebels who belonged to the Awadh region was the Residency of Lucknow, the place being the seat of most of the expelled soldiers from Bengal and Meerut. Here too after a violent carnage, and a series of killing of the innocents, on 18th November 1858 the British captured Residency. Even the faint flicker of hope for independence was put off as under Lord Hudson the three sons of Bahadur Shah Zafar were executed and he himself exiled in Rangoon in Burma. With that ended the Mughal legacy and the hope of a successful revolution. It also served as a painful reminder that that dream of independence was still a far-fetched one. In 1877 Queen Victoria took the title of the Empress of India on the advice of her Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli and with that the rule of the East India Company ended and the British assumed absolute control over India. But as the saying goes, after every prolonged night there always comes a bright day. The revolt that was sparked off in 1857 might have been formally called off after spanning for over more than a year, but this was certainly not the end. To think of it in a positive light, it would not be wrong to say that this heralded what was about to come in a big way – The revolution for freedom from oppression. Today as India commemorates the 150th year of the revolution, it should not be forgotten that it was due to the numerous sacrifice of ordinary people who gave up their lives for the sake of this dream that India gained independence. So let us not remember this mega event in the Indian History as a failed revolution but as a clarion call to inspire and usher the new vision of a unified nation –Hindustan.