The First War of Independence - 1857
The British radiculed it as a mere Sepoy mutiniy- Some of them even called it a war of fanatic religionists against Christians (L.E.R. Ress) and some even go the extresmes of calling it a conflict between civilizationa and barbarism. But what ever said is said. It is definetly the first great struggle of Indians to throw off the British rule. According to a popular estimate, of the total number of 1,50,000 men who died fighting the British in Awad , over 1,00,000 were civilians...
The above fact certifies the magnitude of discomfort among the general public and it is not just a war of sepoys against greased catridges.. it is a war against imperalism it is a war against plunder ....For one thing, the revolt was explicitly against alien authority, unprecedented in the subcontinental record.
In short the images that come to mind about the war of Independence . Mangal Pandey, whether inflamed or not by midday bhang, rushing out singly at his masters on an open parade ground, calling on his laggard comrades "Bhenchodes, come out and fight" and refusing to crib on them before being hanged; the men, and indeed women, who fought before the walls of Delhi, in the face of adversaries pouring in from the Punjab, with even `hillmen' from the Himalayan foothills between Shimla and Nainital, who made the blood-crazed British sackers fight house-to-house for a week to retake old Delhi; the almost 80-year-old Bihari Thakur of Jagdishpur, Kunwar Singh, and his brother Amar Singh's remarkable expedition along the south bank of the Ganga, crossing over to Lucknow and Ayodhya, fighting their way back to their home for Kunwar Singh to die of his wounds while several British columns scoured and burnt down the villages in the jungles all around in search of him; and the almost mythical Lakshmi Bai leaving her fort on horseback with her adopted son strapped to her back and fighting three battles before being shot down outside Gwalior. These are the stuff of our modern legends; they deserve to be recalled in these days of the global revival of Western-style neocolonialism.
The First War Of Independence
Late in the afternoon of 10 May 1857, the sepoys in the cantonment of Meerut broke out in mutiny. It began in the lines of the native infantry, spread very swiftly to the cavalry and then to the city. The ordinary people of the town and surrounding villages joined the sepoys. The sepoys captured the bell of arms where the arms and ammunition were kept and proceeded to attack white people, and to ransack and burn their bungalows and property. Government buildings – the record office, jail, court, post office, treasury, etc. – were destroyed and plundered. The telegraph line to Delhi was cut. As darkness descended, a group of sepoys rode off towards Delhi. The sepoys arrived at the gates of the Red Fort early in the morning on 11 May. It was the month of Ramzan, the Muslim holy month of prayer and fasting. The old Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah, had just finished his prayers and meal before the sun rose and the fast began. He heard the commotion at the gates. The sepoys who had gathered under his window told him: “We have come from Meerut after killing all the Englishmen there, because they asked us to bite bullets that were coated with the fat of cows and pigs with our teeth. This has corrupted the faith of Hindus and Muslims alike.’’ Another group of sepoys also entered Delhi, and the ordinary people of the city joined them. Europeans were killed in large numbers; the rich of Delhi were attacked and looted. It was clear that Delhi had gone out of British control. Some sepoys rode into the Red Fort, without observing the elaborate court etiquette expected of them. They demanded that the emperor give them his blessings. Surrounded by the sepoys, Bahadur Shah had no other option but to comply. The revolt thus acquired a kind of legitimacy because it could now be carried on in the name of the Mughal emperor. Through 12 and 13 May, North India remained quiet. Once word spread that Delhi had fallen to the rebels and Bahadur Shah had blessed the rebellion, events moved swiftly. Cantonment after cantonment in the Gangetic valley and some to the west of Delhi rose in mutiny. According to a popular estimate, of the total number of 1,50,000 ment who died fighting the British in Awad , over 1,00,000 were civilians... |
The above image is of Bahadur Shah, the last Mughal Emperor. He was proclaimed as the leader of the 1857 revolt. This spontaneous rising of the last Mughal Emperor to the leadership of the country was a recognition of the fact that the long reign of the Mughal dynasty had become the symbol of India's political Unity.With this single act, the sepoys transformed the Mutiny into a revolutionary war, while all Indian chiefs who took part in the revolt hastened to proclaim their loyalty to the Mughal Emperor! Bahadur Shah after initial vacillation wrote letters to all the chiefs and rulers of India urging them to organize a confederacy of Indian states to fight and replace the British Regime.The entire Bengal Army soon rose in revolt. This spread quickly like a wild fire. Awad, Rohilkhand, the Doab, the Bhundelkhand , Central India, large parts of Bihar and East Punjab Shook off British Authority. THe revolt of the sepoys was accompanied by a rebillion of the civil population in the north-western provinces and Awadh. Their accumulated grievances found immediate expression and they rose en masse to vent out their anguish and opposition to British Rule. It is the wide spread partcipation in the revolt by the peasentry , the artisans , shop keepers, day labourers, zamindars , religious mendicants, priess and civil servants which gave it real strength as well as the character of a popular revolt.
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The Time Line of the Revolt
Presented below is the brief timeline of 1857 revolt. (Source : NCERT)