📁Learning Objective
- Pattern of the Rebellion
- Awadh in Revolt
- What the Rebels Wanted
- Repression
- Images of the Revolt
Pattern of the Rebellion
How the mutinies began
- The sepoys began their action with a signal, firing of the evening gun or the sounding of the bugle. They seized the bell of the arms and plundered the treasury.
- They attacked the government buildings – the jail, treasury, telephone office, record room, bungalows –burning all records.
- Everything and everybody connected with the white man became a target. In major towns like Kanpur, Lucknow, and Bareilly, moneylenders and rich became the objects of the rebels.
Lines of communication
- Similar revolt pattern in different places due to planning and coordination. Communication existed between Sepoy lines in various cantonments.
- 7th Awadh Irregular Cavalry’s refusal of new cartridges led to communication with the 48th Native Infantry. Sepoys or emissaries moved between stations, facilitating planning.
- Panchayats among native officers suggest collective decision-making. Seapoys’ shared lifestyle and caste connections contributed to their organized rebellion.
Leaders and followers
- To fight the British, leadership and organization were required, and for this, they turned towards the Mughal ruler Bahadur Shah who agreed to be the nominal leader of the rebellion.
- In Kanpur, the sepoys and the people of the town agreed to support Nana Sahib. In Jhansi, the Rani was forced to assume the leadership of the uprising. Kunwar Singh, a local Zamindars in Arrah in Bihar, too took the leadership.
- The local leaders emerged, urging peasants, Zamindars, and tribal to revolt eg – Shah Mal mobilized the villagers of pargana Barout in Uttar Pradesh etc.
Rumours and prophecies
- There was the rumor that the British government had hatched a gigantic conspiracy to destroy the caste and religion of the Hindus and Muslim.
- The rumour said that the British had mixed the bone dust of cows and pigs into the flour that was sold in the market. The sepoys and the common people refused to touch the atta.
- The sepoy had the fear about bullets coated with the fats of cows and pigs, and biting those bullets would corrupt their caste and religion.
Why did people believe in the rumours?
- The British adopted policies aimed at reforming Indian society by introducing Western education, Western ideas, and Western institutions.
- With the cooperation of sections of Indian society, they set up English medium schools, colleges, and universities which taught Western sciences and the liberal arts.
- The British established laws to abolished customs like Sati (1629) and to permit the remarriage of Hindu widows. The British introduced their own system of administration, their own laws and their own methods of land settlements and land revenue collection.
Awadh in Revolt
“A cherry that will drop into our mouth one day”
- In 1851, Governor General Lord Dalhousie described the kingdom of Awadh as “a cherry that will drop into our mouth one day” and five years later it was annexed to the British Empire. The Subsidiary Alliance had been imposed on Awadh.
- The terms of this alliance the nawab had to disband his military force of the British to position their troops within the kingdom and act in accordance with the advice of the British.
- Deprived of his armed forces the nawab became increasingly dependent on the British to maintain law and order within the kingdom. He could no longer assert control over the rebellious chief and taluqdars.
“The life was gone out of the body”
- Created discontent in annexed areas and principalities Particularly impactful in Awadh, leading to the dethronement of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah.
- Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was widely loved, and his exile caused widespread grief and lament.Observers recorded a sense of grief and loss at Nawab’s exile.
- Described as if “the life was gone out of the body” of Lucknow. Streets, markets, and houses expressed agony at the separation from Jan-i-Alam.
- Removal of the Nawab resulted in the dissolution of the court and its culture. The departure of Nawab led to the loss of livelihood for various individuals and groups.
Firangi raj and the end of a world
- Refers to British colonial dominance and governance in India during the 19th century.Colonial rule brought significant changes, impacting the existing social, political, and economic structures.
- British influence led to cultural transformations, affecting language, education, and societal norms.
- The decline and eventual end of the Mughal Empire symbolized the broader shift in political power. Widespread resistance to British rule, culminating in the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
- The period marked the beginning of modern India, with lasting consequences on its political, social, and economic structures.
What the Rebels Wanted
The vision of unity
- The rebellion was seen as a war in which both Hindus and Muslims had equally to lose or gain.
- The ishtahars (notifications) harked back to the pre-British Hindu-Muslim past and glorified the coexistence of different communities under Mughal Empire.
- In1857, the British spent Rs. 50,000 to incite the Hindu population against the Muslims but the attempt failed.
Against the symbols of oppression
- The land revenue settlements had dispossessed the landholders, both big and small and foreign commerce had driven artisans and weavers to ruin.
- Every aspect of the British rule was attacked and the firangi accused of destroying a way of life that was familiar and cherished.
- The proclamations expressed the widespread fear that the British were bent on destroying the caste and religions of Hindus and Muslims and converting them to Christianity.
The search for alternative power
- After the collapse of British rule, rebels in places like Delhi, Lucknow, and Kanpur attempted to establish new structures of authority and administration.
- Rebel leadership sought to restore the pre-British world of the eighteenth century, emphasizing a return to the cultural norms of the court.
- Orders were issued to curb looting and plundering.Plans were devised to fight battles against the British, and chains of command were established in the rebel army.
- In many cases, these structures could not withstand the British onslaught and were short-lived.In Awadh, where resistance lasted longest, plans for counter-attack were formulated by the Lucknow court.
Repression
- Repression involves the use of force, coercion, or authority to control or suppress individuals, groups, or movements. Governments may engage in political repression to quell dissent, control opposition, or maintain authority.
- Repression can extend to social and cultural aspects, suppressing expressions of identity, language, and cultural practices.
- Authoritarian regimes often use repression to stifle dissent, control the media, and limit political freedoms. Repression can have profound effects on society, leading to fear, self-censorship, and the suppression of free expression.
- Throughout history, individuals and groups have resisted repression through various means, including protests, activism, and civil disobedience.
Images of the Revolt
- Official accounts of colonial administration and military men left their versions in letters and diaries, autobiography and official histories.
- The stories of the revolt that were published in British newspapers and magazines narrated the in gory detail the violence of the mutineers.
- The pictorial images were produced by the British and Indians – paintings, pencil drawings, cartoons, bazaar prints.
Celebrating the saviours
- British pictures offer a variety of images that were meant to provoke a range of different emotions and reactions.
- Some of them commemorate the British heroes who saved the English and repressed the rebels. “Relief of Lucknow “, was painted by Thomas Jones Barker In 1859.
English women and the honour of Britain
- The British government was asked to protect the honor of innocent women and ensure the safety of helpless children.
- Artists expressed as well as shaped these sentiments through their visual representations of trauma and suffering.
Vengeance and retribution
- After news of the revolt in India reached Britain, there was widespread anger and shock.The public in Britain increasingly demanded retribution in response to the perceived challenge to British honor and power.
- Visual depictions and news about the revolt played a crucial role in shaping public opinion.The prevailing atmosphere portrayed violent repression and vengeance as necessary and just responses to the rebellion.
- Threatened by the rebellion, the British felt compelled to demonstrate their invincibility to maintain control.The image depicted the allegorical figure trampling sepoys underfoot while Indian women with children cowered in fear.
The performances of terror
- The urge for vengeance and retribution was expressed in the brutal way in which the rebels were executed.They were blown from guns or hung from the gallows.
- Images of these executions were widely circulated through popular journals.When Governor General Canning declared that a gesture of leniency and a show of mercy would help in winning back the loyalty of the sepoys, he was mocked in the British press.
No time for clemency
- During the period, the prevailing sentiment favored vengeance rather than clemency.Calls for moderation and leniency were met with ridicule, indicating a strong desire for harsh retribution.
- Governor General Canning’s suggestion that leniency and mercy could win back sepoy loyalty was mocked in the British press.The British press, including the comic satire journal Punch, ridiculed Canning’s proposal for leniency.
- A Punch cartoon portrayed Canning as a protective father figure with his hand over the head of a sepoy.The imagery in the cartoon symbolized the perceived threat of continued violence, making leniency appear weak and ineffective.
Nationalist imageries
- The nationalist movement drew its inspiration from the events of 1857. A whole world of nationalist imagination was woven around the revolt.
- It was celebrated as the first war of independence in which all sections of the people of India came together to fight against imperial rule. Art and literature had helped in keeping alive the memories 1857.
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