Article#8: 1857 Revolt – The first war of Independence
Every year we celebrate our country’s independence on 15th August. We remember our great leaders like Gandhi ji, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose, Chandrasekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Lala Lajpat Rai and all. But more often, most of us ignore the earlier leaders who even fought with British for our freedom like Jhansi Laxmi Bhai, Nanasaheb, Tatya Tope, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Kunwar Singh, Maulvi Ahmadullah and so on. This article provides an insight on how the British colonized India, who were these leaders, what they did and how they were the major driving force for the historical event, “1857 Revolt” which is also known as the first war of Independence.
The British entered India in 1600s when India was under the rule of Jehangir. They were contended to be traders as India was a stronger nation back then. Their principal was very simple, “Divide and rule”. They always used to involve two people into a combat and take advantage of that. If such things doesn’t happen, then they used to bribe one Indian to go against the other. It’s not only between two common people, even between two large kingdoms, they were successful in getting a battle started. For instance, Tipu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore resisted the East India Company’s conquest of southern India. Then as per the British plot, the Nizam of Hyderabad and Marathas surrounded the Mysore kingdom when British attacked him. Later, even the Anglo-Maratha war took place in which the Marathas were defeated. Apart from this, they also developed religion differences among Indians. Slowly, steadily they established political control over India.
To brief about the leaders in 19th century, let me start with Jhansi Laxmi Bhai. In her childhood itself, she was intelligent enough to understand the actions of British. She never had great thoughts about building up her life and family, but all she thought was what she can do for the country. The time when she noticed that her direct actions against British resulted in unexpected consequences, she started doing everything in disguise. She gave herself another name called ‘Kranthi Guru’. She burned the British flag in response to their action when they insulted and tortured the Indians. Then she burned all their documents when they started collecting tax from Indian farmers unnecessarily. She even released all the Indian prisoners who got arrested by British without any proper reasons. All this happened when she was in Bithoor staying with her father, Moropant Tambe who was a pandit in the Bithoor court of Peshwa Baji Rao and Nana Saheb. Even Nana Saheb supported Laxmi Bhai in going against British. Both of them had a common teacher, Tatya tope who was an expert in the sword fights. In fact, he played a major role in inspiring Laxmi Bhai whenever she felt helpless. Then Begum Hazrat Mahal, who was the first wife of Nawab wajid Ali Shah (the nawab of Awadh) was also a strong fighter to go against British during their demolition of temples and mosques to make way for roads. We even have a park named after her as “Begum Hazrat Mahal Park” in Hazratganj, Lucknow. And Kunwar Singh, who was from Jagdispur, Bihar was an expert in the art of guerilla warfare. His tactics left British puzzled.
If we look at the reasons for the 1857 revolt, there were many. The annexationist policies of the British especially, ‘Doctrine of Lapse’ proposed by Lord Dalhousie,(which states that any particular state or kingdom would be annexed by the British if there is no male heir or successor) made all Indian rulers develop hatred towards British. The British even exported the Indian resources to London to promote British Industries. Consequently, the country had to face poverty as traditional handicrafts and industries were ruined. Even a way to impose their religion on Indians was unacceptable to a major extent. Apart from all this, the Indian soldiers who worked for British were ill-treated in several ways and were even sent to other countries like China, Iran to fight wars of the English. Also, a rumour that the cartridges supplied by the East India Company to the soldiers in its army contained pork or beef fat was objectionable to Muslims and Hindus which was also said to be an immediate cause of the revolt.
The revolt was started by a sepoy, Mangal Pandey who killed senior British officers on parade in Bengal. Slowly, the revolt spread to other places like Meerut, Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Jhansi and Bareily.
Laxmi Bhai led the revolt in Jhansi when the British refused to accept the claim of her adopted son to the throne of Jhansi. However she was defeated and later had to join Tatya tope through which she was able to capture Gwalior. She fought with the British like a Tigress and died fighting till her end after which Gwalior was recaptured by British.
Nana Saheb led the revolt in Kanpur as the British stopped giving pension to him after his father’s death claiming that he was not a natural born heir to Baji Rao Peshwa. Although he tried sending his representative, Azimullah Khan to England to plead his case, things didn’t work out. He captured Kanpur and claimed himself the Peshwa. However in a very short span, the British recaptured Kanpur and the rebels were either hanged or imprisoned. Nana Saheb escaped. But Tatya Tope continued the struggle after which even he was defeated, arrested and hanged.
Begum Hazrat Mahal was the leader of the revolt in Lucknow which she seized with the help of soldiers from the old Awadh army and declared her son, Birjis Qadra as the ruler. But the British captured Lucknow and she escaped to Nepal.
Kunwar Singh was the leader of the revolt in Bihar. Even at the time of eighty years, he was powerful enough to fight with the British. He occupied Arrah and during the recapture from British, he had to cut off one of his hands due to a risk of infection through a bullet-shot. Then he occupied Azamgarh and later died. His brother Amar Singh continued the revolt.
However the revolt failed due to lack of enough participation from people all over the country, thereby lack of resources like men, money and weapons. This was because the people of India were still not inspired by the spirit of independence by that time. Also, the revolt was not a planned one, it was spontaneous. Even the arms used were inferior to the arms of the English. Whatever the reasons it can be, the revolt was not ignorable and marked its own place in the history of India.
To include my personal experience, I used to watch the show “1857 Kranthi”. Although it’s been 15 years, I am able to remember few of the acts like the Sword fight between Laxmi Bhai and Nana Saheb under the guidance of Tatya Tope, Begum Hazrat Mahal’s association with Nana Saheb on Rakshabandhan, the way Nana Saheb brutally killed the English soldiers on his return from Jhansi, the way Laxmi Bhai turns against the British when they oppose her son to the throne of Jhansi. All this just inspired me and I used to wait for a week to watch the show again in those days.
The final note here is we all are one people in spite of our diversity. And we must remember that we should maintain our unity, no matter, what our region and religion be. The leaders and soldiers of 1857 revolt came together to fight for the nation keeping aside all the other aspects. Even it’s time for us to think what we can do for our country. A penny for your thoughts
:-)
Here I would like to conclude my eighth Article, “1857 Revolt”. The next article is going to be on an important aspect to create awareness. So, for today, khuda hafiz:-) :-)
The British entered India in 1600s when India was under the rule of Jehangir. They were contended to be traders as India was a stronger nation back then. Their principal was very simple, “Divide and rule”. They always used to involve two people into a combat and take advantage of that. If such things doesn’t happen, then they used to bribe one Indian to go against the other. It’s not only between two common people, even between two large kingdoms, they were successful in getting a battle started. For instance, Tipu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore resisted the East India Company’s conquest of southern India. Then as per the British plot, the Nizam of Hyderabad and Marathas surrounded the Mysore kingdom when British attacked him. Later, even the Anglo-Maratha war took place in which the Marathas were defeated. Apart from this, they also developed religion differences among Indians. Slowly, steadily they established political control over India.
To brief about the leaders in 19th century, let me start with Jhansi Laxmi Bhai. In her childhood itself, she was intelligent enough to understand the actions of British. She never had great thoughts about building up her life and family, but all she thought was what she can do for the country. The time when she noticed that her direct actions against British resulted in unexpected consequences, she started doing everything in disguise. She gave herself another name called ‘Kranthi Guru’. She burned the British flag in response to their action when they insulted and tortured the Indians. Then she burned all their documents when they started collecting tax from Indian farmers unnecessarily. She even released all the Indian prisoners who got arrested by British without any proper reasons. All this happened when she was in Bithoor staying with her father, Moropant Tambe who was a pandit in the Bithoor court of Peshwa Baji Rao and Nana Saheb. Even Nana Saheb supported Laxmi Bhai in going against British. Both of them had a common teacher, Tatya tope who was an expert in the sword fights. In fact, he played a major role in inspiring Laxmi Bhai whenever she felt helpless. Then Begum Hazrat Mahal, who was the first wife of Nawab wajid Ali Shah (the nawab of Awadh) was also a strong fighter to go against British during their demolition of temples and mosques to make way for roads. We even have a park named after her as “Begum Hazrat Mahal Park” in Hazratganj, Lucknow. And Kunwar Singh, who was from Jagdispur, Bihar was an expert in the art of guerilla warfare. His tactics left British puzzled.
If we look at the reasons for the 1857 revolt, there were many. The annexationist policies of the British especially, ‘Doctrine of Lapse’ proposed by Lord Dalhousie,(which states that any particular state or kingdom would be annexed by the British if there is no male heir or successor) made all Indian rulers develop hatred towards British. The British even exported the Indian resources to London to promote British Industries. Consequently, the country had to face poverty as traditional handicrafts and industries were ruined. Even a way to impose their religion on Indians was unacceptable to a major extent. Apart from all this, the Indian soldiers who worked for British were ill-treated in several ways and were even sent to other countries like China, Iran to fight wars of the English. Also, a rumour that the cartridges supplied by the East India Company to the soldiers in its army contained pork or beef fat was objectionable to Muslims and Hindus which was also said to be an immediate cause of the revolt.
The revolt was started by a sepoy, Mangal Pandey who killed senior British officers on parade in Bengal. Slowly, the revolt spread to other places like Meerut, Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Jhansi and Bareily.
Laxmi Bhai led the revolt in Jhansi when the British refused to accept the claim of her adopted son to the throne of Jhansi. However she was defeated and later had to join Tatya tope through which she was able to capture Gwalior. She fought with the British like a Tigress and died fighting till her end after which Gwalior was recaptured by British.
Nana Saheb led the revolt in Kanpur as the British stopped giving pension to him after his father’s death claiming that he was not a natural born heir to Baji Rao Peshwa. Although he tried sending his representative, Azimullah Khan to England to plead his case, things didn’t work out. He captured Kanpur and claimed himself the Peshwa. However in a very short span, the British recaptured Kanpur and the rebels were either hanged or imprisoned. Nana Saheb escaped. But Tatya Tope continued the struggle after which even he was defeated, arrested and hanged.
Begum Hazrat Mahal was the leader of the revolt in Lucknow which she seized with the help of soldiers from the old Awadh army and declared her son, Birjis Qadra as the ruler. But the British captured Lucknow and she escaped to Nepal.
Kunwar Singh was the leader of the revolt in Bihar. Even at the time of eighty years, he was powerful enough to fight with the British. He occupied Arrah and during the recapture from British, he had to cut off one of his hands due to a risk of infection through a bullet-shot. Then he occupied Azamgarh and later died. His brother Amar Singh continued the revolt.
However the revolt failed due to lack of enough participation from people all over the country, thereby lack of resources like men, money and weapons. This was because the people of India were still not inspired by the spirit of independence by that time. Also, the revolt was not a planned one, it was spontaneous. Even the arms used were inferior to the arms of the English. Whatever the reasons it can be, the revolt was not ignorable and marked its own place in the history of India.
To include my personal experience, I used to watch the show “1857 Kranthi”. Although it’s been 15 years, I am able to remember few of the acts like the Sword fight between Laxmi Bhai and Nana Saheb under the guidance of Tatya Tope, Begum Hazrat Mahal’s association with Nana Saheb on Rakshabandhan, the way Nana Saheb brutally killed the English soldiers on his return from Jhansi, the way Laxmi Bhai turns against the British when they oppose her son to the throne of Jhansi. All this just inspired me and I used to wait for a week to watch the show again in those days.
The final note here is we all are one people in spite of our diversity. And we must remember that we should maintain our unity, no matter, what our region and religion be. The leaders and soldiers of 1857 revolt came together to fight for the nation keeping aside all the other aspects. Even it’s time for us to think what we can do for our country. A penny for your thoughts
:-)Here I would like to conclude my eighth Article, “1857 Revolt”. The next article is going to be on an important aspect to create awareness. So, for today, khuda hafiz
:-) :-)
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