The Revolt of 1857

REF:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Rebellion_of_1857

On 10th May 1857 numerous Indian sepoys from Meerut were imprisoned because they refused to use the new cartridges. Sir John Malcolm, witness to the Sepoy Mutiny, noted that the Indian sepoys were loyal to the EIC until 1796CE. What happened after 1796CE?

The structure of the regiments changed as more European officers joined the army and Indian sepoys got stuck in the lower ranks. They were also forced to travel overseas, something their religion prohibited. The already discontented sepoys, treated as second-class citizens in their own land, revolted. They killed few European officers in Meerut, crossed the Yamuna River, burnt down the tollhouse, and marched towards Delhi. The revolutionaries were in search of a leader, and who better than the king of Delhi to lead them. They were heading for disappointment. The poet king was in no mood for action in this old age, and he stayed silent. The gates of Delhi were closed. 

It did not remain close for long, however. The gates of Rajghat had to be opened after protests from locals who wanted to take their morning dip into the Yamuna River. There might have been more to the demand then just their morning dip. The locals probably helped the soldiers of Meerut sneak into Delhi when the gates were opened. Once the soldiers managed to get inside the city violence spread rapidly. More British officers were killed, and the unruly rebels did not spare even their families. All local Christians the mob could lay their hands on were murdered. British officers panicked and open fired at the sepoys, including those who were fighting for the EIC.

Things went out of control, and the next day, Zafar reluctantly accepted alliance of the sepoys. The support of a Mughal king gave the movement a much-needed momentum, and it spread rapidly across northern India. Nana Saheb and Tantia Tope led the fight in Kanpur; it was Begam Hazrat Mahal in Lucknow; in Bareilly by Khan Bahadur; in Jagdishpur by Kunwar Singh; and in Jhansi by Rani Lakshmibai. Occasional rebellions also took place in Bengal and Bombay Presidency while Chennai remained largely silent. The Sikhs allied with the EIC as their hatred for the Mughals was much more than that towards the British. The deaths of their gurus in the hand of Mughal kings were not forgotten easily. The British Army brought in all support that they could get from Britain, Persia, and those on their way to China to fight the Opium War. India was the crown of British Empire. They could ill afford to lose it. What followed was a ruthless battle.

 

The British officers burnt down villages after villages, killing rebels and civilians alike. As per the records, 100,000 Indian sepoys were killed. That statistics does not take into account the dead civilians, and the rebels who did not belong to the British Army. Amaresh Misra, in his controversial book, termed it as an ‘untold holocaust’ where the Britishers killed 10 million Indians in over ten years since 1857CE. Even though the British were slow to retaliate, Indians could not grab that opportunity. Lack of faith in one another, the resulting lack of coordination, and betrayals by own men led to the defeat of the Indians. The supply of artillery belonging to the rebels also exhausted. The British forces slowly regained all their lost territories. Delhi fell on September 1857 when Jafar was captured from Humayun’s tomb. Rani of Jhansi, called by a British officer as the only man among the men, died fighting on 17 June 1857. The old Kunwar Singh managed to escape the British troops till his death on 9 May 1858. Tantia Tope was betrayed by Man Singh and was captured and executed on April 1859. Galib managed to escape and survive. He would later mourn and write, 

"So many of my friends and relatives have died that if now I were to die, not a single soul would be left to mourn for me."

 

Though the revolt failed, it managed to achieve an impossible task of uniting the Indians, to some extent at least. Years later, it would inspire Indians in their fight for independence from the British rule. The war also marked the end of two great powers of India: the Mughals and the EIC. The Queen of England took over from the EIC and established the British Raj. As for the Mughals, the dynasty ended with the death of Bahadur Shah Jafar. He once wrote a prophetic poem as if he knew his end was near:

"Bar rahi hai hameshaa zakhm pe zakhm, dil kaa chaaraagaron khudaa haafiz

Aaj hai kuchh ziyaadaa betaabii, dil-e-betaab ko khudaa haafiz

Kyon hifaazat ham aur ki dhundhen, har nafas jab ki hai khudaa haafiz

Chaahe rukhsat ho raah-e-ishq mein, ai ‘Zafar’ jaane do khudaa haafiz"

(Increasing forever pain on pain, Oh healers of heart . . . Goodbye!

Today I am unusually impatient, Oh restlessness . . . Goodbye!

Why search for protection from others, When every part of me said . . . Goodbye!

Even if ceases the road to love, Oh ‘Zafar’ let go . . . Goodbye!)

Subhrashis Adhikari

Author: 5 Questions of the Inquisitive Apes

www.subhrashis.com

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