“We have maintained our power in India by playing off one part against the other and we must continue to do so. Do all we can, therefore, to prevent all having a common feeling.”

In order to put this strategy in operation, White rulers in league with their Indian stooges floated the two-nation theory implying that Hindus and Muslims belonged to ‘two separate nations’. The birth of the two-nation theory was no accident, in fact, it was specifically created to help the British in creating a communal divide and fragmentize the Indian society on the basis of religions. This was because any lasting unity of Hindus and Muslims could prove to be the death knell of their rule.

One truth, never to be missed, about this Struggle is that it was jointly led by leaders like Nana Sahib, Bahadur Shah Zafar, Maulvi Ahmed Shah, Tantya Tope, Khan Bahadur Khan, Rani Laxmibai, Hazrat Mahal, Azimullah Khan and Ferozshah, a galaxy of revolutionaries who belonged to different faiths. It was a liberation struggle in which Maulvis, Pandits, granthis, zamindars, peasants, traders, lawyers, servants, women, students and people from different castes, creeds and regions rose in revolt against the dehumanised rule of the East India Company and even laid down their lives.

On the eve of 163rd anniversary of War of Independence we need to tell the present flag bearers of both Hindu-Muslim brand of communal politics that the revolutionary army which declared the Mughal King Bahadur Shah Zafar, a Muslim, India’s Independent ruler on May 11, 1857 comprised of more than seventy percent Hindu soldiers, all armed. These were Nana Sahib, Tantya Tope and Laxmibai, all Hindus, played vital role in making Zafar, Badshah; the King once again.

The contemporary documents of the period which are available even today are replete with instances, not confined to one particular area, in which Hindus and Muslims could be seen making supreme sacrifices unitedly. The War of Independence categorically presented one fundamental truth that Hindu-Muslim separatism or hatred between these two communities was not at all an issue.

Ayodhya

After independence Ayodhya emerged as a place which has caused deep schisms between sections of Hindus and Muslims. The Babri Masjid-Ram Janmbhoomi dispute has played significant role in creating an environment of violence and mistrust between the two largest religious communities of India. But in 1857, it was the same Ayodhya where Maulvis and Mahants and common Hindu-Muslims stood united against the British rule and kissed the hangman’s noose together. Maulana Ameer Ali was a famous Maulvi of Ayodhya and when Ayodhya’s well-known Hanuman Garhi’s (Hanuman Temple) priest Baba Ramcharan Das took the lead in organising the armed resistance to the British rule, Maulana also joined the revolutionary army. In one battle with the British and their stooges, both of them were captured and hanged together on a tamarind tree at the Kuber Teela (now in Faizabad Jail) in Ayodhya.

This region also produced two more great friends, belonging to different religions who made life hell for the British sponsored armies. Achchan Khan and Shambhu Prasad Shukla, who jointly led the army of Raja Devibaksh Singh in the district of Faizabad. Both of them were able to defeat the Firangee army in many battles. It was due to the treachery again that they were captured. In order to desist anyone from such companionships between Hindus and Muslims both these friends were publicly inflicted prolonged torture and their heads were cruelly filed off.

It is not difficult to understand that why the same Ayodhya where blood of both Hindus and Muslims flowed for liberating the motherland in 1857 later became a permanent source of friction between the two communities. The joint heritage of Ayodhya needed to be erased if British rule was to survive. This was meticulously contrived by the British rulers and their henchmen turning the heritage of communal unity at Ayodhya upside down. Not surprisingly, the RSS-BJP rulers are replicating the same now.

Rajasthan

Kota state (now in Rajasthan) was ruled by a Maharao subservient to the British. The leading courtier, Lala Jaidayal Bhatnagar, a great literary figure, when he found that Maharao was collaborating with the British, he joined hands with the army chief, Mehrab Khan and established a rebel government in the state. When Kota was captured by the British forces with the help of stooge neighbouring princes, they together continued fighting in the region till 1859. Betrayed by an informer both were hanged at Kota on September 17, 1860.

Haryana

Hansi town (now in Haryana) presents another heart-warming example of how Muslims and Jains fearlessly challenged the foreign rule and did not hesitate in sacrificing their lives together. In this town lived two close friends, Hukumchand Jain and Muneer Beg. They were known as literary giants with a love for mathematics. The revolutionary government of Bahadurshah Zafar chose them as advisors and appointed them as commanders in the region of west of Delhi. They led many successful military campaigns in the area but due to the treachery of the native rulers of Patiala, Nabha, Kapurthala, Kashmir and Pataudi were defeated in a crucial battle and captured. The British highly perturbed by this kind of unity decided to kill them in a most brutal manner. After hanging them on the same tree in Hansi on January 19, 1858, Hukumchand Jain was buried and Muneer Beg was cremated against the custom of their respective religions. The obvious purpose was to make fun of the unity of these two revolutionaries belonging to two different religions and display a hatred towards their comradeship. Another unspeakable crime committed by the British was that when Faqir Chand, 13 year old nephew of Hukamchand Jain protested to this treatment he too was hanged, although there was no sentence passed against him.

Central India

Jhansi: We all are familiar with Rani Laxmi Bai’s heroic resistance to the British rule and her death fighting the British forces at Gwalior. She was able to put up such a great resistance with the able aid of her Muslim commanders; Ghulam Ghouse Khan (chief of artillery), Khuda Bakhsh (chief of infantry) both of whom were martyred defending Jhansi fort on June 4, 1858. Even her personal bodyguard was a young Muslim lady, Munzar who laid down her life with Rani on June 18, 1858 at Kotah-ki-Sarai battle in Gwalior.

Malwa: Malwa region in the then Central Province (now Madhya Pradesh) was another war theatre where big and crucial battles were fought against the British. The joint command of Tatia Tope, Rao Saheb (Pandurang Sadashiv), Laxmi Bai, Ferozshah and Moulvi Fazal-ul- Haq, was able to mobilise a huge rebel army of 70-80 thousand fighters. This army won innumerable battles against the British. However, in the crucial battle at Ranod –when due to the treachery of stooge princes the revolutionary army led by Tatia Tope, Ferozeshah and Moulvi were encircled– Moulvi Fazal-ul- Haq stood as a rock in the way of advancing British troops. He with his 480 brave companions laid down their lives on December 17, 1858, but were able to save the main force which included Tatia Tope, Rao Saheb and Ferozshah. Saved thus by the supreme sacrifice by Moulvi Fazl Haq and his comrades, Tatia Tope continued to wage war against the British until the beginning of 1859.

Rohilkhand

Present day Bareilly, Shahjahanpur, Badaun and Bijnor was the area which was a strong hold of revolutionaries from the start. Immediately after the announcement of an independent Indian government at Delhi on May 11, 1857, Khan Bahadur Khanwas appointed as the viceroy of Mughal emperor there. Khan soon after assuming charge appointed a committee of eight members consisting both Hindus and Muslims to conduct the affairs of the state, his deputy being Khushi Ram. This government forbade cow-slaughter in deference to the sentiments of local Hindus. Khan and Khushi Ram led troops defeated the British and their stooges in many battles but were defeated in a crucial battle at Bareilly. Both of them were hanged with hundreds of their followers outside old Kotwali on March 20, 1860.

Delhi

The revolutionary army was led by a joint command consisting of Mohammed Bakht Khan, Azimullah Khan, Sham Singh Dooga, Sirdhara Singh, Ghouse Mohammad, Hira Singh and a ‘Doabi Brahmin’. Contemporary British documents show that despite all their attempts to create communal divide in the ranks of revolutionary army and residents of Delhi, Indians stood as one. In order not to let the British spies succeed in creating communal conflict amongst Delhites, General Bakht Khan, C-in-C of the revolutionary army prohibited cow slaughter. What kind of communal amity existed in Delhi under siege can be further known by the fact that when a huge canon of Shahjahan’s times which was lying unused was taken out, repaired and made useable, before firing the first canon, in the presence of Bahadur Shah Zafar and other army officials, Hindu priests performed the Aarti, garlanded it and blessed it with Vedic hymns.

Hindu-Muslim unity during the First Indian War of Independence was not confined to one area or one section of the population. This unity pervaded the whole country at all stratum. It was a ground reality and a fact of life with which, but naturally, women too, did not remain untouched. In a small town, Thana Bhawan, situated in Muzaffarnagar district (now in western Uttar Pradesh) 11 brave women belonging to different religions and castes were hanged together or burnt alive for taking up arms against repressive British rule.

The names and heroic deeds of some of them are unrivalled. Asghari Begum, 45 years old, belonged to a well-to-do family and was burnt alive for organising rebellion in the area. Another revolutionary woman, 28-year old, Asha Devi, who belonged to a Hindu Gujar family was also hanged. Another martyred woman was young Bhagwati Devi, born into a Tyagi family of farmers who fought in many battles against Firangee rule. 24 year old, Habeeba, belonging to a Muslim Gujar family, fearlessly fought in many battles to liberate neighbouring areas from British tyranny. She was captured while resisting a British attack and was executed on the gallows in 1857. Another brave woman from this area was named Mam Kaur who belonged to a family of shepherdess and was hanged at the young age of 25 years. Bhaktawari another brave woman from the region too laid down her life fighting the British rulers.  Twenty-six year old, Umda was another gallant woman from this area, born into a Jat Muslim family who sacrificed her life resisting the British invasion. Raj Kaur born in 1833, hailed from a Sikh family and made the supreme sacrifice of fighting against the British in the Thana Bhawan area.

The degree of communal unity among the rebels can further be known by going through the Rebel Anthem of 1857, penned by Azimullah Khan. It was in Urdu and reads:

Hum haeniss ke malik, Hindoostan hamaaraa/Paak watan hae qaum kaa Jannat se bhee piyaaraa.

[We are its owners, it belongs to us. It is our holy land, lovelier than paradise.]

Yeh hamaari milkiat Hindoostan hamaaraa/iss kee roohaniyat se Roshan hae jug saaraa.

[It is our Hindustan, our owned. The whole world sparkles with its spiritualism.]

Kitnaa qadeem kitnaa naeem, sab duniyaa se niyaraa/kartee hae zarkhez jisse Gang-o-Juman kee dhaaraa.

[It is old as well as new, it is pleasant in the world. Ganga and Jamuna irrigates its lands.]

Oope rbarfeela parvat pehre-daar hamaaraa/Neeche sahil per bajta sagar kaa naqqaaraa.

[On top snow clad mountain guards us. On the lower end you can hear roaring of sea.]

Iss kee khanen ugal raheensona, heera, paaraa/iss kee shaan shaukat kaa duniyaa maen jaikaaraa.

[Its mines produce gold, diamond and lead. Its greatness is renowned throughout the world.]

Aayaa Firangee door se, essaa mantar maaraa/loota donon hathoon se piyaaraa watan hamaaraa.

[The British came from far away, played trick. Our dear land was looted with both hands.]

Aaj shahidon ne tumko, ahl-e-watan lal-kaaraa/Todo ghulamee kee zanjeeren barsao angaaraa.

[Martyrs are calling you, countrymen. Break shackles of slavery, spit fire.]

Hindoo-Mussalmaan-Sikh hamaaraa bhai piyaaraa-piyaaraa/yeh hae azaadi kaa jhanda isse salaam hamaaraa.

[Hindu-Muslim-Sikh are our dear brothers. This is the flag of independence, salute to it.]

Contemporary British narratives

William Russell, was sent by The Times, London as a war correspondent to cover the ‘Mutiny.’ In one of his reports dated, March 2, 1858, while underlining the unity among the ranks of rebel army he wrote:

“All the great chiefs of Oudh, Mussalman and Hindu, are there, and have sworn to fight for their young king, Birjeis Kuddr [sic], to the last. Their cavalry is numerous, the city is filled with people, the works are continually strengthened. All Oudh is in the hands of the enemy, and we only hold the ground we cover with our bayonets.”

Another senior British officer, Thomas Lowe who led British attacks on Jhansi, Kalpi and Kanpur admitted that,

“the infanticide Rajput, the bigoted Brahmin, the fanatic Mussalman, and the luxury loving, fat-paunched ambitious Maharattah [sic], they all joined together in the cause; the cow-killer and the cow-worshipper, the pig-hater and the pig-eater, the crier of Allah is God and Mohommed [sic] his prophet and the mumbler of the mysteries of Brahma.”

Fred Roberts (became the Commander- in-Chief of the British armed forces in India later) was one of the leading British military commanders who led the British army to recapture Lucknow. In one of his letters, from the Lucknow front dated Nov 25, 1857, while rejoicing victory on that day at Sikander Bagh, Lucknow could not miss out the fact that even in the face of death the rebel army consisting of both Hindus and Muslims did not lose heart and stayed glued to each other. When Fred entered the Sikander Bagh he found nearly 2000 rebels on the ground dead or dying.

“I never saw such a sight. They were literally in heaps, and when I went in were a heaving mass, some dead, but most wounded and unable to get up from the crush. How so many got crowded together I can’t understand. You had to walk over them to cross the court. They showed their hatred even while dying, cursed us and said: ‘if we could only stand, we would kill you.’”

Throughout the War of Independence every nook and corner of the country was replete with such instances of fearless fighters, supreme sacrifices and strong bond of unity amongst people belonging to different religions. Such glorious instances of unbreakable Hindu-Muslim unity did really happen 168 years back. This can be verified even today by a simple perusal of contemporary British archives, personal collections, diaries and narrations.

Given these realities of history, it is not difficult to understand why a divide between Hindus and Muslims was necessitated, who were instrumental in accomplishing it and who benefited out of this divide. The survival of the British Empire in India depended on the successful execution of this strategy of divide and rule.

The flag-bearers of the politics of two-nations in the past and communal politics today are the ones who helped the British to execute this evil design. We must not ignore the fact that communalism was a ploy of the British who feared the end of their Empire in India –if Hindus and Muslims continually stood united. On the eve of 168th anniversary of the great rebellion, we must rise to take pledge of never betraying the shared heritage and shared martyrdoms of the First Indian War of Independence and not let the RSS-BJP rulers of India undo it.

[All references and quotes presented in this article are based on contemporary documents.]

Link for some of S. Islam’s writings in English, Hindi, Urdu, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati and video interviews/debates:http://du-in.academia.edu/ShamsulIslam

Related:

1857 Martyr’s Families Die in Penury, British Stooges Comandeer Power

Mangal Pandey Martyrd Today, 159 Years Ago: 1857

The post Unity not Hate: Commemorating the 168th anniversary of 1857 War of Independence appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Delhi: There is a need today to popularise the sacrifice of Maulvi Mohammad Baqar, the first journalist to have been martyred by the then British government for his role in the 1857 rebellion through his newspaper Delhi Urdu Akhbar, said noted writer and academic Syed Asghar Wajahat on Friday.

Delivering the first Maulvi Mohammad Baqar Memorial Lecture, organised by the Press Club of India, Wajahat, former professor of Hindi, Jamia Millia University, said that Maulvi Baqar’s contributions in the field of journalism must be propagated through various languages to make the nation aware of his works.

September 16 was the 165th martyrdom day of Maulvi Baqar and he made Delhi Urdu Akhbar’s office in Delhi the nerve-centre of the 1857 struggle for Independence, said Shafi Kidwai a retired official from the Indian Council of Historical Research(ICHR).

According to a press release by the Press Club of India, Kidwai, speaking at the event, said that Maulvi Baqar had no modern technology like the internet and mobile phones, and even the telegraph, which was available to English media in those times. Nevertheless, he managed to publish news on anti-British activities that were taking place in Assam, Bihar, and Tamil Nadu.

The speakers pointed out the crucial role played by the Urdu press in India’s freedom struggle. The Delhi Urdu Akhbar was the leading among the few Urdu newspapers published back then; it published stories of revolt against the British from the field. Due to his journalistic activities, Maulvi Baqar was tied to the mouth of a large gun and blown to bits at Delhi Gate, said Senior Urdu journalist and writer Masoom Murabadi.

Press Club of India President Umakant Lakhera said that the way Maulvi Baqar was killed for using his pen for the country’s freedom, in the present day, Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan is suffering in prison. Lakhera said Kappan was on his way to Hathras in Uttar Pradesh to cover a story of the rape and death of a young Dalit girl, but he was arrested. He was granted bail by the Supreme Court, but he has not been released even after over 10 days have passed.

Noting that several things about the 1957 revolt would not have reached people if Maulvi Baqar had not reported them, senior journalist AU Asif said, “The present government has made news coverage difficult for journalists, but we need to follow in the footsteps of Maulvi Baqar to perform our journalist duties and cover the developments despite adverse circumstances.”

Courtesy: Newsclick

The post Journalists Remember Martyred Scribe Mohammad Baqar who Covered 1857 Revolt appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
According to press reports “the last prince of Awadh, who lived in abject penury, was found dead on September 2 (2017) in Delhi’s ‘Malcha Mahal’, a Tughlak-era hunting lodge, tucked deep inside a patch of forest, overrun by moss and disrepair”. Shockingly, the news of the death was broken by a section of the media over two months after a team of police officers found him lying motionless inside the derelict 14th century structure on last September 2.
 
Ali Raza popularly known as Cyrus and his sister Sakina came to Delhi with his mother, Begum Wilayat Mahal in the 1970s. Begum was fighting a long battle with the Uttar Pradesh government to reclaim their ancestral property in Lucknow and demanding recognition for the sacrifices made by her family during the 1857 War of Independence described as Sepoy Mutiny by the British.With no solution of the problem at Lucknow Begum started camping in a first class waiting room of the New Delhi Railway Station after arriving in Delhi. However, in 1985 she was allotted ‘Malcha Mahal’ and a paltry monthly allowance of Rs 500. Since then family had been staying there.

 
The family chose a life of isolation and rarely interacted with outsiders despite staying in the vicinity of elite of the city which included rulers of India, industrialists, diplomats, authors and administrators. The 700-year-old dilapidated ‘Malcha Mahal’ had no electricity, no doors, no windows and no water.

In an interview to The Indian Express in 1997, the Prince had spoken of his sister’s deep distress since their mother died, and her obsession with committing suicide. “My sister is in deep distress and since the Begum died, (she) has been wearing black. She has not combed her hair even once.” Sakina died a few months ago. At the time, their mother’s ashes were being kept in a crystal vial in the middle of the large room.According to the Prince, his mother had died by consuming crushed diamonds, extracted from ornaments she never wore, in 1993.

He was often seen pouring water in the blue ceramic tea set displayed on a broken table. According to the version of the local police, the prince would wander near the forested areas in Chanakyapuri and, for the past two-three days, there was no movement which was suspicious. Police later found that he was lying dead on the floor inside his house. He was taken to a nearby government hospital (RML) for his post-mortem, where no external injuries were found on his body. There were some contact numbers found from the spot but none of them could be reached. After the mandatory wait of 72 hours when no one came to claim the body the body was handed over to Delhi Waqf Boardwhich organized his burial at Delhi Gate Cemetery on September 5.

Thus ended the life of the last Prince of Oudh Dynastypopularly known as Cyrus. Ironically, Cyrus (600-530 BC) was the founder of one of the greatest empires in the world history, the Achaemenid Empire. Cyrus was described as King of Persia and King of the Four Corners of the World. This Cyrus of the former Oudh ruling dynasty died a pauper.

Presently, there are no details available about Begum Wilayat Mahal’s connections with the great Begum Hazrat Mahal and her son Brijis Qadr who played prominent role in leading the 1857 War of Independence against the East India Company rule. Begum Hazrat Mahal carried on the armed struggle till 1860.

She did not surrender and took asylum in Nepal where she died in 1879. However, it is true that Begum Wilayat Mahal demanded compensation from Independent India’s government for being member of a family of rebels and her claim was not rejected.

The story of Begum Wilayat Mahal and her children who hailed from family of rebels of 1857 armed struggle dying as paupers is not one isolated incident. There are thousands of such stories which no historian has bothered to chronicle. Unfortunately, these are no more part of the Indian nation’s narrative.

The saddest part is that neither on the eve of Independence nor while commemorating the centenary of this event in 1956-57, the Indian State bothered about the injustice done to the families who lost everything during this great struggle. The government of free India should have announced the compensation for kin and families of these martyrs and restored to them properties/wealth confiscated by the British for the’crime’ of joining ‘Mutiny’. This should have been among the first orders of the government.

Though this did not happen, a more criminal practice was allowed to continue. Those stooges who helped the British in suppressing the ‘Mutiny’ like rulers of Gwalior, Hyderabad, Bhopal, Rampur, Kashmir, Patiala, Pataudi, Nabha and many more were allowed to retain their own properties. Not only this, these ‘anti-nationals’ were allowed to continue to possess properties of the rebels which were confiscated by the British and awarded to these princes as rewards. Sadly, if on the one hand India witnessed children/kin of real freedom fighters living a pathetic lifeand dying like the family of Begum Wilayat Mahal, on the other hand we saw the shocking spectacle of the family members of the stooges enjoying power as chief ministers, ministers, and even Governors in an independent India.
 
Even the residences of Bahadur Shah (Red Fort etc.), Rani Laxmi Bai (Jhansi fort), Begum Hazrat Hazrat Mahal (Lucknow Residency), to cite few examples out of thousands, were not restored. All these became national properties. Zafar’s family ended up in penury in Burma. But the stooge princes of the British empirewere allowed to own their estates and even convert many of these into money minting resorts.
 
It is thus the stooges who ruled during British times continue to commandeer resources in independent India. And the kin of those who sacrificed everything for freedom continue live as paupers.

Bharat Mata ki Jai!
 
References:
1. http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/-last-prince-of-awadh-dies-a-pauper-in-decrepit-delhi-palace/493929.html
2. http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/a-lonely-death-for-the-last-prince-of-oudh-police-find-body-near-palace-4925909/
3. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/last-prince-of-awadh-passes-away/article19999121.ece

The post 1857 Martyr’s Families Die in Penury, British Stooges Comandeer Power appeared first on SabrangIndia.

This year's demonetisation is just one of the many turning points in India brought about by the supreme will of a ruler.

November 8 saw India’s first encounter with imperium, or absolute power, in years.

As I heard Prime Minister Narendra Modi speak on national television that evening, I thought: in what democracy can the persona of a leader, his manias and phobias, his pet theories and obsessions come together and lead him to declare 86% of the currency in circulation redundant with immediate effect?

Empires of India, whether of the old-fashioned kind, or dressed in democratic robes, have usually been created and consolidated under the leadership of a single leader, nearly always male. By the powers vested in him by patriarchy and/or lineage, such a leader will first create a solid constituency for himself, and then, assured by his total control over his followers, he will then mount an ambitious expansionist phase. If need be, during this he may stop in his tracks suddenly and subvert and change the rules of the power game that has brought him so far, thus ruling out another imitator overtaking him – the proverbial kicking away of the ladder.

From Ashoka to Kanishka, Mohammad Bin Tughlaq to Akbar, the Governors General of the British East India Company to various viceroys who served the British Crown, from Indira Gandhi to Narendra Modi, the list of undisputed leaders of the ruling dispensation initiating a sudden and astoundingly radical turnaround, and unleashing transformational changes to outwit their perceived challengers, runs long.

The Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung wrote: “Man will get used to anything, if only he reaches an appropriate degree of submission.”

Silence falls when everything has been officially investigated, reported and interpreted and justified clearly. All else is rendered trivial, second-rate or likely to be termed seditious.

Empires have a history far longer than the democratic state. And it is undeniable that today globally, a climate conducive to conservatism and protectionism – the building blocks of imperium – has come to prevail.

In India, the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes is just the most recent example of this. Come to think of it, the exercise is just one of the many other turning points in our history that were brought about by the will of a Chakravartin Samrat (powerful ruler) or Shah of Shahs or a popular democratically-elected party supremo. The energy of the Indian nation has usually been spent far less on grassroots initiatives than carrying out the wish of the leader of a ruling elite.
 

Memories of the Raj

In 1833, the British East India Company had tried initiating demonetisation of the old native coinage for its Indian presidencies, quoting British politician Lord Liverpool’s (1770-1828) thesis that bimetallism – the system of allowing the unrestricted currency of two metals like gold and silver as legal tender – is impractical.

In 1835, a declaration from Governor-General William Bentinck in Calcutta demonetised all old gold coins and introduced a unified coinage system for India with the Madras silver rupee as the standard. The gold mohur (coin) of the Mughal empire was deliberately undervalued to dissuade its usage, and soon its circulation began to fall. In 1841 came another proclamation authorising the government to receive gold, but it continued to pay out only silver.

Over two decades later, in February of 1856, Governor-General Lord Dalhousie’s doctrine of Summary Settlement, or a reassessment of land and revenues, (he called it “a parting coup”) summarily dismantled the centuries old mutual dependence and complementarity between rural land owners (jagirdar or talukadar) and cultivators in the newly amalgamated province of Awadh in present-day Uttar Pradesh.

With the simultaneous banishment of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, the erstwhile ruler of Awadh, an entire range of subordinate rights – between the Nawab and the nobles, between rural Talukdars and their cultivators (sustained through the years by grants, special concessions during bad years, blood money and rewards), between the nobles and the guilds of weavers and artisans they employed – were also thrown out of the window.

The weavers and artisans, singers and dancers who had traditionally produced and directly sold their products to their noble patrons and well-to-do citizens, were reduced to penury, while farmers stood face-to-face with the rapacious revenue officials of the East India Company, also referred to as Company Bahadur, who undervalued their lands and over assessed the revenues payable to the company.

Company Bahadur representatives would arrive with armed sepoys and use strong-arm tactics to collect revenue. The local landowner who was steadily losing his lands under the Summary Settlement, was no longer a buffer between them and the government.

As ordinary citizens lapsed into brooding silence, and prices of commodities rose alarmingly, the atmosphere grew ominously dark. Threatening governmental decrees announced harsh punishments to be meted out to those who did not pay the new taxes, which, in some instances, were said to run as high as 45% of the total produce.

The Company Bahadur’s carefully chosen cadres embedded with native rural revenue officials (the Patwari, the Nazim and the Chakledar) now replaced and completely redefined a customary native system of governance based on caste and lineage. The British civil service for India, raised by Dalhousie’s predecessors, and the highest paid in the world at that time, now began to be perceived as the new mai-baap (masters), where citizens were at the mercy of their goodwill.

Thus the 19th century version of the licence raj of inspectors and bureaucrats, trained to be forever suspicious, and promoted for skills in exacting far greater revenues for the Company no matter what the human cost, came into being.
 

Easy corruption

This opened the floodgates for corruption in Awadh as wily bands of power-drunk revenue officials visited villages accompanied by a retinue of petty native revenue clerks who interpreted and measured and wrote out the horoscopes for coming generations of hapless cultivators.

By one stroke of the pen these early native representatives of the East India Company, who were mostly Bengali or Bihari as the British Raj’s capital was located in Calcutta, could now snatch priceless and vast inherited lands and exact revenues (jama) after they had been set at back-breaking rates.

Amrit Lal Nagar, a Hindi writer who roamed the villages of Awadh in 1957, a century after the first war of Independence, wrote that this stigmatised Bengalis and Biharis in villages in that area for generations. Even 100 years later, the words Bengali or Bihari were synonymous with lies and deceit all over Awadh, wrote Nagar.

But of course, the collection of revenue rose sharply. In 1856, on the eve of his departure from India, Dalhousie happily boasted that thanks to his efforts Britain’s Queen Victoria had not only acquired 50,00,000 more subjects, but also stood to earn £1,30,00,000 of extra revenue for the royal treasury.

While officials applauded and Britain toasted Dalhousie, the ordinary people of Awadh like farmers, including farmer-sepoys of the Bengal Army numbering some 75,000, land owners, courtiers and the host of craftspeople and artisans they had supported, found that they had lost control over their lives and means of livelihood.

Old patterns of life and livelihood, even old currency bearing the familiar seal of their summarily dethroned rulers, seemed to appear or disappear by a seemingly magical force.

Gold coinage was demonetised, and silver coins minted in far away Surat and Bombay were the new common currency even in Awadh. With a drastic upward reassessment of revenues, the price of essential commodities rose. As raw cotton was diverted to the British mills and an export-led boom in the Indian economy filled the Company coffers to the brim, an acute scarcity of currency loomed on the horizon even as the native farmers, many of them sepoys in the Company’s Bengal Army, the weavers and other artisans faced penury.

The only thing that grew manifold was corruption. Since the Nawab had no power over the revenue officers or the Army, it resulted in gross misgovernance. After throwing the entire system into a tail-spin, Dalhousie recommended the removal of the Nawab of Lucknow on charges of misgovernance terming Awadh as “a fortress of corruption…and misgovernance”.

This was supreme irony. But the normally witty Awadh had, by now ,lost its self respect and with it, its fabled sense of humour.
 

The new authority

In the years following the Summary Settlement initiated by Dalhousie, government officials quickly created regulatory methods to grab various advantages for their own kind. As old Awadh crumbled and vanished into the mists of time, in its place rose a heavy and powerful edifice symbolising the new authority: The Residency.

Here a devilishly cunning scheme was crafted whereby prime land was deliberately under assessed and convenient legal loopholes were then used to ease out the original owners and auction the land holdings deemed mismanaged.

No surprises for guessing that each auction was handled by the revenue officials who, along with their cronies from the new mercantile classes, managed to buy prime land at very low prices for their families.

The descendants of these civil servants and their crony capitalist friends replaced the earlier elite and turned into city-dwelling gentleman farmers who had the tenant farmers till their fields and visited the villages only to take air (havakhori) or to hunt.

Development became the buzzword to mask this, and the rapacious hunt for ever-higher revenues for the government. Farmers were coerced into growing cash crops like cotton and indigo, and the swift movement of goods and vital raw material for export to England was given a further push by developing the railway network, roads and ports. The telegraph services were extended to facilitate faster communication from Calcutta to Peshawar. The Army was provided the latest ammunition, among them the famous Enfield rifles whose cartridges, greased with animal fat, triggered the first war of Independence (that the British refer to as the Mutiny).

In 1856, Dalhousie departed for England surrounded by glory. It seemed that the government machinery he left behind was firmly in control. Then, suddenly, a year later, a bloody mutiny erupted within the Bengal Army headquartered in Meerut, which took everyone by surprise. Another major surprise was the rare solidarity that a common anger against the British had helped forge across caste, community and gender lines – between Hindus and Muslims, veiled queens and the nobility, land owners and lowly tenant farmers, and sepoys and civilians.

A few years later, while analysing the so-called mutiny in his 1864 book, A History of the Sepoy War in India, for the fatigued, disoriented and nervous British, military historian John William Kaye wrote that the British may have erred in playing down the resentment of an overtaxed people and forcing the pace of change with “an unwholesome rapidity” so as to “screw up the revenue…to the highest possible pitch”.

Sounds familiar?

Courtesy: Scroll.in

The post Over 160 years ago, an arbitrary reorganisation of power and money backfired on the British appeared first on SabrangIndia.

One hundred and Fifty Nine Years ago, the 62 kilometre aerial distance from Meerut to Delhi (that can be covered in 2 hours and 61 minutes by road) recorded a historic journey. Of revolt and resistance. The 1857 Revolt.
 
From May 10 to May 11, the Uprising Spread from Meerut to Delhi. The map says it all. And this video produced to bring home the various elements of the May 1857 uprising says it all.
 
The Uprising at Meerut
 
On the late evening of May 9, 1857 at Meerut the bell of the church never rang out. But the Sounds of Bullets Firing rang  out. From right next to the Church, from the Parade Maidan, first one then two then un-ending  slogans rose from one corner of the Maidan and were echoed in another. The fervour reached a crescendo and the air was suffused with the noise.
 
There was complete chaos, people running around, screams and shouts could be heard. Indian (Hindustani) Sipahis could be seen spread all over the areas in the city. Every corner was teeming with them. Whoever came in their way was killed. The uprising was so sudden that the British were taken back.
 

Unknown place in India in year 1858, where rebellions were hanged in public.

The Sipahis had revolted
 
The first shot of the revolt hit Colonel John Finish. He died on the spot. Some Europeans horse riders moved forward; told the Sipahis “Hosh mein aao” (come to your senses) What is this insolence?
 
The Sipashis ignored the warnings. At that point smoke arose from one corner. Thick black swirls of smoke rose to the sky. The homes of the British were being burned down. People ran out to save their lives.
 
They ran towards the stables,  hid in the farms; some climbed up and clung to the trees for protection in the hope that the night would protect them and they would be saved. But the light thrown out by the burning flames fooled many. The Sipahis would raise their voices in slogans and they would cringe in fear.  The ‘valour of the british stood exposed that day.
 
Night fell. But neither did the shouts nor the killings stop. “Maro Maro” slogans and with that “Dilli Chalo…’
 
 

The Great Uprising of 1857
Outbreak of the Uprising
 
The following excerpt is from the communication sent by Major-General W.H. Hewitt, Commanding the Meerut Division, to Colonel C. Chester, Adjutant-General of the Army, Simla, on May 11, 1857.
 
I regret to have to report that the native troops at Meerut broke out yesterday evening in open mutiny. About 6-30 P.M. the 20^th Regiment, Native Infantry, turned out with arms. They were reasoned with by their officers, when they reluctantly returned to their Lines, but immediately after they rushed out again and began to fire. The 11^th Regiment, Native Infantry, had turned out with their officers, who had perfect control over them, inasmuch as they persuaded them not to touch their arms till Colonel Finnis had reasoned with the mutineers, in doing which he was, I regret to say, shot dead. After which act, the 20^th Regiment, Native Infantry, fired into the 11^th Regiment, Native Infantry, who then desired their officers to leave them, and apparently joined the mutineers. The 3^rd Regiment, Light Cavalry, at the commencement mounted a party and galloped down to the jail to rescue the 85 men of the corps who were sentenced by the native General Court-martial, in which they succeeded, and at the same time liberated all the other prisoners, about 1200 in number. The mutineers then fired nearly all the bungalows in rear of the centre lines south of the nullah…
 
In this they were assisted by the population of the bazaar, the city, and the neighbouring villages…
 
3^rd – Nearly the whole of the cantonment and Zillah Police have deserted.
 
4^th – The electric [telegraph] wire having been destroyed, it was impossible to communicate the state of things except by express, which was done, to Delhi and Umballa [Ambala].
 
 
Events at Delhi on May 11, 1857
 
During the trial of Emperor Bahadur Shah II by the British in 1858, Gulab, a messenger, described the events of 11 May 1857.
 
On the morning of the 16^th of Ramzan, alias the 11^th of May, at about 7 am, a Hindu sepoy of the 38^th Regiment of Native Infantry came up to the door of the Hall of Special Audience in the palace, and said to some of the door-keepers… that the native army at Meerut had mutinied against the State, and were now on the point of entering Delhi; that he and the rest of them would no longer serve the Company, but would fight for their faith… I had hardly received this information, when the King of Delhi sent for me. I attended on him immediately, and His Majesty said, “Look! the Cavalry are coming by the road of the Zer Jharokha. [Zer Jharokha is literally “under the lattice,” but appears to be a name given generally to the ground immediately under the lattices of the palace.] I looked and saw about 15 men of the Company’s regular Cavalry, then about 150 yards distant. They were dressed, some of them in uniform, but a few had Hindustani clothes on. I immediately suggested… [MS. Torn] to have the gate fastened by which entrance to the palace from the ‘Zer Jharokha’s is obtained, and this had scarcely been done when five or six of the sowars [cavalry men] came up to the closed gate…. The sowars, commenced calling out “Dohai Badshah”, or “Help O King”, “we pray for assistance in our fight for the faith.” The King hearing this, made no response…
           
The King… gave orders, for all the gates of the palace to be closed; but answer was given that the Infantry, viz. some of 38^th Native Infantry, who were on guard at the palace, would not allow of such being done. After a lapse of some time the Cavalry, to the number of about 50, rode up to the Hall of Special Audience, dismounted, and picketed their horses in the adjoining garden. The Infantry…. of all the three Delhi regiments, also came into the palace enclosures, and laid down their beddings in any of the palace buildings that they could make available. The Infantry from Meerut… joined the Infantry of the Delhi regiments in spreading their bedding over all parts of the palace enclosures…
 
The greatest and the most widespread armed uprising which shook the foundations of British rule in India took place in 1857. The accumulating hatred against British rule which had resulted in numerous though localized, outbreaks burst forth in a mighty rebellion in 1857. The dispossessed rulers of Indian states, the nobles and the zamindars who had been deprived of their lands, the Indian soldiers of Britain’s army in India, and the vast masses of peasants, artisans and others who had been ruined by British economic pockets, powers and had been rising up in revolt in their isolated pockets, were now united by the common aim of overthrowing British rule. The introduction of greased cartridges which showed the British rulers’ complete disregard of the religious beliefs of the Indian people provided the immediate cause of the revolt. In March 1857, Mangal Pandey was executed in Barrackpore for rebelling against their introduction. The uprising began in Meerut on 10 May 1857 when the Indian soldiers killed their British officers and marched to Delhi. They were joined by the soldiers stationed in Delhi and proclaimed the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah II as the Emperor of India. The rebellion spread like wild fire and the British rule ceased to exist over a vast part of northern and central India for many months. The major centres of the revolt, besides Delhi, where some of the most fierce battles were fought were Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Bundelkhand and Arrah. Local revolts took place in many other parts of the country. Among the prominent leaders of the uprising were Nana Sahib, Tantia Tope, Bakht Khan, Azimullah Khan, Rani Lakshmi Bai, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Kunwar Singh, Maulvi Ahmadullah, Bahadur Khan and Rao Tula Ram.
 
A song composed, 25 years ago for Bharat ki Chhap to mark the anniversary of the 1857 uprising by the soldiers of the East India Company.
 

Maulvi Liaqat Ali : An Icon of the 1857 Uprising at Allahabad

"Maulvi Liaqat Ali : An Icon of 1857 Uprising at Allahabad, a historic account of the Mughal Governor of Allahabad who fought against the British in 1857.

“It was past the dinnertime of night  June 6, 1857. The place was mess of 6 Native Infantry Cantonment of Allahabad. The guest English officers were dining and wining amidst the tinkering of glasses and loud merry making noises, and at the same time sharing pleasantries with the soldiers. The occasion of celebration was the Commendation message for the Regiment sent by the Governor General. Dinner was all over. The officers were preparing to leave. The silence of night was broken by boom-boom gunfire that took the English officers to surprise. Somebody shouted that the Pandes from Banaras had come. They had no time to dress themselves fully but got hold of their arms and rushed out. There was only one thing waiting for them, their death, as the native infantry soldiers started shooting their own officers from close range. That was the announcement of the Uprising of 1857 and more was to follow. Allahabad city and district was thrown at the mercy of Hooligans. Widespread destruction, looting and bona-fire followed. Precious human lives were lost. 

Maulvi Liaqat Ali of Mahgoan then arrived on the scene and took control of the situation. He enforced the law and order in the city. He introduced discipline amongst his followers. He enthused the people to join the Freedom Struggle against the British.
From his military operational headquarters at Khusro Bagh, he conducted the war against the so-called "Infidels". He attempted to take the Allahabad Fort then under English occupation but failed. He had severe resource constraints but had the masses behind him.

The English constantly chased him but he eluded them for the rest of the six months of 1857 by remaining in North India. With the top Uprising leaders mostly defeated and driven in the Nepal Tharai, Maulvi Liaqat Ali travelled to Bhopal and settled in Surat district of Gujarat.

In 1872, he was apprehended at Bombay V.T. Railway Station due to the treachery of his friends. He was tried in the Court of Law and sentenced to Penal Settlement in Andamans (Kaala Paani) where he died in the year 1892. This is saga of a man who stood but never bent before the tyranny of a Foreign Rule."

11th May 1857, song, Bharat ki Chhap Episode 10: Colonialism & the Industrial Revolution 1800 to 1900

The Times of India reported last year 1857 revolt news clippings: Reports went from fair to pro-British that Amit Pathak, a city-based historian, has in his possession a rare set of original newspapers that chronicled what was later referred to as the 'Indian Mutiny of 1857.' "The Illustrated London News and Illustrated Times, which I acquired in an online auction, covered in great detail the events of 1857, and are perhaps the only exhaustive documents existing presently which chronicle how the British press viewed the Revolt, " says Pathak.
 
These newspapers, adds Pathak, are unique since they contain original lithographs (old prints) of action scenes of 1857 and also pictures of freedom fighters like Tantya Tope and Begum Hazrat Mahal which are not available anywhere else. "When one goes through the reporting in these papers, it is quite evident that during the first few months, the reportage was balanced and unbiased, but later the event coverage seemed to be tilted in favour of the British," says the historian, who has also authored a book titled '1857: Living History.'
 
Particularly interesting is the news report which first chronicled that the revolt had taken place. "In this day and age when news of any event is almost instantaneous, it would be difficult to imagine that the first report of the uprising was published on June 13, almost a month after the event in The Illustrated London News," says Pathak. The report stated, "A telegraphic despatch received at Bombay from Meerut states that the 3rd Bengal Cavalry were in open mutiny, and that several officers and men had been killed and wounded."

The first few days of reporting, he says, gave a largely unbiased view of the incident. "When one goes through the contents of these papers, one can sense the great amount of uncertainty that prevailed in Britain at that time. No one at that time knew what would be the outcome of the uprising, whether India will attain its independence and what repercussions will it have on the other colonies of the Great Britain. There were also apprehensions about the well-being of the British citizens who were 'trapped' in India at that point of time. These newspapers carry the emotions, the excitement and feelings of individuals who are experiencing the events in real time."

Sources:

• NCERT’s India’s Struggle for Independence, Visuals and Documents
• The Times of India
• Bharat Ki Chaap
• Maulvi Liaqat Ali : Icon of 1857 Uprising at Allahabad
• Khoj Education for a Secular India Programme

The post The March to Delhi that Shook the British Empire, 159 Years Ago appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The First War of Independence began, metamorphically, with the salvo fired by Mangal Pandey. Resents had been brewing against oppressive British rule. The immediate provocation was the use of greased cartridges by the British. A rumour widely spread that the lubricant used was either cow or pig lard, which was repugnant to Hindus or Muslims, respectively. The belief arose among the sepoys that the British had deliberately used the lard on the cartridges.

Pandey was court-martialled by the British with speed and alacrity on April 6, 1857. At his hearing he insisted he had acted alone and in the name of India. He was due to be hanged on April 18 but the British, fearful of the widespread unrest, brought forward the date of execution and Pandey was hanged on 8 April 1857. Born on July 19, 1827, Akbarpur, a town near Faizabad. India, Pandey was hanged on April 8, 1857 at Barrackpore.
 
It was on a quiet and sleepy afternoon, a Sunday, in March 1857, that Mangal Pandey, an agitated sepoy in the English East India Company’s 34^th Native Infantry marched on to the parade ground in Barrackpore, exhorting his comrades to join him in protecting their religion from the Europeans. When British officers arrived to arrest him, he drew his sword on them and then turned his musket on himself. As he was led off to the gallows just a few days later, Mangal Pandey passed into history and legend as the man who had fired the first salvo—into what was to turn into a nationwide uprising against the British.
 
The First War of Independence has been controversially taught through colonial historiography as a minor mutiny. Over the years, independent Indian historians have brought in the rational and more cohesive understanding. A commemorative postage stamp with his image on it was issued by the Indian government in 1984.
 
This video, made for an easy understanding of the Revolt of 1857 has been produced by Khoj – Education for a Plural India.
 

The greatest and the most widespread armed uprising which shook the foundations of British rule in India took place in 1857. The accumulating hatred against British rule which had resulted in numerous though localised, outbreaks burst forth in a mighty rebellion in 1857. The dispossessed rulers of Indian states, the nobles and the zamindars (landlowners) who had been deprived of their lands, the Indian soldiers of Britain’s army in India, and the vast masses of peasants, artisans and others who had been ruined by British economic powers and had been rising up in revolt in their isolated pockets, were now united by the common aim of overthrowing British rule. The introduction of greased cartridges which showed the British rulers’ complete disregard of the religious beliefs of the Indian people provided the immediate cause of the revolt. It was on this day 159 years, April 8, 1857, ago that Mangal Pandey was martyrd.
 
The uprising again began in Meerut on May 10, 1857 when the Indian soldiers killed their British officers and marched to Delhi. They were joined by the soldiers stationed in Delhi and proclaimed the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah II as the Emperor of India. The rebellion spread like wild fire and the British rule ceased to exist over a vast part of northern and central India for many months.
 
The major centres of the revolt, besides Delhi, where some of the fiercest battles were fought were Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Bundelkhand and Arrah. Local revolts took place in many other parts of the country. Among the prominent leaders of the uprising were Nana Sahib, Tantia Tope, Bakht Khan, Azimullah Khan, Rani Lakshmi Bai, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Kunwar Singh, Maulvi Ahmadullah, Bahadur Khan and Rao Tula Ram.
 
Mangal Pandey Indian soldier

 

Document:

From the Trial of Mangal Pandey

 
Proceedings in continuation of a native General Court-martial assembled at Fort William, and re-assembled at Barrackpore on Monday, the April 6, 1857, by order of the Major-General Hearsey, for the trial of Sepoy Mungul Pandy, 34^th Regiment, Native Infantry, and all prisoners who may be brought before it.
 
PRESIDENT:
 
Subadar-Major Howahir Lall Tewary, 43^rd Regiment, Native Infantry.
 
MEMBERS:
Subadar Bhola Opudeah, 17^th Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Hurruck Sing, 40^th Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Ram Sing, 9^th Battalion, Artillery.
Subadar Amaunt Khan, 37^th Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Sewumbur Pandy, 34^th Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Dirga Ram, 70^th Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Khooda Buksh, 2nd Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Meerwan Sing, 70^th Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Sookhlal Misr, 43rd Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Ajoodhia Tewary, 70^th Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Jalim Sing, 43rd Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Dewan Allie, 9^th Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Mohun Sing, 65^th Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Lalla Ram Buksh, 8^th Regiment, Native Infantry.
 
JUDGE ADVOCATE:
Captain G.C. Hatch, Deputy Judge Advocate-General, Presidency Division.
 
INTERPRETER:
Lieutenant JamesVallings, 19^th Regiment, Native Infantry.
 
The Court re-assembled at the Mess House of the 34^th Regiment, Native Infantry, at Barrackpore, at 11 a.m., the President, Members, Judge Advocate, Interpreter all being present.
 
Lieutenant and Brevet-Colonel S.G. Wheler Commanding the 34^th Regiment, Native Infantry, being appointed Prosecutor, takes his place in Court.
 
Mungul Pandy, Sepoy, No. 1446, 5^th Company, 34^th Regiment, Native Infantry, is brought a prisoner in Court.
 
The Division Orders directing the re-assembly of the Court-martial at Barrackpore, and the Station Order directing the hour and place of the Court’s assembly, are produced and read.
 
The names of the President and Members of the Court are read over to the prisoner.
 
BY THE JUDGE ADVOCATE
 
Question:         Sepoy Mungul Pandy, do you object to being tried by the president or by any of the Members of this Court-martial?
 
Answer:           No, I do not object.
 
The interpreter, President, Members, and Judge Advocate make the prescribed solemn affirmation.
 
The following charge is read:
 
Mungul Pandy, Sepoy, No. 1446, 5^th Company, 34^th Regiment, Native Infantry, confined by order of Major-General J.B. Hearsey, Commanding the Presidency Division, on the following charges:
 
1^st  – For mutiny, in having at Barrackpore, on the 29^th March 1857, gone on to the parade ground in front of the quarter-guard of his regiment armed with a sword and musket, and then and there used words tending to incite the men of his regiment to turn out and join him in resistance to lawful authority.
 
2^nd – For having, on the occasion set forth in the first charge, used violence against his superior officers Sergeant-Major James Thornton Hewson and Lieutenant and Adjutant Bempde Henry Baugh, of the 34^th Regiment, Native Infantry, by discharging at them, severally, his loaded musket, and then and there striking and wounding with his sword the said Lieutenant B.H. Baugh and Sergeant-Major J.T. Hewson.
 
By order of the Major-General Commanding Presidency Division.
 
ASST. ADJT. GENL.’S OFFICER, (Sd.) A.H. ROSS, Major,
 
BARRACKPORE; Asst. Adjt. Genl., Presy. Divn.
 
The 5^th April 1857.
 
BY THE JUDGE ADVOCATE
 
Question:         Sepoy Mungul Pandy, No. 1446, 5^th Company, 24^th Regiment, Native Infantry, how say you, are you guilty, or not guilty, of these charges?
 
Answer:          Not guilty. 

The post Mangal Pandey Martyrd Today, 159 Years Ago: 1857 appeared first on SabrangIndia.