Wednesday, May 5, 2021

ON 164 ANNIVERSARY: AMAZING UNTOLD STORIES OF INDIA’S FIRST WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 1857

AMAZING UNTOLD STORIES OF INDIA’S FIRST WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 1857

[The first fact we must remember about this great liberation war is that though known as 1857 war of independence but it continued till the end 1859 steadily. This commemorative piece based on the contemporary documents appeared on of the 150th anniversary (2007) of India’s first great war of liberation, in English, Hindi and Urdu. The following revised version is being released on the 164th commemoration [2021] of this great liberation War. The primary sources quoted in this essay are available with the author which were collected from different parts of the world in over a period of more than a decade. Another aspect author wants to highlight is that in this narrative mainly those incidents/individuals have been covered in which revolutionaries laid down their lives. I would make a humble request that researchers having interest in this theme, if possible, should make copies of it and put in the libraries.]

(1) Participation of common people in India’s First War of Independence.

(2) Hindu-Muslim-Sikh joint martyrdoms in India’s First War of Independence.

(3) Women in the forefront of India’s First War of Independence.

                       (4) Conclusion: Shameless betrayal of the sacrifices and joint heritage of India’s First War of Independence by our independent India.

 (2) Participation of common people in India’s First War of Independence

There is no denying the fact that the first sparks of India's First War of Independence were ignited on 15th February 1857, when the soldiers of the 19th Native Regiment of East India Company rose in revolt at the Barrakpore cantonment in Bengal. The immediate reason for this revolt was the use of newly introduced cartridges which the soldiers had to bite before using. These were very smooth due to use of a greasy material and the soldiers had strong apprehension that this was due to the use of the fat of cows and pigs. British army officers failed in giving any convincing explanation that it was not the case.

Thus the religious feelings of Hindu and Muslim soldiers were equally hurt by the introduction of these new cartridges and outcome was mutinies in many cantonments.  To suppress mutiny at Barrakpore the British rulers held Mangal Pandey responsible for it and presented him in front of a military court which finally ended in his being hanged to death on 8th April 1857. Mangal Pandey's execution helped spreading the revolt in other parts of the country and most of the cantonments of the Company sepoys [Indian soldiers] started protesting.

It did not happen in isolation. Parallel to this were thousands of native rulers and taluqdaars [big landholders] who announced their independence in various parts of the country. This collective revolt came to a critical point when on 10th May 1857, Indian soldiers of the British army devastated the biggest cantonment of the East Indian army at Meerut army in North India. This rebellion did not remain confined to the Meerut cantonment. It seems that they had a plan and marched on to Delhi in order to have an audience with the captive Mughal King, Bahadur Shah Zafar. They were joined by thousands of peasants on the way. Similar to this, rebel soldiers from the North India's various cantonments and the common people continued marching towards Delhi, the capital of the independent Mughal Empire.

Under the leadership of Bahadur Shah Zafar, an independent government was formed in Delhi, which issued an announcement in the name of countrymen and called upon for eradication of British rule and put all the energy in this holy work because "if the British continue ruling India, they will leave no one alive".[i]

The myths which have continually been propagated about this war of liberation are that it was a mutiny which occurred due to the indiscipline of the soldiers which was supported by the repressive, degenerated and corrupt feudal elements like kings and nawabs who backed the undisciplined soldiers and it was short lived and had no pan-Indian character.

Many of these insinuations appeared in the contemporary writings of many Indians who were in the service of the East India Company or the British stooges. The two such important works, both in Urdu were, Tareekh-e-Bhaghawat-e-Hind:Moharba-e-Azeem [History of Indian Mutiny: A Great War by Pandit Kanhaya Lal which appeared at the end of 1857 and the other by Syed Ahmad Khan (also known as Sir Syed) titled, Asbab-e-Bhaghawat-e-Hind  [The Causes of the Indian Revolt] which was published in 1859.[ii]

The historians who thought on these lines believed that this struggle did neither enjoy the support of the country's masses nor had pan-India character. On the 150th anniversary of this struggle, it is important to let the nation and the world be aware of the facts and demolish the myths constructed by the British stooges.

The first myth about India’s First War of Independence 1857 which we must confront is that it was short-lived rebellion which was suppressed in the year 1857 itself. The contemporary official documents (specially, The British government gazetteers) tell a different story. It continued in one form or the other till 1959. The last big battle was fought on 21st Jan 1859 near Sikar in Rajasthan. In this battle, due to the treachery of native rulers of the region, a huge army of the revolutionaries led by Tatya Tope, Rao Sahib and Shahzada Ferozshah's had to face defeat. Smaller battles continued through 1960.

The second myth that it had no national character is not borne by the contemporary narratives. This First War of Independence of India true to its name was a national liberation war. It raged from Jammu in the North to Hyderabad in the South and from West in Afghanistan to East in Tripura, everywhere the British rule was challenged and in many cases overthrown. The liberation war which started from Meerut spread in the whole country like a wild fire.

CONTEMPORARY BRITISH NARRATIVES CONFESSING MASS CHARACTER OF THE REBELLION

In this liberation war, army men, zamindars, Rajas, Nawabs, peasants, common people, women, intellectuals, literary figures and journalists fought together. This truth is engraved on every page of the contemporary documents and memoirs. The official British military historiographer of the mutiny, Sir John William Kaye[iii] while underling the character of the rebellion stated that it was impossible to deny “the universal fact that the Black man had risen against the White.”.[iv] Another contemporary British historian Charles Ball confessed that 1857 revolution was a "national revolution".[v]

WSR Hodson was a leading commander of the British army which put Delhi under siege after May 11, 1857; the day Mughal Empire was restored to Bahadur Shah Zafar by the rebels. He played prominent role in capturing Delhi at the end of September (1857), arrested Bahadur Shah Zafar and personally killed Mughal Princes in 1857. In a letter to his wife dated July 26, 1857 wrote that it was “an entire army and a whole nation” which was in revolt.[vi] Hodson who was regularly receiving official reports of the rebellion in different parts of the country in a letter dated July 20, 1857 admitted:  

“From hence to Allahabad, the fort of Agra and the Residency of Lucknow are the only spots where the British flag still flies. We are more to be considered now as an isolated band, fighting for our very name and existence in the midst of an enemy’s country, than as an avenging army about to punish a rebel force.”[vii]

William Howard Russell, a veteran war correspondent of the British newspaper, The Times, who came, specially, to cover the mutiny, in one of the despatches candidly stated:  

"Here we had not only a servile war and a sort of Jacquerie combined [an insurrection of peasants against the nobility in northeastern France in 1358 which was ruthlessly suppressed]  but we had a war of religion, a war of race, and a war of revenge, of hope, of some national promptings to shake off the yoke of a stranger, and to re-establish the full power of native chiefs, and the full sway of native religions."[viii]

Thomas Lowe being a physician, his clinical mind led him even to deliberate on the causes of the national rebellion. According to him,

“It is quite evident that the resources of this country, instead of being developed and improved, have been permitted to lie as they did a thousand years ago, and decay; that such of the native arts and manufacturers as used to raise for India a name and wonder all over the western world are nearly extinguished in the present day; once great and renowned cities are mere heaps of ruins…ruin, ruin poverty and natural wealth everywhere, as though a leper had touched the land, it were hastening to decay. A question constantly asked of oneself is—‘whence arise all this?’ and the conclusion one arrives at is, that something must have caused such terrible result, and that something equally bad continues to perpetuate! [italics as in the original] Whether this ruin has been natural result of a vicious feudalism, or misgovernment on our parts of territories and their cities, absorbed by British power, is for others to decide.

“No one who has eyes and ears to use, can doubt for a moment that we have almost totally neglected the resources of such a mighty country, while we have introduced the trash of our manufacturing towns into every cranny of the land. It appears as though we had endeavoured to destroy every inherent useful production of an eastern nation for the introduction of western merchandise. And what must be the end of such short–sightedness if such an erroneous line of policy be pursued?”[ix]

Thomas Lowe shared an anecdote to convey the point that it was a state of helplessness for common people having no choice but rise in revolt. 

 “I remember asking on old man about the country and its owners, when he significantly said to me, ‘The jungles, sahib, the trees, the rivers, the wells, all the villages and all holy cities belong to the Sircar [British government]; they have taken all—everything (bahut achcha)—very good, what can we do?”[x]

For him,

“To live in India now was like standing on the verge of a volcanic crater, the sides of which were fast crumbling away from our feet, while the boiling lava was ready to erupt and consume us!”[xi]

Lowe underlining the participation in the rebellion of servant class which stood at the lowest rung of the social hierarchy wrote:        

“All had disappeared to a man; even the native servants had leagued with the murderers of their masters, and hurried away with the destroying stream.”[xii]

The perusal of the contemporary documents and narratives of the First War of Independence which this author has collected make one fact crystal clear. It is impossible to neglect that whether the initiators of this rebellion were army personnel but it didn't take long to become a national independence struggle. The most important reason of this was that all the revolutionary soldiers came from peasant families and the plight of farmers naturally affected their thoughts and actions. The common people who were trapped in misery, they all became the part and parcel of this revolution and joined hands to throw the British rule lock, stock and barrel.

It was not only Lowe who found that the servants of the British officers had suddenly disappeared. Hodson in a letter to his wife on 5th June 1857 wrote:

“I have tried everywhere to get a bearer, but the natives will not serve us now, and I could get no one even on double pay. Only two days ago I succeeded in getting a Bheestie [Bhishti or water-carrier].”[xiii]

John Kaye stated that even before the start of the rebellion the domestic servants had disappeared. It was no ordinary disappearance; before parting they had damaged or carried the weapons. Kaye while narrating the events of Sialkot (now in Pakistan) uprising on July 9, 1857 wrote that household servants

“took an active part against their old masters. That they knew what was coming seems to be proved by the fact that the Brigadier’s sirdar-bearer, or chief body servant, an ‘old and favourite’ domestic, took caps off his master’s pistols in the night, as they lay beside him while he slept. And how thoroughly they cast in their lot with the soldiery is demonstrated with equal distinctness by the fact that they afterwards fought against us, the Brigadier’s khansaman [cook], or butler, taking an active part in operations…”[xiv]

Kaye observed that servants were acting in league with other sections of the populace. According to him:

“There seems to have been perfect cohesion between all classes of our enemies—the mutineers, the criminals from the gaols, the ‘goojurs’ [Gujars] from the neighbouring villages, and the servants from the houses and bunglows of the English. From sunrise to sunset the work went on bravely. Everything that could be carried off by our enemies was seized and appropriated…And nearly everything belonging to us, that could not be carried off, was destroyed and defaced, except—a strange and unaccountable exception—the Church and Chapel, which the Christians had reared for the worshipping of the Christian’s god.”[xv]

Fred Roberts who played a vital role in suppressing the mutiny of 1857 and later became the chief of the British army in India, in a letter to his mother on 7th September 1857 admitted:

"All Natives are the same, and I believe we are as thoroughly hated in the Punjab as elsewhere…Without being severe, I have always kept my servants well in order, once they trip, I give it them well. Yet, all this time, when whole sets have gone off and many officers are without one."[xvi]

Whatever, may be claimed by the pro-British historians about 1857; it being a mutiny of the army, what Roberts as a British military commander faced was a mass revolt. In a letter to his mother from Camp Bulandshahar [approximately 60 kilo-meters from Delhi] on 30th September 1857, Roberts stated:

“With scarcely an exception, all the Police and Native Civil Authorities joined at the very commencement [of the rebellion], and the many independent Rajahs raised their Standards against us. Every villager tore down European and robbed their property.”[xvii]

George Otto Trevelyan [Lord Macaulay was his maternal uncle] was part of the British ruling elite. In the beginning of his career he served as a civil servant in India. In his book Cawnpore (published in 1866) he narrated how different subaltern sections, specially, performers prepared ground for the nation-wide rebellion.

“Sometimes it was a couple of fakeers perched on an elephant; sometimes a party of country-people on their way to the Ganges for their annual dip in the sacred stream; a gang of gipsies [sic]; a string of camel-drivers; or a troop of musicians escorting a celebrated nautch-dancer to her home in Cashmere [sic], after a successful season in Bengal. However, it might be, it invariably happened that, a few hours after the strangers had entered the station,  the bazaar and the cantonments were in a ferment of gossip and conjure; the sepoys at once grew sulky and idle; the Mahomedans [sic] of the town became insolvent, and the Hindus pert.”[xviii]

The insubordination had spread even to the domestic servants of the British officials, Trevelyan stated:

The very domestic servants appeared to share the contagion; the cooks got drunk and the grooms stupid; the water-carrier omitted to fill the bath, and the butler to ice the Moselle [white wine]; the peon spent twice his usual numbers of hours in conveying a note to the next compound; while the bearers delighted to insult their mistress by smoking under her window, and coming bare-headed into her presence…”[xix]

William Kaye while highlighting the causes of the mutiny held the puppetry artist responsible for spreading the disinfection amongst common people specially the Company soldiers. Describing the themes of the puppet-shows in ‘Bazaars and the Lines [the cantonments], he stated:

“There were two subjects which the Kootpoolee-Wallahs [sic] extremely delighted to illustrate-the degradation of the Mogul [sic], and the victories of the French over the English, one intended to excite hatred, the other contempt, in the minds of the spectators”.[xx]

By June 1857 the British had mobilized a force outside Delhi which in strength and resources was never witnessed in the colonial history claiming that they will turn the city into wreckage. Their spies and compradors with strong presence in the city were continuously involved in the destructive activities to facilitate the British to enter Delhi. However, the British could enter Delhi only at the end of September and that too after a series of conspiracies. The common people of Delhi stayed united against the British siege and relentless artillery bombardments which was underlined by Hodson in a letter to a senior officer in a letter dated July 27 [1857],

"The news-letters [most of which were brought by the spies] from the city mention meetings in the marketplace and talkings at the corner of the streets, with big words of what they intend to do…”[xxi]  

We can know more about the sacrifices of the common people of Delhi against the British fortification by getting acquainted with the names of those who laid their lives on different battle fronts and this has been documented officially which is a proof of the marginalized sections’ participation in the revolt. The available list includes martyrs like Abdul (rubber-stamp maker), Chosa Bhishti (water-carrier), Eman Kahar (palanquin lifter), Gannoo Halwai (sweet-meat seller), Heera  Dom (scavenger), Laloo Teli (oilman) etc.[xxii] Such martyrdoms  were witnessed throughout the country.

The large scale participation of common people in the countryside can be gauged by the fact that according to the contemporary British gazetteers hundreds of villages in the districts of Gurgaon, Delhi, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Aligarh, Faruqabad, and Bulandshahar were burnt to ashes with villagers confined inside. This kind of savagery was perpetrated in order to punish the peasants for participating and supporting the rebellion.

How bravely and daringly Delhi commoners defended Delhi when the British, after almost 5 months long preparations and Indian stooges in tow, went for all-out assault on the city from the Kashmiri Gate side on September 14, has been chronicled by none else but Kaye who had access to all the contemporary military memos in the following words:

“So furious was the fire of the enemy, and so heavy the shower of stones and bricks from the crumbling walls, which the maddened insurgents poured upon us, that it was difficult, for a little time, to plant the ladders in the ditch so as to ascend the scrap on the other side….So fearful, indeed, was the carnage that when Baynes [British commander] found himself opposite the Water Bastion, the seventy-five men who had started with him on their perilous mission were reduced to only twenty-five.”[xxiii]

The revolutionaries were always denigrated by the British as a bunch of budmash [those who are in evil professions], looters, Pandies and what not. They were described as cowards but Kaye while narrating the details of the defence of Delhi by the ‘insurgents’ referred to the comments of a prominent British commander, Chamberlain who,

“could not but admire the dashing manner in which the Native officers rode in among the ranks of the mutineers, urging them and leading them on to battle against the British and Jummoo troops nor was his admiration, in this conjuncture, without some feeling of anxiety. For it seemed at one time that the enemy might break through our Subzee-mundee [even presently known by this name only] defences, carry the undefended battery below Hindoo Rao’s house, and take possession of the post itself, with its hospital and its magazine.”[xxiv]

Hodson who had been using the filthiest language against the rebels wrote on June 10, 1857 that “they are splendid artillerymen, however, and actually beat ours in accuracy of fire”[xxv], further confessing,

“Our Artillery officers themselves say that they are outmatched by these rascals in accuracy and rapidity of fire, and so they have unlimited supply of guns and ammunition from our own greatest arsenal, they are quite beyond us in many respects.”[xxvi]

On June 27, 1857 he wrote to his wife:

“The cannonade was very heavy, and I have seldom been under a hotter fire than for about three quarters of an hour at our most advanced battery, covered every moment with showers or rather clouds of dust, stones and splinters…The only formidable part of the enemy is their artillery, which is amazingly well served, and in prodigious abundance, as my experience this morning abundantly proved.”[xxvii]

Another prominent British military commander Griffiths narrating the status on the day [September 14] his troops stormed Delhi from Kashmiri Gate side wrote:

“Advancing from our first place at the main guard, No. 5 Column pushed forward to the College Gardens, Marching through narrow streets and lanes, with high houses on each side. But how can I describe that terrible street-fighting, which lasted without intermission the whole day? From every window and door, from loopholes in the buildings, and from the tops of the houses, a storm of musketry saluted us on every side, while every now and then, when passing the corner of a street, field-guns, loaded with grape, discharged their contents into the column. Officers and men fell fast…”[xxviii]

The resolute resistance by the rebel forces and commoners against the British attack at the Delhi front was not isolated happening. The contemporary British military documents are full of thousands of such stories.

The establishment of an independent India under the kingship of Bahadur Shah Zafar after rebels had declared freedom from the British slavery was in no way restoration of the degenerated and dehumanized rule of the feudal elements as was alleged by the British rulers and their Indian stooges. This was clear from almost all the proclamations of independence issued by rebellion leaders in different parts of the country. These proclamations made solemn promise to the commoners that their rights would be safeguarded. For instance in in Oudh[xxix], British had deprived the Pasis [Sudras] of their ancestral profession of guarding (chowkidaari) the countryside and cities. The independent rule of Birjis Qadar under the regent ship of her mother Begum Hazrat Mahal through a proclamation assured that

"Pasis should know that gate-keeping is their ancestral profession but the British appointed Berkandaaz [police with guns] in place of them and so they were deprived of their livelihood. It will not be repeated.”[xxx]

The tribal areas of India too became centres of armed uprisings. The contemporary records are full of tribal uprisings against the British rule. Bheem Naik, a prominent Bheel tribal leader of Nimar (Barwani State) in the then Central India organized a valiant armed resistance against the British rule in the area. He was able to unite other tribes like Bhilalas, Mandlois and Naiks for a joint military campaign to oust the British from the area. He also joined forces with Tatya Tope and made daring attacks on the British positions on Bombay-Agra road between Sindhawa and Khull. Revolutionary army under his command continued the War till 1859. But due to the treachery of many non-tribal princes of the region they were defeated. They shifted their base into the forest and continued with the guerilla warfare. He could be captured in 1861, sentenced for life imprisonment, sent to Andaman Islands where he died (date not known).[xxxi]

It is not only sad but shameful that we forgot these startling facts of the First War of Independence. If we had remembered this glorious heritage, the rise of communal polarization as well as gradual take-over of the independent India by the pro-feudal-capitalists-imperialist ruling class would have been scuttled.

(2) Hindu-Muslim-Sikh joint martyrdoms in India’s First War of Independence

The people of India, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs[xxxii], unitedly challenged the might of world’s greatest imperialist power, Britain, during India’s First War of Independence [hereafter referred as War] which began in May 1857. This unprecedented unity, naturally, unnerved the British rulers or Firangees and made them conscious of the fact that if their rule was to continue in India, it could happen only when Hindus and Muslims, specially, were divided on communal lines and no opportunity was missed to create enmity between these two largest religious communities of India. This was the reason, that immediately after crushing militarily, this First War of Independence with the help of spies and stooges, the then minister of Indian Affairs Lord Wood, sitting in London, in a letter to the chief of British rule in India, Lord Elgin, admitted, "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."[xxxiii]

The most prominent administrator of the East India Company in India and chief strategist of the British plan of suppressing the mutiny (India’s First War of Independence 1857) shamelessly declared:

"If the Mohameduns [sic] and Hindoos [sic] have quarreled so much the better for us, let them slaughter each other, and on the fall of Delhee[sic], we shall not find it difficult matter to reconquer the whole of Rohilcund [sic] ."[xxxiv]

In order to put this strategy in operation effectively, the White rulers and their Indian stooges, the Brown Sahebs came out with the two-nation theory implying that Hindus and Muslims belonged to two separate antagonistic nations, as they belonged to different religions. The birth of the two-nations theory was no accident, in fact, it was specifically designed and created to help the British rulers in creating communal divide and fragmentize the Indian society on the basis of religions as a religiously united India could prove to be the death knell of their rule here. The memories of the War, which the British rulers called ‘Mutiny’, in which Hindus and Muslims fought tooth and nail with great determination and spirit of sacrifice against the rule of the East India Company, was too fresh in the memories of the White rulers who saw their repressive rule almost on the brink of collapse. They could succeed only with the use of treachery and deceit, hallmarks of the British imperialism (or any other) the world-over.

JOINT COMMAND FOR THE WAR

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

On the eve of 164th anniversary of First War of Independence we need to tell the present flag-bearers of the Hindu-Muslim brands of communal politics that the revolutionary army which declared the Mughal King Bahadur Shah Zafar, a Muslim, India’s Independent ruler on 11th May 1857 comprised of more than seventy percent Hindu soldiers. These were Nana Sahib, Tantya Tope and Laxmibai, all Hindus, who played vital role in making Zafar, Badshah; the real King of Hindustan 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 joining the War, making supreme sacrifices together, least bothered about who was in the lead and who would bear what cost for opposing the British rule. The details of this War contained in the contemporary documents present one fundamental truth that Hindu-Muslim separatism or hatred between these two communities was not at all a problem to be worried about.

We present in the following some of the instances of how Hindus-Muslims-Sikhs rose in revolt together, making joint sacrifices for a common cause underlying the fact that this united effort could bring the foreign rule to its doom. These are but few of the examples from thousands and thousands of unparalleled deeds of bravery and sacrifices which remain unsung even today.

MEERUT

The First War of Independence started on May 11, 1857 when revolutionaries declared India free of the British rule.  However, the process started on May 9 at the Meerut cantonment when the British military brass attempted to Court Martial the 85 sepoys of the 3rd Light Cavalry Regiment who [out of 90] for the crime of refusing the new cartridges which were to be mouth-bitten before firing. All of them were to be killed; to be blown by the artillery guns. This news spread like a wildfire with other sepoys, commoners including many women and the convicted sepoys were freed. Later they with thousands others left for Delhi. The most notable fact about the identity of the 85 rebel sepoys was that 48 of them were Muslims. 

AYODHYA

After independence, the town of Ayodhya has emerged as a place which caused the growth of immense hatred between sections of Hindus and Muslims. Babri Masjid-Ram Janmbhoomi [birth-place] dispute at Ayodhya 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 in rebelling against the British rule and kissed the hangman’s noose together. Maulana Ameer Ali[xxxv] was a famous Maulvi of Ayodhya and when Ayodhya’s well-known Hanuman Garhi’s (Hanuman Temple) priest Baba Ramcharan Das[xxxvi] took lead in organizing 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 in Ayodhya.

Baba Ramcharan Das and Maulana Ameer Ali were no exception in Ayodhya. This region also produced two more great friends, belonging to different religions who made life hell for the British sponsored armies. Acchhan Khan[xxxvii] and Shambhu Prasad Shukla[xxxviii] were two such friends who lead the army of Raja Devibaksh Singh[xxxix] in the district of Faizabad. Both of them were able to defeat the Firangee army in many battles, inflicting heavy losses on them. 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 and only then the British Indian Empire could survive. It was meticulously done by the British rulers and the heritage of communal unity at Ayodhya was turned upside down.

RAJASTHAN

Kota state (now in Rajasthan) was ruled by a Maharao subservient to the British. The leading courtier of this state was, Lala Jaidayal Bhatnagar[xl], a great literary figure who was equally conversant with Persian, Urdu and English. When it was found that Maharao was collaborating with the British he joined hands with the army chief, Mehrab Khan[xli] and established a revolutionary 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[xlii] and Muneer Beg[xliii]. They were known for literary works and love for mathematics and joined the revolt in the earlier phase itself. The revolutionary government of Bahadur Shah Zafar chose them as advisors and appointed them as commanders in the region of west of Delhi which is known as Haryana today. They led many successful military campaigns in the area but due to the treachery of rulers of Patiala, Nabha, Kapurthala, Kashmir and Pataudi were defeated in a crucial battle and captured. The British were extremely worried and horrified with this kind of unity of the people of two religions that they decided to kill them in a most horrendous and sickening manner. After hanging them on the same tree in Hansi on January 19, 1858, Hukumchand Jain was buried and Mirza Muneer Beg was cremated against the custom of their respective religions. It was done with the obvious purpose of making fun of the unity of these two revolutionaries belonging to different religions and show hatred towards their comradeship. Another unspeakable crime committed by the British was that when Fakir Chand Jain[xliv], 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[xlv] sheroic 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 her Muslim commanders; Ghulam Ghouse Khan (chief of artillery, martyred on June 4, 1858 in hand-to-hand fight with the British troops inside Jhansi fort)[xlvi], Khuda Bakhsh (chief of infantry, martyred defending the Jhansi fort on June 4, 1858)[xlvii] both of whom were martyred defending Jhansi fort on June 4, 1858. Even her personal bodyguard was a young Muslim lady, Mundar who laid down her life with Rani on June 18, 1858 at Kotah-ki-Sarai battle in Gwalior.[xlviii]

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 Tatya Tope,[xlix] Rao Saheb (alias Pandurang Sadashiv and a nephew of Nana Saheb[l], Laxmi Bai, Ferozshah and Moulvi Fazal-ul- Haq[li], was able to mobilize a huge rebel army of 70-80 thousand fighters. This army won innumerable battles against the British. However, in a crucial battle at Ranod when due to the treachery of stooge princes the revolutionary army led by Tatya Tope, Ferozeshah and Moulvi was encircled, Moulvi Fazal-ul- Haq stood as a rock in the way of advancing British troops. He and his 480 companions laid down their lives on December 17, 1858, but were able to save the main force which included Tatya Tope, Rao Saheb and Ferozshah.[lii] Thus saved by the supreme sacrifice by Moulvi Fazl Haq and his comrades, Tatia Tope continued to wage war till the beginning of 1859.

Tatia Tope continued to wage war till the beginning of 1859 and it was due to the treachery of Man Singh, ruler of Narwar, that the British were able to capture him and subsequently hang him on April 18, 1859. Rao Saheb (Pandurang Sadashiv, nephew of Nana Saheb) too continued to wage the struggle and could be captured only in 1862 betrayed by a Maratha chief in the Jammu region. He was later hanged in Kanpur on August 20, 1862. Ferozeshah, fought the longest, was never captured and travelled to the West Asia in search of help from the Muslim rulers for India’s freedom. Disheartened by their apathy went to Mecca where he died in 1887.

ROHILKHAND

Rohilkhand (present day Bareilly, Shahjahanpur, Badaun and Bijnor etc.) was the area which was a strong hold of revolutionaries from the beginning of the revolution. Immediately after the announcement of an independent Indian government at Delhi on May 11, 1857, Khan Bahadur Khan[liii] was 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 was Khushi Ram.[liv] This government forbade cow-killing in deference to the sentiments of local Hindus as was done in Delhi by the orders of General Bakht, chief commander of the revolutionary army. Khan and Khushi Ram led troops defeated the British and their stooges in many battles but were defeated in a crucial battle at Bareilly after remaining in office for almost a year. They continued with the struggle and withdrew towards Nepal but were captured. Both of them were brought to Bareilly and hanged with hundreds of their followers outside old Kotwali on March 20, 1860. Their bodies were left hanging in order to terrorize the populace.

13 Hindu-Muslim-Sikh women jointly laid down lives at Thana Bhavan, Western Uttar Pradesh

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 fact of life with which, naturally, women also did not remain untouched. In a small town, Thana Bhawan, situated in Muzaffar Nagar district (now in western Uttar Pradesh) 13 brave women belonging to different religions and Castes were hanged together or burnt alive for taking up arms against the repressive British rule.

The names of these sheroes [according to the dictionary word ‘hero’ means a “man who exhibits great bravery” which is not gender neutral and conveys the faulty wisdom that only man can be brave.  Author is using the term ‘shero/sheroes for female participants in the liberation War] and sheroic deeds of them are as follows.

Asghari Begum, 45 years old, belonged to a well-to-do family and was burnt alive for organizing rebellion in the area in 1858.[lv] Another revolutionary woman was, 28 years old, Asha Devi[lvi], who belonged to a Hindu Gujar family and was hanged in 1858. Another martyred woman was 23 year old young Bhagwati Devi[lvii], born into a Tyagi family of farmers who fought in many battles against the Firangee rule and was hanged in 1858. 24 year old, Habeeba[lviii], belonging to a Muslim Gujar family, fearlessly fought in many battles to liberate neighbouring areas from the British tyranny. She was a great organizer and mobilized her neighbourhood for the liberation struggle. She was captured while resisting a British attack and was executed on gallows in 1858.

Another brave woman from this area named Mam Kaur[lix] belonged to a family of the shepherds and was hanged at the young age of 25 years in 1858. 26 years old, Umda[lx] was another gallant woman from this area, born into a Jat Muslim family who sacrificed her life resisting the British invasion. Raj Kaur[lxi]born in 1833, hailed from a Rajput family and made the supreme sacrifice fighting against the British in Thana Bhawan area only. Another brave woman hailing also from a Jat family who laid down her life fighting against the British was Inder Kaur[lxii]. Bkhtawari[lxiii] born in 1819 was another brave woman from the region who laid down her life fighting against the British rulers. 

Jamila[lxiv] born into a Pathan family of the area took up arms against the foreign rulers and was martyred in 1858. Three other revolutionary women from Thana Bhavan who sacrificed their lives for liberation of India from the Company rule were, Rahimi[lxv], belonging to a Muslim Rajput family born in 1829, Bhagwani[lxvi] born in 1831 hailing from a Brahmin family and Beebee who were hanged in 1858. It is to be noted that most of these revolutionary women were hanged in 1858 which shows that the British that this area remained liberated till 1858.

DELHI

British made it a prestige issue to recapture Delhi (which the revolutionaries got liberated from the British rule on May 11, 1857 and declared it to be the Capital of an Independent India). They rightly thought that if once they were able to re-capture Delhi, the centre of anti-British activities, then it would not be difficult to suppress the rising tide of rebellions in other parts of the country. During June-September 1857, the British army encircled Delhi with all their might but could not break into Delhi which was valiantly being defended by the revolutionary army, which was mocked by the British as poorabia sena (army of people from eastern India).

The majority of this revolutionary army consisted of Hindu soldiers and was led by a joint command consisting of Mohammed Bakht Khan,[lxvii] Azimullah Khan[lxviii], Sham Singh Dooga, Sirdhara Singh, Ghouse Mohammad, Hira Singh and a 'Doabi Brahmin'.[lxix] The contemporary British documents show that despite all their attempts to create communal divide in the ranks of revolutionary army and residents of Delhi, the 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.[lxx]

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 Aarti, garlanded it and blessed it with Vedic hymns.[lxxi]

ANTHEM OF THE WAR

The high degree of communal unity among the rebels can further be known by going through the Rebel Anthem [Aazaadee kaa Tarana] of 1857, penned by Azimullah Khan. It was in Urdu and read:

Hum haen iss 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 pleasure giving, unique in the world. Ganga and Jamuna irrigates its lands.]

Ooper barfeela 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.][lxxii]

Contemporary British narratives underscoring Hindu-Muslim-Sikh unity

William Russell, a renowned war correspondent was sent by The Times, a leading British newspaper published from London to cover the ‘Mutiny.’ In one of his reports from Oudh, dated, March 2, 1858, while describing the strength of the revolutionary army he wrote:

“There are, it is said, at least 60,000 regulars of all sorts, and about 70,000 nujeebs [irregulars], militia, and matchlock-men. All the great chiefs of Oudh, Mussalman and Hindu, are there, and have sworn to fight for their young king, Birjeis Kuddr [Birjis Qadr], 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.”[lxxiii]

Thomas Lowe was part of the British army's campaign against the rebels in Central India as commander of the medical corps. He was one of the leading British officers who participated in the most long running military campaign against the revolutionaries which included killing of Rani of Jhansi. In his war memoirs [published in 1860 from London] despite his deep hatred for the rebels, he was quite frank in sharing the fact that in this rebellion all the following sections of Indians came together for waging war against the British:

“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…”[lxxiv]

Fred Roberts was one of the leading British military commanders who led the British army to re-capture Lucknow, the Capital of the Oudh kingdom. He later on became the Commander- in-Chief of the British armed forces in India. In one of his letters, from the Lucknow front dated November  25, 1857, while rejoicing victory on that day at Sikander Bagh, Lucknow war front 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. According to him:

“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.”[lxxv]

Throughout the First War of Independence 1857 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 not more than 165 years  back. These can be verified even today by a simple perusal of the contemporary British archives, autobiographies, 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. This natural unity between the followers of the two largest religions in 1857 had greatly alarmed and perturbed the British rulers and they could foresee the end of their colonial project in India, in fact, Asia.

This danger could only be averted if Hindus and Muslims were hoodwinked to separate, follow opposite directions and behave as two antagonistic ‘nations’. The survival of the British Empire in India depended on the successful execution of this strategy. The flag-bearers of the politics of two-nations in the past and communal politics, presently, are the ones who helped the British to successfully execute this evil design. We should never 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. Not only on at every anniversary of the great rebellion but every day we must take pledge of never betraying the shared heritage and shared martyrdoms of the First Indian War of Independence.

(3) Women in the forefront of India’s First War of Independence

The apologists of the British rule in India, past and present, argued that the incidents of 1857 were not more than a sepoy mutiny. According to them, in May 1857 it occurred due to the anarchist and disobedient soldiers and they were responsible for violence and destruction. However, the contemporary narratives and records which we perused in details above make it clear that such conclusion about the War was and is a patent lie.

The truth is that the great liberation war which began in May in 1857 will be always remembered for the glorious reality that not only a particular group or people of a particular Caste, gender, religion or region participated but the people of almost all strata joined it and jointly laid down their lives for the liberation of India. One great characteristic, almost forgotten, was that women not only participated in this great War with male rebels but they led the military campaigns against the British at many places.

Generally speaking, we believe that women are weaker and unintelligent in comparison to males. In fact, despite this male-chauvinistic omnipresent belief about women, the First War of Independence of India once again proved the denigrators of women patently wrong. The contemporary documents are a huge repository of great sheroic deeds and sacrifices by the women rich and poor hailing from both countryside and the towns. The War proved umpteen times that given chance women were capable of shaking the foundations of the colonial rule in India of the greatest imperialist power on the earth.  

Born in 1835 in Kashi, the queen/Rani of Jhansi Laxmibai's (real name Manikarnika) was one of the first native rulers who challenged the repressive rule of the East India Company.[lxxvi] The contemporary documents make it amply clear that she did not dream of freeing her own State Jhansi only but the whole of India from the British hegemony. She waged one of the most sheroic military challenges against the British army and kept it going till her last breath. Her correspondence with other rebel chiefs is the living testimony of how she led from the front. In a letter to a rebel chief, Mardan Singh. She wrote,

"Shri Maharani Lakshmibai conveys good wishes for the well-being of Maharaja Shri Raja Mardan Singh Ju Dev. We are well here. We are delighted to read the letter brought by Devan [Dewan, an office equivalent to primeinister] Ghaus…After consultation among ourselves including yourself and Shahgarh and Tatya Tope we came to the conclusion that there should be suraj, our own rule…"[lxxvii]

Laxmibai used to lead the her army’s contingents wearing  normal military attire. She was a great military strategist and rebel leaders in the area used to follow her military plans as would be clear from her another letter to Mardan Singh, which read:

"Shri Maharani Lakshmibai Ju Devi conveys good wishes for the well-being of Maharaja Shri Raja Mardan Singh Bahadur Ju Dev…It is further stated that you please set-out towards Sagar. There are two companies of Sahebs enroute. After crushing them, go ahead along with Raja of Shahgarh. Tatya Tope, Nana Saheb, and I are engaged in making arrangements for the army. Drive Hue [Hugh] Rose at Notghat and proceed towards Kalpi. There we all will meet to jointly attack the British at Gwalior. Now there should not be any delay."[lxxviii]

As a great military strategist she realized that without defeating the prominent British stooge in the Central India, the Scindhias who ruled Gwalior State, the foreign rulers could not be defeated. With this aim she attacked Gwalior Fort. One of the battles continued for more than 15 days. It was here that at the battle front of Kotah-Ki-Sarai on June 18, 1858 she was martyred fighting riding a horse was wounded seriously on the front of Kotha-Ki-Sarai on June 18, 1858 and laid her life there only. She was barely 22 at the time of her martyrdom. Even the British used to praise her bravery. The chief commander of the British Army, Sir Hugh Rose wrote in his report:

"Although a lady she was the bravest and the best military leader of the rebels. A man among the mutineers."[lxxix]

The British official historiographers of the mutiny, Kaye and Malleson confessed that,

“She gained a great influence over the hearts of her people. It was this influence, this force of character, added to a splendid and inspiring courage, that enabled her…to offer to the English troops under Sir Hugh Rose, a resistance which made to a less able commander, might have been successful.”[lxxx]

          Thomas Lowe who was present in all the battles with the Rani though described her as ‘the Jezebel of India’; the wicked woman did confess that she was “the young, energetic, proud, unbending un-compromising Ranee”.[lxxxi] Sir Robert Hamilton who was asked to file a report on the killing of Rani by the British military headquarters submitted the following report:

“The Ranee [sic] was on a horseback, and close to her was the female (a Mohammedan long in the family) who seems never to have left her side on any occasion, these two were struck by bullets and fell, the Ranee survived about 20 minutes.”[lxxxii]

The Muslim lady who never left Rani alone was a young brave fighter woman named Mundar [Munzar?] who was Rani's personal security in charge. She had shown her courage in the battles of Jhansi, Koonch, Kalpi and Gwalior, finally, laid down her life trying to save Rani at the same Kotah-Ki-Sarai. Her sacrifice based on the contemporary police and military archives has been recorded in the following words:

“Resident of Jhansi [now in Uttar Pradesh]; Muslim woman who was a close associate of the Rani of Jhansi; took active part in the Great Revolt against the British rule in 1857.Fought by the side of Maharani Laxmi Bai during the battles against the British at Jhansi, Koonch, Kalpi and Gwalior. Killed in the battle at Kotah-ki-Sarai [June 17, 1858] in Gwalior, where the Rani attained martyrdom.”[lxxxiii]

Another lieutenant of Rani in the War who sacrificed her life was Moti Bai, a canon-operator.  Her sacrifice has been recorded in the following words:

“She took part in throwing the British out from Jhansi and surrounding areas; later the British struck back and reached Jhansi in 1858; while fighting against the British offensive at the Jhansi Fort on June 4, 1858, she was knocked down by the enemy fire and died on the spot.”[lxxxiv]

In this War the sheroic deeds and sacrifices of another woman warrior Rani Avantibai Lodhi of Ramgarh State, situated in the tribal region of the Satpura jungles remain under wrap.  According to the contemporary records the British had confiscated Ramgarh after the demise of her husband, Raja Lakshman Singh. With the beginning of the liberation War she also declared war against the British,

“and advanced towards Suhagpur in July 1857. They opposing British force was defeated and Sohagpur was captured by her. Another British force under Captain HF Waddington tried to stop her and a bloody battle was fought near Shahpura. Riding on horse-back, the Rani personally led her army…Fighting with remarkable valour, she defeated the enemy…Captain Waddington retreated in such haste that his infant child was left behind, but the Rani sent he child to him through her special emissary.”[lxxxv]

The contemporary records also tell us that repeated British attacks were repulsed by the Rani’s army in a crucial battle in April 1858 when her army was fighting the British army,

“the army of the treacherous pro-British ruler of Rewa assaulted her from behind. She herself and her army fought with extreme bravery, but were hopelessly outnumbered”.[lxxxvi]

She was asked to surrender but refused to submit and instead of accepting defeat or surrendering, according to the British gazetteer, “she killed herself by inflicting herself with a double-edged sword so that could not be arrested”.[lxxxvii]

One more queen who led the War after joining hands with Tantya Tope, Nana Sahib and Azimullah Khan was Begum Hazrat Mahal [not to be confused with Zeenat Mahal, wife of Mughal king Bahadur Shah Zafar who helped the British to capture Delhi in September 1857] of Lucknow.  [lxxxviii]The East India Company had deposed her husband, Wajid Ali Shah as ruler of Oudh. On the advice of chieftains she installed her minor son, Brijis Qadr as ruler [she becoming a regent] and formed a united front against the British and challenged them vigorously in the Oudh region. She brought out a Proclamation in 1858 declaring objectives of the independent rule.

When the British army attacked Lucknow, her army fought bravely with her associates. The bravery shown by revolutionaries under her joint command are now part of the folk stories and folklore. The revolutionary forces were defeated due to the treachery of some local chieftains allied with the British and arrival of thousands of the Gurkha soldiers who were sent by the Nepal Rana in support of the British.

Her forces withdrew to Shahjahanpur where in a crucial battle lost due to the treachery of Raja Jagannath Singh of Pawayan. This brave queen instead of discarding the armed struggle continued fighting in the Tarai areas of Nepal with Nana Sahib and Azimullah Khan. She died there and is buried in the vicinity of Jama Masjid, Kathmandu, Nepal.[lxxxix]

War correspondence Howard Russell who was present in all the battles fought with the army of Hazrat Mahal confessed:

 “The Begum exhibits great energy and ability. She has excited all Oudh to take up the interest of her son, and the chiefs have sworn to be faithful to him. We effect to disbelieve his legitimacy, but the zamindars, who ought to be better judges of facts, accept Birjeis Kuddr [Brijis Qadr] without hesitation. Will Government treat these men as rebels or as honourable enemies? The Begum declares undying war against us; and in the circumstances of the annexation of the kingdom, the concealment of the suppression of the treaty, the apparent ingratitude to the family for money lent, and aid given at most critical times, has many grounds for her indignant rhetoric…”

The male chauvinist specially in India who continue to denigrate women as inferior to males must read what a diehard defender of the British colonialism in India wrote about Indian women who mainly stayed in zenanas [female apartment]. According to Russell:

“It appears, from the energetic character of these Ranees and Begums, that they acquire in their zenanas and harems, a considerable amount of actual mental power, and, at all events, became able intriguantes. Their contests for ascendancy over the minds of the men give vigour and acuteness to their intellects.”[xc]

The Lucknow war front witnessed one of the most sheroic deeds of not only 1857 War but any other battle by an alone revolutionary woman which even the British army commanders shared with others. Uda Devi’s husband Makka Pasi of Hazrat Mahal’s revolutionary army was killed in a battle at Chinhat (near Lucknow) on June 10, 1857.  In order to avenge his death what she did was corroborated by the British commander, William Forbes-Mitchel who was leading the attack at the Secundrabad battle front. He wrote in his memoirs:

“In the centre of the inner court of the Secundrabâgh there was a large peepul [Ficus Indica] tree with a very bushy top, round the foot of which were set a number of jars full of cool water. When the slaughter was almost over, many of our men went under the tree for the sake of its shade, and to quench their burning thirst with a draught of the cool water from the jars. A number however lay dead under this tree, both of the Fifty-Third and Ninety-Third, and the many bodies lying in that particular spot attracted the notice of Captain Dawson. After having carefully examined the wounds, he noticed that in every case the men had evidently been shot from above.

“He thereupon stepped out from beneath the tree, and called to Quaker Wallace to look up if he could see any one in the top of the tree, because all the dead under it had apparently been shot from above. Wallace had his rifle loaded, and stepping back he carefully scanned the top of the tree. He almost immediately called out, ‘I see him, sir’…”[xci]

He fired on the sighted person and nobody could believe that,

“down fell a body dressed in a tight-fitting red jacket and tight-fitting rose-coloured silk trousers; and the breast of the jacket bursting open with the fall, showed that the wearer was a woman, She was armed with a pair of heavy old-pattern cavalry pistols, one of which was in her belt still loaded, and her pouch was still about half full of ammunition, while from her perch in the tree, which had been carefully prepared before the attack, she had killed more than half-a-dozen men."[xcii]

In the annals of the history of India’s liberation War another woman who stands tall was Ishwori Kumari Devi, Rani of Tulsipur. Tulsipur known as Tulsipur Pargana (located in the Terai region between India and Nepal) was one of the principalities of the Oudh kingdom. She took up arms when her husband Drig Narayan Singh was treacherously arrested and put up in a jail at Lucknow. The queen of Tulsipur not only raised a large army with the help of Raja Riasat Ali Khan of Utraula but also formed a joint armed front with Nana Sahib, Begum Hazrat Mahal and Raja Devibaksh Singh of Gonda. Her army was defeated due to the arrival of thousands of Gurkha soldiers from Nepal in support of the British army and treachery of Man Singh of Ayodhya and Raja of Balrampur. She with her army shifted her base in the jungles of Nepal and there is almost no primary source clues how and when she died. The British Imperial Gazetteer recorded the fact that where as many rebel taluqdars (large estate holder)

“accepted the amnesty; but neither the Raja of Gonda nor the Rani of Tulsipur could be induced to surrender…and their estates were accordingly confiscated and conferred as reward upon Maharajas Sir Drigbijai Singh of Balrampur and Sir Man Singh of Ajodhya [Ayodhya][xciii]

Mainavati was another leading revolutionary who performed amazing deeds during the War. She was from Bithoor, Cawnpore (now Kanpur), a foster daughter Nana Saheb Peshwa. According to contemporary primary sources she,

“joined the anti-British rebel forces and participated in driving the British out from Kanpur and its neighbouring areas; acted as a supplier of the basic necessities for the rebels during the revolt; in the course of the fighting she was captured by the enemy and mercilessly burnt alive.”[xciv]

Sursee was mother of Bheem Naik, a prominent Bheel tribal leader of Nimar (Barwani State) in the then Central India who organized a valiant armed resistance against the British rule in the area.     According to the contemporary records Sursee organized her own battalion and supported

“her son’s resistance against foreign intrusion in the tribal inhabited areas; she was captured by the British troops near Saloda on 8 February 185, following serious encounter with troops at her command; she was imprisoned and tortured physically as well as mentally at Mandleshewar Fort, died in detention on 28 February 1859.”[xcv]   

The saga of rebel women taking up arms against the foreign rule and laying down their lives in the liberation War was not confined to one area or one section. Women sacrificed lives in every nook and corner of the country. We have discussed above how in a small town, Thana Bhawan, situated in Muzaffar Nagar district (now in western Uttar Pradesh) 13 brave women belonging to different religions and Castes were hanged together or burnt alive for taking up arms against the repressive British rule. We need to re-run that great occurrence.

The names of these sheroes[xcvi] and sheroic deeds of them are as follows. Asghari Begum, 45 years old, belonged to a well-to-do family and was burnt alive for organizing rebellion in the area in 1858.[xcvii] Another revolutionary woman was, 28 years old, Asha Devi[xcviii], who belonged to a Hindu Gujar family and was hanged in 1858. Another martyred woman was 23 year old young Bhagwati Devi[xcix], born into a Tyagi family of farmers who fought in many battles against the Firangee rule and was hanged in 1858. 24 year old, Habeeba[c], belonging to a Muslim Gujar family, fearlessly fought in many battles to liberate neighbouring areas from the British tyranny. She was a great organizer and mobilized her neighbourhood for the liberation struggle. She was captured while resisting a British attack and was executed on gallows in 1858.

Another brave woman from this area named Mam Kaur[ci] belonged to a family of the shepherds and was hanged at the young age of 25 years in 1858. 26 years old, Umda[cii] was another gallant woman from this area, born into a Jat Muslim family who sacrificed her life resisting the British invasion. Raj Kaur[ciii]born in 1833, hailed from a Rajput family and made the supreme sacrifice fighting against the British in Thana Bhawan area only. Another brave woman hailing also from a Jat family who laid down her life fighting against the British was Inder Kaur[civ]. Bkhtawari[cv] born in 1819 was another brave woman from the region who laid down her life fighting against the British rulers. 

Jamila[cvi] born into a Pathan family of the area took up arms against the foreign rulers and was martyred in 1858. Three other revolutionary women from Thana Bhavan who sacrificed their lives for liberation of India from the Company rule were, Rahimi[cvii], belonging to a Muslim Rajput family born in 1829, Bhagwani[cviii] born in 1831 hailing from a Brahmin family and Beebee who were hanged in 1858. It is to be noted that most of these revolutionary women were hanged in 1858 which shows that the British that this area remained liberated till 1858.

How serious was rebellion mainly led by women and the degree of resistance at Thana Bhavan can be understood by reading the description about it in a British gazetteer which shared the information that after hearing about the rebellion, 

“The troops at once proceeded to Thana Bhawan and attacked the town, but were repulsed with the loss of 17 killed and 21 wounded, and were obliged to retire upon Muzaffarnagar, which was again threatened by marauders. On the arrival of reinforcements from Meerut, an expedition was again led against Thana Bhawan which was evacuated by the enemy, and the gates and walls were razed to the ground.”[cix]

Delhi, battle front too witnessed unbelievable sheroics of Indian women which was beyond comprehension of the leading British commanders. Hodson in a letter to his wife on August 8, 1857 informed her,

“I have sent one of our few prisoners up to Forsyth [a senior British official] at Umbala [Ambala], whom we ironically call the ‘Maid of Delhi’, though her age and character are questionable, and her ugliness undoubted. She actually came out on horseback, and fought against us like a fiend. The General at first released her, but knowing how mischievous she would be among those superstitious Mahommedans, I persuaded him to let her be recaptured, and made over for safe custody.”[cx]

Importantly, another leading commander of the besieging British army outside Delhi, HH Greathed (who was killed by the defending revolutionary army on September 19, 1857) in a letter to his wife dated July 19, 1857 informed about another woman fighter being arrested outside Delhi,

"A John of Arc [a young French lady who played sheroic role against the besieging British army and was martyred in 1431] was made prisoner yesterday; she is said to have shot one of our men, and to have fought desperately. She is a 'Jehadin,' a religious fanatic, and sports a green turban, and was probably thought to be inspired. She is to be sent prisoner to Umballa [Ambala]."[cxi] 

It is to be noted that details of participation of women (or joint martyrdoms of Hindus-Muslims-Sikhs and participation of common people) in the Great War of liberation are based on whatever contemporary records have survived. Most of the contemporary archival material has been lost due to the exigencies of weather, personal collections not maintained or destroyed due to the political upheavals. The official records too met the same fate in many-many cases. Moreover, Partition of India caused bifurcation of these records and large number of documents lost in transition.

We also lost lots of documents due to the ‘theft’ of the documents by the departing colonial masters. They took away all important archival material with them; the proof being that all important documents of the period are stored at India Office Library, London and thus remain generally inaccessible to researchers. Those Indian researchers who can afford to visit have to buy their own documents which are sold as per the size of the document.  Unfortunately, even after independence we did not demand return of this treasure from our former masters. It is this paucity of documents that according to a renowned historian Professor Nurul Hasan "prevents us from acknowledging here thousands of other patriots whose name may remain unknown."

Those women who did not participate in the War directly produced amazing, popular, inspiring, great folk-songs hailing the revolutionaries and decrying the foreign rulers [author has reservation about calling these songs as ‘folk-songs’ which as per the dictionary definitions and usage mean created by the commoners, written in regional languages/dialects which do not represent the mainstream. It is the outcome of our hatred towards common people, the languages/dialect they use, specially, women who have traditionally been composers and singers of such songs. In fact, during the War these were the mainstream songs which inspired millions of revolutionaries and kept the whole nation engrossed in the cause of liberation].

Women as balladeers of the War

Such songs and ballads were composed, set to tunes and sung mainly by women in every regional languages and dialects. Sadly, most of these have been lost as, except connoisseurs and historian like PC Joshi, independent India did nothing to save this great heritage of joint-struggles and joint martyrdoms. Two of such songs are reproduced in the following.

Oh, come and look!

Oh, come and look!

In the Bazaar of Meerut,

The Firinghi [the British] is waylaid and beaten!

The Whiteman is way laid and beaten!

In the open Bazaar of Meerut,

Look, oh look (he is beaten).

His gun is snatched, His horse lies dead, His revolver is battered!

In the open Bazaar,

He is waylaid and beaten!

In the Bazaar of Meerut,

Look, oh look!

(Composed, sung by Gujar [a peasant community] women in the Western Uttar Pradesh region after the victory of revolutionaries in Meerut, Translated from the regional dialect known as ‘desi bhasha’)[cxii]

Ah my little Devar!

The army has attacked the fort,

My Devar [husband’s younger brother] is facing the screaming bullets,

One ‘Firangi’ [the British], my darling has killed.

Two Firangis, my Devar has seized and thrown,

Inside the dungeon,

I reproached him and he was angered terribly.

There [on the otherside],

An order was given, And the Firangi armies,

Got ready and stormed the fort.

But see my Devar,

Still unperturbed,

Is fighting them as though it is mere play to him.

Oh, dear sister,

Much, very much did I tell him,

But he does not listen,

Now even the shells are finished.

(But) He says, ‘I will not yield’,

And thus, he needs not,

Ah! My little Devar.

[A song sung by a sister-in-law translated from Braj language of the Mathura-Agra region.][cxiii]

                  (4) Conclusion: Shameless betrayal of the sacrifices and joint heritage of India’s First War of Independence by our independent India.

Now it is almost 170 years that people of this country; men, women, children belonging to all religions, regions and strata rose in revolt from Kashmir to Madras and Sylhet to the borders of Afghanistan. Today if Indians have forgotten about this glorious saga of commitment and sacrifices for the liberation of India can be forgiven in absence of the contemporary narratives. But what independent India did to obliterate the memories of this great War immediately after independence on August 15, 1947, when only 90 years had elapsed to this great War, could only be described as criminal.

It is true that we spent crores of rupees in celebrating the 100th 150th anniversaries of the War but did not bother to revive the common heritage of the joint martyrdoms of this glorious struggle. Earlier, the first education minister of the independent India, Abul Kalam Azad organized a team of renowned historians to compile the list of pan-Indian martyrs of the War but it was abandoned. On the eve of 150th anniversary Indian Council of Historical produced volumes with details of martyrs which unfortunately not available now.

True, these were worthy deeds but the issue was not only of chronicling the sacrifices but how to undo the injustice done to the liberation warriors who not only lost their lives but all their properties were confiscated and given to Indian stooges who helped the foreign rulers with all kinds of human and non-human resources for suppressing the mutiny.  

We cannot overlook the fact that Indians lost this War despite mass upsurge and support. The perusal of the contemporary documents makes it clear that it was due to the Indian stooges that we lost this War. reasons are not difficult to find out. Kaye was forthright in his conclusion that these were princes who helped the British in recapturing India after 1857 revolt. According to him,

“It was one of the most curious characteristics of the mutiny-war, that although the English were supposed to be fighting against the native races, they were in reality sustained and supported by the Natives of the country, and could not have held their own for a day without the aid of those whom we hated as our national enemies.”

William Russell, war correspondent in one of the dispatches (May 9, 1858) wrote that

“Our siege of Delhi, would have been quite impossible, if the rajahs [sic] of Patiala and of Jhind (now known as Jind in Haryana) had not been our friends, and if the Sikhs had not recruited (in) our battalions, and remained quite in Punjab. The Sikhs at Lucknow did good service…as our armies were attended and strengthened by them in the field”

It is to be noted here that when Russell referred to Sikhs, it did not mean common Sikhs but the Sikh rulers of Punjab. Moreover, these were not the only rulers who came to sub-serve the interest of the British masters when the latter were on the verge of losing India. The rulers of Kashmir, Hyderabd, Gwalior, Nabha, Kapurthala, Udaipur, Jaipur, Alwar, Kotah, Bhopal, Pataudi and hundreds others joined the bandwagon of the British imperialism in the War.

Sir Charles Aitchison, who played a leading role in suppressing ‘Mutiny’ not only hailed the crucial contribution of such stooge princes in winning India in the following words:

“The Native States rendered priceless service in the day of our distress…Speaking in the fullness of his gratitude, Lord Canning [the Governor General] described them as ‘breakwaters to the storm, which would otherwise have swept over us in one great wave.’ ‘The safety of our rule is increased,’ he wrote, ‘not diminished, by the maintenance of Native Chiefs well affected to us…And should the day come when India shall be threatened by an external enemy, or when the interests of England elsewhere may require that her Eastern Empire shall incur more than ordinary risk, one of our best mainstays will be found in these Native States.’”

The post-1857 era witnessed an India in which only those princely states survived which either had worked as the stooges of the colonial masters in this War or were pardoned by the British. Those entire nationalists who challenged the foreign rule were ruthlessly suppressed. Most of them died fighting or were hanged; their families banished and their estates confiscated and handed over to the loyal princes.

 

On the eve of independence the first decision which independent India’s sovereign government should have taken must have been to return the properties of the families of the martyrs which were confiscated and given as rewards to the Indian stooges. The whole nation knows how the descendants of these revolutionaries including those belonging to princely families lived life of penury, hunger and died miserable deaths.   Out of thousands, here are few examples of gross and criminal injustice which needed immediate redressal but we kept mum as a State and nation.

According to the contemporary British gazetteers the estates of Raja of Gonda and Rani of Tulsipur,

“were confiscated and conferred as rewards upon Maharaja Drigbijai Singh of Balrampur and Sir Man Singh of Ajodhya”.

Scindhia of Gwalior who helped the British greatly in defeating Rani Laxmi Bai and Nana and their killings, as per the contemporary British gazetteer

 “For his services in the mutiny lands worth 3 lakhs a year revenue were made over to him, while he was allowed to increase his infantry from 3,000 to 5,000 men and his artillery from 32 to 36 guns."

We come to know again through a contemporary British gazetteer that,

"Wazir Muhammad Khan, who, during the Mutiny, repulsed with comparatively few men an attack made on the Tonk fort by the combined forces of Nawab of Banda and Tantia Topi [sic]. For these services, his salute was raised from 15 to 17 guns…"

Ruler of Patiala who as an ally of the British played a  prominent role in crushing rebellion in Haryana, Delhi, Oudh received huge ‘inaam’,

"After 1857 Narendra Singh’s splendid services were rewarded with the gift of sovereign rights in the Narnaul division of the forfeited State of the Jhajjar Nawab, assessed at a revenue of two lakhs on condition of political and military support in times of general danger or disturbance. He was also permitted to purchase the Kanaud pargana of Jhajjar and the taluka of Khamaon in perpetual sovereignty in liquidation of loans advanced to the British Government during the Mutiny. In addition, the Maharaja was granted administrative jurisdiction over Bhadaur, and the right of escheats and reversion to lapsed estates therein, receiving the annual sum of Rs. 5,265, previously paid into the Imperial treasury by the Bhadaur Sardars. Narendra Singh was made a K.C.S.I., in 1861…”

Likewise, Raja Randhir Singh of Kapurthala State who helped the British to crush rebellion in Delhi and Oudh

“was rewarded with a grant of the two confiscated estates of Bundi and Bithauli, in the Bharaich and Bara Banki districts in Oudh, yielding a rental of Rs. 4,35,000. His brother, Kunwar Bikrama Singh, who had accompanied the Raja to Oudh, was given a portion of the Akauna estate in Bharaich, yielding Rs. 45,000 a year. The Raja of Kapurthala stood fifth in order of precedence among the chiefs of the Punjab. He was entitled to a salute of eleven guns, and to receive a return visit from the Viceroy.”

The Pataudi family too was rewarded for services rendered during the mutiny.

"He [nawab of Pataudi] also took an active part in the suppression of a rising in the Bahora pargana of Gurgaon, organized by one Tula Ram, grandson of Rao Tej Singh of Rewari; and his troops were present on the side of order at the action outside Jaurasi, which lasted for two days… Pataudi ranks seventeenth in order of precedence amongst the Native States of the Punjab, and the chief is entitled to be received by the Viceroy."

The British rulers were grateful to Jodhpur Raja when stated:

"The Maharaja [Takht Singh of Jodhpur] did good service during the Mutiny. He was entitled for a salute of 17 guns. Takht Singh died in 1873, when he was succeeded by eldest son, Jaswant Singh…He was created a GCSI in 1875 and subsequently his salute was raised first to 19, and next to 21 guns."

The Pawayan [in Shahjahanpur] was ruled by a notorious British stooge, Raja Jagannath Singh when 1857 happened. In a gut-wrenching treachery he invited the leading commander of the rebellion Maulvi Ahmedullah Shah posing as supporter of the War. However, when Maulvi reached his palace in the evening he was beheaded by Jagannath’s brother Baldeo Singh. The British had announced a prize of 50 thousand pieces of silver for beheading the Maulvi. He presented Maulvi’s severed head same night to the British commander of the area and received cash ‘inaam’ as reward. In his absence the rebel forces including under the command of Nana and Hazrat Mahal lost important battle and revolutionary rule in Rohilkhand came to an end. The decadents of this criminal family became legislators, ministers both at the Stat and central levels. This is how we paid homage to 1857 martyrs!

Apart from these stooges, rulers of Dhar, Ratlam, Jaipur, Jammu, Rewa, Rampur and hundreds other were rewarded for suppressing the mutiny. It must be noted that in 20th century most of these pro-British native rulers became patrons and financiers of communal-fascist organizations like Hindu Mahasabha, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Muslim League. They provided sanctuaries to these anti-national organizations. Many-many of these kept on ruling free India; we saw the spectacle of the family members of the stooges enjoying power as chief ministers, ministers, Governors in an independent India. They continued enjoying the benefits of estates which were confiscated from the rebels and awarded to their families by the British.

By forgetting the heritage of the War 1857; the heritage of religious unity and unity of all the struggling masses against loot and imperialism. The ruling classes let the polity slip down to the present sorry state of affairs when India is devastated by the forces of religious bigotry, intolerance, Casteism and ruthlessness.   

How heartless was independent India that we even did not try to locate the final resting places of heroes and sheroes of the War of 1857 like, Rani of Tulsipur, Zeenat Mahal, Azeemullah Khan, Nana Saheb, General Bakht Khan and many of their comrades who died in Nepal.

Shamsul Islam

May 5, 2021

Kannada, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati and video interviews/debates:

http://du-in.academia.edu/ShamsulIslam

Facebook: https://facebook.com/shamsul.islam.332

Twitter: @shamsforjustice

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Email: notoinjustice@gmail.com

 



[i] For the whole text see Husain, Iqbal (ed.), Proclamations of the Rebels of 1857, ICHR, Delhi, p. 28.

[ii] Lal, Kanhaya, Tareekh-e-Bhaghawat-e-Hind:Moharba-e-Azeem [History of Indian Mutiny: A Great War], Munshi Nawal Kishore Press, Awadh, 1889 and Khan, Syed Ahmad (Sir Syed), The Causes of the Indian Revolt, Khuda Baksh Oriental Public Library, Patna, 1999 reprint [first edition 1859.

[iii] Kaye,  A History of the Sepoy War in India (in three volumes).

[iv] Kaye, John William, A History of the Sepoy War in India 1857-1858, vol. iii, London, 1870, Preface p. vi.

[v] Ball, Charles, The History of the Indian Mutiny, vol. ii, The London Printing & Publishing Co, 1858.

[vi] Hodson, George E (ed.), Twelve Years of a Soldier's Life in India: Being Extracts from the Letters of the Late Major WSR Hodson (BA Trinity College; First Bengal European Fusiliers, Commandant of Hodson's Horses) Including  a Personal Narrative of the Siege of Delhi and Capture of Delhi and Capture of the King and Princes, John W. Parker, London, 1859, p. 246.

[vii] Hodson. p. 240.

[viii] Russell, William Howard, My Diary in India:In the Year 1858-9, vol. i, Routledge, Warner & Routledge, London, 1860, p. 164.

[ix] Lowe, pp. 357-358.

[x] Lowe, p. 327.

[xi] Lowe, p. 59.

[xii] Lowe, p. 57.

[xiii] Hodson. p. 196.

[xiv] Kaye, vol. ii, pp. 630.

[xv] Kaye, vol. ii, p. 631.

[xvi] Fred, p. 56.

[xvii] Fred, p. 75.

[xviii] Trevelyan, GO, Cawnpore, Macmillan, London, 1866, pp. 34.

[xix] Trevelyan, GO, Cawnpore, Macmillan, London, 1866, pp. 34-35.

[xx] Kaye, A History of the Great Revolt, vol. i, p. 246.

[xxi] Hodson, p. 243.

[xxii] Chopra, PN, pp. 1,30,39,43,55,81-82.

[xxiii] Kaye, John William, A History of the Sepoy War in India 1857-1858, vol. iii, London, 1870, pp. 592-593.

[xxiv] Kaye, John William, A History of the Sepoy War in India 1857-1858, vol. iii, London, 1870, pp. 610-611.

[xxv] Hodson. p. 201.

[xxvi] Hodson, p. 205.]

 

[xxvii] Hodson. pp. 219-220.

[xxviii] Griffiths, Charles John, A Narrative of the Siege of Delhi with an account of the Mutiny at Ferozepore in 1857, John Murray, London, 1910, p. 159.

[xxix] For Oudh multiple spellings have been used like Oude, Awadh as mentioned in the contemporary narratives.

[xxx] Husain, Iqbal (ed.), Proclamations of the Rebels of 1857, ICHR, Delhi.]

[xxxi] Iqbal, Rashida (ed.), Unsung Heroes of Freedom Struggle in Andamans: Who’s Who, Andaman & Nicobar Administration, Port Blair, 2004.

[xxxii] In this national war of independence people of other religions also participated as we find Jains, Buddhists and even Christians too laying down their lives but contemporary documents refer to the followers of only these 3 religions.

[xxxiii] Cited in Pande, BN, The Hindu Muslim Problem, Gandhi Smriti & Darshan Samiti, Delhi, p. vi.

[xxxiv] John Lawrence note dated August 18, 1857 cited in Khan, Syed Ahmad (Sir Syed), Sarkashee-e-Zila Bijnore, Nadwatul Mussanefeen, Delhi, 1964 [first edition published by Mufussilite Press, Agra, 1858], p. 339.

[xxxv] Chopra, PN (ed.), Who is Who of Indian Martyrs: 1857, vol. 3, Government of India, 1973, p. 9. It is the most authentic narrative of the 1857 martyrs as data was collected from police, administrative records and the British gazetteers. It is to be noted as admitted in the preface by Professor Nurul Hasan that loss and non-availability of records "prevents us from acknowledging here thousands of other patriots whose name may remain unknown."

I have also consulted the contemporary British records and narratives for sharing details of martyrs.

The record of the martyrs of India’s First War of Independence is also available in 5 volume series (2 volumes in two parts) commissioned by Indian Council of Historical Research, Delhi titled Dictionary of Martyrs: India’s Freedom Struggle (1857-1947), vol. ii (part 2),ICHR, Delhi, 2010. Its circulation was stopped for unknown reasons recently.

[xxxvi] Ibid., p.120.

[xxxvii] Ibid., p.3. 

[xxxviii] Ibid., p. 139.

[xxxix] Ibid., p.34.

[xl] Ibid., pp. 62-63.

[xli] Ibid., pp. 62-63.

[xlii] Ibid., p p. 56-57.

[xliii] Ibid., p. 102.

[xliv] Ibid., p. 40.

[xlv] Ibid., 81.

[xlvi] Ibid., 45.

[xlvii] Ibid., 75.

[xlviii] Chopra, PN (ed.), Who is Who of Indian Martyrs: 1857, vol. 3, Government of India, 1973, p. 102.

[xlix] Ibid., 143-144.

[l] Ibid., 125. The British were not able to arrest him till 1862 when due to the treachery of a Maratha landlord was arrested at Jammu (Kashmir) with his wife and a child. He was hanged at Kanpur on August 20, 1862.

[li] Ibid., 41. 

[lii] Ibid., 41-42.

[liii] Ibid., 73-74.

[liv] Ibid., 76.

[lv] Chopra, PN (ed.), Who is Who of Indian Martyrs: 1857, vol. 3, Government of India, 1973, p. 11.

[lvi] Ibid., p. 11.

[lvii] Ibid., p. 21.

[lviii] Ibid., p. 49.

[lix] Ibid., p. 87..

[lx] Ibid., p. 149

[lxi] Ibid., p. 118.

[lxii] Ibid., p. 60.

[lxiii] Ibid., p. 16.

[lxiv] Ibid., pp. 64-65.

[lxv] Ibid., p. 118.

[lxvi] Ibid., pp. 20-21.

[lxvii] Ibid., 17. According to the British military reports he was martyred while leading a revolutionary army contingent on Nepal borders on May 13, 1859.

[lxviii] Ibid., 13. Escaped from India into Nepal forests with Nana Saheb, died at Bhutwal (Nepal) in October 1859.

[lxix] The names of these commanders keep on recurring in the letters of spies who were sending day-to-day reports to the British commanders at the Ridge where Hindu Rao Hospital stands presently. According to these spies there was 'fauji kote' or war council  consisting of the above commanders. For these letters see, Islam, Shamsul (ed.) Letters of Spies: How Delhi was Lost, Pharos, Delhi, 2019.

[lxx] From the letter of spy Ramji Das Alipur, Ibid., p. 63.

[lxxi] Metcalf, Charles Theophilus, Two Narratives of the Mutiny of Delhi, A Constable & Company, London, 1898, pp. 125-126.

[lxxii] Appeared in Urdu newspaper Pyam-e-Azadi [Message of Independence], Delhi, May 13, 1857.

[lxxiii] Russell, William Howard, My Diary in India, in the Year 1858-9, vol. i, Routledge, London, 1860, p. 244.

[lxxiv] Lowe, Thomas, Central India: During the Rebellion of 1857 and 1858: A Narrative of Operations of the British Forces from the Suppression of Mutiny in Aurangabad to the Capture of Gwalior Under Major General Sir Hugh Rose, GCB,  and Brigadier Sir C. Stuart, KCB, Longman, London, 1860, p. 324.

[lxxv] Roberts, Fred, Letters Written During the Mutiny, Macmillan, London, 1924, pp. 103-104.

[lxxvi] Chopra, PC (ed.), Who is Who of Indian Martyrs: 1857, p. 81.

[lxxvii] [Chaturvedi, DN, (tr. & ed.), Remember Us Once in a While, Publication Division (GOI), Delhi, 1998, p. 2.]

[lxxviii] Ibid., p. 3.]

[lxxix] cited in Joshi, PC, 1857 in Folk Songs, PPH, Delhi, 1994, p. 46.

[lxxx] cited in Joshi, PC, 1857 in Folk Songs, PPH, Delhi, 1994, p. 50.

[lxxxi] Lowe, p. 236.

[lxxxii] [Foreign Political Consultations, No. 4293, December 31, 1858. Cited in Surendranath Sen, 1857, Government of India, Delhi, 1957, p. 293.

[lxxxiii] [Chopra, p. 102.

[lxxxiv]  DICTIONARY OF MARTYRS: INDIA’S FREEDOM STRUGGLE (1857-1947), vol. 2 (part ii), Delhi, 2010, p. 97.

[lxxxv] Chopra, PC (ed.), Who is Who of Indian Martyrs: 1857, pp. 11.

 

[lxxxvi] Chopra, PC (ed.), Who is Who of Indian Martyrs: 1857, pp. 11.

[lxxxvii] District Mandla Gazetteer (1912) cited in Mishr, Suresh, Mandla ke Dastavez, Swaraj Sansthan, Bhopal, 2004, p. 15.

[lxxxviii] Chopra, PC (ed.), Who is Who of Indian Martyrs: 1857, pp. 54-55. 

[lxxxix] [https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/nepal-sun-shines-on-begum-hazrat-mahals-grave/articleshow/58074241.cms

[xc] [Russell, William Howard, My Diary in India, vol. 1, Routledge, Warner & Routledge, London, 1860, pp. 274-75.]

 

[xci] Forbes-Mitchell, William, Reminiscences of the Great Mutiny 18576-59 Including the Relief, Siege & Capture of Lucknow& the Campaign in Rohilcund & Oude, Macmillan, London, 1897, p. 57.

[xcii] Forbes-Mitchell, William, p. 58.

[xciii] Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. xii, Oxford, London, 1908, p. 313.

[xciv] Mutiny Records, Kanpur Division, Mutiny Basta, UPRRA; WWIM, III, p. 86.

[xcv] Mutiny Papers, vol. ii, NAIB; WWIM, iii, pp. 141-142 cited in Dictionary of Martyrs: India’s Freedom Struggle (1857-1947), vol. ii (part 2), ICHR, Delhi, 2010, p. 345.

[xcvi] according to the dictionary word ‘hero’ means a “man who exhibits great bravery” which is not gender neutral and conveys the faulty wisdom that only man can be brave.  The author is using the term ‘shero/sheroes for female participants in the liberation War]

[xcvii] Chopra, PN (ed.), Who is Who of Indian Martyrs: 1857, vol. 3, Government of India, 1973, p. 11.

[xcviii] Ibid., p. 11.

[xcix] Ibid., p. 21.

[c] Ibid., p. 49.

[ci] Ibid., p. 87..

[cii] Ibid., p. 149

[ciii] Ibid., p. 118.

[civ] Ibid., p. 60.

[cv] Ibid., p. 16.

[cvi] Ibid., pp. 64-65.

[cvii] Ibid., p. 118.

[cviii] Ibid., pp. 20-21.

[cix] Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 18, p. 86.

[cx] Hodson. p. 259.]

[cxi] Greathed, HH, Letters Written During the Siege of Delhi (edited by his widow), Longman, London, 1858, p. 130.

[cxii] Joshi, P. C. (compiled), 1857 in Folk Songs, People’s Publishing House, Delhi, 1994, p. 9.

[cxiii] Ibid., p. 13.

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