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Book Review
A milestone in history
THE 1857 REBELLION — Debates in Indian History: Biswamoy Pati — Editor; Oxford University Press, YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi-110001. Rs. 595.
Suranjan Das
The 1857 Revolt posed the first major national challenge to the English rule in India. It evoked strong reactions from contemporary British and Indian observers; it encouraged the subsequent freedom struggle; its nature, extent and impact have remained a subject of scholarly debate. The present volume thematically brings together examples of historiographical trends in what is widely acknowledged as India’s First War of Independence. In his editorial introduction Bis
wamoy Pati delineates the major understandings of the Revolt, but also suggests new ways to unravel its “fascinating complexities.”
Organised uprising
The book’s first part carries extracts from recollections of the two contemporary English observers — Charles Ball and J.W. Kaye — who essentially viewed the Revolt as a Sepoy Mutiny, triggered by a perception of threat to the caste status of the sepoys. Part two contains selections from the well-known writings of R.C. Mazumdar, S.B. Chaudhuri, S.N. Sen and K.K. Dutta who address the issue of the uprising’s nationalist character. Mazumdar questions the presence among the rebels of either a common cause or Hindu-Muslim harmony and dismisses the idea of the rebellion as a “national war of liberation.” Chaudhuri dissects two segments within the Revolt: “the military mutiny and the civil rebellion”, and sees in it “the possible inception of the nationalist movement.” Dutta strengthens Chaudhuri’s thesis of the transformation of the mutiny into a rebellion. Authoring the first officially sponsored history of the Revolt in independent India, Sen emphasises the rising’s organised nature, underlines its support from diverse social groups across the country, documents instances of communal amity during the Revolt, and notes its national character in parts of the subcontinent.
Popular dimensions
In its third part the volume reprints articles of Talmiz Khaldun and E.I. Brodkin on “the restorative character” of the Revolt. The next part includes responses of K.M. Ashraf and Iqtidar Alam Khan to the colonial categorisation of the Revolt as a “Muslim conspiracy.” Part V contains instances of recent writings on the Revolt’s popular dimensions. Eric Stokes, Rudrangshu Mukherjee and Tapti Roy highlight the Revolt’s peasant base; Gautam Bhadra and K.S. Singh focus on the “tribal component” among the rebels; Badri Narayan reconstructs the impressions of the Revolt in local traditions, folklores and popular culture; Rajat Kanta Roy captures the spirit of the rebels as embodied in “a collective mentality.”
In his editorial introduction Biswamay Pati draws attention to latest researches in unfolding the role of artisans, tribals, dalits and women in the uprising, as well as the cultural and artistic reflections of the Revolt. But none of them have found a place in the volume. Again, the editor acknowledges the need to revise our received wisdom on the mapping of the Revolt, but recent contributions of Basudeb Chattopadhyay or N. Rajendran on the “Revolt in the periphery” are left out from the collection.
Other current concerns could have been accommodated in the volume. William Darlymple’s bid to consider the rebellion as a “clash of religious fundamentalisms” might have been juxtaposed with Irfan Habib’s convincing uncovering of secular and democratic overtones of the Revolt. The Revolt’s impact on anti-establishment politics at the international realm, and recreation of the Revolt through contemporary vernacular literature by scholars like Mushirul Hasan too requires due cognisance.
Fresh perspectives
A centenary or bi-centenary celebration of a historical event enables us to look at it afresh through new methodological insights and exploration of new source materials. The centenary of the 1857 Revolt occasioned the first major spurt of historical writings on the event. The commemoration of the Revolt’s 150th year has again yielded a fresh crop of writings that have enriched our understanding. A pressing need is to bring together the contending, or often complementary thinking, on the upsurge to identify the missing points in the Revolt’s historiography. This collection has eminently fulfilled this need. But we expect the editor to publish a supplementary volume to collate those interpretations of the rebellion, which could not be included in the volume, possibly for reasons of space. Exercises, as the present one, are essential to refresh our knowledge of the most powerful 19th century anti-colonial insurgence. The book certainly deserves a place both in personal collection and public libraries.
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