Subscribe to International UpdatesIndia Commemorates 1857 Revolt
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Thousands march to Delhi, following the path of Indian soldiers who rebelled against their British rulers 150 years ago.
30 Second Summary
For the first time in the country’s history, India celebrated the 1857 uprising, which claimed the lives of thousands of Indians and Britons.
This event was once universally referred to as the Indian Mutiny, but a change in national self-perception has led to its being renamed the First War of Independence.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed the crowds. He said that 1857 provided “a shining example of our national unity.”
The uprising occurred when Indian soldiers, called sepoys, were enraged by rumors that the British had added pig fat to the regulation gun cartridge grease. Pigs are considered unclean by both Hindus and Muslims, and are strictly prohibited. Sepoys of both religions rose up in violent protest against the British.
Some Indian commentators have questioned the appropriateness of this commemoration. There has been a call for the recognition of the earlier Anglo–Sikh War of 1845.
Critics have also questioned whether a country that gained its independence through peaceful protest in 1947 should celebrate such a violent revolt.
This event was once universally referred to as the Indian Mutiny, but a change in national self-perception has led to its being renamed the First War of Independence.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed the crowds. He said that 1857 provided “a shining example of our national unity.”
The uprising occurred when Indian soldiers, called sepoys, were enraged by rumors that the British had added pig fat to the regulation gun cartridge grease. Pigs are considered unclean by both Hindus and Muslims, and are strictly prohibited. Sepoys of both religions rose up in violent protest against the British.
Some Indian commentators have questioned the appropriateness of this commemoration. There has been a call for the recognition of the earlier Anglo–Sikh War of 1845.
Critics have also questioned whether a country that gained its independence through peaceful protest in 1947 should celebrate such a violent revolt.
Headline
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed the crowds gathered outside the Red Fort in Delhi to commemorate the revolt: “Poverty is the weakness, and prosperity with happy families is strong armor to protect the nation from internal conflict and external aggression.”
Source: The International Herald Tribune
Reference Material
India has a population of 1.1 billion, a large skilled workforce, and a fast-growing economy, but is still troubled by widespread poverty.
Source: The BBC: Country Profile
Reactions
The first war of Indian independence occurred before 1857, according to four members of the Indian parliament. They protested during a joint session of parliament that the 1845 Anglo–Sikh War should be recognized as the start of the independence movement.
Source: The India Tribune
Historian Rudrangshu Mukherjee questions whether the revolt of 1857 was “too violent an episode to celebrate.” The sepoys who rebelled “killed mercilessly without considerations of gender and age.” As a consequence Mukherjee wonders, “Can the Indian state say that it is loyal to the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi, the apostle of non-violence?"
Source: Telegraph India
Indian blogger Shantanudutta questions the significance of the commemoration and the renaming of the “mutiny” as the War of Independence: “If the events of 1857 constituted the first war of independence, which was the second? We do not find any reference to a second war of independence in any of our history books.”
Source: bloggernews.net
Key Players
Manmohan Singh, India’s fourteenth prime minister, addressed the crowds in Delhi on the anniversary of the Indian revolt. Manmohan was born in 1932 in the Punjab. Educated at both Oxford and Cambridge in England, he was elected prime minister, the most powerful executive position in the Indian constitution, in 2004.
Source: Manmohan Singh
Indian President Rashtrapati Bhavan described the revolt as one of the “small streams of dissent with the tyranny of colonial rule.” He said that “what was called a mutiny … was a symptom of something far deeper and greater. Soon these small streams joined together to become a powerful flood as a nationwide movement to regain our lost freedom.”
Source: Rashtrapati Bhavan
History
India came under British dominion through the operation of a private firm, the British East India Company. The British government officially took over the running of the colony after 1857. India achieved full independence in 1947.
Source: The Washington Post: Country Guide
“Attracting people from all walks of life––both Hindus and Muslims, [the uprising] triggered demands for radical social and economic reforms, calling for a new society that would be more democratic and more representative of popular demands,” states this history of the 1857 revolt.
Source: The First War of Independence
The uprising was confined to the north of India, a region which can be examined on this historical map.
Source: Indian History in Maps
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