The Trial of Mangal Pandey

The Trial of Mangal Pandey PDF Author: Leela Gujadhur Sarup
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
Presents the official records of the trial in the death sentence of Mangal Pandey hailed by many as the one who initiated India's first war of independence in 1857. The trials records throw fresh light on Pandey's role in the first war of independence, leaving the responsibility of discerning an accident from a deliberate act of rebellion solely with the leader.

Mangal Pandey

Mangal Pandey PDF Author: Rudrangshu Mukherjee
Publisher: Penguin Group
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 142

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Book Description
'Come out! Get ready! It's for our religion! From biting these cartridges we shall become infidels!' On a sleepy Sunday afternoon in March 1857, an agitated sepoy in the English East India Company's 34th Native Infantry marched on to the parade ground in Barrackpore, exhorting his comrades to join him in protecting their religion from the Europeans. When British officers arrived to arrest him, he drew his sword on them and then turned his musket on himself. As he was led off to the gallows a few days later, Mangal Pandey passed into history and legend as the man who single-handedly started the 1857 Rising. But who was the real Mangal Pandey? A dashing, heroic figure, as portrayed by Aamir Khan in the film The Rising? A flery patriot who embarked on a suicidal mission to defend his country's honour? Or just an ordinary sepoy who, in a state of intoxication, committed a foolhardy act for which he was hanged?Lively, thought-provoking as well as scholarly, Rudrangshu Mukherjee's analysis of this emotive episode in Indian history presents a vivid picture of life in the barracks of the East India Company's cantonments in 1857, describes the social customs and military regulations that governed the daily routines of Mangal Pandey and other Indian sepoys, and examines the controversies and unrest that foreshadowed the 1857 Rising. Uncovering the hard facts behind the myths and conjectures of popular belief, nationalist rhetoric and cinematic imagination, this book provides, for the first time, a credible portrait of Mangal Pandey as he really was.

The Skull of Alum Bheg

The Skull of Alum Bheg PDF Author: Kim Wagner
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190911743
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 335

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Book Description
In 1963, a human skull was discovered in a pub in Kent in south-east England. A brief handwritten note stuck inside the cavity revealed it to be that of Alum Bheg, an Indian soldier in British service who was executed during the aftermath of the 1857 Uprising, or The Indian Mutiny as historians of an earlier era described it. Alum Bheg was blown from a cannon for having allegedly murdered British civilians, and his head was brought back as a grisly war-trophy by an Irish officer present at his execution. The skull is a troublesome relic of both anti- colonial violence and the brutality and spectacle of British retribution. Kim Wagner presents an intimate and vivid account of life and death in British India in the throes of the largest rebellion of the nineteenth century. Fugitive rebels spent months, even years, hiding in the vastness of the Himalayas before they were eventually hunted down and punished by a vengeful colonial state. Examining the colonial practice of collecting and exhibiting human remains, this book offers a critical assessment of British imperialism that speaks to contemporary debates about the legacies of Empire and the myth of the 'Mutiny'.

The Great Fear of 1857

The Great Fear of 1857 PDF Author: Kim A. Wagner
Publisher: Peter Lang
ISBN: 9781906165277
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description
The Indian Uprising of 1857 had a profound impact on the colonial psyche, and its spectre haunted the British until the very last days of the Raj. For the past 150 years most aspects of the Uprising have been subjected to intense scrutiny by historians, yet the nature of the outbreak itself remains obscure. What was the extent of the conspiracies and plotting? How could rumours of contaminated ammunition spark a mutiny when not a single greased cartridge was ever distributed to the sepoys? Based on a careful, even-handed reassessment of the primary sources, The Great Fear of 1857 explores the existence of conspiracies during the early months of that year and presents a compelling and detailed narrative of the panics and rumours which moved Indians to take up arms. With its fresh and unsentimental approach, this book offers a radically new interpretation of one of the most controversial events in the history of British India.

The Year of Blood

The Year of Blood PDF Author: Rudrangshu Mukherjee
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1351403524
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description
Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Introduction: In Pursuit of a Revolt -- The Azimgarh Proclamation and Some Questions on the Revolt of 1857 in the Northwestern Provinces -- 'Satan Let Loose Upon Earth': The Kanpur Massacres in India in the Revolt of 1857 -- The Sipahi and the Sepoy Mutinies -- Two Intellectual Traditions of the Revolt of 1857: A Study of Popular Resistance -- Responses to 1857 in the Centenary Year -- Mangal Pandey Brave Martyr Or Accidental Hero? -- 1. 29 March 1857 -- 2. Life of a Sepoy -- 3. The Greased Cartridge -- 4. Chapati, Rumours and Prophecy -- 5. The Trial -- 6. Epilogue -- 7. Appendix -- Bibliography -- Index

The Last Mughal

The Last Mughal PDF Author: William Dalrymple
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1408806886
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 819

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Book Description
WINNER OF THE DUFF COOPER MEMORIAL PRIZE | LONGLISTED FOR THE SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE 'Indispensable reading on both India and the Empire' Daily Telegraph 'Brims with life, colour and complexity . . . outstanding' Evening Standard 'A compulsively readable masterpiece' Brian Urquhart, The New York Review of Books A stunning and bloody history of nineteenth-century India and the reign of the Last Mughal. In May 1857 India's flourishing capital became the centre of the bloodiest rebellion the British Empire had ever faced. Once a city of cultural brilliance and learning, Delhi was reduced to a battered, empty ruin, and its ruler – Bahadur Shah Zafar II, the last of the Great Mughals – was thrown into exile. The Siege of Delhi was the Raj's Stalingrad: a fight to the death between two powers, neither of whom could retreat. The Last Mughal tells the story of the doomed Mughal capital, its tragic destruction, and the individuals caught up in one of the most terrible upheavals in history, as an army mutiny was transformed into the largest anti-colonial uprising to take place anywhere in the world in the entire course of the nineteenth century.

The Causes of the Indian Revolt

The Causes of the Indian Revolt PDF Author: Sir Sayyid Aḥmad K̲h̲ān̲
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : India
Languages : en
Pages : 98

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Book Description


The Great Uprising

The Great Uprising PDF Author: Pramod Knayar
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 9352141539
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 181

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Book Description
‘The punishment for Mutiny,’ said John Nicholson, Commander of the Movable Column, ‘is death’. As India marks 150 years of the 1857 Uprising, this meticulously researched and vivid work recounts a time both tragic and compelling. Many-staged and many-charactered, this volume searches for the key issues, causes and effects, figures and developments that culminated in the massacres of Cawnpore, Satichaura and Bibighar, the ensuing counter-massacres, and the gory retribution dealt out by the British on their subjects. Beginning with an account of the state of the British Raj in 1857, Pramod Nayar moves on the ‘A Gathering Storm’, the strife that led to the Uprising, ‘The Summer of Discontent’, recounting the Mutiny, ‘The Retreat of the Native’ which tells us how the British won back lost ground, and ‘The Raj Rises Again’, explaining the repercussions the Mutiny had on the administrative plans of the empire. He also delves into the real causes of the Uprising, more complex than what conventional history upholds. Detailed descriptions of the Mutiny’s main figures, including Henry Lawrence, John Nicholson, Lord Canning, Nana Sahib, the Rani of Jhansi, and the tragic king of Delhi, Bahadur Shah Zafar, are interspersed with quotes, facts and anecdotes that reanimate the past. An overview and analysis of the Mutiny is flavoured with references to the literature of the time and includes an appendix on how the events of 1857 influenced European literary imagination. Kanpur and Jhansi, violence and counter-violence, heroism and savagery – this every-person’s guide to 1857 captures the most tumultuous years of British India and re-enacts the drama of the first stirrings of nationalism.

1946 Royal Indian Navy Mutiny: Last War of Independence

1946 Royal Indian Navy Mutiny: Last War of Independence PDF Author: Pramod Kapoor
Publisher: Roli Books Private Limited
ISBN: 9392130287
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
In 1946, 20,000 non-commissioned sailors of the Royal Indian Navy mutinied. They were inspired by the heroism of the Azad Hind Fauj. But their anger was sparked by terrible service conditions, racism, and broken recruitment promises. In less than 48 hours, 20,000 men took over 78 ships and 21 shore establishments and replaced British flags with the entwined flags of the Congress, the Muslim League, and the communists. The British panicked and announced a Cabinet Mission to discuss modalities of transfer of power. By this time, Indian troops had refused to fire on the ratings, and the mutiny sparked revolts in other branches of the armed forces. The young ratings presented a charter of demands, even as they fought pitched battles against British troops. People thronged the streets in support, and hartals were followed by street fights between civilians and British soldiers resulting in over 400 deaths and 1,500 injured. To quell the rebellion, British commanded their powerful warship HMS Glasgow to sail rapidly from Trincomalee and ordered low sorties by the Royal Air Force fighter planes. In retaliation, the ratings trained the guns mounted on the captured ships towards the shore, threatening to blow Gateway of India, Yacht Club, and the dockyards. As violence escalated, telegrams flew between the Viceroy’s office and the British Cabinet. The British realized they could no longer hold India by force. While the communists continued to support the rebellious ratings, the Congress and the Muslim League persuaded them to surrender, promising they would not be victimized. Shamefully, years later, the governments of India and Pakistan refused to honour those promises after Independence. The mutiny caused public disagreements between Gandhiji and Aruna Asaf Ali, and between Sardar Patel and Nehru. Historians say it accelerated the transfer of power. But this seminal event, which inspired songs, art and theatre has been edited out of the popular narratives of the Freedom Movement.

The Penguin 1857 Reader

The Penguin 1857 Reader PDF Author: Pramod K. Nayar
Publisher: Penguin Books India
ISBN: 9780143101994
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
However infamous the conduct of the sepoys, it is only the reflex, in a concentrated form, of England's own conduct in India . . . Karl Marx 1857 was a defining moment in the history of the British Empire. As native troops in India -rebelled against their colonial masters and were joined by a large number of local chiefs, civilians and princes, the Empire almost lost its most prized territory. A hundred and fifty years later, scholars, academics and historians still argue about the exact nature of the uprising and the appropriate nomenclature for it: the First War of Independence, the Great Indian Mutiny, the Sepoy Rebellion. Debates still rage over its causes. Did it really originate from a dispute over greased cartridges? Was it premeditated? t surprisingly, the -uprising attracted both local and global attention and produced a massive archive of documents. The Penguin 1857 Reader depicts the historic event from various perspectives: English, Indian, European and American. Through a selection of documents of the time, it provides glimpses into the actions across northern India, maps the contours of dissent against the Raj and explores the immediate responses to the upheaval in India and outside. Included here are numerous newspaper and magazine accounts in leading English and American papers, chronicles of British and Indian men and women who witnessed the turmoil, intelligence reports and narratives of soldiers, the British administration's responses, the opinions of Karl Marx, Lord Macaulay and Mark Twain, British views on the Rani of Jhansi and Nana Saheb, and Mirza Ghalib's moving narration in his diaries and the historic trial of Bahadur Shah Zafar. With a scholarly and comprehensive introduction, this reader captures the many dimensions of one of the most momentous episodes in the history of the Indian subcontinent.