Introduction
Some whispers of the past may be faint, like the sound of the rustling of the leaves from a faraway orchard; perhaps the distant orchard may want to unearth the remnants historians refused to extract and study. Similar to the destitute orchard that refuses to keep its stories hidden under the layers of soil. We wear some historical events, like the medals adorned upon a soldier’s shoulders, while silencing the lesser enchanting events and slowly burying them in the cascade of time. The First War of Independence of 1857 is an example of one of those stories. However, the revolt is remembered by many names, such as the “First War of Independence” and the “Sepoy Mutiny,” the “Indian Mutiny,” or the “Indian Rebellion of 1857.”
Many of us have read about the 1857 War of Independence in schools as a part of our curriculum. The incident itself seemed quite short, written with haste and focused only on the anticlimactic ending. However, this short war, which lasted from (1857-1859), is not as simple as it has been portrayed. The 1857 revolt was fueled with rage, betrayal, controversies, heroes, and adversaries has an undeniably rich cultural and political fabric buried beneath the catacombs of the religious divide.
Causes of the First War of Independence
The exhaustive list of causes of the war of 1857 sheds light on the frustration of the Indian soldiers known as “sepoys” serving the British East India Company (EIC), which includes wage inequality as the British soldiers were getting better pay than the Indian sepoys at the time, combined with British ignorance as they paid no heed to Indian customs and practices. Even though Indian soldiers surpassed the British soldiers in the EIC to raise their societal status, one thing the EIC overlooked was the deep-rooted respect that the Indians had for their cultural and religious norms. Victors have often ignored contextualization when scribing about past incidents, and they continue to do so.
Therefore, Hindu soldiers resisted when the EIC wanted to send them abroad to fight various wars because, according to Hindu customs, traveling abroad diminished a person’s status within the society; other causes include the doctrine of lapse and forceful conversions of Hindus and Muslims to Christianity via missionaries. Surely, the issue of greased cartridges was the final nail in the coffin that initiated the war. A rumor spread like wildfire among the Indian soldiers that the cartridges contained the fat of pigs and cows and were supposed to be opened by biting off the end before loading the gunpowder into the rifle. The former went against Islamic beliefs, and the latter went against Hindu beliefs.
The Fable of the Chapati Movement
As the saying goes “History repeats itself.” Perhaps the historical events that are often undermined and neglected, may contain answers that could solve the complex puzzles of the present. After all, societies have a repetitive pattern and the past can become a vital tool to wield if only societies possessing them can use them effectively to their full potential. Similarly, the tale of a round chapati is the most intriguing enigma of 1857 that went unnoticed by the masses and therefore, never gained much popularity.
The unbearable annexations by the East India Company of the princely states choked the princes as their power and influence crumbled in the face of sharp British strategies. One such known example is the annexation and the deposition of the Nawab of Awadh. At the time, ruthless policies such as the Doctrine of Lapse and the annexations caused a sense of fury and worry among the Indians.
However, the epidemic of cholera triggered the emergence of various rumors among the local Indians, depicting the British as the sole villain in every story. Some people were of the view that the British tainted the flour with cow and pig bone meal. Comparably, people also believed that the British had polluted their medicines by spitting on medicine, which resulted in the refusal to take medicine for any sort of ailment. Thus, the onset of cholera paved the way for the mystic Chapati Movement, which was solely orchestrated by the Indians.
In early February of 1857, four chapatis lay on the desk of a British officer, Mark Thornhill, who was a magistrate of a small town in Mathura close to Agra. The presence of mysterious chapatis uneased Mark Thornhill. Hence, after inquiring about the chapatis, he was told by an Indian police officer that a “chowkidar” handed him the chapatis and instructed him to make four more chapatis and pass them on to the next village.
Neither the Indian police officer nor the chowkidar knew the purpose behind this activity. Therefore, the magistrate examined the chapatis carefully to see if the chapatis contained any secret encoded messages, but even with a thorough examination, no such message was found. They were just simple flatbreads consumed by the locals for their nutrition. Soon the chapatis baffled British officers.
After investigating the matter, it was revealed that chapatis were being distributed up to 300 kilometers every night from the Narmada River (south) to the border of Nepal and moving several kilometers towards the north. According to some sources, a tsunami of chapatis traveled from Avadh to Delhi all across the Indian subcontinent distributed by the Indian chowkidars.
Well, the interesting fact remains that as British officials were busy cracking the code of this mysterious Chapati Movement on 10th May in Meerut, the issue of the greased cartridges triggered the War of Independence of 1857. Moreover, the coinciding timelines of the War of Independence and the Chapati Movement made it a co-conspirator that paved the way for a revolt of the Indian people in the eyes of the British.
Countless assumptions were made about the chapatis; some said that the chapatis were being distributed from village to village by chowkidars to avert epidemics like cholera, while others believed that it was some sort of magic done by the Indians to protect their crops from storms. Despite concocting numerous fables about the Chapati Movement, British officers were not able to trace the true intention of the movement.
However, one thing became clear: this movement was not designed to ignite a war, but indirectly it inculcated a sense of fear and angst among the British and created an unexpected illusion of unity among the Indians against an unchallenged imperial rule. It reassured Indians that the foreigners, unfamiliar with generations-old traditions and customs, could rule them as long as the natives of the land allowed them to rule. Hence, the fable of the Chapati Movement still remains an enigma but the air of mystique revolving around the entire movement is still seen as an undeciphered form of resistance against imperialism.
Unsung Heroes of the Revolt of 1857
The EIC ruled over the Indian subcontinent for approximately 100 years using various tactics such as divide and rule and creating situations of internal distress within the princely states. For instance, the betrayal of Mir Jaffar led to the ultimate end of Siraj-ud-Daula’s rule and his demise in the Battle of Plassey. That being said, in 1857, people from all walks of life, regardless of race, religion, or region, stood against the oppressive colonial domination, aka the British rule in India, for the first time.
Whether it was the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, Rani of Jhansi, Tantia Tope, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Turrum Khan, Bakht Khan, Azizan Bai, Udha Devi, or Shah Mahal, each one of them aimed to achieve the same objective and strived for the cause they wholeheartedly believed in in their own way. While we may be familiar with some of the people mentioned above, we might be unaware of the efforts that were made in the name of the same cause, which became bleak with the passage of time.
Turrum Khan
The great legends of valor, resilience, and perseverance of the 1857 War of Independence are incomplete without mentioning the story of Turebaz Khan, also known as “Turrum Khan.” Turebaz Khan was an Afghan Rohilla residing in Hyderabad. Though little is known about Turebaz Khan before 1857, he played a vital role in Hyderabad, when the uprisings started to spread against the British. During the 1857 War of Independence, some princely states allied with the British; among the sympathetic allies of the British included the fourth nizams of Hyderabad.
Therefore, when the British called upon the nizam of Hyderabad to send forces to suppress the uprisings in the north, many officials working for the nizam and the masses were not in favor of Nizam’s decision to quell the uprisings. Hence, when Chida Khan refused British calls, he along with his comrades were held captive in the British residency. After learning about Chida Khan’s captivity, Turebaz Khan gathered around 5,000 people with the support of Maulvi Allaudin and attacked the British residency to liberate Chida Khan from the captivity of the British.
The coup would’ve been successful if only Turebaz Khan hadn’t been betrayed by a man called Salar Jung who was the diwan of the Nizam Afzal-ud-Doula. He informed the British about the plot, and so when Turebaz Khan attacked the residence, he was met with canons and guns. Even after resisting the British until the early morning, Turebaz Khan’s companions were caught and defeated.
However, Turebaz Khan managed to escape from the hold of the British twice at first; he fled towards the Shadnagar forests, where he was caught and was exiled to Kala Paani. Then again, he escaped the clutches of the British and took refuge in Toopran forests. Furious by Khan’s escapades, the British placed a reward of Rs. 5,000 on his head. Eventually, Turebaz Khan was chased by Talukdar Mirza Qurban Ali Baig, one of the nizam’s officials, and he murdered Turebaz Khan on the spot. Later, the British hanged Turebaz Khan’s body in front of the British residency to suppress rebellious sentiments in Hyderabad.
Azizan Bai of Kanpur
Born in Lucknow in 1832, Aziz-un-Nissa became an orphan at an early age when her mother, a well-known courtesan, passed away. She grew up in Satrangi Mahal, situated in Lucknow, but later on she moved to Kanpur and lived with Umrao Jan Adda. Azizan Bai was a patriotic individual at heart who desired to see an independent India free from British domination.
Her patriotism stemmed from when she witnessed the mistreatment of Indian officers at the hands of British officers. When she heard a British officer glorifying how he killed an Indian soldier to prove his superiority, Azizan Bai took it upon herself to avenge the soldier with the help of her beloved, who was a soldier in the second cavalry. Hence, with the assistance of Shams-ud-Din, she successfully avenged the soldier.
Moreover, Nana Sahib planned a strategy to fight against British forces and free Kanpur from British rule. The very next day, Shams-ud-Din, an alibi of Nana Sahib, told Azizan Bai about the strategy. As a result of which, Azizan Bai taught women how to fight with various weapons. Not only this, she also created a group of women who encouraged soldiers as they fought against the British and healed the wounded. Azizan Bai was usually seen riding a horse dressed up in a soldier’s uniform decorated with medals and arms.
Furthermore, Azizan Bai fought courageously at the front lines of wheeler entrenchment, and she also bore the responsibility of handling weapons and ammunition and distributing them to the fighting soldiers after establishing a gun battery as her headquarters. Azizan Bai was captured by the British officers, and it is said that she was immensely pressurized by General Havelock to confess, and in return for her confession, she would be pardoned. However, instead of succumbing to any sort of pressure and living with remorse, she chose to die a dignified death.
Peshawar and 55th Native Infantry (N.I.)
Peshawar’s strategic location played a key role in the 1857 War of Independence. From 1857-59, Peshawar and the adjacent areas near Peshawar were included in the province of Punjab. As the news of the War of Independence erupted from Meerut to Delhi and reached Peshawar in 1857, the British authorities in Peshawar immediately formed a “Council of War” to deal with the revolt before it engulfed Peshawar in its fold.
On one account, someone asked a Sikh soldier why he was distressed in respect to Peshawar. The Sikh replied that if Peshawar rebelled, the entire Punjab would follow suit. In this particular case, Peshawar was domino; if it fell into the hands of freedom fighters, it would’ve immensely endangered British rule in the Indian subcontinent. The worried British officers on 22nd May forced the 5th light cavalry, along with 24, 27, and 51st regiments of N.I. to withdraw their arms and dismiss them from the service while the regiments consisting of European soldiers stood there to ensure compliance if met with resistance.
Apart from this, British officers confiscated the properties and the horses of native soldiers and swiftly rushed the dismissed soldiers to Attock. Nonetheless, the previous night on May 21st, almost 151 soldiers had already deserted from the 51st N.I., because of which the commissioner of Peshawar, Herbert Edward, announced prize money for each deserter from the 51 N.I. Ultimately, the subedar-major of the 51st regiment was the first freedom fighter to be executed in Peshawar.
Contemporary Turmoil & the Rebellion
The tales of the past combined with their mysteries, glory, intrigue, and failures could teach quite a few lessons to the future and present generations on how to handle contemporary conflicts. Scholars, with their varying viewpoints about the incidents of 1857, have a consensus that the War of Independence or the mutiny of 1857 failed as a result of uncoordinated strategies.
Wars and conflicts require the courage and grace of Turrum Khan and Azizan Bai, but they also require carefully curated strategies and collective swift actions to overthrow an imperial power, just as the British predicted the snowball effect in the case of Peshawar. So they planned accordingly so that the ball would always be in their court. More importantly, the British were quick to realize that helpful coincidences like the Chapati Movement would not always occur, which our ancestors failed to understand.
Thus, the lesser-known events of 1857 showcase an array of lessons offering a distinctive perspective that can be used to view and understand the contemporary socio-political problems of Pakistan in a new light, as the state seems to be stuck in an unfortunate chasm for quite a long time. As a result, the youths of the country are looking for a way out of their own land to eventually migrate to lands that would provide them with security and prosperity.
If you want to submit your articles and/or research papers, please check the Submissions page.
The views and opinions expressed in this article/paper are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Paradigm Shift.
She is an undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelors in International Relations at Bahria University.