India's First War of Independence (term)

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The First War of Indian Independence is a term predominantly used in India to describe the Indian Rebellion of 1857, which has been described variously as "uprising", "revolt" and "mutiny". [1]

Contents

[edit] History

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 is now recognized as developing into more than just a mutiny. However due to the manner in which it started the name Sepoy Mutiny became the standard name for events, a convention which stuck for over 100 years. Contemporary anti-imperialists viewed this term as propaganda, and pushed to characterize it as more that just the actions of a few mutinous native soldiers. Karl Marx was the first Western scholar to call the 1857 revolt a "national revolt"[2][3], though he used the term "Sepoy Revolt" to describe the event.[4]

In India, the term "First War of Independence" was first popularized by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in his book The History of the War of Indian Independence, which was originally written in Marathi.[4][5][6]

Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, insisted on using the term "First War of Independence" to refer to the event, and the terminology was adopted by the Government of India.[5]

[edit] Criticism of the term

Some Punjabis have opposed the use of the term "First War of Independence" by the Government to describe the 1857 revolt. They insist that the First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46) should be called the First War of Independence instead. In May 2007, the Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal and three other MPs from Punjab protested against the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the 1857 revolt over this issue.[7]

Some South Indian historians have also opposed the use of the term, and have unsuccessfully taken the issue to the court.[8] These historians insist that several other anti-British uprisings in South India (such as the Vellore Mutiny) had preceded the 1857 revolt, and should be called the First War of Indian independence. In 2006, when the Indian postal department issued a postal stamp to commemorate the Vellore Mutiny of 1806, M. Karunanidhi, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadustated that the move has given "due recognition" to India's "first war of independence".[9]

Some writers also insist that none of the armed uprisings against the British in India, including the 1857 uprising, should be termed as a "war of independence", since they were not national in nature, and not motivated by nationalist sentiment.[10][8][11]

[edit] Further reading

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Indians mark revolt anniversary", BBC, 2007-5-11. Retrieved on 2008-03-09. 
  2. ^ Marx, Karl; Friedrich Engels (1959). The first Indian war of independence, 1857-1859. Moscow: Foreign Languages Pub. House. OCLC 9234264. 
  3. ^ Prakash Karat. 1857: In The Hearts And Minds Of People
  4. ^ a b K. Natwar Singh. "Marx, Nehru and Savarkar on 1857", Asian Agedie die die die yo mama, 2004-08-23. Retrieved on 2008-03-10. 
  5. ^ a b Inder Malhotra. The First War of Independence. Asian Age. Retrieved on 2008-03-10.
  6. ^ Amberish K Diwanji. "Who was Veer Savarkar?", The Rediff Special, Rediff.com, 2004-08-23. Retrieved on 2008-03-10. 
  7. ^ "1857 anniversary: Dy speaker creates flutter", The Hindu, 2004-05-10. Retrieved on 2008-03-10. 
  8. ^ a b S. Muthiah. "The First War of Independence?", The Hindu, 2004-03-27. Retrieved on 2008-03-10. 
  9. ^ LR Jagadheesan. "Tamils dispute India mutiny date", BBC News, 11 July 2006. Retrieved on 2008-05-10. 
  10. ^ Ganda Singh. The Truth About the Indian Mutiny of 1857. Issue No.17, August 2004. (originally published in The Sikh Review, August, 1972, pp.32-44.)
  11. ^ Sir Jadunath Sarkar (2007-01-31). Looking Back a Hundred Years’ of Mutiny of 1857. World Sikh News. Retrieved on 2008-03-10. (originally published in Hindustan Standard, Puja Annual issue, 1956 pp.22-24)
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