08-20-2006, 09:43 PM
Thanks for clarifying the origins. Makes lot of sense.
Deccan Chronicle, 20 August 2006
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Cawnpoor in 1857
Itihaas: By Akhilesh Mithal
Individuals, groups, communities, villages, cities, states and nations seem to be in search of identities. These âidentitiesâ help define what they think they are and how being so makes them different from others. <b>One of the uses to which history has been put, is to serve as a primary source for providing a distinct identity for an individual, a group, a city or a nation.</b>
The poles on which these âcoloursâ of distinction can be hoisted are provided by events where heroic acts occurred and the people who performed those great acts of heroism bring the event out of the realm of the ordinary.<b> The British did not choose Shakespeare and his writing as the distinguishing mark that set them apart from others. This honour was given to the British Empire âon which the Sun never setâ. The heart of this empire was India. The Imperial title assumed by Queen Victoria in 1877 rose from her becoming âKaiser-I- Hindâ or Empress of India.</b>
The Ghadar of 1857 to 1859, ended the rule of the East India Company and the crown was taken over. <b>For the British, the Ghadar became an epic in which a handful of beleaguered Britishers not only defeated untold millions of Indians and did so not for any sordid purpose such as personal gain or glory, but for the sake of the poor benighted Indians themselves. The great moral virtues of the Christian British were overwhelmingly superior to those of the Hindus and Muslims and thus, Good prevailed over Evil.</b>
<b>Thus the siege of the Lucknow Residency was given a status higher than the Battle of Waterloo (1815). The ruins of the building were accorded the unique honour of having the Union Jack flying over them all 24 hours and not only from dawn to dusk. This flag was taken down on Independence in August 1947.</b>
<b>The other âmemorialâ was at Kanpur (Cawnpoor) </b>where Indians had broken their miser troth and shot down retreating Britishers in their boats and massacred the women and children who survived the slaughter on the river. Today we shall attempt to catch a glimpse of the revolt in Kanpur.
<b>March 1857 saw Mangal Pandey rise most reluctantly against the East India Company in an attempt to make them see sense and redress the grievances of the sepoys. He did not shoot or sabre the Britishers to kill them but in order to draw attention to his desperate situation in which he had to contend with the conflict between his loyalty to the salt of the East India Company and his own identity as an Indian being abused by his employers in every possible way.</b>
He finally turned the musket on himself and pressed the trigger with his toe. The recoil missed the aim and he was not killed, but only severely wounded. The loss of blood made him into a near corpse but this did not deter the Company from hurrying up his trial so that death from wounds did not cheat the hangman.
May 1857 saw Meerut rise and <b>disaffection in Kanpur was at fever pitch.</b> The General sent various intermediaries to the sepoys and managed to keep the peace. The tension was palpable and there was great and increasing mistrust between the whites and the blacks. On June 1, 1857, a cashiered officer named Christie, said to be under the influence of liquor, took a pot shot at an Indian cavalryman and missed it.
The case was brought to trial and Christie was released as he was given consideration for being drunk. This âjusticeâ caused great resentment and the sepoys rose in revolt soon after the unsatisfactory verdict. The British had already created an entrenchment into which they could retreat and wait for relief. This entrenchment was attacked and when all appeared lost, the British sued for a truce to enable them to take the river route to safety in Allahabad Fort.
<b>The transfer of the besieged from the entrenchment to the river was done in style. Arms, ammunition, treasure and personal effects were carried on elephants, camels, horses and palanquins. The tension mounted high and mutual mistrust was palpable. When the fugitives boarded the boats, some boatmen jumped off and swam towards the banks. The British opened fire and the rebels returned the compliment.
</b>
In retrospect the British made out that the truce was a ploy of the deceitful Indians in order to wipe them out. This does not hold water as the Indians were winning and had no reason to use deceit in order to oust the âferingheeâ.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Lord Roberts and a whole bunch of imperialists agonize over Cawnpore and justify the atrocities latter committed on Bahadur Shas Zafar's family. So it was another case of slanted history and one sided prespective.
Deccan Chronicle, 20 August 2006
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Cawnpoor in 1857
Itihaas: By Akhilesh Mithal
Individuals, groups, communities, villages, cities, states and nations seem to be in search of identities. These âidentitiesâ help define what they think they are and how being so makes them different from others. <b>One of the uses to which history has been put, is to serve as a primary source for providing a distinct identity for an individual, a group, a city or a nation.</b>
The poles on which these âcoloursâ of distinction can be hoisted are provided by events where heroic acts occurred and the people who performed those great acts of heroism bring the event out of the realm of the ordinary.<b> The British did not choose Shakespeare and his writing as the distinguishing mark that set them apart from others. This honour was given to the British Empire âon which the Sun never setâ. The heart of this empire was India. The Imperial title assumed by Queen Victoria in 1877 rose from her becoming âKaiser-I- Hindâ or Empress of India.</b>
The Ghadar of 1857 to 1859, ended the rule of the East India Company and the crown was taken over. <b>For the British, the Ghadar became an epic in which a handful of beleaguered Britishers not only defeated untold millions of Indians and did so not for any sordid purpose such as personal gain or glory, but for the sake of the poor benighted Indians themselves. The great moral virtues of the Christian British were overwhelmingly superior to those of the Hindus and Muslims and thus, Good prevailed over Evil.</b>
<b>Thus the siege of the Lucknow Residency was given a status higher than the Battle of Waterloo (1815). The ruins of the building were accorded the unique honour of having the Union Jack flying over them all 24 hours and not only from dawn to dusk. This flag was taken down on Independence in August 1947.</b>
<b>The other âmemorialâ was at Kanpur (Cawnpoor) </b>where Indians had broken their miser troth and shot down retreating Britishers in their boats and massacred the women and children who survived the slaughter on the river. Today we shall attempt to catch a glimpse of the revolt in Kanpur.
<b>March 1857 saw Mangal Pandey rise most reluctantly against the East India Company in an attempt to make them see sense and redress the grievances of the sepoys. He did not shoot or sabre the Britishers to kill them but in order to draw attention to his desperate situation in which he had to contend with the conflict between his loyalty to the salt of the East India Company and his own identity as an Indian being abused by his employers in every possible way.</b>
He finally turned the musket on himself and pressed the trigger with his toe. The recoil missed the aim and he was not killed, but only severely wounded. The loss of blood made him into a near corpse but this did not deter the Company from hurrying up his trial so that death from wounds did not cheat the hangman.
May 1857 saw Meerut rise and <b>disaffection in Kanpur was at fever pitch.</b> The General sent various intermediaries to the sepoys and managed to keep the peace. The tension was palpable and there was great and increasing mistrust between the whites and the blacks. On June 1, 1857, a cashiered officer named Christie, said to be under the influence of liquor, took a pot shot at an Indian cavalryman and missed it.
The case was brought to trial and Christie was released as he was given consideration for being drunk. This âjusticeâ caused great resentment and the sepoys rose in revolt soon after the unsatisfactory verdict. The British had already created an entrenchment into which they could retreat and wait for relief. This entrenchment was attacked and when all appeared lost, the British sued for a truce to enable them to take the river route to safety in Allahabad Fort.
<b>The transfer of the besieged from the entrenchment to the river was done in style. Arms, ammunition, treasure and personal effects were carried on elephants, camels, horses and palanquins. The tension mounted high and mutual mistrust was palpable. When the fugitives boarded the boats, some boatmen jumped off and swam towards the banks. The British opened fire and the rebels returned the compliment.
</b>
In retrospect the British made out that the truce was a ploy of the deceitful Indians in order to wipe them out. This does not hold water as the Indians were winning and had no reason to use deceit in order to oust the âferingheeâ.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Lord Roberts and a whole bunch of imperialists agonize over Cawnpore and justify the atrocities latter committed on Bahadur Shas Zafar's family. So it was another case of slanted history and one sided prespective.