One may ask, what connection one finds in the 'Memoir of 1971 Indo-Pak war & S.V.R. Surat ' & depiction of other war stories of importance ,of course which changed the destiny of Indian History . The answer is simple , the Indian History is replete with battles & wars numbering more battles & wars depicted in the World History of same period . But, irrespective of bravery & valour of Indian soldiery , it tasted only defeats & defeats .The 1st World War of 1914-18 & 2nd World War of 1939-45 had very fair number if Indian soldier Its general mass was in no way 2nd to none in different civilization of world in 'History' making ,whether it was Europe , America or any other place . It never hesitated to fight ,for it's Honor ,liberty & self respect when it was at stake . Still it remained a subjugated race for maximum period of documented Indian History .
But in the meandering train journey of Indian History going through centuries ,one confronts the saga & sacrifice of subjugated race with occasional story of chivalry . Battle of Plassey happened in 1757 , was the story of grand treachery & it gave the key to Britishers, hegemony over independent Indian kingdoms & the story of 100 years till 1857 was the story of utter humiliation & subjugation of independent Indian kingdoms against the naked belligerence of worst type, in the form of 'Allied treaties' & 'Docterine of Lapse' . After 100 years in 1857 a great tumultuous event occurred to remove the tyrannical yoke of British hegemony & after dissection of whole events ,British historians name it 'Sepoy Mutiny' but we Indians feel in our psyche ,it was '1st war of independence' & a great debate ensued .
I am not a historian but surely a history buff . In 1957 when I was reading in a junior class in a school ,but was very awake about the history . From 1957 to till date of 2017, I try to unravel every detail ,going through the pages of different history books, different non history books trying to know actually what happened in 1857. What was the mindset of general mass . The British historians were depicting it as the Sepoy Mutiny & native armies were the bedrock of of the revolt of 1857 with few disgruntled kingdoms , chiefly Nana Saheb , Tantia Tope , Queen of Jhansi & few others & adorned & celebrated Indian Historians seconded their findings . In this whole effort only truth was casualty.
In 1957 my mother was reading in college & she was student of history . She came from the college very excited as she was selected as secretary of debating society of college, so to conduct debates & a subject was chosen ' 1857 was Sepoy Mutiny or 1st War of Independence '. She was also participant in debate . So, she was searching facts & figures to buttress her argument in debate. She had meagre collection of history books on her book setter which she felt inadequate to serve her purpose . I came forward with a proposal of a poem & I hope everybody like this poem in his hay days.
झाँसी की रानी
----------------------
विजय मिली, पर अंग्रेजों की फिर सेना घिर आई थी,
अबके जनरल स्मिथ सम्मुख था, उसने मुंहकी खाई थी,
काना और मंदरा सखियाँ रानी के संग आई थी,
युद्ध छेत्र में उन दोनों ने भारी मार मचाई थी ,
पर पीछे ह्यूरोज आ गया ,हाय ! घिरी अब रानी थी,
बुंदेलों हरबोलों के मुहं हमने सूनी कहानी थी,
खूब लरी मरदानी , वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी .
This very poem I had read umpteen times & it is a long poem . In my imagination I always thought , what happened to Queen of Jhansi. I wanted to know ,how the queen met her end ! What was the scenario of war. How the whole theatre around Jhansi , Kalpi & Gwaliar were buzzing at that time . Why not Tantia Tope came on time with soldiers for queen's
rescue & to be frank this very poem was trigger in making me history buff .
In 1957 which was centenary year of celebrating the 1857 revolt triggered a very pithy debate among historians. It was the publication of a book 'The Sepoy Mutiny & The Revolt of 1857 by R.C Majumdar. The book is a good treatise of 1857 by a celebrated historian of India & his version was authority for history students, not to be contradicted .His treatise was based on Kaye who was official historian of British establishment . He had the accesses of all official documents , dispatches , official reports coming to governal generals office & Russel's diary .His account of 1857 depicts 233000 Native Infantry were pitted against 45322 English army . These N.I was put in different battalions put under one subaltern white officer . The mutiny occurred at various places in India , stared from Barrackpur of Bengal to Uttar Pradesh . Bihar, Punjab Madhya Pradesh & Rajasthan . The name of these places were named differently in British governance . But the depiction was very much wanting in describing the mindset of general mass & only magnifying grotesque stories of Indian butchery over English men ,women.children, infirms etc but what atrocities inflicted to Indians is veiled & minimised . Many scholars of India who were not historians but history buff were perplexed & went for for personal interaction to length & breadth of Avadh which is part of U.P. & this very vast swathe of landmass was crucible & cauldron of 'Gadar' . The one history buff was Amrit Lal Nagar & India famous author on Hindi canvas .
Amrit Lal Nagar did not reconcile with the facts given in the book of R.C. Majumdar & wanted to interview those persons who were not directly witnessed the 'Gadar' of 1857 but galore of persons he met were son & grand son & descendants of those people who were directly involved in the revolt & uprising of 1857 . It was oral history based on lore & folklore of that time .It was a commendable effort as no government grant was available for this purpose . Only on his personal good will , a government vehicle was given to him for two months of May & June & Mr Nagar performed such a commendable job which can shame established historians.
युनान--ओ- मिश्र-ओ-रोमा- सब मिट गये जहाँ से
अब एक मगर है नाम- ओ-निशान हमारा
कुछ बात है कि हस्ती मिटती नहीं हमारी
सदियों रहा है दुश्मन दौर- ए - जमाँ हमारा
Further story & depiction will be in my next 'Blog' .----
 |
| Stories of Indian Patriots of 1857 |
But in the meandering train journey of Indian History going through centuries ,one confronts the saga & sacrifice of subjugated race with occasional story of chivalry . Battle of Plassey happened in 1757 , was the story of grand treachery & it gave the key to Britishers, hegemony over independent Indian kingdoms & the story of 100 years till 1857 was the story of utter humiliation & subjugation of independent Indian kingdoms against the naked belligerence of worst type, in the form of 'Allied treaties' & 'Docterine of Lapse' . After 100 years in 1857 a great tumultuous event occurred to remove the tyrannical yoke of British hegemony & after dissection of whole events ,British historians name it 'Sepoy Mutiny' but we Indians feel in our psyche ,it was '1st war of independence' & a great debate ensued .
I am not a historian but surely a history buff . In 1957 when I was reading in a junior class in a school ,but was very awake about the history . From 1957 to till date of 2017, I try to unravel every detail ,going through the pages of different history books, different non history books trying to know actually what happened in 1857. What was the mindset of general mass . The British historians were depicting it as the Sepoy Mutiny & native armies were the bedrock of of the revolt of 1857 with few disgruntled kingdoms , chiefly Nana Saheb , Tantia Tope , Queen of Jhansi & few others & adorned & celebrated Indian Historians seconded their findings . In this whole effort only truth was casualty.
In 1957 my mother was reading in college & she was student of history . She came from the college very excited as she was selected as secretary of debating society of college, so to conduct debates & a subject was chosen ' 1857 was Sepoy Mutiny or 1st War of Independence '. She was also participant in debate . So, she was searching facts & figures to buttress her argument in debate. She had meagre collection of history books on her book setter which she felt inadequate to serve her purpose . I came forward with a proposal of a poem & I hope everybody like this poem in his hay days.
 |
| Subhadra Kumari Chouhan |
----------------------
विजय मिली, पर अंग्रेजों की फिर सेना घिर आई थी,
अबके जनरल स्मिथ सम्मुख था, उसने मुंहकी खाई थी,
काना और मंदरा सखियाँ रानी के संग आई थी,
युद्ध छेत्र में उन दोनों ने भारी मार मचाई थी ,
पर पीछे ह्यूरोज आ गया ,हाय ! घिरी अब रानी थी,
बुंदेलों हरबोलों के मुहं हमने सूनी कहानी थी,
खूब लरी मरदानी , वह तो झांसी वाली रानी थी .
This very poem I had read umpteen times & it is a long poem . In my imagination I always thought , what happened to Queen of Jhansi. I wanted to know ,how the queen met her end ! What was the scenario of war. How the whole theatre around Jhansi , Kalpi & Gwaliar were buzzing at that time . Why not Tantia Tope came on time with soldiers for queen's
 |
| Jhansi Fort |
In 1957 which was centenary year of celebrating the 1857 revolt triggered a very pithy debate among historians. It was the publication of a book 'The Sepoy Mutiny & The Revolt of 1857 by R.C Majumdar. The book is a good treatise of 1857 by a celebrated historian of India & his version was authority for history students, not to be contradicted .His treatise was based on Kaye who was official historian of British establishment . He had the accesses of all official documents , dispatches , official reports coming to governal generals office & Russel's diary .His account of 1857 depicts 233000 Native Infantry were pitted against 45322 English army . These N.I was put in different battalions put under one subaltern white officer . The mutiny occurred at various places in India , stared from Barrackpur of Bengal to Uttar Pradesh . Bihar, Punjab Madhya Pradesh & Rajasthan . The name of these places were named differently in British governance . But the depiction was very much wanting in describing the mindset of general mass & only magnifying grotesque stories of Indian butchery over English men ,women.children, infirms etc but what atrocities inflicted to Indians is veiled & minimised . Many scholars of India who were not historians but history buff were perplexed & went for for personal interaction to length & breadth of Avadh which is part of U.P. & this very vast swathe of landmass was crucible & cauldron of 'Gadar' . The one history buff was Amrit Lal Nagar & India famous author on Hindi canvas .
 |
| Amrit Lal Nagar |
 |
| Book by R.C.Majumdar |
Amrit Lal Nagar did not reconcile with the facts given in the book of R.C. Majumdar & wanted to interview those persons who were not directly witnessed the 'Gadar' of 1857 but galore of persons he met were son & grand son & descendants of those people who were directly involved in the revolt & uprising of 1857 . It was oral history based on lore & folklore of that time .It was a commendable effort as no government grant was available for this purpose . Only on his personal good will , a government vehicle was given to him for two months of May & June & Mr Nagar performed such a commendable job which can shame established historians.
युनान--ओ- मिश्र-ओ-रोमा- सब मिट गये जहाँ से
अब एक मगर है नाम- ओ-निशान हमारा
कुछ बात है कि हस्ती मिटती नहीं हमारी
सदियों रहा है दुश्मन दौर- ए - जमाँ हमारा
Further story & depiction will be in my next 'Blog' .----
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