Description
The volume undertakes to analyze major themes and issues in the study of the revolt of 1857, the largest antiimperialist uprising throughout the annals of 19 century. Though unsuccessful, yet it shook the foundations of British imperialism in such a way that saved many Asian countries ‘falling prey to the clutches’ of the colonial rule. The chapters are based extensively on the ‘printed word’ from the ‘world of the rebels’, official mutiny papers and memoirs written soon after the event. A peep into the ‘vision of the vanquished’ from their narratives, and not just from ‘victors recollections’ is perhaps the theme highlighted throughout the book. Seminal studies from the leading historians of South Asia and young scholars engaged in an in depth study of the subject are included, not only to fill the numerous gaps to the existing works, but to provide a perspective for understanding this momentous event which undoubtedly shook the basis of the ‘Indo Islamic past’ of the millennium, especially at the Mughal capital of Delhi and of the Nawabi regime at Lucknow. Chapters on Dehli Urdu Akhbar, Tilism e Lucknow and the memories, compiled at the penal colony of Andaman, full with bitterness and frustration, offer fresh data for a better understanding. The process/es of ‘marginalization of the erstwhile elite’ through the resumption of land rights, the destruction of the libraries, books and centers of learning, the aggressive phase/es of proselytization by the missionaries are important themes taken up. The images and documents are included to highlight the ‘quasimodern’ nature of the rebel mobilization; the use of printing medium, the drafting of a remarkably ahead of its time dasturul amal for the governance by the rebels; the memory of the event after the rebellion was suppressed are here to highlight the important, yet neglected aspects of the subject.
