Barnes, Gregory Fremont-;
The Indian Mutiny 1857-58
Osprey Publishing, 2007, 96 pages
ISBN 1846032091 9781846032097
topics: | history | british-india | mutiny
This well-illustrated text, intended for the younger reader, perpetuates many a myth from the colonial histories. Though it was published in 2007, it persists in presenting a sensationalist colonial history of events in 1857. All modern historiography highlighting the general disaffection with British rule is ignored. It was a military mutiny and broader causes of discontent are ignored. The social causes discussed as early as in Kaye/Malleson (1888) are not mentioned, and modern views of many subaltern authors (Guha, Stokes, Mukherjee), or other historians such as Paxton, Metcalf or Streets is not reflected.
British children encountering the book in their school libraries will learn colonial positions long past their "use-by" date, e.g.:
"support for the mutineers was largely confined to the cities; whole swathes of the countryside remained either passive or supportive of attempts to restore British rule." p.21 this particular fact, long-harped by british colonial histories of the mutiny, finds little support from historians even at that time. Here is how a recent text on Indian history describes it (Metcalf 2001) : In the recently annexed province of Oudh, the revolt... took on the shape of a ‘popular’ movement, with all classes fighting on behalf of their sepoy kinsmen and deposed king Wajid Ali Shah. Most prominent among the revolt’s supporters were the taluqdari landlords, aggrieved by the loss of villages during the 1856 land settlement, who, from the security of their mud forts, rallied their followers, kinsmen, and tenants. Although many among the peasantry had won title to their lands in 1856, to the dismay of the British they threw in their lot with their former landlords... - Metcalf and Metcalf, A concise history of modern India, 2001/2006. further, the child reading about the mutiny will discover how at the sati chaura ghat (also known as "massacre ghat"), Nana Sahib "treacherously violates" the safe-passage agreement (p.11). the british repeatedly pass resolutions for clemency to the rebels not convicted of murder. all these are tropes of the colonial history of the mutiny... The account is rather disbalanced - there is no mention of the freewheeling groups that shot and hung indians, whose deaths are thought to number in several millions, as against the two-thousand british men and officers killed. although Fremont-Barnes cites Rudrangshu Mukherjee's Awadh in revolt, (1998) the conclusions of that text (and many other postcolonial histories) are ignored in favour of earlier colonial views.
Another aspect is how the mutiny was triggered by the gun grease "rumour", leaving and impression that the rumour was unfounded. Kaye/Malleson report that hundreds of rounds of ammunition with pork and beef grease had been imported from Britain. The Osprey text, prefaces this possibility with an exculpatory sentence: While no conspiracy existed on the part of British authorities to subvert the troops' religion, in all likelihood the grease did contain animal fat, for the regulations concerning the manufacture of the cartridges did not stipulate the type to be used, and contractors would naturally be inclined to use the least expensive variety, tallow, which was based on animal fat. The new cartridges were, in fact, never issued to the troops, and after some consideration that sepoys should be allowed to grease their own cartridges with a substance of their choice, the Government directed that the grease used should be prepared only from mutton fat and wax. p.28 In fact, Kaye records a purchase order issued August 1856 at Fort William, Calcutta, for ammunition grease made from beef/pork fat (tallow). The order was placed with the firm of Gangadarh Banerji and Co, and the item is described as "Grease, Tallow", "Tallow of the purest kind – For greasing composition for Minié rifle ammunition." Thus there was clear evidence of such greased cartridges being manufactured in India for almost a year before the mutiny. Bullets were issued to Indian troops in Meerut, Ambala, and Barrackpore starting mid-1856. Disaffection regarding the greased bullets had spread by January 1857, leading to a minor revolt in Barrackpore. The order for using mutton fat on the cartridges was issued in May, 1857, four months after the initial revolt in Barrackpore. By May, the large-scale rebellion had broken out in Meerut. The text appears to bend over backwards to highlight the lack of culpability of the British: ... the damaging rumour had spread. The absence of any evidence of malice or conspiracy on the part of the British - who largely viewed this as a trivial issue - is an irrelevance: the sepoys' existing suspicions of a plot to enforce Christianity upon them remained. Their greatest fears now realized, it was only a matter of time before discontent bubbled over into outright violence. Many parts of the text are notable for this kind of language, which seems to be working hard to ensure the British are not being accused of any wrong-doing. reading parts of the text one wonders almost if this popular Osprey text is a reprint of something written in the 1890s.
In February 1856 the Company annexed the badly governed and corrupt kingdom of Oudh (now Uttar Pradesh); Oudh stretched across a large area of northern India containing a predominantly Hindu population, ruled by the last independent Muslim dynasty in India. The annexation played a crucial part in the disaffection of the Bengal Army: perhaps as many as 75,000 of whose troops came from Oudh. Many inhabitants regarded the annexation as an illegitimate political act by which their nawab, Wajid Ali, was deposed and the army of 60,000 men disbanded after the payment of token gratuities. p. 25. Caption: "Indian prince posing." [The text is copiously illustrated. Many of the images of Indians are notable for their sinister tone. ] caption: Nana Sahib and his escort. An heir to the Maratha kingdom, but dispossessed and receiving a pension from the East India Company, Nana Sahib accepted the rebels' invitation to take command of their forces in and around Cawnpore. [The book also has many errors. Nana Sahib was not receiving a pension, and had petitioned the Company repeatedly in this regard. In fact, this was one of his main grievances against the British. ]
[Amy Horne was the 18-year-old step-daughter of a postal worker. After the killings at the Sati Chaura ghat, she was] one of the few survivors not brought back into the town with the others. Dragged to the shore by a trooper of the 3rd Bengal Cavalry, she was taken to a hut and given Indian dress which, with her tanned face, enabled her to appear in public without causing notice. Some days later she underwent a ceremony of ritual purification in which she was forcibly converted to Islam (though she never actually foreswore Christianity). After several days she was taken with the rebel army towards Allahabad, in the capacity of a guide - for she knew the route - and was almost rescued by British troops who routed the mutineer column in the course of its march. Eventually she was taken to Lucknow, even while the Residency was under siege, and held prisoner until the appearance of a British relief force in the city forced her captor to f1ee to his home village on the outskirts of Allahabad, where Horne was released. She eventually settled near Calcutta, married a railway engineer, and lived the rest of her life in India as Amelia Bennett. Amy Horne was the subject of much sensational writing in the British media. She published a memorirs with her first hand account nearly five decades later, in 1913. This narrative has long been challenged as having been coloured by the sensational histories of Cawnpore written over the preceding decades. Long excerpts from Amy Horne's narrative about events in the Wheeler's entrenchment and the subsequent massacre. a signal was given from the shore and they all leaped into the water and waded to the bank, after having first secreted burning charcoal in the thatch ofmost ofthe boats. Immediately a volley of bullets assailed us, followed by a hail of shot and grape which struck the boats. Regarding the firing at Sati Chaura ghat. Another survivor, Mowbray Thompson, records in his diary of 1859: at a signal from the shore, the native boatmen, who numbered eight and a coxswain to each boat, all jumped over and waded to the shore. We fired into them immediately, but the majority of them escaped... ([Thomson, Story of Cawnpore, 1859, p.166 ]) this seems to be saying that there was no firing until the Britishers opened fire on the boatsmen. The river was low - it was June - just month before the monsoons, and the boats were mired in mud and could not be easily launched. This may have exacerbated tensions among the already tense Britishers. Once they started the firing, it might have caused a return of fire from indian soldiers lining the shore. The british soldiers, given their exposed positions on the boats, would then have been killed. But in the the minds of the reader of this outdated text, no such doubts would arise regarding this "treacherous" massacre. Indeed, narratives such as Amy Horne/Amelia Bennett's are now largely discredited. Modern historians such as Gautam Chakravarty and Rudrangshu Mukherjee have attempted to show that such late recollections were coloured, often severely, by other narratives that had preceded it. On the other hand, memoirs written some time after the rebellion often expect corroboration or seek more information from historiography, as with Amelia Bennett who, writing in 1913 of her experience at Kanpur in May 1857, pauses to observe of the Nana Sahib: ‘what a record of sensuality, ferocity, cunning, treachery, and inhumanity did his subsequent acts unfold, as handed down to us by history’. - The Indian mutiny and the British imagination p.127 The reader of this text, however, would be left in the dark...
Introduction 7 Chronology 11 Historical origins: Background to war 14 Opposing forces: Warring sides 20 Unredressed grievances: Outbreak 25 War without mercy: The fighting 30 Brevet-Major O.H.S.G. Anson, 9th Lancers: Portrait of a soldier 68 Amy Horne and the massacre at Cawnpore: Portrait of a civilian 74 The final campaigns, January-December 1858: How the war ended 77 The effects of the Mutiny on the Raj: The world around war 82 Why the Mutiny failed; British post-war reforms: Conclusion and consequences 86 Further reading 91 Index 94
January Rumour begins at the Dum-Dum musketry depot, near Calcutta, that British military authorities have deliberately greased the new Enfield rifle cartridges with the fat of pigs and cows 26 February Sepoys of the 19th Native Infantry at Berhampore in Bengal refuse rifle practice, notwithstanding their being issued with ungreased cartridges 29 February Barrackpore, in Bengal, Mungal Pandy, a sepoy of the 34th Native Infantry, wounds two British officers during an unsuccessful attempt to incite his unit to mutiny 31 March 19th Native Infantry disbanded at Barrackpore for the mutinous behaviour of 26 February 8 April Mungal Pandy hanged at Barrackpore Entrance to Barrackpore House - one of the official residences of Lord Canning 24 April Eighty-five troopers of the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry at Meerut refuse orders to fire greased cartridges 6 May Part of the 34th Native Infantry disbanded at Barrackpore for their disobedience on 29 March 8 May Troops of the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry found guilty by court-martial and given severe sentences 9 May In Meerut, convicted prisoners chained in the presence of the entire command and imprisoned 10 May Native troops revolt at Meerut, massacre the British cantonment, and march on Delhi 11 May Mutineers arrive at Delhi from Meerut, combine forces with local garrison and murder Europeans and Indian Christians 13 May Bahadur Shah II proclaimed new Mughal emperor. British disarm the native garrison at Lahore, in the Punjab 17 May Delhi Field Force, under General George Anson, Commander-inChief of India, advances from Umballa 20-23 May Part of the 9th Native Infantry mutinies near Agra 27 May Anson dies of cholera; replaced by Major-General Sir Henry Barnard 30 May Garrison at Lucknow mutinies; mutineers there dispersed or disarmed 31 May Mutinies in Rohilkhand May-July Brigadier-General John Nicholson's 'Moveable Column' disarms regiments in the Punjab 3-14 June Mutinies and massacres at posts across Oudh, the North-West Provinces, central India, Rajputana and the Punjab 6 June Major-General Sir Hugh Wheeler besieged at Cawnpore by native garrison 8 June Major-General Sir Henry Barnard, in command of the Delhi Field Force plus the garrison at Meerut, defeats the rebels at Badli-ki-Serai and establishes himself on the Ridge north of Delhi 27 June British garrison massacred at Cawnpore after Nana Sahib treacherously violates an agreement to allow safe passage down the Ganges; surviving women and children imprisoned 30 June Rebels defeat Sir Henry Lawrence, commander at Lucknow, at Chinhut; siege of Residency begins 5 July General Barnard dies of cholera; Major-General Thomas Reed succeeds as commander of the Delhi Field Force 12 July Brigadier-General Sir Henry Havelock defeats rebels at Fatehpur, en route to Cawnpore 15 July Havelock defeats rebels at Aong and Pandu Nadi, near Cawnpore. His approach prompts Nana Sahib to order massacre of women and children captives at Cawnpore 16 July Havelock defeats rebel force under Nana Sahib's personal command near Cawnpore 17 July Havelock enters Cawnpore and discovers evidence of the massacre. Sir Archdale Wilson replaces the ailing Reed as commander of the Delhi Field Force 31 July Lord Canning, Governor-General of India, issues his controversial 'Clemency' resolution, by which he advises against the execution of mutineers not convicted of murder 13 August General Sir Colin Campbell, Anson's successor as Commander-in-Chief of India, arrives at Calcutta 14 August Nicholson's 'Moveable Column' arrives at the British camp in front of Delhi 17 August Major William Hobson defeats a large body of rebel cavalry near Rohtak 4 September Siege train, proceeding from the Punjab, arrives in the British camp outside Delhi 14 September Wilson begins assault on Delhi 19 September Havelock and Sir James Outram advance on Lucknow 20 September Delhi completely cleared of mutineers 23 September Nicholson, mortally wounded by a musket shot during the assault of the 14th, dies 25 September First relief of the Residency at Lucknow by Havelock and Outram; garrison is enlarged, but remains under siege; Brigadier James Neill killed by a musket ball during the final advance 14-17 November Second relief of the Residency at Lucknow by Campbell 19-27 November Evacuation of Lucknow; garrison left at the Alambagh; Campbell marches on Cawnpore, which the rebels have re-occupied after Havelock's departure 24 November Havelock dies of dysentery at Lucknow in the midst of the evacuation 26-27 November Tantia Topi and the Gwalior Contingent defeat Major-General Windham in second battle of Cawnpore 28-30 November Campbell reaches Cawnpore to join Windham 6 December Campbell defeats Tantia Topi in the third battle of Cawnpore
16 January Major-General Sir Hugh Rose begins campaign in central India February Campbell opens separate campaign for reconquest of Oudh 3 February Rose relieves Saugor after a seven-month siege 2 March Campbell commences operations against Lucknow 11-21 March Assault and capture of Lucknow; rebels escape westwards 22 March Rose invests fortified city of ]hansi April Campbell begins pacification of Oudh and Rohilkhand 1 April Dividing his force, Rose defeats a numerically superior rebel army under Tantia Topi on the river Betwa 3 April Rose captures ]hansi but the Rani of ]hansi escapes to Kalpi 15 April Major-General Walpole's column disastrously repulsed in an attack on the fort at Ruiya 5 May Campbell defeats rebel force at Bareilly 7 May Rose defeats large rebel force under Tantia Topi and the Rani of ]hansi at Kunch 22 May Rose defeats rebels at Kalpi; end of operations in Rohilkhand; start of guerrilla warfare 28 May The last substantial rebel force, under Rao Sahib, Tantia Topi, the Rani of ]hansi and the Nawab of Banda enter the state of Gwalior with the remnants of their force and seize the city of the same name on 1 June 12 June Major-General Hope Grant defeats rebels at Nawabganj in the final decisive battle in Oudh 17 June Rani of Jhansi killed in action at Kotah-ki-Serai, near Gwalior 19 June Rose defeats the rebels at Gwalior and retakes the city; Tantia Topi flees 2 August Queen Victoria approves bill transferring administration of India from the East India Company to the Crown 1 November Queen's proclamation offers unconditional pardon to all rebels not involved in murder or the protection of murderers 1859 4 January Various Oudh rebel leaders, including Nana Sahib, forced into the Nepal Terai by Hope Grant 7 January Operations in Oudh declared officially over, though mopping-up operations continue 18 April Tantia Topi, captured on 7 April, after being betrayed to the British, is hanged 8 July Canning declares hostilities at an end throughout the sub-continent