India's First War of Independence (term)

The First War of Indian Independence is a term sometimes used, mainly in India to describe the Indian Rebellion of 1857, which has been described variously as "uprising", "revolt" and "mutiny". [cite news
title = Indians mark revolt anniversary
publisher = BBC
date = 2007-05-11
accessdate = 2008-03-09
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6645457.stm]

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" [cite book
first = Karl
last = Marx
authorlink = Karl Marx
coauthors = Friedrich Engels
title = The first Indian war of independence, 1857-1859
publisher = Foreign Languages Pub. House
location = Moscow
year = 1959
oclc = 9234264] [Prakash Karat. [http://www.cpim.org/pd/2007/0513/05132007_prakash.htm 1857: In The Hearts And Minds Of People] ] , though he used the term "Sepoy Revolt" to describe the event.cite news
url = http://www.asianage.com/presentation/columnisthome/natwar-singh/marx,-nehru-and-savarkar-on-1857.aspx
title = Marx, Nehru and Savarkar on 1857
author = K. Natwar Singh
publisher = Asian Agedie die die die yo mama
date = 2004-08-23
accessdate = 2008-03-10]

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.cite web
url = http://www.asianage.com/presentation/columnisthome/inder-malhotra/the-first-war-of-independence.aspx
title = The First War of Independence
author = Inder Malhotra
publisher = Asian Age
accessdate = 2008-03-10] [cite news
url = http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/aug/23spec1.htm
title = Who was Veer Savarkar?
author = Amberish K Diwanji
work = The Rediff Special
publisher = Rediff.com
date = 2004-08-23
accessdate = 2008-03-10]

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.

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.cite news
url = http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/may/10atwal.htm
title = 1857 anniversary: Dy speaker creates flutter
publisher = The Hindu
date = 2004-05-10
accessdate = 2008-03-10]

Some South Indian historians have also opposed the use of the term, and have unsuccessfully taken the issue to the court.cite news
url = http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mag/2007/03/25/stories/2007032500140400.htm
title = The First War of Independence?
author = S. Muthiah
publisher = The Hindu
date = 2004-03-27
accessdate = 2008-03-10] 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 Nadu, said that the move had given "due recognition" to India's "first war of independence". [cite news
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5168550.stm
title = Tamils dispute India mutiny date
author = LR Jagadheesan
publisher = BBC News
date = 11 July 2006
accessdate = 2008-05-10 ]

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. [Ganda Singh. [http://www.sikhspectrum.com/082004/1857_mutiny_g_s.htm The Truth About the Indian Mutiny of 1857] . Issue No.17, August 2004. (originally published in "The Sikh Review", August, 1972, pp.32-44.)] [cite web
url = http://worldsikhnews.com/31%20January%202007/Looking%20Back%20a%20Hundred%20Years%20of%20Mutiny%20of%201857.htm
title = Looking Back a Hundred Years’ of Mutiny of 1857
author = Sir Jadunath Sarkar
publisher = World Sikh News
date = 2007-01-31
accessdate = 2008-03-10 (originally published in "Hindustan Standard", Puja Annual issue, 1956 pp.22-24)]

Many historians also discount the term due to being of the view that the war was not at all a war of independance.

Further reading

* Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. [http://www.savarkar.org/content/pdfs/en/the_indian_war_of_independence_1857_with_publishers_note.v001.pdf The Indian War of Independence –1857]
* cite book
last = Embree
first = Ainslie Thomas
title = 1857 in India; mutiny or war of independence?
publisher = Heath
location = Boston
year = 1963
oclc = 870396

References