Smita Pandey has drawn extensively from written communications of the time to show that the revolutionaries of 1857 were women and men of vision, says Prakash Rao.
Smita Pandey has drawn extensively from written communications of the time to show that the revolutionaries of 1857 were women and men of vision, says Prakash Rao.
Vision of the Rebels during 1857: Aspects of Mobilsation, Organisation and Resistance by Smita Pandey, Rupa & Co., 2008
The principal merit of this work on 1857 is that it draws extensively from written communications of the time — the correspondence amongst the revolutionaries, the reports appearing in contemporary newspapers, both British and Indian, as well as the correspondence within the British camp.
The author shows that the revolutionaries of 1857 were women and men with a revolutionary vision. Freedom from the rule of firangee looters and establishment of a Hindustan of Hindus and Muslims, were two running threads the writings of revolutionaries.
As Ms. Pandey points out, "The writings delineate a spacious and absorptive idea of Hindustan where the multi-religious and multi-farious castes and sects were all integrated and assured of the safety of their life, religion, honour, and property …. The first Constitution of independent India was drafted during the course of this Great War, the first modern manifestos – addressing each section of society…were promulgated in this war, and the first Indian governments were set up in Delhi and Lucknow as a consequence of popular support."
The book emphasises that the revolutionaries had a clear political conception of the Hindustan they were fighting for, and repeatedly appealed to the Hindus and Muslims of Hindustan to oust the British and establish their own popular rule.
The revolutionaries propagated a new concept of religion. Smita Pandey refutes the jehadi connotations given to the uprising by Western historiographers. Being true to one’s religion was no longer a question of adhering to some doctrines. It was given a new definition of being proactive in the struggle against the colonisers.
The writer has added to the recent information that shows that the flames of the 1857 Ghadar went far beyond the Awadh region, to the North East and the North West, as well as in the deep South beyond the Deccan.
Her research on communication amongst revolutionaries shows that it was not just through the Chapati and Lotus that the people were communicating with each other, but through indigenous language papers which were being secretly published, as well as leaflets, posters, letters, and other publications.
To sum up, the book is a valuable contribution to bringing before the public the reality of the Great Ghadar.
Prakash Rao is spokesperson of the Communist Ghadar Party of India and the All India Convenor of
Lok Raj Sangathan