In the starting chapters, the author takes us through a brief history of Yeola (Nashik, Maharashtra) and its transformation from a prosperous manufacturing hub to a small agrarian town from 1800 to 1900. Within this history the author weaves the story of his grandfathers coming to Bombay in search of opportunities and the beginning of his thirst to find out the truth about his ancestor Tatya Tope. There is an entire chapter dedicated to understanding the Indian process of cotton cloth manufacture from growth of the cotton to the final product of cotton cloth. India and China were known for the production of a variety of cloth. Whereas, for the longest period of time, wool alone was known to the Europeans. The author notes “During this period (the Mughal period), India remained a vibrant nation, maintaining its strong trading traditions and controlling nearly 25 per cent of the world GDP”. He also throws light on the high literacy rate prevalent in the country thanks to Pathshalas and Gurukuls, which were privately run and had no interference from the state.
In the starting chapters, the author takes us through a brief history of Yeola (Nashik, Maharashtra) and its transformation from a prosperous manufacturing hub to a small agrarian town from 1800 to 1900. Within this history the author weaves the story of his grandfathers coming to Bombay in search of opportunities and the beginning of his thirst to find out the truth about his ancestor Tatya Tope. There is an entire chapter dedicated to understanding the Indian process of cotton cloth manufacture from growth of the cotton to the final product of cotton cloth. India and China were known for the production of a variety of cloth. Whereas, for the longest period of time, wool alone was known to the Europeans. The author notes “During this period (the Mughal period), India remained a vibrant nation, maintaining its strong trading traditions and controlling nearly 25 per cent of the world GDP”. He also throws light on the high literacy rate prevalent in the country thanks to Pathshalas and Gurukuls, which were privately run and had no interference from the state.
What is interesting to note is the author’s rebellious tone when he speaks of the Europeans as pirates and not traders. He notes “Students in India learn that the English came to India in ships to ‘trade’. Conceivably, ‘trade’ is a reasonable euphemism for what the English were really doing for over two hundred years on the open seas – which was old-fashioned piracy. Perhaps the historians who author these textbooks want to shield the students from the grim reality”. Parag Tope goes on to cite numerous raids on Indian ships by the East India Company. The British had managed to plunder and loot many trading ships and Parag Tope cites instances where rulers in India though initially unwary of the events were soon forced to pay attention to this threat from overseas.
Using statistical data he puts down a brief history of the opium trade and the British opium plantations in areas like Afghanistan and many other places. The situation (constant piracy by the Europeans) had obviously intensified and had given way to the building of armies across empires in India to arrest the threat that the EEIC represented. The EEIC however used upfront cash to recruit soldiers and was slowly able to afford a large number of soldiers. All these events and many more which are described in some detail by Tope lead us up to the chapters on the 1857 war of independence.
Operation Red Lotus
The simplistic answer of the incident being sparked off as a result of greased cartridges, which has been handed down to students for generations will not suffice. Parag Tope argues through his (and many others he does not fail to credit) researched presentation of the various incidents, the planned nature of the revolt of 1857. One has to read the book to understand how the author has managed to put all the information together in a well-chronicled manner. He has argued that the acceptance of the lotuses symbolized the acceptance of the Indian soldiers in the EEIC to overrun their local garrisons and move towards liberation of nearby cities. The plan was to create an Indian government to represent the ‘real India’.
The book is well put together; however, if one were to read Savarkar’s work on the events of 1857, we would find that he was a little more critical of the tactics applied by Tatya Tope, though he did give due mention to the bravery of the sepoys and their fight for freedom.
Savarkar notes, “A mere clerk yesterday, this poor Brahmin of the Durbar of Nana was the commander of today. He crossed the Jumna and engaged openly in battle with General Wyndham who had spent a lifetime on the battlefields of Europe! And with what means? With the recently risen unorganized Sepoy mass and with the peasant rabble who had accompanied them! He stood face to face with the English army which had all the advantages that organisation, military training, and discipline could give. It was instructive to watch such an encounter, to see how the spirit of independence could meet all the overwhelming advantages on the opposite side. It was a living example and lesson showing to what extent an army without the advantages of discipline but with the spirit of liberty could fight, illustrating with what success it might have fought had it all the advantages of discipline.”
The book is an interesting read though it does require a lot of patience as each battle and each strategy is detailed out with use of letters, maps, et al. While he argues that a new way of looking at history is essential and not the euro-centric view of Indian History, the author does a lot of back and forth trying to discredit a lot of historians who have written on the subject before, and who are not euro-centric in their approach. Barring the occasional dismissal of the work done by others before the author, the book is one to be read by anyone wanting to understand history from another point of view which is highly chronological in its presentation.
This is a Book Appreciation By Surkhraj Kaur. She is a working professional, who is interested in Indian History and contributes to the Ghadar Jari Hai Magazine from time to time.