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What the Rebels Wanted - Coggle Diagram
What the Rebels Wanted
Proof of revolt
As victors, the British recorded their own trials and tribulations as well as their heroism.
They dismissed the the rebels as a bunch of ungrateful and barbaric people.
The repression of the rebels also meant
silencing of their voice.
Propagation of rebels view from their point of view
Most of them were ordinary people and soldiers who were not literate so much of records are not left
Few rebels had the opportunity of recording their version of events.
So we only have few proclamations and ishtahars (notifications) issued by rebel leaders to propagate their ideas to persuade people to join revolt.
:question: So what type of proof do we have for revolt
It heavily and inevitably dependent on
what the British wrote.
So they revealed about officers very little about rebellions
The vision of unity for Indians
Proclamations were used
Proclamations appealed all section of population irrespective of their caste and creed
Muslim princes or in their names but even these took care to address the sentiments of Hindus
The ishtahars harked back to the pre-British Hindu-Muslim past and glorified the coexistence of different communities under the Mughal Empire.
The proclamation that was issued under the name of Bahadurshah Zafar appealed the people to fight under the standards of both Muhammad and Mahavir
It was remarkable that during the uprising religious divisions between Hindus and Muslim were hardly noticeable despite British attempts to create such divisions.
Against the symbols of oppression
The proclamations completely rejected everything associated with British rule or firangi raj as they called it. They condemned:
Land revenue settlements
The foreign commerce had driven artisans and weavers to ruin
The ways for destroying caste and religion of Hindu and Muslim
Conversion to Christianity
Annexation
The search for alternative power
Once British rule had collapsed, the rebels in places like Delhi, Lucknow and Kanpur tried to establish some kind of structure of authority and administration.
Such attempt was short lived
The rebel leadership wanted
to restore the pre-British
The leaders went back to the culture of the
court
Appointments were made to various posts arrangements made for the collection of land revenue and the payment of troops, orders issued to stop loot and plunder
Side by side plans were made to fight
battles against the British
However, in most cases these structures
could not survive the British onslaught.
