I have long been wanting to get a better understanding of the events of 1857. Recently I came across this book by an Indian who was actually an eyewitness to the battle of Jhansi. Vishnu Godshe Versaiker's book is a fascinating read. Here is the first part of my review of the book for Himal:
In war, goes the old saying, the victor gets to write the history. There exist numerous eyewitness accounts of the rebellion of 1857 by Englishmen, based on which historians of the British Empire had no difficulty bringing out multi-volume tomes on the ‘Sepoy Mutiny’. The defeated often did not live to tell their side of the story, after all, and in this case the ‘mutineers’ were ruthlessly hunted down and slaughtered, the towns that sheltered
them pillaged. Little is known even about the last days of their prominent leaders – Nana Sahib who disappeared without a trace, Begum Hazrat Mahal who escaped to Nepal (See this link for more about the Begum's exile in Nepal), Tantya Tope who the British claim to have captured, and the rani of Jhansi who died in battle.
The repression let loose in the aftermath of 1857 must have severely discouraged, and pushed underground, accounts that presented the rebels in a sympathetic light. But how did the people of the time view these watershed events? What did they think of the rebel soldiers and their leaders? Given the paucity of Indian voices from this period, an eyewitness account by a local evokes great interest. Noted journalist Mrinal Pande has now brought to an English-language readership Vishnu Bhatt Godshe Versaikar’s Marathi work, Majha pravas: 1857 chya bandachi hakikat, (My travels: A factual account of the 1857 mutiny) originally published in 1907.
Read the full review in Himal Southasian here
In war, goes the old saying, the victor gets to write the history. There exist numerous eyewitness accounts of the rebellion of 1857 by Englishmen, based on which historians of the British Empire had no difficulty bringing out multi-volume tomes on the ‘Sepoy Mutiny’. The defeated often did not live to tell their side of the story, after all, and in this case the ‘mutineers’ were ruthlessly hunted down and slaughtered, the towns that sheltered
The repression let loose in the aftermath of 1857 must have severely discouraged, and pushed underground, accounts that presented the rebels in a sympathetic light. But how did the people of the time view these watershed events? What did they think of the rebel soldiers and their leaders? Given the paucity of Indian voices from this period, an eyewitness account by a local evokes great interest. Noted journalist Mrinal Pande has now brought to an English-language readership Vishnu Bhatt Godshe Versaikar’s Marathi work, Majha pravas: 1857 chya bandachi hakikat, (My travels: A factual account of the 1857 mutiny) originally published in 1907.
Read the full review in Himal Southasian here
