Indian Mutiny or War of Independence?

In Cawnpore, I refer to the events of 1857 as the Indian Mutiny. The book is written from the point of view of a Victorian Englishman and "Indian Mutiny" is what Victorian Englishmen called it. Nowadays, though, what to call that uprising is an intensely political decision. To many Indians and Pakistanis the war was the First War of Indian Independence or the Freedom Struggle of 1857.

Leaving aside political considerations, part of the confusion as to what to call it is down to the fact that several conflicts coalesced into a single rebellion. There seems little doubt that the actual fighting started with a mutiny. That is, soldiers disobeyed a direct order and, when some were imprisoned, their comrades rose up to release them, murdered some of their officers and broke camp. Whether the soldiers were encouraged to mutiny by political activists seeking independence from the British is uncertain. Some Europeans were convinced that the whole thing was a calculated plot, but it is the nature of the political class always to claim that acts of rebellion were incited by "outside agitators" and there is no clear evidence on this either way. What is certain is that the first troops to mutiny decided to march to Delhi and put themselves at the service of the Mogul emperor.

With mutineers claiming to be acting in the cause of the deposed rulers, the conflict quickly began to take on a wider political complexion. Other rulers, like Nana Sahib, saw the opportunity to re-establish their power while the British, deprived of the support of their native troops, were weakened. The situation was further confused because these rulers did not all act in concert. For example, as mentioned in my novel, the troops who mutinied at Cawnpore first marched towards Delhi to put themselves at the service of the Mogul emperor, before being persuaded to return to Cawnpore to serve the Peshwa, Nana Sahib. Although the various leaders of the Indian forces made common cause against the British, their failure to act effectively as a single political or military force counted against them.

One of the first acts of the rebels in many places (including Cawnpore) was to open the jails. So beside the mutinying troops and the various forces of the native rulers, many of those who joined in the fighting were local convicts who simply saw an opportunity to profit from the general unrest. Thus natives who were associated with the British (such as Christians or other Eurasians) were often attacked and murdered, less to achieve military or political goal than because their attackers could then loot their property. With an almost complete breakdown of law and order and mass conflict spreading across huge areas of the country, there was an opportunity for many old scores to be settled.

There are clear modern parallels. In Iraqi the fighting following the American-led occupation was blamed on elements of the Army (essentially mutineers), forces loyal to the old regime, criminal elements and those settling scores between different religious groups. In Britain, at least, commentators struggled for ages to find a term which encompassed all these different elements before they settled on "insurgency". Perhaps that is how we should refer to the events of 1857. But, whatever the best term should be, for the British involved, and for most historians, even today, the bloodshed and horror of that year are simply summed up as the Indian Mutiny.

Nana Sahib

The main character in 'Cawnpore' is fictitious, but many of the others were real people. The most significant is Nana Sahib.

Seereek Dhoondoo Punth, generally known to the British as Nana Sahib, was seen by many Victorians as an evil plotter, who lulled the British into a false sense of security in order to betray them and commit what many would see as the most appalling act of the Mutiny. In fact, he was a more complex character than that.

He came from an undistinguished family but was adopted by Baji Rao, the Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. Although the title of Peshwa originally referred to the Chief Minister, who would serve for eight or nine years, by the time of Baji Rao the position had become the hereditary ruler of the Empire. His capital was at Poona (now Pune), which was one of the main political centres of India. From there, he ruled over the most important of the Indian kingdoms.

The Maratha Empire was riven by internal strife and some factions went to war against the British. There were three wars in total and, after the third, the British decided to annex the Maratha Empire. Baji Rao was allowed to keep his title and even given a pension by the British. However, he was stripped of all political power and forced into exile. He chose to live in Bithur (now Bithoor), a small town near Cawnpore.

Baji Rao needed a male heir to succeed him and, in the absence of a natural heir, Nana Sahib was adopted in 1827 and raised to inherit his father's position. The British, however, refused to acknowledge that an adopted son could inherit a hereditary title and would not acknowledge him as Peshwa. By then, the title was purely honorary and it is possible that the British did not realise how much distress this caused, although Nana Sahib petitioned repeatedly for his title to be recognised. He also petitioned that the pension that was paid to his father should continue to be paid to his father's heirs, but the British refused to do this, claiming that the pension had been personal to Baji Rao and their obligation had died with him.

Nana Sahib toyed with the idea of travelling to England to appeal directly to the East India Company but, as a Brahmin, he would have lost caste by travelling overseas. He therefore sent Azimullah Khan, one of his most trusted advisers. Azimullah Khan appears to have enjoyed his trip, especially as he was something of a ladies' man and was a great success with many of the women he met in London. However, he was completely unsuccessful in pleading Nana Sahib's cause and the experience seems to have left him with a very strong antipathy for the British. During the events at Cawnpore, he constantly advised Nana Sahib to act against the Europeans.

Nana Sahib does not seem to have been a very strong character. He sought to curry favour with the British and was seen as a good friend until the Mutiny. Even then, the British allowed him to guard their Treasury, thinking he might prove loyal. With British power under attack, though, many of his advisers, especially Azimullah Khan, urged him to act decisively against the occupiers, and regain his rights and titles through military power. It seems likely that Nana Sahib vacillated between these two positions, partly because he was not sure who would come out on top and he was anxious to be on the winning side. Eventually, though, he was convinced to throw in his lot with the rebels. It is likely that he was then pressured to agree to the treachery and the massacre in order to prove that he was firmly on the side of the native population and that he would not be able to turn against them if (as happened) the British returned to Cawnpore in force.

Despite his initial wavering and his military incompetence (the British should have been driven out within days), Nana Sahib eventually became a more decisive leader. In fact, after Cawnpore was recaptured by the British, he led another attack on their positions, and continued to harry their forces for some time. Eventually his armies were defeated and he fled. He was never captured and his final fate is unknown.

The curse of the three star review

The problem with five point scales for reviews is that the star ratings mean such different things to different people. Apparently, sales dip if a book receives 'only' three star reviews, suggesting that a three star review is seen as far from an endorsement to buy. Unfortunately, a lot of people giving the reviews don't seem to believe this. Here are some comments from three star reviews of my books:

"Ripping yarn... I read it prior to holidaying in Kuching and it made a very entertaining and informative prelude to our travels. Worth reading regardless, but a great way to get some context if you're travelling to Borneo." The White Rajah reviewed on Goodreads (average rating 3.8)

"It has a personal narrative that moves beyond the preconceptions of LGBT fiction and approaches that ranks of Sarah Waters in storytelling." Cawnpore reviewed on Goodreads (average rating 4.29)

'Goodreads' is an excellent site and well worth a look. I think reviewers there are more careful with their ratings than on Amazon. The lesson, though, is not to look at the star rating and move on, but read the review. (That said, Cawnpore is currently rated at 4.8 on Amazon.uk.) There's a lot of books out there and it is worth making that bit of extra effort to find the ones you'll enjoy – even if they're not mine!

And yes, although some authors claim never to look, I do read my reviews. I welcome all feedback on my work, either here or on Amazon or Goodreads. Oscar Wilde said, "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about and that is not being talked about." When it comes to book reviews, he was definitely right.

Another history blog

And, on the subject of interesting blogs about history by historical writers, check out Nan Hawthorne's blog: http://www.nanhawthorne.com/. Quirky (and, it must be admitted, not terribly well laid out), it is an idiosyncratic blend of historical trivia, reviews, opinions on historical writing and general bits and pieces. Well worth a look.