Not Mutiny but War of Independence

For those who have not being following, there is a place in Unnao a district close to Kanpur, called Dhaundiya Khera. A local seer dreamt of a tonne of Gold hidden in the womb of a fort of an erstwhile local Raja, who was executed by the British after the revolt of 1857 or better say our first War of Independence.

Mrinal Pande is some reporter who has in parts covered the ASI’s excavation of the Unnao site of Dhaundiya Khera.

Rao Raja Ram Baksha Singh was the local king of that area, that was the seat of the Bais Rajputs.  And apparently the Raja was also the leader of the Bais Rajputs of the area. The Bais have often been alluded to as the Bhale Sultans - for the dexterity in the wielding the long lance called the Bhala in India. Whether it was the Trilokchandi Bais or the Solankis who were the original Bhalesultans is a subject of debate though, as the Solankis also claim to be Bhale Sultans.

This journo, Mrinal Pande, in her/his coverage of the Unnao Dhaundiya Khera excavation alluded to Rao Raja Ram Baksha Singh, whose fort was being excavated, and whose treasure it is believed was being hunted as the leader of the Mutiny. At many places the fight against the British was called a “mutiny” and the fighters have been called “rebels”.

While to me, such reportage is not only retrograde but also weak on the knowledge of history, this also establishes what happens when others document your history, and all that you control is oral allegory that will never have the credibility of penned down history.

While Mrinal Pande or her ilk will never call the American War of 1775 as Mutiny, even when it actually was, but they even today call the Indias war of Independence 1857 as Mutiny and our freedom fighters as rebels.

One of the reason for this could well be that the scribes usually have only a very functional knowledge of English and lack the sense to nuance the closely related words.

The other reason is, that, most of the history has been documented by foreigners, who looked at the natives with either condemnation or condescension, and hence, while their accounts might have been objective on dates and data, but never on interpretation and understanding. On the contrary, the local accounts were always more allegorical, less accurate on dates perhaps, but substantially more credible on the sentiment.

When a preamble to a government scheme or documents opens with the lines “60 years of independence” something in me is killed.

Officers, scribes and hoi-polloi need to be sensitized on the use of words as they should not be pejorative for the people who fought to secure our freedom.