MULIM LEADERSHIP IN THE FIRST WAR OF INDIAN INDEPENDENCE (original) (raw)

The first war of Indian Independence, often called as 1857 Mutiny was the first joined attempt of the Indians against the British Raj. Though different reasons are attributed to the war, all the participants had the single aim of putting and end to the British rule. All of them wanted to bring back the Mughal rule forgetting their differences. That is why the national historians termed the so called mutiny as the First War of Independence. The war was led mainly by sepoys (British Indian Soldiers) and Muslim sbolars (ulama) and Brahmin pandits under the leadership of the last Mughal ruler Bahadur Shah Zafar, Some princely states also joined the war when the British authorities denied them their freedom and existence through various acts. Muslim ulama played a pivotal role in the struggle, but in the absence of concrete planning and under estimation of the strength of the enemy, the struggle ended in failure. As a result the Muslim community had to bear the consequences at the hands of the British authorities. However, the struggle became a land mark in the history of Indian freedom struggle. It began as a mutiny by the British Indian soldiers over economic and religious issues leading to a popular agitation supported by all who fed up with the British rule. It was the end of the endurance of a people who had been oppressed for a long time. The struggle spread at different parts of the country causing serious damages to the British hegemony.that alarmed authorities had to struggle hard to quell it. Faslul Haq Khairabadi, the religious scholar who held considerable strength among Muslim masses issued fatwas of jihad and instigated the people for rebellion through his blistering speeches. He was later imprisoned and sent to Andaman jails. In his book on the struggle, Thourat al Hindiayya, he points out the reasons of the struggle. " When the cities, villages and the regions in Hindustan were usurped by the British Christians their hearts got filled with outrage and enmity. As they attacked everybody with position and status, nobody was able to live with honour. The British made a plan to convert all Indians in to Christianity without giving attention to their status in the society. They thought that as the Indians had nobody to help, they would surrender without a fight. They knew that if the religion of the ruled and the rulers differed that might cause hurdles in governance. Hence they began to destroy the religion and beliefs of the Indians using every chance available. They tried to give education to children and the illiterates in their own language, English and tried to convert them. They established schools in cities and villages for this purpose. " 1 The utilitarian historians held the view that the 1857 struggle was one made by the religious fanatics against the Christians. It was also considered as a mutiny by the British Indian soldiers. National writer Surendranath Sen rightly says that, if there is no nationalism oriented love for the country that time, the main persuading factor will be religion. In the struggle all sections of people joined the British Indian soldiers to protect their own religions. 2 The mutiny, in one sense, was the result of unity of Hindu – Muslim communities against the western culture. Along with that it was the last struggle made by Brahmins and Maulavis together to expel the foreigners (Ibid). Indians feared that western culture might destroy the beliefs and customs which they