The Indian Mutiny and the British Imagination (original) (raw)

The focus of this project is on both the nature and consequences, for India, of the Indian Mutiny of 1857. Classic British historians have offered a clear simplistic view that events should be classed as a Mutiny. However, I focus on the debate between the Indian historians that emerged in the twentieth century. I conclude that the events of 1857 must be characterised initially as a military Mutiny, but later as a collective conservative rebellion for the protection of religion, and the rejection of British rule. I go on to discuss the short term effects, looking at the social and military reform undertaken by the British, which represents how their attitudes to the culture and native peoples of India was shifted by the uprising against British rule. This shift moves away from legislative reforms imposed from above, to focus on shifting young Indian’s attitudes gradually and naturally, through Victorian style education. Furthermore I discuss the short term reorganisation of the Indian militaries, and how the events in 1857 led to the development of a material race ideology. Lastly, I discuss how the Rebellion, and its consequences led to a national sentiment developing, which leads to the onset of the early Independence Movement.

Using the example of the 'Indian Mutiny' of 1857, explore the ways that imperialism can provide the political and cultural impetus for conflict.

This chapter examines the novels’ claim to veracity by closely reading the texts in light of their presentation of India and Indians. It identifies four primary tropes which may be seen clearly across both novels: Indians’ lack of or extravagance in clothing, their apparent love for ornamentation, the unsettling opacity of their cities, and the fanatical superstition of their religions. Though both authors had no personal experience of the Mutiny or of travel in the Indian subcontinent, the events, persons, and places they create appear premised on rich and intimate acquaintance with the same. In other words, the discursive creation of India in these novels is on the same lines as that in the popular press and on the stage: the boundaries of fact and fiction seem blurred with the extensive historical referencing to actual sites and battles of the Mutiny.

The panorama was from its outset a medium of contemporary history. This article examines its contribution to initial historical narratives about the “Indian Mutiny” (1857–58). Nineteenth-century critics often saw the form as voyeuristic, while modern scholars have critiqued its chauvinistic patriotism. The article uses panorama paratexts, adverts, and reviews to recover the visitor experience and to compare these with contemporary would-be historical accounts of the mutiny. I ask, Was it possible for panoramic representations of the mutiny to avoid jingoism? And what can this case study tell us about mid-nineteenth-century approaches to historical distance?My analysis of 1850s panoramas of the mutiny (by Burford, Hamilton, Marshall, and Gompertz) shows that when they depicted graphic violence, it did not suppress visitor numbers but did lead to accusations of voyeurism. Reviewers declared that the events were too temporally and emotionally proximate to be treated as history. Initial...