CIA 3

COLONIAL INDIAN
REPRESENATIONS
Submitted by:
Sangey Laden - 1833164
Swadha Prasad - 1833174
Priyasha - 1833154
Yamuna Bindu - 1833185
1ENGH

Sumbitted to:
Prof. Prerna Sreemal

SEPTEMBER 9, 2018
CHRIST (DEEMED TO BE) UNIVERSITY
Bannerghatta Road, Hulimavu, 560076
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Literature has always played an important role in shaping historical narratives. Works

of historical fiction in particular help the readers to imagine what it was like during that

particular time in history. But very often the representations in such literary works can be

flawed and the impressions created in the minds of the readers can be skewed.

In this essay, we will analyse four works of fiction written before, during and after the

Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 in British India. On analysing the portrayals of the different groups

that occupied the Indian subcontinent during that time – the common masses or the “natives”

[Hindus, Muslims and the Sikhs], the British soldiers, the company officials, the Indophiles

and their counterparts, the Indians obsessed with British culture, the Burmese, the Afghans

and most importantly, the rebels – we realize that these narratives are often in contrast with

what the renowned history texts claim as truth. Thus, this poses a question – are the works

that we take as gospel really trustworthy?

In the book, Soldier Sahibs by Charles Allen, the author weaves the story of John

Nicholson, born to a family colonial to the core and a group of seven other “soldier sahibs” or

military-officers-cum-civil-administrators assisted by native officers and troops. They guided

the formidable Bengal army during a series of violent campaigns waged between the borders

of Pakistan and Afghanistan. They were the ones who were entrusted with the task of

extending the British East India Company’s sphere to the mountainous Northwest Frontier

Provinces. They did this by effectively securing the allegiance of the fiercely independent

minded tribesmen and establishing a loose-reined government through treaty arrangements

with local rulers. While Pakistan was still a part of India, the fertile paradise of vale of

Peshawar was the lure throughout history that drew plunderers from mountains of

Afghanistan in search ofwomen, gold and land.

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All in all, this book retells Indian history from about 1830 to 1857 culminating in the

Indian Mutiny (Delhi Sepoy Rebellion) and how the British soldiers died thinking that there

was nothing but God above and duty below and that it issweet and proper to die for one’s

country [Dulce et Decorum est pro partia mori].

The book, “Wanderings in India and other sketches of life in Hindostan” is a

collection of stories from the adventures of writer, journalist and Indophile John Lang during

the nineteenth century. It has wonderful evocative descriptions to insightful narratives of his

encounters with historical figures including Rani of Jhansi. But this narrative also has aspects

which are quite problematic. For instance, the title of the book itself. The word, ‘Hindostan’

can be interpreted by some as the land of the Hindus. But this is not true because the

population of India also includes a considerable proportion of Muslims and people from other

religions such as Sikhism, Christianity, Buddhism, etc as well.

Another statement which can be found quite problematic is in the story “The

Himalayan Club”:

“Nothing does an Indian officer so much good as a visit to Europe. When a man has

once contracted habits in India, he cannot reform in India. To be cured he must be taken away

from the country.”

This tells one that the British viewed the Indian subcontinent in such an immoral

light. For them India was a nation where one is bound to get corrupted and the only way to

salvation would be travelling to England where they would be purged of all sins. There is

another instance too where he says that twenty years ago India was “famous for its infamy”

but at present it is tolerable and ten years hence, it would be as crime-free as England. This

gives a glimpse of how the English saw themselves as the saviours of the Indians.
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The author travelled all over India and recorded his travel experiences. On one of his

encounters, he is invited by Nena Sahib to Bhitoor. History books have recorded him to be a

revolutionary figure who was an important leader in the Sepoy Mutiny. But according to

Lang’s experience, one would get the impression of him being a bitter man. There is no

glimpse of the strong and intense figure that he has always been portrayed as.

Of course, one will never know for sure which account is the more accurate one. In

Bipin Chandra’s narrative, he quotes General Hugh Rose, who defeated Rani Laxmibai,

paying high tribute to his enemy when he said that ‘here lay the woman who was the only

man among the rebels.’ Patriarchal implications aside, this narrative disagrees with Lang’s

account of the Rani as someone who beseeches the author to convince the British to not

implement the Doctrine of Lapse in Jhansi. Another mismatch in these accounts is the fact

that the Rani’s adopted son is shown to be six or seven years of age in Lang’s account but

popular images of her shows the baby boy strapped to her back as she charges into battle.

Such disparities are present throughout such accounts about the Mutiny.

Another crucial thing which can be noticed in all of the stories is that in none of them

have the various injustices that the British inflicted on the Indians been shown anywhere.

Although Lang is as hospitable as he can be towards the natives, he has mostly shown the

British in a positive light. The British were not always so benevolent nor were the natives so

submissive.

An important aspect which can be pointed out in a lot of cases is how Indians stand

and plot against their own countrymen. In one instance, the author is told by a native “to

make it expedient to do away with the perpetual settlement of Lord Cornwallis, and resettle

the whole of Bengal”. According to him,that was by far the most fertile province in the East

but was taxed lighter than any of the poor lands of the Upper Province. Such a suggestion
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was not only followed to the letter but the rest of all his accusations against the zamindars

were later realized by the British during their moment of peril when their power was at stake.

His comments on the dregs of both Hindus and Muslims converting to Christianity as

opposed to the popular belief of that time that respectable men do so was validated by the

arrival of a Roman Catholic Italian priest to the place where the narrator and Nobinkissen (a

native) were having this conversation. He also affirmed that the most debased and degraded

of Indians – men who only assume Christianity in the hope of temporal advantage and

preferment – and who fling aside their newly put-on faith, and laugh and scoff at your

credulity the moment they find their hope frustrated.

It is common knowledge that Indians treat their elders with a lot of respect. This habit

is ingrained in the culture as well as the language. Most languages in India have separate

words just for addressing someone older than you. But in one of the accounts, the author can

be found to make the statement that “It is a curious characteristic of Indian society that very

little outward respect is shown to seniority,” which is ironic because the English language

itself has no special salutations regarding seniority.

The book has a lot of interactions between the royalty and the narrator. For a major

part of the book, the discontent that was brewing in the Indian society before the 1857 revolt

is conspicuously absent. Whenever the event is mentioned, it is always done so with an

emphasis on the casualties suffered by the British with no mention of the large number of

Indians dying in that war. But an important aspect which has been highlighted throughout is

the scenic beauty of India.

Exoticism is something which is abundant in this piece of work. The author recounts

situations where he came across the notorious tribe of Thugs who were at Monghyr. He calls

it a “curious feeling to be in conversation with men who had each committed his ninety or a
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hundred murders- to see the fingers which strangled so many victims- to watch the process,

for they were good natured to act it”. This kind of portrayal not only degrades the image of

India, but also lends support to the common perception of that time that India is a land of

thieves and robbers who have no scruples against committing such heinous crimes. The

extensive mention of elephants and sprawling landscape of the Himalayas are all part of the

orientalist approach of John Lang.

In A Story of Days Gone By, originally an autobiography of Princess Shahr Bano

Begam of Pataudi, the narrative plays an important role in revealing the ruination and

deterioration of a Muslim royal family. After the war, Shahr Bano attempts to adjust herself

in a life never imagined before as she encounters various practices such as learning English,

earning a stipend for herself but none of it provides solace to her as she ultimately dwells into

isolation from the rest of the world. Her life was nothing short of joys and contentment before

the revolt snatched away her very own identity.

This piece of writing provides an insightful account in those lives who were the major

shareholders of the revolt, the ones at receiving ends and the ones who perished the most.

Much emphasis is given on the notion of suffering and pain as the royal family struggles to

adjust to the new lifestyle presented before them as they mourn for their lost livelihood. This

work of fiction is an apt representation of the unfair practices and ideologies which engulfed

the entire Indian subcontinent during that era. Numerous subjects were wiped off the

historical books as the revolt plunged into existence and stole the right to livelihood of each

and every individual no matter which section of society they belonged to.

Shahr Bano plays an essential role in presenting a detailed note of events and customs

of 19th century as this narrative is not only responsible in framing a mindset about the revolt

and its sufferers but also removes all prejudices about it. Such an impersonation about
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colonial India is to be held accountable for the existing narratives about the revolt of 1857

and its aftermath.

In Amitav Ghosh’s The Glass Palace, however, the aftermath of the Mutiny is told

through the eyes of those who had heard about the mutiny but had never experienced its

horrors. The book weaves together stories of people from various sectors of Indian society –

Rajkumar, a young boy from Chittagong, the last royal family of Burma exiled to Ratnagiri

after British invasion, the wife of an Indian civil officer in charge of the affairs of the

Burmese King, a Christian Indian family that empathizes with the British, an Indian soldier

who fights valiantly for the British Army in the Second World War and the victims of the

Japanese invasion of Burma. Ghosh has described these groups of characters from various

perspectives, enabling the reader access to various versions of the truth.

For example, Saya John, a Christian-educated Burmese-Indian, describes Indian

sepoys in the following manner:

“Evil…what other word could you use to describe their willingness to kill for their

masters, to follow any command…I would look into their eyes and see also a kind of

innocence, a simplicity. These men who would think nothing of setting fire to whole villages

if their officers ordered, they too had a certain kind of innocence. An innocent evil. I could

think of nothing more dangerous.”

The word ‘sepoy’ does not bring to mind the words ‘evil’ or ‘innocent’. It reminds us

of rebellion, of outrage, of independence. But Ghosh puts forward the sepoys that constituted

a considerable portion of the Army – thesoldier blinded by loyalty.

As Bipin Chandra puts it, it was considered prestigious to be in the service of the

Company; it provided economic stability. He does mention in his book that these were the

“1st Madras Pioneers, the most loyal of Britain’s foot soldiers. They had steadfastly stood by
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their masters even through the uprising of 1857, when most of north India had risen against

the British.”

Royalty of the Indian subcontinent is shown in Ghosh’s book as those who never had

a chance of surviving the British Raj. It is not just the King of Burma [his funeral is described

to have been considered irrelevant by the British officials and unnoticed by the Indian

population],that has been shown in this light. There is an instance where Bahadur Shah Zafar,

the last Mughal emperor who was exiled after the revolt of 1857, is shown to be sitting

fingering his beads, blind, old and alone in a small house in Rangoon.

There is also the incident when the Burmese King learns that the Viceroy is coming to

his place of exile, Madras. He assumes that since “the Kings of Burma are the peers of such

sovereigns” that there would be a meeting arranged between them. He is let down when he is

informed that “the Viceroy’s time was already spoken for”. Even the Royal palace back in

Burma, according to the book, “was refurbished to serve the conqueror’s recondite

pleasures.”

Anything “Oriental” was considered exotic, but inferior, rich but not of any practical

use. Similarly, royalty to the British, according to the British were weak-willed, easy to

overthrow and exile and not worth a second glance.

Another interesting interaction in Ghosh’s narrative is between the impressions that

the Englishmen had of the Indians and vice versa. Saya John empathizes with a young British

official, saying that the man was obviously far away from his home in a land he did not

know, susceptible to diseases and alone in a jungle. The official later refers to him as “Johnny

Chinaman,” and berates him endlessly. Ghosh has portrayed Indians as subservient,

submissive and empathetic and the Englishmen to be tyrannical, temperamental and rude. But

this has been done not because the author believes it to be the truth, but to strike a chord in

the minds of the readers.

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Through the eyes of Uma, the wife of a cleric working for the British government, the

events that preceded the revolt of 1857 are recalled in a way that seems like Ghosh has

adhered to the popular stories about the rebellion:

“…well before the firing of the first shot, signs of trouble had appeared on the north

Indian plains. Chapatis – those most unremarkable of everyday foods – had begun to circulate

from village to village, as though in warning.”

The book talks also in extensive detail what it meant for an educated Indian to serve

in the Indian army. It narrates through the eyes of Arjun, an Indian soldier in the British

infantry, who later rises to positions of Lieutenant [something that was rare, an honour never

given to an Indian] and even General, only to die tragically in the World War:

“…Punjabis, Marathas, Bengalis, Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims. Where else in India would

you come across a group such as ours – where region and religion does not matter – where

we can all drink together and eat beef and pork and think nothing of it? Each represented an

advance towards the evolution of a new, more complete kind of Indian.”

Very soon, Arjun changes his stand about the army. He has experiences with bigotry

and discrimination and soon becomes disillusioned about the British. His fellow soldier, an

Englishman called Hardy, tells him:

“Have you ever seen an Indian soldier using an umbrella? In the old days in the East,

umbrellas were a sign of sovereignty. The British didn’t want their sepoys to get

overambitious.”

The novel is peppered with such mentions of discrimination and injustice,

experienced by Indians from all sections of the society. Ghosh seeks in his book to portray

through fictional characters a set of people that very well may have existed during the British

Raj, struggling to survive, love and live a full life, sacrificing their lives for something even

they could not fully comprehend.

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These books are classified under fiction but tells us stories of the harsh realities that

existed in the 1800s in British India. People often read such works of literature more than

history textbooks or books by eminent historians; because of this very fact, it is often the

representations that these authors make that stay in the minds of the readers and influence

how they see their past. As we have understood from the essay, there are obvious disparities

between what is commonly accepted to be fact and the narrative that has been created to be

romanticized and read for entertainment. It is, therefore, crucial that when one reads and

engages with such text, the incidents presented in the stories as fact should be taken with a

grain of salt.