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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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
“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
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
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
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
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
“…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
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
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
“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.”
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
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.