‘Not mutiny, it was War of Independence’

Veer Savarkar redefined the ‘sepoy mutiny’ in his book which was banned even before it could be published

In the library of the Savarkar Rashtriya Smarak (Savarkar National Memorial) on Caddell Road, near Shivaji Park, is the an old English book titled 1857: The Indian War of Independence.

For those who are not too keen about history, it was exactly 150 years ago on this day (May 10, 1857) that the first uprising had erupted against the British. So, why are we talking about a book that Veer Savarkar wrote 50 years after the uprising? The reason: It was the first time that the 1857 struggle had been interpreted and coined as a War of Independence. Till then the British historians had tried to downplay the event as a mere sepoy mutiny. Therefore, even as we celebrate and honour the valour shown by the likes of Tatya Tope, Bahadur Shah Zafar and Nanasaheb Peshwa, a brief mention of Savarkar’s book is a must.

Historians, not only in India, but also across the border, agree on the effect Savarkar’s book had in redefining the 1857 struggle. Lahore-based historian Dr Mubarak Ali who spoke to DNA said, “Savarkar’s book was instrumental in redefining the 1857 event which, till then, was termed a localised rebellion.”

He further stated that though there is a lot of hero worship in the book and despite the fact that Savarkar used history as a tool to glorify the struggle, the book, nevertheless correctly interpreted the 1857 struggle as the war of independence.

According to noted historian Ninad Bedekar, from the point of view of literature, this was a classic. For, anyone who read it then, would have got provoked against the British. He, however, feels that there is some ambiguity as far as Savarkar’s assertion about the 1857 event is concerned. Considering the contradictions throughout the country (not all provinces of

India had actively participated), one cannot conclusively say about the nature of this event.

However, considering that the uprising had gone beyond army camps and the fact that had it not been for cartridges some other issue would have triggered the rebellion, there is enough justification to term it as war of independence.

“Maybe, had the communication system been better, the uprising would have spread on a larger scale,” he says.

While the story of the 1857 struggle itself is fascinating, the story of the book is no less interesting. In fact, before getting published for the first time, the manuscript travelled many countries. Savarkar, while in London, at the age of 24 wrote the book in Marathi. Though the manuscript was secretly sent to India, it could not be published in a book form because of the explosive content in it.

The manuscript was, therefore, sent to France and from there to Germany with the hope that it would get published in Devanagari script since some Sanskrit literature had been published in Germany then. However, the book could not be published there as well. Even before the book got published, the British government imposed a ban on it. This is perhaps the only instance when a book had been banned before it got published.

Meanwhile, the manuscript was translated into English and smuggled into Holland where it was finally published.