The Revolt of 1857 which is considered the first war of Indian independence is not exactly the first one as there were other rebellions by the Marathas and by Tipu Sultan and Veera Pandya Kattabomman down South much before 1857, said Chairman of the Mangalore University Department of History Dr B Surendra Rao.

Delivering the inaugural address at ‘Sangram- The Battle,’ an inter-collegiate cultural fest organised by the NSS unit of SDM college of Business Management here recently, he added that even the Vellore Mutiny in Tamil Nadu took place in 1806, much before the so called Sepoy Mutiny in the North.

Reflecting upon the idea that Sangram is being conducted to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the 1857 revolt, he said that a lot of talking is going on, on the mutiny without having proper historical view of it and further elaborated his ideas regarding the revolt.

Speaking on the irony in glorifying the bloodiest revolt in the history of India when the country won its Independence under the able leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest exponent of non-violence, Dr Rao said, “All the glorification of the revolt will end on October 2 as the UNO has declared next year as the International year of Peace.”  The revolt can not be called a war of independence as the sepoys did not have a strong sense of patriotism as they were fighting for the British. It was more a rebellion of the feudal elements who had a considerable grudge against the British and the ideology of the revolt was to reinstall Bahadur Shah Safar, a shadow of the illustrious Mughal rule, as the emperor of India, said Dr Rao and added that the feudal lords including the Rani of Jhansi were trying to use the rebellion for their benefit.

The real nationalist movement in India came a long time after 1857 and was spearheaded by the educated middle-class of India as feudalism was dead and buried with the revolt. India got freedom under different circumstances and ideologies. Gandhiji, who advocated non-violence was not a coward to do so, but he strongly believed that non-violence stood for civilisation. However, the idea of heroic violence instilled by the 1857 revolt shall be appreciated as those involved were well meaning people, Dr Rao elaborated.

He concluded that history is not a celebration but understanding and urged the public to understand the history well before celebrating it.  Auto Matrix Managing Director Rajendra Kumar, who was the guest of honour said that there is a lot of expectation on the new generation as they are engaged in service to the nation in a positive direction. He further stressed on the importance of establishing a reputation and character in life.