Mutiny at the Margins: New Perspectives on the Indian Uprising of 1857: Volume 4: Military Aspects of the Indian Uprising

185 Pages·2013·5.428 MB·English

by  Gavin Rand (editor), Crispin Bates (editor)

Military Aspects of
the Indian Uprising
Mutiny at the Margins
New Perspectives on the Indian Uprising of 1857
Series Editor: Crispin Bates
Volume 1
Anticipations and Experiences in the Locality
Edited by Crispin Bates
Volume 2
Britain and the Indian Uprising
Edited by Andrea Major and Crispin Bates
Volume 3
Global Perspectives
Edited by Marina Carter and Crispin Bates
Volume 4
Military Aspects of the Indian Uprising
Edited by Gavin Rand and Crispin Bates
Volume 5
Muslim, Dalit and Subaltern Narratives
Edited by Crispin Bates
Volume 6
Perception, Narration and Reinvention: The Pedagogy and Historiography of
the Indian Uprising
Edited by Crispin Bates
Volume 7
A Source Book: Documents of the Indian Uprising
Edited by Crispin Bates, Marina Carter and Markus Daechsel
Mutiny
at the Margins
New Perspectives on the Indian Uprising of 1857
Volume 4
Military Aspects of
the Indian Uprising
Edited by
Gavin Rand
Crispin Bates
Copyright © Crispin Bates, 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
First published in 2013 by
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mutiny at the margins: new perspectives on the Indian uprising of 1857.
volumes cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. India—History—Sepoy Rebellion, 1857–1858. I. Bates, Crispin, 1958– editor of
compilation. II. Major, Andrea. III. Carter, Marina. IV. Rand, Gavin.
DS478.M87 954.03’17—dc23 2013 2013001632
ISBN: 978-81-321-1053-8 (HB)
The Sage Team: Shambhu Sahu, Punita Kaur Mann, Anju Saxena and Dally Verghese
Series Note
THE volumes in this series take a fresh look at the Revolt of 1857 from a variety
of original and unusual perspectives, focusing in particular on traditionally
neglected socially marginal groups and geographic areas that have hitherto
tended to be unrepresented in studies of this cataclysmic event in British imperial
and Indian historiography.
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SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd, New Delhi
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Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction: The ‘Subaltern at Arms’
by Gavin Rand and Crispin Bates xv
1. The Sepoy Speaks: Discerning the Significance of
the Vellore Mutiny 1
James W. Frey
2. Combat, Combat Motivation and the Construction
of Identities: A Case Study 24
Kaushik Roy
3. Holy Warriors: Religion as Military Modus Operandi 41
Crispin Bates and Marina Carter
4. Logistic Failures on the Part of the Rebels in 1857 61
William Dalrymple
5. Durgadas and Sitaram: Tales of Loyalty in
the Great Indian Uprising 76
Sabyasachi Dasgupta
6. Reconstructing the Imperial Military
after the Rebellion 93
Gavin Rand
viii Mutiny at the Margins
7. Finding those Men with ‘Guts’: The Ascription
and Re-ascription of Martial Identities
in India after the Uprising 113
Gajendra Singh
8. Mutiny, War or Small War? Revisiting an Old Debate 135
Gautam Chakravarty
About the Editors and Contributors 147
Index 150
Preface
THE seven-volume Mutiny at the Margins series published by SAGE is the
product of a research project of the same name undertaken at the University
of Edinburgh in Scotland, with funding from the UK Arts and Humanities
Research Council. Taking place 150 years after the Indian Uprising of 1857–
1858, the Mutiny at the Margins project was created to challenge conventional
understandings of the uprising through thematic, collaborative research, a
network of scholars centred on Edinburgh and international conferences. This
innovative project aimed to confront some of the many myths surrounding
popular and academic conceptions of the revolt, to move beyond traditional
nationalist and imperialist perspectives, and to explore previously neglected
margins in the history of this tumultuous event.
Marginality is invoked in several ways throughout the series. It is presented in
the telling of tales that fall outside the mainstream historiography of the period
and pursued chronologically as the historical context of the Indian Uprising is
enlarged in an exploration of both the progenitors and consequences of 1857.
The series ventures into overlooked geographical margins, both within India
and overseas, with the global impact of the revolt being examined in Volume 3.
Finally, a core purpose of the series is to emphasise the critical roles played by
socially marginal groups in the uprising and to use this to highlight new areas of
current research.
Independent scholars from across the globe came together for the Mutiny at
the Margins project. This collaboration fostered ground-breaking research, aided
by three international conferences held in Edinburgh, London and Jamia Millia
Islamia in New Delhi, and four workshops held in Edinburgh and at the Royal
Asiatic Society in London. Altogether, some thirty leading Indian and Pakistani
researchers were involved, along with a dozen academics from the United States
and twice that number of participants drawn from universities across the United
Kingdom and Europe. A majority of the chapters in the series are the product of
the cooperative, committed and original endeavour of these scholars. The Mutiny
at the Margins project was accompanied by a high level of public engagement,
including a programme of public lectures, collaborative exhibitions, seminars