The Revolt of 1857: Part 4

The Revolt of 1857 is famous for being the first step taken by the sub-continent to repel the British invasion. Though it failed for many reasons, we witnessed the birth of many freedom fighters during this struggle. Yet something remains a mystery - what inspired the brave heroes to revolt? What was the trigger for them to wake up and realise the horrors of colonialism?

Blowing Mutinous Sepoys From the Guns, September 8th, 1857. Image Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Exploring the rumours as a sociological and psychological phenomenon instigating the Revolt

The propagation of the rumours explored in the pervious part of this series; about the British's sinister motives has often been said to have taken on physical manifestations. Although a few concur on the fact that the rumours were actually passed from one area to another through representational objects such as chapatti, red lotuses, etc. and involved some sort of organized conspiracy, others deny the truth of this, stating an absence of proof.

Historian Bipan Chandra mentions this uncertainty: "One community of historians... refer to the proliferation of chapattis and red lotuses, propaganda by roaming sanyasis, faqirs and madaris. Some authors refute this more strongly . . . We find out that no piece of paper has been found . . . suggesting an orchestrated conspiracy".>

Whether or not there had been an organised conspiracy, several reports argue that chapattis and red lotuses were distributed in the fashion of chain mail although even those who spread them were not very clear on the meaning and significance of such symbols.

The distribution of these artifacts caught the British eye in February 1857. Mathura's then magistrate, Mark Thornhill, was one of the first British officials to come to know about this so-called "chupatty movement." One day he discovered some chapattis lying on his desk, brought in by a police officer who had received them from a confused chowkidar who supposedly had received them from an unknown man with orders to duplicate and pass on the chapattis. While analyses revealed no subversive message or specific meaning, the British discovered that a flood of chapattis had advanced along several lines throughout the country. The British never deduced the true meaning of such symbols, and no clear evidence has been discovered regarding their meaning even to this day.

Furthermore, historian Mike Dash observes that the sharing of the chapattis was a "significant example of a wild rumor". The officials knew that even if the rumours and theories were largely unfounded; if they were shared too fast from one area to another, they could have had serious repercussions, carrying on some hidden code unknown to them.

The law stated that the strength of a rumour(R) could be expressed by the equation R= i*a where #i stands for the subject matter's importance to the individual concerned and #a stands for the ambiguity of the evidence relating to the subject matter at hand. Although this equation has been criticized for being unable to account for a reliable way of ascertaining #i and #a, both historical and psychological scholars informally accept that an estimated evaluation of the conditions present in India in 1857 would generate a relatively strong rumour power under this basic law of rumour. The Indian situation at that time incorporated these two factors: this problem was of extreme importance (the religious dimension in particular) to the public, as well as pervasive scepticism over British motives.

Where do we stand?

The rumours were mostly unfounded and in other instances, just partially true. Nonetheless, the citizens, unable to comprehend British customs, clung to such rumours; thinking the outsiders possessed diabolical intentions. It unified them in their fight. The Hindus and Muslims fought against the foreign power and declared the Islamic Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah the leader of the revolt. The rumours generated fear and worry. As a response, they prepared to fight those they thought were out to defile and deprive them of their Dharma and Din. The function of rumours in the Revolt of 1857 was significant because the rumours helped to give people a shared complaint, a common cause to rise against the colonizers as one. At the same time, it is true that the rumours themselves stemmed from some very real complaints.

The aforementioned problems faced by the people had not only intensified their physical challenges, but also their emotional struggles, creating the ideal context for flourishing rumours. The function thus played by the rumours also forced to the surface what the colonizers' and natives ' mutual animosity could lead to. The disparity between British and Indian ways of life meant that the two people of different lands would never totally understand or empathise with each other. Thus, although such common rumours since 1857 became rare, the rivalry between the two never ended, and 90 years later, in a very different socio-political situation, the two finally divided with the British leaving India.

The British understood they'd face major challenges in the event of a true uprising, because they did not possess nor the troops to quench a large revolt, or contact with the locals. The propagation of this uprising was really quite alarming any since similar rumours were documented at the 1806 Madras Presidency, followed by a small-scale sepoy mutiny at Vellore. Their worries were confirmed when on May 10th, 1857, the mutiny finally broke out.

The British gave great importance to the chapatti transmission in the aftermath of the rebellion. They concluded that, since the largely illiterate and poor peasants were better at opposing the British than **would have been expected of them, an orchestrated plot was required and had probably caused the insurrection. The manner in which British territories started to fall into shambles in 1857 implies that the revolt was not wholly spontaneous.

Yet, modern historians mainly argue that these items had no true meaning, and even if there was something, in was lost in the course of the spread. These questionable symbols and rumours, however, served to inflame everyone's unrest and make them more likely to rebel. The "basic law of rumour" one was framed by Allport (along with his Postman), one of the stalwarts behind the most popular psychological studies of rumour.

Massacre of officers by insurgent cavalry at Delhi. Image Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Soldiers and officers of the Indian army. Image Source: Wikimedia Commons.