VishnuKamathBookReviews: 1857 The Real Story of the Great Uprising by Vishnu Bhatt Godshe Versaikar (Translated Mrinal Pande)

A travelogue without a map

After his defeat by the forces of Henry Havelock in July 1857, Nana Saheb fled Cawnpore (now Kanpur). He was never captured despite the long campaign over Central India by the Company’s Field Force which left Delhi to relieve Lucknow. Do you know what route Nana took to evade the Company forces? A clue to the trajectory of his flight can be obtained from the travelogue of two most unlikely individuals.

Vishnu Bhatt and his elderly uncle, self-described beggar-Brahmins, leave their native village Versai (in present day Raigad district, Maharashtra) and depart for Hindustan (a popular term to denote Central and North India). The year is 1856. The motive to undertake such a mammoth journey by foot and bullock cart? To earn money to pay off family debts. How did they plan to earn money? By using their knowledge of scriptures to conduct religious rituals in the families of the rich, and royal houses of the powerful Marathas and their feudatories. The immediate destination? Mathura, where the dowager Queen of the royal house of Gwalior was planning a grand Yagnya, and giving away several lakhs of rupees in charity and fees to the Brahmins.

Death by snakebite, and robbery by thugs were well known hazards of travel into Hindustan, and our protagonists were witness to both fairly early in their travels. But imagine their surprise when they ran into renegade soldiers from the army camp in Mhow, who warned them of cataclysmic events to come! The influential Marathas including the Shindes (Scindias), Holkars, Gaikwads, and other minor feudatories had promised the Angrez (British rulers) to support the introduction of the new greased cartridges. The soldiers were bent on mutiny suspecting the Angrez of wanting to convert the whole of Hindustan to Christianity by forcing the soldiers to bite into the hated greased cartridges.

The date for the mutiny had been set for the 10^th of June. When our travelers cross the Satpura mountains and arrive at Mhow on that very same day, the whole camp was burning. The fleeing soldiers killed the driver of an oncoming mail carriage, and set fire to the mail. Our travelers were forced to travel with the mutineers for their own safety and reached Ujjain. From Ujjain to Dhar to receive alms on the occasion of the death of the ruler of Dhar. As the mutiny was unlikely to end soon, our travelers push on and reach Gwalior, only to find that the grand Yagnya had been called off, due to the disturbed state of the country. By then the mutineers had won and lost Cawnpore, the Nana Sahib had fled, and Lucknow was unsafe. The mutineers had made Kalpi their own, and had established a civilian administration there under the leadership of Tantia Tope. A large number of travelers were fleeing to Jhansi, considered safe and impregnable. Having received generous alms from the Queen of Gwalior, our heroes too set out for Jhansi, where the elder of the two travelers had earlier been employed by the royal house.

The stay in Jhansi started well and ended in a nightmare. The British attacked the fort relentlessly, and finally broke in forcing the Rani to flee with her adherents. The city was mercilessly sacked. The book gives the most detailed narration of the sacking of a city- first the British who make away with gold, silver, and other precious objects, followed by the Indian soldiers who make off with brass and copper ware, then the thugs and free booters who snatch whatever else is left. What is not of value such as clay pots and pans are broken and smashed, fruit trees cut, and the wood carted away. Trees of no value are carted away for firewood, until the city is left bereft of fuel to even cremate the dead. All this is done under the close supervision of the British “Commissioner”. Much before this, all males of the age 5 to 80 are slaughtered. Our protagonists spend the days in underground hideouts along with women and children, and survive the catastrophe. At the end of the sacking, the two clothed in rags, with a rope and a clay pot take the road to Kalpi, where the mutineers hold out the promise of safety from the white man (see Route Map 1 below). However the British after defeating the rebel forces at Charkari, had arrived at the gates of Kalpi in hot pursuit of the Rani, Nana and Tantia Tope. This time our heroes left Kalpi before the British entered, and made for the Ganga at Bithoor, which had by then already been sacked. Even in the midst of serial disasters, our duo do not forget their ritual baths, prayers, temple visits, religious discourses, and conduct the Shrad ceremonies for their ancestors in the Holy Ganga. From here, our travelers go to Chitrakoot, where Lord Rama had spent a few years in exile. However the British come snapping at their heels yet again, and they had to flee to Banda. From Banda to Jalaun, this time again in the company, and dubious protection of the mutineers. From Jalaun, they turned back to Banda to collect alms from the ruler of Chitrakoot who was imprisoned there by the British. With 75 rupees collected, they plan to go to Kashi, but are looted by robbers and, forced to join an army of mutineers led by the Peshwa himself (p. 156). With the onset of monsoon and the sky heavily overcast, our heroes lose all sense of direction and end up trailing Nana’s party, first going to Jaipur, and then Baroda. At each of these places, the Peshwa seeks assistance of the local rulers. Some pay money, others prevaricate, yet others have openly aligned with the British. The Peshwa has to flee with his considerable army now numbering over 20,000 to Bundi (Route Map 2 below). From Kalpi to Bundi, they had by now travelled 2500 kms. The Peshwa’s forces defeat the Raja of Bundi and seize his treasury. The Peshwa turns southwards believing the Nizam of Hyderabad would help the mutiny. At this point our heroes, not willing to give up their aim of visiting Kashi part ways, and travel back to Bithoor! (See Route Map 3 below.)

After more ceremonies at Bithoor, their second visit to the Holy Ganga, they depart for Ayodhya via Lucknow. There is a fascinating account of the birth place of Lord Rama in Ayodhya (p. 184):

“The fabled spot is merely a large waist-high platform in an open area. It is made of limestone and surrounded by a wall about three or four feet high. Grasses and weeds grow all over, and in the distance one can see the remains of what must have been the walls of an old fort.”

This description of the holy spot, matches with the Wikipedia account of the site, and most amazingly the platform cited by these travelers appears to have been constructed around the same time. The Wikipedia account is quoted below:

“The site of the Babri Masjid has been claimed to be the birthplace of Rama since at least 1822. Hafizullah, a superintendent at the Faizabad court submitted a report to the court in 1822 in which he claimed, "The mosque founded by emperor Babur is situated at the birth-place of Ram."^[2][3] In 1855 local Muslims became convinced that the nearby Hanuman Garhi Temple was built over the site of a former mosque, and became resolved to demolish the temple, resulting in violent clashes leading to the deaths of many Muslims.^[4] In 1857, a chabutra (platform) was erected in the courtyard of the Babri Masjid at the supposed site of Rama's birthplace.^[5]” (emphasis added).

The violence at Ayodhya in this period became a bone of contention between the Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Lucknow, and the Resident James Outram. This was one among other reasons cited to support the eventual annexation of Oudhe (Awadh) (see Llewellyn-Jones, The Last King in India).

After spending 22 days in daily prayers, Vishnu Bhatt- the younger of the two, feels an urge to taste the pleasures of life. He convinces his uncle to stay in Ayodhya in prayer, and himself goes to Lucknow. Gone are the ritual baths and prayers. For a fortnight in Lucknow, he walks the streets in search of women, visits dancing girls, and indulges himself in a city in which the mutiny by now has been fully put down. He then returns to Ayodhya and his uncle, and resumes his normal life. From here they move to Kashi, and then on to Prayag, the holiest of the holy towns. More rituals and prayers. He collects two pots of water to be carried all the way back to his native village for the ritual purification of his parents.

The pair now return back home by means of Bithoor, Gwalior, Jhansi, Sagar, Hoshangabad, Nemad, Indore, Dhule, Malegaon, Khandesh to Pune (Route Map 4 below). The return journey is by a route different from that traversed on the way out. The journey is uneventful, as the British have begun to exercise control over the whole country, reined in outlaws, established safe routes for travel, and constructed rest houses. There is only one hazard the new rulers could not provide for. The moral hazard of promiscuous behavior. However, our travelers by the dint of their piety overcome this admirably, and reach home to the joy of all. The original aim of earning money? They have utterly failed, for it is fated that scholars shall forever live a life of penury! To conclude, this is a delightful book to read, part biography, part history.

Route Map 1. The first phase of the journey (1739 kms).

Route Map 2. The second phase of the journey from Kalpi to Bundi (2547 kms). The journey from Gwalior to Bundi was completed as a part of Nana Saheb’s camp.