Rare 1857 reports on Bengal uprisings

KOLKATA: Unlike what is commonly believed, the 1857 sepoy mutiny was not confined to cantonments in Barrackpore and Behrampore. Similar uprisings started all over Bengal after these two were snuffed out in April 1857, proof of which has just been found in the West Bengal State Archives.

Historians and archival officers have found police/intelligence records handed down from the time of the Company that indicate that uprisings also happened in Chittagong, Dhaka, Jalpaiguri and Tripura. Care was taken to suppers these records and so, no mention of these was found in textbooks.

Take the case of the uprising in Chittagong in September 1857 in which many officers were killed. Here, sepoys planned for days to take control of the treasury. British officers were taken aback by the sudden coup. For days, the treasury remained under the sepoys' control. The Company had to organize forces from outside to curb the rebellion.

In the uprising at Jalpaiguri barely two months later, the sepoys actually razed the barracks and also roused the common men around the cantonment, disproving the belief that Bengalis did not participate in the mutiny wholeheartedly as the sepoys were mostly men from Bihar and UP.

The sepoys of Jalpaiguri were joined in large numbers by the masses who continued to plunder and even joined the Faraizi movement of the Bengali Muslims that had already gained some ground against the Company. The Company had to finally bring in force from its Kolkata headquarters to quell the uprising. The cantonment also had to be rebuilt as most sepoys had fled to their homeland.

In the uprisings at Tripura in January 1858, the sepoys not only had the support of the royal family, but were also given shelter by the latter when they were being hounded by the Company. Records suggest these uprisings happened immediately after the hangings of Mangal and Ishwari Pandey in April 1857 of the Barrackpore Cantonment. Researchers have identified names of several sepoys who were rounded up and hanged publicly.

"It is believed that the sepoy mutiny ended in Bengal with the hanging of Mangal Pandey but these documents clearly disprove this theory. Despite the best efforts of the Company, other regiments got to know about each uprising that was planned and were inspired to take part. All the four uprisings of which we have found proof, happened between September 1857 and February 1858," said Atis Dasgupta, director of the state archive.

The state archives is about to publish the details. "Indeed, the sepoy mutiny had a much broader span. While a lot is known about the sepoy uprisings of UP, Bihar and MP, very little is known about the continuous uprisings in Bengal because of the impression that Bengal by and large has been loyal to the British," said historian Barun De, who has been closely associated with the discovery of these documents.

"Some Indian historians had suggested that Barrackpore and Behrampore were not the places of uprising in Bengal but one lacked concrete proof. These records will help us take a re-look at the events," said historian Amalendu De.