 Title page for The Indian War of Independence (1909) | |
| Author | Vinayak Damodar Savarkar |
|---|---|
| Country | India |
| Language | Marathi, English |
| Genre | History (Nationalist) |
| Publisher | Sethani Kampani, Bombay (reprint, India) |
Publication date | 1909, 1947 (First public edition, India) |
Published in English | 1909 |
The Indian War of Independence is an Indian nationalist history of the 1857 revolt by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar that was first published in 1909. [1]
Savarkar initially wrote The Indian War of Independence in Marathi, in response to celebrations in Great Britain of the 50th anniversary of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 with records from India Office archives. The project received support from Indian nationalists in Britain, including the likes of Madame Cama, V.V.S. Iyer and M.P.T. Acharya, as well as Indian students who had dared not show their support or sympathy for India House openly. [2] The book sought to bring the Indian movement to public attention in Britain as well as to inspire nationalist movements in India.
Savarkar finished writing the book in 1907, when he was at the India House in London, but could not find a publisher in Europe because the book was written in Marathi. So, he decided to publish an English translation. It is not clear who translated the book, but the language is quite consistent throughout the translation, which suggests that the translation was done by a single person. The anonymous publisher simply states that "other residents at the India house" translated the work, and that they expedited the publication without waiting for an elegant translation. [3]
The book was influenced by histories of the French Revolution, the American Revolution and Indian histories of the Maratha conquests. [4]
Savarkar was inspired by the Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini's assertion that the history of a revolution must consider "the principles and motives of the people involved", and referred to the First Italian War of Independence as an example for the Indian historians to consider. [5]
Karl Marx had published a short article named "The Indian Revolt" in the New-York Tribune in 1857. [6] Some later writers have wrongly claimed that Karl Marx inspired Savarkar's use of the term "war of independence" for the event. Marx never used the term to describe the 1857 revolt, although a volume of his articles was published in Moscow in 1959 under the title The First Indian War of Independence 1857–1859. This volume was based on a Russian-language edition, whose title does not use the term "First". The title may have been inspired by Savarkar's book, whose original edition did not use the term "First" either. The word "first" appears in an edition of Savarkar's book published in 1945 in Kuala Lumpur. The edition, titled The Volcano, or The First War of Indian Independence, was published by the Indian National Army (INA) and the Japanese Ministry of Propaganda. [7]
The book was seen at the time as highly inflammatory, and the Marathi edition was banned in British India even before its publication. [8] Publication of the English translation faltered after British printers and publishing houses were warned by the Home Office of its highly seditious content, while the British foreign office brought pressure on the French government to prevent its publication from Paris. [8]
In July 1909 Madan Lal Dhingra, a member of Savarkar's Abhinav Bharat Society, had assassinated the British official Curzon Wyllie. The British officials knew that Savarkar had planned to release a text, and were concerned that it may incite further acts of violence against the British administration. [9]
Savarkar's earlier works were not widely read: his fist book - on Mazzini - was immediately banned by the government; the manuscript of his second book - on the history of the Sikhs - was either lost in post or destroyed by officials before it could be published. Therefore, Savarkar's associates maintained secrecy regarding the book's publication and circulation. An underground network of revolutionaries circulated the book, hoping that it would encourage a revolution against the British. [9]
On 21 July 1909, H.A. Stuart, the Director of the CID in Bombay, sent a telegram to Indian government officials urging them to intercept the text that was expected to arrive in Indian ports from England. He knew that the subject of the text was 1857 uprising, but did not know the title of the work or the number of copies being shipped. He suspected that there were two editions of the text - the original Marathi text published in Germany, and an English translation published in London. [9] The Viceroy of India, Lord Minto, supported the confiscation even though officials complained that they could not confiscate the book under the Sea Customs Act or the Indian Post Office Act, without more details about the text. By this time, the first edition of Savarkar's work had already been published as a 451-page book titled The Indian War of Independence of 1857, with the author listed as "An Indian Nationalist". [10]
The book was ultimately printed in the Netherlands in 1909, with the British government not tracing it until too late. [2] [8] [11] The copies were printed with false dust wrappers purporting to be copies of The Pickwick Papers and other literary classics, and large quantities were shipped to India, where it quickly became a bible of political extremists. [8] It was excluded from the catalogue of the British Library to prevent Indian students from accessing it. In India, the book remained banned until the end of the Raj forty years later. [8]
So, now, the original antagonism between Hindus and Mahomedans might be consigned to the Past. Their present relation was one not of rulers and ruled, foreigner and native, but simply that of brothers with the one difference between them of religion alone. For, they were both children of the soil of Hindusthan. Their names were different, but they were all children of the same Mother; India therefore being the common mother of these two, they were brothers by blood.
V.D. Savarkar, The Indian War of Independence [12]
The book describes the Indian Rebellion of 1857 as a unified and national uprising of India as a nation against British authority. [13]
Savarkar states that both the British and the Indians committed cruel and brutal acts during the uprising, but characterizes such acts by Indians as justifiable acts of vengeance. On the other hand, he describes such acts by the British as oppressive and disproportionate, giving the example of massacres by General James George Smith Neill. According to Savarkar, the number of Indians killed by Neill in Allahabad alone was more than all the English people killed, but the colonial historians described him as a "bold and brave" man, whose "timely cruelty" showed his "great love of humanity". Stating that Krishna advised Arjuna to abandon the code of ethics against an enemy who was unethical, Savarkar argues that the cruel acts committed by Indians in revenge were justifiable. [14]
Unlike Savarkar's later works, the book emphasizes Hindu-Muslim unity, stating that they worked together for "freeing their country". In the introduction to the book, Savarkar states that the feeling of hatred against the Muslims was necessary during Shivaji's period, but it would be "unjust and foolish" to nurse such hatred now. [15]
Regarding the national character of the revolt, some erstwhile and modern histories draw similar conclusions as Savarkar, [16] while others, including R.C. Majumdar, disagree with Savarkar's conclusions in his book on the national and unified character of the mutiny. [1] [16] [17]
The book is considered to be an influential work in Indian history and nationalist writing, [18] and also one of Savarkar's most influential works in developing and framing ideas of Hinduism. [19]
Nathuram Vinayak Godse was a Hindu nationalist who on 30 January 1948 assassinated Mahatma Gandhi. Godse was a member of the political party, the Hindu Mahasabha; and a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindu paramilitary volunteer organisation; and a populariser of the work of his mentor Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who had created the ideology of Hindutva.
Hindutva is a political ideology encompassing the cultural justification of Hindu nationalism and the belief in establishing Hindu hegemony within India. The political ideology was formulated by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1922. It is used by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other organisations, collectively called the Sangh Parivar.
The Indian Independence Movement, was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed.
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Marathi pronunciation: [ʋinaːjək saːʋəɾkəɾ]; 28 May 1883 – 26 February 1966) was an Indian politician, activist and writer. Savarkar developed the Hindu nationalist political ideology of Hindutva while confined at Ratnagiri in 1922. He was a leading figure in the Hindu Mahasabha. The prefix "Veer" has been applied to his name by his followers.The title was never an official one.
Tanhaji Malusare was a warrior and commander of Shivaji. A local poet Tulsidas, wrote a powada describing Subhedar Tanhaji's heroics and sacrifice of life in the Battle of Sinhagad, which has since made him a popular figure in Indian folklore.
Ramdas, also known as SamarthRamdas or Ramdas Swami, was an Indian Hindu saint, philosopher, poet, writer and spiritual master. He was a devotee of the Hindu deities Rama and Hanuman.
Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha is a Hindu nationalist political party in India.
A Warning to the Hindus is a 1939 booklet by Savitri Devi. It was written to further Indian nationalism by way of Nazi ethics and spirituality. Savitri believed the Indian people to be of Aryan descent, and thus sought to promote explicitly Nazi ideals, such as ethnic purity and xenophobia, within India. Within the text, emphasis is focused on many supposed horrors the future could hold should India choose to accept diversity and reject Nazi Aryanism. The author projected Hindu India as the last surviving remnant of ancient Aryan spirituality, and issued this work as a warning to what she perceived as the threat of submergence through ‘alien,’ meaning non-Aryan, influences, such as Islam. Nazism, which must be condemned, was an ideology that both Savitri Devi and Savarkar deemed appropriate. It is a fascist book, that teaches violence as a way to restore only Hindus in India.
Madan Lal Dhingra was an Indian revolutionary and a pro-independence activist. While studying in England, he assassinated William Hutt Curzon Wyllie, a British official.
The Revolutionary movement for Indian Independence was part of the Indian independence movement comprising the actions of violent underground revolutionary factions. Groups believing in armed revolution against the ruling British fall into this category, as opposed to the generally peaceful civil disobedience movement spearheaded by Mahatma Gandhi.
India House was a student residence that existed between 1905 and 1910 at Cromwell Avenue in Highgate, North London. With the patronage of lawyer Shyamji Krishna Varma, it was opened to promote nationalist views among Indian students in Britain. This institute used to grant scholarships to Indian youths for higher studies in England. The building rapidly became a hub for political activism, one of the most prominent for overseas revolutionary Indian nationalism. "India House" came to informally refer to the nationalist organisations that used the building at various times.
Varahaneri Venkatesa Subramaniam Aiyar, also known as V. V. S. Aiyar, was an Indian revolutionary from Tamil Nadu who fought against British colonial rule in India. His contemporaries include Subramanya Bharathi and V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, who subscribed to militant forms of resistance against the British colonial government. He also exchanged ideas with V. D. Savarkar during his stay at India House in London. He went into exile in Pondicherry, then under French rule, when his militant activities attracted a warrant for his arrest from the British colonial government.
Essentials of Hindutva is an ideological epigraph written by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1922. The book was published in 1923 while Savarkar was still in jail. It was retitled Hindutva: Who Is a Hindu? when reprinted in 1928. Savarkar's epigraph forms part of the canon of works published during British rule that later influenced post-independence contemporary Hindu nationalism.
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 has been variously termed as a war of independence, a rebellion, and a mutiny. Several Indian writers, who consider it as a part of the Indian independence movement that ultimately led to the country's independence in 1947, have termed it as "The First War of Independence", the "great revolution", the "great rebellion", and the "Indian freedom struggle". Several British writers, who view it as a military disturbance, have termed it as "sepoy revolt", "sepoy war", "Indian rebellion", and the "great revolt". Since the 19th century, a section of British writers have challenged the choice of the word "mutiny" to describe the events.
Abhinav Bharat Society (Young India Society) was an Indian Independence secret society founded by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and his brother Ganesh Damodar Savarkar in 1904. Initially founded at Nasik as "Mitra Mela" when Vinayak Savarkar was still a student of Fergusson College at Pune, the society grew to include several hundred revolutionaries and political activists with branches in various parts of India, extending to London after Savarkar went to study law. It carried out a few assassinations of British officials, after which the Savarkar brothers were convicted and imprisoned. The society was formally disbanded in 1952.
Hindu Revolution is a term in Hindu nationalism referring to a sociopolitical movement aiming to overthrow untouchability and casteism to unified social and political community to create the foundations of a modern nation.
Vishnubhat Godse (1827–1904) was an Indian traveller and a Marathi writer. Godse is best known for his travelogue Majha Pravas, which is notable for the description of his "true and unique" experiences of the First War of Independence of 1857 during his travels in North India. It is one of the earliest travelogues written in the Marathi language. He was a brahmin priest
Arthur Mason Tippetts Jackson was a British officer in Indian Civil Services. He was a learned Indologist and a historian. He contributed many papers on Indian history, books on folklore and culture and was popularly known as Pandit Jackson. He was the Magistrate of Nasik when he was murdered by Anant Kanhere and the trial in the case led to the arrest and deportation of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
North Maharashtra is a geographical region of Maharashtra State, India. The region is composed of Nashik, Dhule, Nandurbar, and Jalgaon districts. It borders the state of Gujarat to the northwest, Paschim Maharashtra to the south, Konkan to the west, and the Vidarbha and Marathwada regions of Maharashtra to the east.
Swatantrya Veer Savarkar is a 2024 Indian Hindi-language film on the life of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. It is directed, co-written, and co-produced by Randeep Hooda, who also plays the titular role of Savarkar. It was released in theatres on 22 March 2024.
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