Arrival of Mir Osman Ali Khan, Nizam of Hyderabad to the Dhrangadhra Camp, India. скачать в хорошем качестве

Arrival of Mir Osman Ali Khan, Nizam of Hyderabad to the Dhrangadhra Camp, India.

HISTORIC MUTINY SITES. Made in 1914, this film is primarily concerned with sites in Delhi that relate to the Indian Rebellion of 1857. At the time of the Rebellion, British control of India lay in the hands of the British East India Company. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857, when Indian sepoys, ordinary soldiers serving in the Bengal division of the British East India Company’s Army, mutinied at a small military station in Meerut. It was only contained with the fall of Gwalior on 20 June 1858. In the same year power in India was transferred to the British Crown. The sepoys had various grievances: new demands that they serve in far-flung territories; the introduction of gun cartridges that were greased with beef and pork fat and were therefore contaminating to both Hindus and Muslims; and problems relating to a loss of privileges and increased taxation in the recently annexed area of Oudh, home to over one third of the soldiers (Brown, 1994, 87-89). Vastly outnumbering British personnel, they quickly assumed control in parts of the upper Gangetic plain and central India (Hibbert, 1980, 19). They seized Delhi following the destruction of the station at Meerut. In the process many European residents were massacred, and the sepoys installed Bhadur Shar, the last Moghul, as their leader. Unfortunately, there is no documentation about the makers of this travelogue (Dixon). Their concern, however, is with sites in Delhi that relate to British heroism. They film the Kashmiri Gate, where several British military personnel died as they blew up their magazine rather than letting it fall into sepoys’ hands. They show the area where General John Nicholson fell and the statue erected in his memory. Nicholson, the most dynamic officer in the recapture of Delhi, was also among the most ruthless in his treatment of mutineers, his dictum being ‘the punishment of mutiny is death’ (Hibbert, 1989, 293). Also featured are St James Church and the ball and cross in its grounds, which the sepoys used for target practice (‘1857 Mutiny Tour’). This church also houses John Nicholson’s grave. Finally, the film shows the Mutiny Monument, erected in 1863 to honour British victims of the uprising (‘Mutiny Monument, Delhi’). Bryony Dixon argues that the tradition of depicting the mutiny sites ‘began with the event itself’, citing the documentary photographs of Felix Beato, which captured the aftermath of the rebellion (Dixon). According to Patrick Brantlinger, ‘No episode in British imperial history raised public excitement to a higher pitch than the Indian Mutiny of 1857’ (Brantlinger, 1988, 199). He agues that ‘Most British writing about the Mutiny before 1914 is part of an imperialist heritage of division and mutual hate’ (Bratlinger, 1988, 222). John Nicholson, in particular, emerged as a martyred hero for the British, being referenced in numerous literary works, including Rudyard Kipling’s Kim (1901). The mutiny took on increasing symbolic importance for Indians. In 1909 Vinayak Damodar Savarkar published his significantly titled The Indian War of Independence 1857, which argued that the rebellion was in fact a nationalist revolution. His work reflected advances in Indian politics: the Indian National Congress was formed in 1885, and the Muslim League in 1906. The Great War (1914-18) ushered in the first stages of constitutional reform, with the Montagu Declaration of 1917 promising Dominion status for India. Following the achievement of Indian independence in 1947, several of the sites featured in this film were reconfigured. John Nicholson’s statue was removed and resituated at his old school in Dungannon, Ireland. Meanwhile, the Mutiny Monument was re-dedicated to the martyrs of India’s freedom struggles (‘Mutiny Monument, Delhi’).