The issue of religion in 1857: Three documents

Abstract

The rebels of 1857 had many causes to incite them to rise against the British. Religion has often been held to be a major source of disquiet for them owing to the perceived threat posed by Christian conversions. In this article, three documents are studied which present three different aspects of rebel consciousness. The first represents its secular character, for there is little reference to faith or religion in it. The second is a tract addressed obviously to Muslims to rise against the English on religious grounds. But annexed to it is a manifesto appealing to all Hindus and Muslims to join the rebellion: the emphasis on communal unity is manifest. Finally, we have the memoirs of an embittered theologian writing an account of the rebellion in its immediate aftermath: regrets and suspicion are manifest here.