PRINCES WHO PREFERED SLAVERY TO SELF RESPECT AND .....

PRINCES WHO PREFERED SLAVERY TO SELF RESPECT AND
HONOUR IN 1857 WAR
Maharaja JAYAJI RAO SINDHIA Of GWALIOR
DR K Prabhakar Rao


The war of 1857 is dubbed as Sepoy Mutiny by the English historians while Indians claim it as first war of Independence. The war was mostly confined to Delhi, Kanpur. Meerut, Lucknow, Bareli, Faizabad and Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, Arrah in Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh. Other north Indian States and south India were peaceful although some isolated actions were fought that were crushed easily. The causes for this war were many. However they can be briefly stated as ( 1) :
a. The arrival of missionaries had caused great unease among the Indians. Evangelical
Christians had little understanding of, or respect for, India's ancient faiths. The attitude of scrupulous non-interference in religious affairs that had characterized British rule in the 18th century was forgotten. Native populace started to believe that the British wished to convert them. The passing of Act XXI of 1850, which enabled converts to inherit ancestral property, confirmed this belief; the new law was naturally interpreted as a concession to Christian converts. Hindus and Muslims were forced into Christianity. The British were rude and arrogant towards the Indians who they described as barbarians without any culture. The European judges hardly ever convicted British for their crimes.
b. Thousands of soldiers and nobles got unemployed when Lord Dalhousie annexed Avadh. Under his 'Doctrine of Lapse' the princes were denied the long-cherished right of adoption; in this way Dalhousie annexed the Maratha States of Satara, Nagpur and Jhansi and several minor principalities. On the death of the ex-Peshwa, Baji Rao II, the pension granted to him was abolished and the claims of his adopted son, Nana Sahib, were disregarded.
c.British administrative laws ruined both the peasants and landlords. Indian handicrafts completely collapsed and the craftsmen were impoverished. India became a market place for finished goods from England. Poverty increased and the discontent among the masses motivated the Indians to join the revolt in large numbers. Thus, the British drained India of her wealth and all her natural resources.
The most important personalities who had grievances against the British rule were Nana Sahib, adopted son of former and last Peshwa of Maharashtra, Rani Laxmi Bai ( Widow of ruler Gangadhar Rao) of Jhansi, Begum of Awadh, Kunwar singh of Arrah, Emperor ( Namesake) Bahadur shah ( Zafar) II at Delhi (2). Unfortunately many princes of native states did not join the struggle. They did not want to take risk of loosing their states, dynastic rule and power over their subjects. They preferred to be with the Company at the crucial hour. Probably they were not sure of the victory of the rebels and considered the English men and the company army to be superior and were sure of their victory. This would have turned scales in favor of them. They also must have lacked self confidence, national spirit, true patriotism, conviction, strong determination and commitment to the motherland. They were taken over by narrow sectarian interests and inner rivalries among the princes apart from family feuds. They were many rulers in this class. Maharaja Jayajirao Rao sindhia of Gwalior belonged to this group who preferred to support the English men than throw themselves into the burning cauldron of 1857 war.
The original name of Jayajirao was Bhagirath Shinde, and he was the son of Hanwant Rao on 19 January 1835. The former Maharaja of Gwalior, Jankojirao II, died in 1843 and he had no heir to succeed to the throne. His wife Tara Bai adopted Bhagirath Rao who succeeded to the Gwalior gaddi under the name of Jayajirao Sindhia on 22 February 1843. His maternal uncle Jankojirao II, was chosen as a regent.His succession to the throne was not smooth and Dada Khasgiwale, the comptroller of the Shinde household overthrew Jankoji Rao II as the regent causing great disturbance amounting to a civil war. The British East India Company interfered by withdrawing their Resident Colonel Sleeman and demanded the surrender of Dada Khasgiwale. A British force under Sir Hugh Gough in 1843 defeated Gwalior army at Panniar and . Khasgiwale on 29 December. Khasgiwale was imprisoned and he died at Benares jail in 1845.
The Englishmen took advantage and Gwalior had to hand over Chaderi District and large amounts of lands as expenses of war. the State army was reduced, and a Council of Regency was appointed during the minority, to act under the residents advice. Jayaji Rao was good friend of the East India Company although his ancestors did not have a good time with the English men . The troops of Gwalior were under unrest and were inclined to join the rebels in 1857 war. However, his minister, Dinakar Rao, along with Major Chartres Macpherson, the British representative to Gwalior, convinced him to initially stay neutral and later to side with the British. Gwalior became an active area in 1857 war as many battles were fought by Tantya and Jhansi Laxmi Bai in this sector. In fact Jhansi and Gwalior are not far off from each other and the mighty fort of Gwalior was impregnable too. It has seen many historical battles right from the ancient era much before Mughals arrived on the scene. It was ruled by illustrious rulers in the past and the fort changed hands too several times. The strategic location of Gwalior had impact in the 1857 war and it could not isolate itself from the conflicts.
Rani Laxmi Bai the widow of late Gangadhar Rao of Jhansi was much aggrieved over the company’s decision to hand over Jhansi after the case of her adopted son was refused by the Englishmen as per the doctrine of lapse.. She refused to part with her state. Initially Jhansi was peaceful when conflicts took place at several places after rebellions broke out at several places. She ensured that all small conflicts were put down strongly and Jhans was peaceful. There is still some controversy over her role in the massacre of the British HEIC officials and their wives and children on the 8th June 1857 at Jokhan Bagh Jhansi was soon invaded by Sir Hugh Rose accompanied by the army of East India Company who laid seize to the fort on 23 March 1858. The Rani resisted and directed the defense of the fort against the enemy . Rani Laxmibai with her faithful warriors decided not to surrender. The most faithful warriors and commanders were Gulam Gaus Khan, Dost Khan, Khuda Baksh, Lala Bhau Bakshi, Moti Bai, Sunder-Mundar, Kashi Bai, Deewan Raghunath singh and Deewan Jawahar Singh. The fighting continued for about two weeks. Shelling on Jhansi was very fierce. In the Jhansi army, women were also carrying ammunition and were supplying file food to the soldiers. Rani Lakshmi Bai was very active. She herself was inspecting the defense of the city. She rallied her troops around her and fought fiercely against the British. An army of 20,000, headed by the rebel leader Tantya Tope was sent to relieve Jhansi and to take Laxmi Bai to freedom. However, the British, though numbering only 1,540 in the field so as not to break the siege, were better trained and disciplined than the “raw recruits,” and these inexperienced soldiers turned and fled shortly after the British began to attack on 31st March. Lakshmi Bai’s forces could not hold out and three days later the British were able to breach the city walls and capture the city. In fact the city of Jhansi was betrayed by a greedy commander in Jhansi who allowed an important gate to be opened to the enemy. Thus Jhansi fort fell to enemy. Yet Laxmi Bai escaped over the wall at night and fled from her city, surrounded by her 25 guards, many of whom were from her women’s military.
Along with her son the young Anand Rao, the Rani decamped to Kalpi along with her forces where she joined other rebel forces, including those of Tantya Tope. She was defeated at Kalpi by the company troops. The Rani and Tantya Tope moved on to Gwalior, where the combined rebel forces defeated the army of the Maharaja of Gwalior after his armies deserted the rebel forces. They then occupied a strategic fort at Gwalior. The Maharaja of Gwalior supported the Company and she obviously received no cooperation from him. Recently there has been a allegation that Rani Laxmi Bai was given a weak horse by the Maharaja of Gwalior and the horse failed to jump over canal and thus the Rani was forced to engage the enemy in desperation. She was very seriously wounded in this battle and she died consequently on 18 June 1858. As she was in male attire the enemy did not recognize her and her body was cremated in great hurry so that the enemy did not lay hands on her. The aspect of weak horse can not be conclusively proven and thus the Maharaja can not be blamed for it either. But people are however of the opinion that the Maharaja could have plunged himself into battle along with others instead of supporting the Englishmen. He should have been patriotic in this regard instead of letting down the national cause. It is widely believed that it would have made great difference to the result of 1857 war if the rulers such as Maharaja of Gwalior, Baroda, Hyderabad and Punjab kingdoms took part in the war along with rebels. But it was no to be. Selfishness, fear and rivalries played great role and such rulers stayed away and sided with Company troops. They were the allies of English men and did not think right to support the hands of the rebel leaders and troops who were fighting to throw out the aliens. There was no sense of belonging among them. Each one was greedy, self centered and selfish and in consequence the war was lost. They preferred slavery to self respect and dignity.
Slavery in India continued for another ninety years. It is a bitter truth that great Maratha empire was lost only because there was great in fights during succession of Peshwas earlier that resulted in subsequent Anglo Maratha wars and consequent destruction of Maratha power in India. Role played by Raghunath Rao Peshwa who tried to usurp power after killing shrimant Narayan Rao Peshwa at Shaniwar wad in Pune is more damaging to Maratha history than the Panipat war III fought against Abdali in which many Maratha troops including great Sadashiv Rao Bhau and Valiant Viswas Rao lost lives in fierce battles. The prominent Maratha local rulers like Sindhia of Gwalior, Gaikwads of Gujrat, Holkars of Indore did not support the rebel cause. Bhonsles of Nagpur earlier lost their kingdom under doctrine of lapse and lost relevance. These are nothing new for 1857 war. It was lost as many rulers did not take part in it and sided with the national enemy and they thought that they were wise by saving their skins. This has been a great curse in Indian History that our own princes and rulers betrayed national cause at appropriate moments. It is also destiny that these princes did not rule eternally and after independence in 1947 and they lost power to Sardar Patel who absorbed all these kingdoms into Indian union. For some time, they remained kings on paper and they lost the privy purses and titles during the regime of Indira Gandhi. They became common men in India. They turned their forts and palaces into hotels and resorts. Many of their forts have become ruins. Their flags no more fly over the ramparts and bonnets of their cars. Their ego is confined only to their palaces and drawing rooms.
. Maharaja of Gwalior received laurels once the war was over. In 1861. Jayajirao was created a Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India for being the great supporter and ally of the English men throughout the war.. His photos appeared in the London press and were regarded as the friend of the British Empire. In 1877, he became a Counselor of the Empress and later on a GCB and CIE. On his death in 1886 he was conferred 21 gun salute. His official full name was His Highness General Maharajadhiraj Maharaja Shrimant Sir Jayaji Rao SHINDE Bahadur, Maharaja Scindia of Gwalior', GCB, GCSI, CIE, Kaiser-i-Hind. He was succeeded by Madhav Rao Sindhia. All the heroes of 1857 war have occupied golden pages in history of India while all those who supported the Englishmen are lost in wilderness into dark pages of history. No one remembers them although as rulers they might have contributed to growth of their states during their regime. Maharaja of Gwalior is also credited as a ruler who developed his state once the war was over.