Radio War Nerd EP #103 — 1857 Indian Rebellion (Patreon)

Guest: Aditya 

For over a century the 1857 Indian uprising was called "The Sepoy Mutiny", framed as a British tragedy in which Englishmen and women senselessly murdered by crazed Indian barbarians. But like so many crimes of the British Empire, the truth is starting to come out. To Indians, it's known as "The First War of Independence" which it rightly was, a nationwide uprising against the British East India Company's brutal colonial rule. The War Nerd discusses the 1857 rebellion with Hyderabad-born fellow war nerd Aditya Velivelli—the BEIC's cruel extractive rule, the tens of millions of Indians killed in artificial famines caused by British reshaping of India's political economy, and the course of battles in 1857-9, that ended with the British state officially taking over direct rule from the private East India Company. 

Maps:

* Simple map of rebellion area

* Map of rebel centers & British suppression 1857-58  

* Map of British East India Co.-controlled India, 1857

* British depiction of Indian rebellion

* British public sentiment

* British justice: Tie rebels to British cannon muzzle, and fire 

* Photo in 1857 of human bones in Lucknow after British "liberation" 

Books:

"An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India" by Shashi Tharoor

"The Great Uprising: India, 1857" by Pramod Nayar

"The Corporation That Changed The World: How the East India Company Shaped the Multinational" by Nick Robins

Total Time: 2:50:05

Direct link to this episode's mp3 here