Rare documents of Revolt of 1857 on display in Bhopal

Bhopal, Dec 24 (UNI) 'Mangal mangal mangal mangal mangal mangal ho...' The song from the film 'The Rising' seems to play in a viewer's mind as his gaze falls on a sketch of Sepoy Mangal Pandey at an exhibition of archival and other material relating to the Revolt of 1857, India's First War of Independence.

The nine-day long event, marking the 150th anniversary of the epic struggle, is underway at the State Museum on the picturesque Shyamla hills in this City of Lakes. The exhibition is a joint venture of the Uttar Pradesh State Archives and the Directorate of Archaeology, Archives and Museums, Bhopal.

Just below the immortal soldier's sketch is a news item published in 'Gwalior Akhbar'. Under the headline 'News from Sialkot' information has been given about a paper -- found by the riflemen -- which instructed the sepoys not to use new cartridges because they were greased with cows and pig fat.

The news came as a shock for the Indian soldiers using the Pattern 1853 Enfield Musket, cow was the holy animal of the Hindus and pig was abhorrent to the Muslims. To load his weapon, the sepoy had to first bite off the rear of the cartridge, which became one of the historical factors that triggered the Mutiny.

''Though differences of opinion exist, the Revolt's planning and spread made it the First War of Independence and not merely a Sepoy Mutiny. We have exhibited archives in English, Hindi, Urdu and the Modi script, which was used by Maratha princely states,'' Madhya Pradesh government Archivist S Naimuddin told UNI.

He points at an enlarged photograph of Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar's surrender -- the aged and feeble monarch is looking at a haughty uniformed British officer who glares back.

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