02-05-2025
Historians urge deeper research on 1857 unsung heroes
Lucknow: Asserting that the scores of nameless and faceless warriors who made the supreme sacrifice during the
freedom movement of 1857
deserved their portion of recognition and fame, historians who gathered at
UP State Archives
urged researchers from different colleges and universities to delve deeper into their work and bring justice to the martyrs.
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"For generations, India's war of Independence was dismissed as a revolt. It was a people's movement against outsiders and intruders, which was deliberately and systematically toned down. But there is no dearth of evidence to prove that people from common walks of life were up in arms against the East India Company," said Sushil Kumar Pandey, faculty, department of history. He was one of the speakers in the State Archive's 76th anniversary programme.
Citing an example, he said: "British forces faced fierce resentment in the battle of Banthara along the river Sai. The list of martyrs led by noble Hamid Ali included two owners of sweet meat in the neighbouring village. People ask me how could halwais plunge into a battle which is known as a sepoy mutiny."
Poonam Chaudhary, a faculty from the history department at Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Language University, Lucknow, shed light on folk songs of UP in Khadi Boli, Bundeli, and other dialects, which had umpteen stories of warriors related to the war of 1857.
She urged the researchers to come forward and collaborate with them to recognise their contribution.
Prof Avinash Chandra Mishra, dean and head of the faculty of arts and history department at Shakuntala Mishra Rehabilitation University, said that history is a continuous dialogue. In the presidential address, Prof Pramod Kumar Srivastava from the department of western history at Lucknow University highlighted that the archives were an ocean of repository and every researcher delving into it can come out with gems.
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Director, State Archives, Amit Kumar Agnihotri said key attraction of the event was an exhibition on "The 1857 War of Independence", which will remain open to the public until May 10.
Lucknow: Asserting that the scores of nameless and faceless warriors who made the supreme sacrifice during the freedom movement of 1857 deserved their portion of recognition and fame, historians who gathered at UP State Archives urged researchers from different colleges and universities to delve deeper into their work and bring justice to the martyrs.
"For generations, India's war of Independence was dismissed as a revolt. It was a people's movement against outsiders and intruders, which was deliberately and systematically toned down. But there is no dearth of evidence to prove that people from common walks of life were up in arms against the East India Company," said Sushil Kumar Pandey, faculty, department of history. He was one of the speakers in the State Archive's 76th anniversary programme.
Citing an example, he said: "British forces faced fierce resentment in the battle of Banthara along the river Sai. The list of martyrs led by noble Hamid Ali included two owners of sweet meat in the neighbouring village. People ask me how could halwais plunge into a battle which is known as a sepoy mutiny."
Poonam Chaudhary, a faculty from the history department at Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Language University, Lucknow, shed light on folk songs of UP in Khadi Boli, Bundeli, and other dialects, which had umpteen stories of warriors related to the war of 1857.
She urged the researchers to come forward and collaborate with them to recognise their contribution.
Prof Avinash Chandra Mishra, dean and head of the faculty of arts and history department at Shakuntala Mishra Rehabilitation University, said that history is a continuous dialogue. In the presidential address, Prof Pramod Kumar Srivastava from the department of western history at Lucknow University highlighted that the archives were an ocean of repository and every researcher delving into it can come out with gems.
Director, State Archives, Amit Kumar Agnihotri said key attraction of the event was an exhibition on "The 1857 War of Independence", which will remain open to the public until May 10.
