Torch Bearers of the Deccan Blazing up the Northern Skies (1857 in Maharashtra – A History)

Abstract

A study of the incidents of 1857 has been a subject of perennial interest to the historians of India. The latest to join them is M.D. David who has looked at it from a new perspective. This is the subject of this book. It essentially highlights four significant aspects of the Great Rebellion. It states that its roots can be traced to the British deprivation of the legitimate right of Raja Pratap Singh of Satara, a scion of Chatrapati Shivaji and his successor, which hurt the Maratha pride. It points out that the key leaders were Nana Saheb, Tatya Tope, Rani Laxmibai and Rango Bapuji who hailed from Maharashtra. Nana Saheb by declaring himself the Prime Minister of the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar united together the Hindu-Muslim forces in India for the first time to fight to secure their freedom by driving away the British. The book demolishes the hitherto held view that India south of the Narmada remained unaffected during the Great Rebellion.