| This could well be the real Mutiny and the Bounty. Travel agents in countries like the UK are marketing it as the 'Mutiny Tour' following the Indian Government's decision to celebrate this year the 150th anniversary of India's first war of Independence in 1857, popularly known as the 'Great Indian Mutiny' or the 'Sepoy Mutiny'. Ever since, historians, intellectuals and politicians of various hues are mixing historical facts with fiction in a bid to rediscover its real causes. The decision to celebrate the uprising's anniversary has elicited enough interest among the Britishers who are visiting the cemeteries where their forefathers, massacred during the Mutiny, lay buried. According to officials in Lucknow, the occasion has provided a great opportunity to Uttar Pradesh Tourism Directorate to showcase these monuments-bullet-riddled colonial buildings and cemeteries- and use them for commerce. Says Tourism Director-General Dr Om Prakash, "In as many as 36 districts of the state, Britishers had faced revolt. We are conducting surveys and searching for records from different sources. Already, records of over 150 cemeteries from places including Lucknow, Kanpur, Meerut, Jhansi, Bithoor, Allahabad and Gorakhpur are being documented." The tourism directorate has been working on a comprehensive plan to attract 'Mutiny tourists' and help them understand the events and the people involved. The plan includes identifying the sites, cleaning them up, providing signboards with details of the events. It will also print pamphlets and posters to enlighten the tourists and educate the locals about the mutineers so that they draw inspiration from history.  | | | | | MEERUT: The St John's Church in the Cantonment area witnessed a revolt by 85 sepoys who had refused to obey the orders. | | LUCKNOW: Residency, a massive complex built for Britishers, was witness to macabre incidents. Dilkusha Palace was captured by the Britishers following a battle that claimed many lives. Nearby Malihabad, Chinhat, Musabagh and Sikanrabad too find pride of place in the Mutiny history | | KANPUR: Sati Chaura Ghat on the banks of the Ganga holds significance as it witnessed guerrilla war | | BITHOOR: Rani of Jhansi, Nana Saheb, Azimullah Khan and Tantya Tope had fought here against the British forces | | DELHI: Nicholson Cemetery and Mutiny Memorial on the Ridge are on the itinerary of 'Mutiny tourists' | | As anybody who has read the history of the country's struggle for freedom would be aware, the first war of Independence was fought mainly in Uttar Pradesh. The origin of the Mutiny revolved around Mangal Pandey, a brave sepoy from Ballia, who revolted in Barrackpore in Kolkata on May 8, 1857 against bullets greased with animal fat. He was tried and executed and his execution led to a revolt in far-flung Meerut. Here at St John's Church, the first church in north India built in 1819-22, 85 soldiers followed Pandey and refused to obey orders. They were court-martialled at Parade Ground, Lekha Nagar. From there, the revolt spread to Lucknow, which witnessed fierce battle between the rebels, led by among others Begum Hazrat Mahal of Avadh, and the British troops. They then fled to Residency. Built during 1780-1800 for the Britishers, this massive complex was witness to dramatic but macabre events as part of the siege of Lucknow. The Residency's shattered walls still bear the marks of cannon shots and the cemetery at the nearby ruined church has the graves of 2,000 people including that of Sir Henry Lawrence, the British commander and chief commissioner. The monument in its original post-Mutiny shape has always fascinated foreign tourists. Every year, 1,000 to 2,000 of them visit the site. However, Prakash expects high turnout this time. There were fights at Dilkusha Palace, Musabagh and Sikanrabad, among other places. Sir Henry Havelock breathed his last at Dilkusha Palace on November 24. Tourism officials, quoting London-based travel agency Palanquin Travels, said a group of Britishers led by Mark Havelock, the great-grandson of General Havelock, would visit the graves of their forefathers in Lucknow. This is how the Government wants to turn the memorials into money material. History, after all, can be a good business too. | |  "In 36 districts of UP, the Britishers had faced revolt, records of which are being documented."
DR. OM PRAKASH, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, UTTAR PRADESH TOURISM
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