This translation of Marathi classic, Mazha Pravas, published in 1907, presents an eye-witness account of the 1857 Rebellion. Using 19th century idiom, it describes rituals and prayer, bizarre cross-dressing, battle and blood, and, most memorably, the fall of Jhansi.
Straddling both historiography and literature, it interprets the Rebellion as a righteous one and pins its failure to a moral point: in killing women and children the rebels violated the Hindu code of ethics and thus ensured their defeat. This first Indian account of the Uprising is sprinkled with anecdotes and descriptions of courtly relationships, fear and hysteria of palace intrigues, and above all, the valour of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi.
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