Which of the following is NOT correct about the nationalist imageries of the Revolt of 1857?

(1) It was celebrated as the First War of Independence.
(2) Rebels did not find a place in history writing.
(3) Rani of Jhansi was represented as a masculine figure.
(4) Nationalist imageries helped shape the nationalist imaginations.

2

The statement that is NOT correct about the nationalist imageries of the Revolt of 1857 is: (2) Rebels did not find a place in history writing.
This statement is incorrect. The rebels of the Revolt of 1857 did find a place in history writing, and their actions were later often celebrated as acts of resistance against British colonialism.

The national movement in the twentieth century drew its inspiration from the events of 1857. A whole world of nationalist imagination was woven around the revolt. It was celebrated as the First War of Independence in which all sections of the people of India came together to fight against imperial rule. Art and literature, as much as the writing of history, have helped in keeping alive the memory of 1857. The leaders of the revolt were presented as heroic figures leading the country into battle, rousing the people to righteous indignation against oppressive imperial rule. Heroic poems were written about the valour of the queen who, with a sword in one hand and the reins of her horse in the other, fought for the freedom of her motherland. Rani of Jhansi was represented as a masculine figure chasing the enemy, slaying British soldiers and valiantly fighting till her last. In popular prints Rani Lakshmi Bai is usually portrayed in battle armour, with a sword in hand and riding a horse – a symbol of the determination to resist injustice and alien rule.

The images indicate how the painters who produced them perceived those events, what they felt, and what they sought to convey. Through the paintings and cartoons we know about the public that looked at the paintings, appreciated or criticised the images, and bought copies and reproductions to put up in their homes.

These images did not only reflect the emotions and feelings of the times in which they were produced. They also shaped sensibilities. Fed by the images that circulated in Britain, the public sanctioned the most brutal forms of repression of the rebels. On the other hand, nationalist imageries of the revolt helped shape the nationalist imagination.