Names of the Indian Rebellion of 1857

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The 1857 uprising in India has been called many things. Indians often refer to it as the First War of Independence, the great revolution, the great rebellion, or the Indian freedom struggle. British writers more often called it the sepoy mutiny, the sepoy war, the Indian rebellion, or the great revolt. Because of different views, there has always been debate about the right name.

Some people in Britain and in the press saw it as a simple military disturbance, while anti‑imperialists argued that calling it a mutiny hid the larger grievances and aims of the people involved. They sometimes used the term Indian Insurrection to emphasize a broader resistance.

Key names and their history:
- Karl Marx called it a national revolt and sometimes described it as a form of national struggle, but he did not consistently use the term war of independence.
- Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, in his 1909 Marathi book, used the phrase War of Independence. The original book did not say “first,” but a 1945 edition added the title The Volcano, or The First War of Indian Independence.
- In 1959, a volume of Marx’s articles was published in Moscow under The First Indian War of Independence 1857–1859, a title that may have been influenced by Savarkar’s work. Some later writers wrongly claim Marx coined the term.

In India, many leaders preferred the term First War of Independence, and the government of India later adopted this wording. However, some South Indian historians argue that earlier uprisings, such as the Vellore Mutiny of 1806, should be considered the first war of independence, and they have raised this issue publicly. In 2006, when a postal stamp honored the Vellore Mutiny, Tamil leader M. Karunanidhi said this gave recognition to India’s first war of independence. Some Sikh groups also oppose the naming, arguing that the First Anglo-Sikh War (1845–46) should be called the first war of independence instead, since other local uprisings occurred earlier.

In 2007, some Indian MPs protested the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the 1857 revolt over this naming debate. Some Indian writers also argue that none of the uprisings, including 1857, should be called a war of independence because they were not nationwide or fully nationalist and involved only a minority of people.