Vande Mataram owes its origins to a peculiar uprising that took place shortly after the East India Company assumed their rule over Bengal. In the 1760s-1770s, thousands of Sannyasis and Fakirs led a revolt against the British agents and their landlords.
Sannyasis are Hindu ascetics who have renounced the world. Their counterparts were the Fakirs, dervishes of the Sufi faith who were renowned for their miraculous abilities – such as sleeping on nails or walking on fire. Myths around India often positioned the country as a land of fakirs and sages; making the ensuing rebellion a nightmare for the British.
History is divided on the nature of the revolt. Early nationalist accounts – such as Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s ‘Anandamath’ – portrayed it as a Hindu-driven uprising in the name of Mother India against the East India Company. Later Marxist historians portrayed it as anti-imperialist and anti-feudal struggles.
Archival research confirms that they were neither – instead, the fakirs and sanyasis were merely rent-seekers who had been ousted of their ability to collect revenue by the British-appointed Zamindars. Against the backdrop of the first great famine under British rule; they made their move.
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