How many poems and stories have been written with the permutation and combination of these three words – hunger, bread and revolution. Stories which are sometimes imaginary, sometimes real. However, between imagination and reality, there are some stories which cannot be placed in either of these categories. Whenever the Revolution of 1857 is discussed, we remember Mangal Pandey. Indian soldiers recruited into the British Army were given a cartridge to use in the Enfield rifle. Rumors spread that the cartridges contained pig and cow fat. A spark of protest ignited from here and within no time it spread across the country, but how? No letter, no message, no telegram, no telephone, how did this happen? All this happened because of one roti (bread). The bread which carried the fire of the stove with itself and roasted the buttocks of the British. In today's article we will know the story of the movement of 1857 and the roti (bread).
The mystery of the revolution of 1857, which could not be solved
Passing through the darkness of lazy nights, the chirping of crickets and the noise of the gentle wind, a watchman suddenly knocks on the door and goes away after giving the roti (bread). The surprising thing is that this was not a one night incident but it was happening every day. This is from the year 1857.
Revolution of 1857
It was the month of May. The revolution started from Meerut Cantonment. A few months before this, however, a strange phenomenon was being seen in India. Gilbert Hadow, army surgeon of the East India Company, wrote a letter to his sister in March 1857. In which there is mention of the mystery of roti (bread) going on in India in those days. He wrote this in the letter: Thousands of people are distributing roti (bread) to each other here. No one knows from where, who and why it started. Whether this is a religious tradition or a secret society, nothing is known. Rotis were also being sent from one village to another. A man would come and hand over the rotis to the village head, who would send some more rotis to the next village. Sometimes the rotis were accompanied with lotus flowers and goat meat. There was also a message with all this. If you get roti then pass it forward. The one who got the roti (bread) would pass forward five loaves of roti. In this way a chain of rotis started being prepared. Not only the common man but also many businessmen including police, chowkidar, watchman, head were involved in this work.
Roti Movement Network
Roti Network covered the entire North India. From Indore, Gwalior to Awadh, Allahabad via Rohilkhand. It is said that the rotis were covering a distance of 120 to 160 miles in one night. Even the British mail service was not that fast at that time. This convoy of rotis was so long that the news did not take long to reach the British. Mark Thorn Hale used to be the magistrate of Mathura. Once a bundle of rotis reached his table. Thorn Hale decided to get to the bottom of this incident. Thorn Hale tried his best to ensure that the roti was indeed being distributed, but what was the reason behind it, even Thorn Hale could not find out. How to even put it? In most of the cases, the people distributing the roti themselves did not know why they were distributing it. There was no message on the rotis, nor did anyone say anything to anyone, so even after much effort the British could not find out why all this was happening.
Roti movement mentioned in John William Sherer's book
There is a book, Daily Life during the Indian Mutton, by John William Sherer, a British officer of the Bengal Civil Service. Referring to these rotis, Sherer writes that many officers had assumed that this was being done just to harass the officers. Especially after the revolution started, the British were convinced that all this was being done to gratify them. You can also consider this as trolling of that time. Don't know whether it was trolling or not, but it is certain that the Roti movement had troubled the British. These days, there were many names including Tatya Tope, Rani Laxmibai, guerrilla warfare master Kuwar Singh in Bihar, Begum Hazrat Mahal in Awadh, Nana Saheb in Kanpur, who were leading the revolution. In this fight, the bread and butter of the Roti movement was working to complete the task.
When the revolutionaries would stop in villages and towns to rest during long journeys, they would get bread and jaggery to eat there. This might have been the aim of the Roti Movement, but as we said in the beginning, the history of the Roti Movement is a mixture of truth and imagination. That's why there are many rumours, many conspiracies are also linked to this.
Rumor about rotis
Many Indian common people could not understand why roti was being distributed. A rumor spread among them. The news of the cartridges containing pig and cow fat had already spread. On the same lines, there was a rumor regarding rotis that this work was done by the British only. The British are mixing cow and pig bones into flour and distributing roti (bread) using the same flour.
Roti Movement's relation to the Battle of Plassey, 1757
A relation of the Roti movement was also drawn from a prophecy. In fact, in 1857, 100 years of the Battle of Plassey were being completed. The British established their roots in India only after winning the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Many people believed that according to a prophecy the British would be wiped out after 100 years. By 1857, this news spread widely. According to British officials, the Roti movement was also related to this prophecy.
An important aspect of the Roti movement
It is not that this was the first time that something was distributed in India. Many tribes and tribal were also associated with the movement of 1857. The practice of distributing things among the tribal was old. He used to distribute plant leaves, coconuts and earthen pots on special occasions. Sharing things or food is still quite common today. In 1857, this same practice was used to unite the people but the British did not understand these things. The British, who considered themselves civilized whites, were not ready to accept that how bread could be a part of any movement. For this, paper board and newspaper could easily be used as medium. After suppressing the revolution of 1857, he also banned written mediums but it was not in his power to ban roti. Therefore, bread spread and spread so much that it became the weapon of the first major rebellion against the British.
Roti movement mentioned in Vinayak Savarkar's book
How important and effective was the Roti Movement? This is also known from the fact that it has also been mentioned in Vinayak Savarkar's book Indian War of Independence 1857.
We have discussed the revolution of 1857 many times. After the rebellion in Barrackpore and Meerut, thousands of soldiers reached Delhi. Government offices were burnt. Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah was declared the emperor of Delhi. The British rule remained weak for almost a year but they regained control of power. This story has been told many times but small aspects of it are still left to be told. The story of the Roti movement is one such aspect.
Anil Paal
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