A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books
Today's Newpaper headline screams about the territorial assertions made by the Prime Minister of Nepal and India has rightly rejected his claim that it lacks historical merit, And what exactly is the historical merit India has so boldly claimed. We will address that issue and History offers us the only correct way of dealing with such controversies. Does Nepal have truth on its side or is the Prime Minister Grand Standing his new Patrons, the Chinese.
Much of Indian political landscape was shaped in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century as the Mughal Empires declined and new powers arose to fill the space evacuvated by the Fall of the Mughal Empire. Sir Jadunath Sarkar was spot on when he arued that the dyning Mughal Empire was more significant to India than the Empire at its peak. The new power of course was the Easi India Company whose "corporate violence and pillage" as Darlymple put is framed the political and military history of India fr nealy a century and to this we maust add the important role played by Maharaja Ranjt Singh and the short lived Sikh kingdom which essentially stopped the Tibetans and the Nepalese from occupyig parts of India east of the Sutlej and if Ladhak is an integral part of India it is due to the successful occupation of Lahsa by the forces of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The Nepal warlord Amar Singh Thapa tried to take the fort of Kangra but the Sikh forces drove him out
Political change was on the horizon in the Kingdom of Gorakh as well. Prithivi Narayan Shah tried unifying the kingdom of Nepal and set his eyes on the land beyon the Ghandaki river especially the region of Gharwal whose ruler suought the support of the East India Company; The expansion into Tibet was repulsed by the Chinese who in turn imposed the Treaty of Betrawati on Nepal by which Nepal agreed to pay tribute to China and lost its sovereignty to the Middle Kingdom. The Prime Minister of Nepal is following the same dangerous game today.
There is a saying in Nepal: With the merchants come the musket with the Bible the Bayonet. This popular saying refers to the circumstances surrounding the Anglo Nepal War which arose out of territorial disputes and the demand for Down a soft wool a very valuable commodity. The notoriously tempramental river the Mahakali was officially recognized as the boundary and herein lay the oot of the conflict.
The historical considerations that the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India alludes to are the making of one man, Sir Rollo Gillepie.In South India he is reviled as the butcher of Vellore when in July 1806 he led a small contingent of arounf 100 native and European troops scaled the ramparts of the Vellore Fort within which a Mutiny had taken place in the morning of July 8 when the troops massacred around 300 or so Europeans in their beds. Gillespie had earler served with distinction in Jamaica and after the suppression of the Vellore Mutiny he was sent to Java where he succeeded in capturing Jakarta. Gellespie was brutal as he was brave and both in Java and in Vellore he left benind a trail of blood and gore.The first recorded use of the Anglo Saxon method of mass execution by tying soldiers to the cannon and blowing them to bits was introduced by Rollo Gillespie to be followed ears lated by General Neill during the Distrurbances of 1857.
In 1814 Rollo Gellespie commanded the East India Company troops at the Battle of Nalapani where the troops of the the Nepal Army were soundly defeated and that victory paved the way for the signing of the Treaty of Sugauli by which the entire Terrai and the gharwal region of Nepal was annexed in 1816. And so India is quite right in assering its rights over the region that Nepal now claims. As for Rollo Gillespie he died in the Battle of Nalapani in 1814 and his remains were transported to Meerut where he lies burried in the St John's Church.
In this neglected graveyard is the Grave of the warrior to whom India is indebted for acquiring by conquest the Terrai region of the present day state of Uttarakhand.
I wish Indian Historians will leave their obsession with the so called National Movement and move on to the study of issues like this which have a bearing on India its strategic and domestic interests.
Today's Newpaper headline screams about the territorial assertions made by the Prime Minister of Nepal and India has rightly rejected his claim that it lacks historical merit, And what exactly is the historical merit India has so boldly claimed. We will address that issue and History offers us the only correct way of dealing with such controversies. Does Nepal have truth on its side or is the Prime Minister Grand Standing his new Patrons, the Chinese.
Much of Indian political landscape was shaped in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century as the Mughal Empires declined and new powers arose to fill the space evacuvated by the Fall of the Mughal Empire. Sir Jadunath Sarkar was spot on when he arued that the dyning Mughal Empire was more significant to India than the Empire at its peak. The new power of course was the Easi India Company whose "corporate violence and pillage" as Darlymple put is framed the political and military history of India fr nealy a century and to this we maust add the important role played by Maharaja Ranjt Singh and the short lived Sikh kingdom which essentially stopped the Tibetans and the Nepalese from occupyig parts of India east of the Sutlej and if Ladhak is an integral part of India it is due to the successful occupation of Lahsa by the forces of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The Nepal warlord Amar Singh Thapa tried to take the fort of Kangra but the Sikh forces drove him out
Political change was on the horizon in the Kingdom of Gorakh as well. Prithivi Narayan Shah tried unifying the kingdom of Nepal and set his eyes on the land beyon the Ghandaki river especially the region of Gharwal whose ruler suought the support of the East India Company; The expansion into Tibet was repulsed by the Chinese who in turn imposed the Treaty of Betrawati on Nepal by which Nepal agreed to pay tribute to China and lost its sovereignty to the Middle Kingdom. The Prime Minister of Nepal is following the same dangerous game today.
 |
| Sir Rollo Gillespie |
There is a saying in Nepal: With the merchants come the musket with the Bible the Bayonet. This popular saying refers to the circumstances surrounding the Anglo Nepal War which arose out of territorial disputes and the demand for Down a soft wool a very valuable commodity. The notoriously tempramental river the Mahakali was officially recognized as the boundary and herein lay the oot of the conflict.
The historical considerations that the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India alludes to are the making of one man, Sir Rollo Gillepie.In South India he is reviled as the butcher of Vellore when in July 1806 he led a small contingent of arounf 100 native and European troops scaled the ramparts of the Vellore Fort within which a Mutiny had taken place in the morning of July 8 when the troops massacred around 300 or so Europeans in their beds. Gillespie had earler served with distinction in Jamaica and after the suppression of the Vellore Mutiny he was sent to Java where he succeeded in capturing Jakarta. Gellespie was brutal as he was brave and both in Java and in Vellore he left benind a trail of blood and gore.The first recorded use of the Anglo Saxon method of mass execution by tying soldiers to the cannon and blowing them to bits was introduced by Rollo Gillespie to be followed ears lated by General Neill during the Distrurbances of 1857.
In 1814 Rollo Gellespie commanded the East India Company troops at the Battle of Nalapani where the troops of the the Nepal Army were soundly defeated and that victory paved the way for the signing of the Treaty of Sugauli by which the entire Terrai and the gharwal region of Nepal was annexed in 1816. And so India is quite right in assering its rights over the region that Nepal now claims. As for Rollo Gillespie he died in the Battle of Nalapani in 1814 and his remains were transported to Meerut where he lies burried in the St John's Church.
 |
| Gillespie Memorial |
In this neglected graveyard is the Grave of the warrior to whom India is indebted for acquiring by conquest the Terrai region of the present day state of Uttarakhand.
I wish Indian Historians will leave their obsession with the so called National Movement and move on to the study of issues like this which have a bearing on India its strategic and domestic interests.
No comments:
Post a Comment