IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0102 MS 380484
Held at: School of Oriental and African Studies
Title: Mutiny Scrapbooks
Date(s): 1840s-1910s
Level of description: Collection (fonds)
Extent: 5 boxes
Name of creator(s): Unknown
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Factors behind the Indian Mutiny (1857-1858) included the political expansion of the East India Company at the expense of native rulers, harsh land policies of successive Governor-Generals, and the rapid introduction of European civilization. The trigger was discontent among indigenous soldiers (both Hindu and Muslim), who revolted, capturing Delhi and proclaiming an emperor of India. The mutiny became a more general uprising against British rule, spreading through northern central India. Cawnpore (Kanpur) and Lucknow fell to Indian troops. With support from the Sikh Punjab, troops under generals Colin Campbell and Henry Havelock reconquered affected areas. The British government subsequently undertook reform, abolishing the East India Company and assuming direct rule by the Crown. Expropriation of land was discontinued, religious toleration decreed, and Indians were admitted to subordinate civil service positions. The proportion of British to native troops was increased as a precaution against further uprisings.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Collected papers, 1840s-1910s, relating to the Indian Mutiny, comprising manuscript notes, press cuttings including reproductions of photographs, engravings, and other illustrations, and manuscript and printed maps, and including information on British Army and Bengal Army soldiers involved in the Mutiny and the chronology of the Mutiny.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Conditions governing access:
Unrestricted.
Conditions governing reproduction:
No publication without written permission. Apply to archivist in the first instance.
Physical characteristics:
Finding aids:
Unpublished handlist and database.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Presented by Sir Cyril Philips (former Director of SOAS) in 1990.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
See The Indian 'Mutiny' 1857-8: a guide to source material in the India Office Library and Records by Rosemary Seton (1986).
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Revised by Rachel Kemsley as part of the RSLP AIM25 project. Source: http://www.encyclopedia.com
Date(s) of descriptions: Apr 2002