Walking through Pious Nationalisms: Remembering the Great Rebellion while Touring the First War of Indian Independence

Abstract The Indian Rebellion of 1857 seismically reconfigured the ways both religion and particular religions are defined, characterized, and classified by numerous actors, including scholars, political officials, and subjects. In its wake, political and religious authorities established “The Muslims” as a threat; its memorialization by Britons in the immediate aftermath was one of heightened attention to Muslim involvement, in many cases outright assumption that Muslims were uniquely culpable for the revolts. However, its memorialization in the contemporary period downplays or entirely writes out Muslim involvement. Whereas British conceptualizations of rebels assumed Muslimness, the rebel heroes of today’s India are typified as Hindu martyrs, authentic champions whose actions encode India’s independence from all outside control. This authorizes a particular gloss of Indian history that, for the most part, rewrites history to paint Muslims as forever invaders, outsiders, illegal inhabitants and recasts the Rebellion as part of a pious nationalism to which Muslims cannot have access and in which they cannot participate. This essay describes a shift in memory and memorialization, the politics of such a shift, and the concept of pious nationalism.