(Also posted at History News and Network)
Do you have ancestors who died in India during the Sepoy mutiny of 1857? If so, you could go on a mutiny tour next summer and visit the cemeteries where your ancestors are buried. It’s time to add cemetery tourism to India’s other tourism attractions, heritage and medical tourism.
Next year marks the 150th anniversary of the Sepoy Mutiny, more formally characterized by Indians as the first war of Indian independence. Indian soldiers serving in the British army rebelled against their masters and they were joined by disgruntled native rulers, including the last Mughal emperor of Delhi. This year long war proved consequential for India’s future. The British Government took over the responsibility of governing Indian territories, which previously were administered by a joint stock company, East India Company. Queen Victoria became the empress of India in 1858 and celebrated that event by throwing a lavish party in London, to which sixty eight thousand people were invited.
As one would expect, there are celebrations galore to mark the event, including one by the Government of India. Historians are coming out with new accounts.
Tour operators aren’t to be left behind. Apparently, British travel companies are organizing mutiny tours and bookings are in full swing. Here is a full report on that by Maxwell Pereira.
Post a Comment