India's First War of Independence

The First War of Indian Independence is a term predominantly used in India to describe the Indian Rebellion of 1857, which has been described variously as "uprising", "revolt" and "mutiny"

History

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 is now recognized as developing into more than just a mutiny. However due to the manner in which it started the name Sepoy Mutiny became the standard name for events, a convention which stuck for over 100 years. Contemporary anti-imperialists viewed this term as propaganda, and pushed to characterize it as more that just the actions of a few mutinous native soldiers. Karl Marx was the first Western scholar to call the 1857 revolt a "national revolt", though he used the term "Sepoy Revolt" to describe the event.

In India, the term "First War of Independence" was first popularized by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in his book The History of the War of Indian Independence, which was originally written in Marathi

Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, insisted on using the term "First War of Independence" to refer to the event, and the terminology was adopted by the Government of India