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Talk:Indian Rebellion of 1857

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DateProcessResult
July 28, 2019Good article nomineeNot listed
On this day...Facts from this article were featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "On this day..." column on May 10, 2005, May 10, 2006, May 10, 2007, May 10, 2008, May 10, 2009, May 10, 2010, May 10, 2011, May 10, 2013, and May 10, 2015.

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 5 October 2025

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The word sepoy and mutiny are an abuse and derogatory for a legitimate war of Indians combined under Mughal monarch Bahadur Shah. In fact it is a mutiny committed by East India company of Britain which was trying to take over the country toppling the king in Delhi. Please refrain from such distortions in the history and do necessary correction. 68.179.135.208 (talk) 16:40, 5 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Day Creature (talk) 17:02, 5 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
It is clear - Change the title to “First War of Indian Independence” CorrectTheHistory (talk) 19:21, 30 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Change the title to “First War of Indian Independence”

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I’d like to propose that the title Indian Rebellion of 1857 be reconsidered. The word “rebellion” reflects the terminology used by the British colonial administration and is not historically neutral. It assumes the legitimacy of British rule and frames the uprising as illegitimate resistance, which is a perspective rooted in the colonial narrative rather than in modern historical analysis.

A large body of Indian scholarship — including works published by ICHR, NCERT, Bipan Chandra, and other historians — refers to the event as the First War of Indian Independence. This name also appears in many academic publications in postcolonial studies outside India. The point here is not to impose a nationalist term, but to highlight that “rebellion” is not the only academically supported name, and in fact carries the weight of a colonial viewpoint.

This request is rooted in Wikipedia’s own policies on neutrality and balanced representation of different historiographical perspectives. The current title gives disproportionate weight to the colonial framing even though alternative descriptions are well-established in historical scholarship. CorrectTheHistory (talk) 20:39, 18 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Agree ~2025-39885-80 (talk) 13:41, 11 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]
See every talk page archive about why not. Slatersteven (talk) 13:50, 11 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Slatersteven I understand your emotions but Wikipedia should reflect pure fact and not take sides. CorrectTheHistory (talk) 19:23, 30 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Not a comment on the title but, for the record, the colonial titles are more along the lines of "Sepoy mutiny" and "Revolt of 1857". Rebellion is not the colonial term. RegentsPark (comment) 22:17, 30 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
This is not a fact, it is an opinion, as you would see if you checked the archives. Slatersteven (talk) 11:08, 31 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
No worries, I understand the imperial bias in Wikipedia content :) CorrectTheHistory (talk) 09:52, 28 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]
No we shoudl reflect what RS say. Slatersteven (talk) 10:48, 28 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 31 January 2026

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The following sentence, "Based on a rough comparison of the sketchy pre-1857 regional demographic data and the first 1871 Census of India, probably 800,000 Indians were killed, and very likely more, both in the rebellion and in the famines and epidemics of disease that were caused as a result in its immediate aftermath.", should be changed to:"Estimates for the total number of Indian casualties vary. According to many historians the rebellion of 1857 led to 100,000 Indian deaths, including the deaths of 50,000 Indian sepoys. Some suggests the death count may be as high as 800,000 when studying the population changes observed in contemporary census." Sources: 1. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zmkb9ty#zftq6rd 2. https://www.royalhampshireregiment.org/about-the-museum/timeline/37th-indian-mutiny-1857-1859/ 3. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history-project-ap/xb41992e0ff5e0f09:unit-6-consequences-of-industrialization/xb41992e0ff5e0f09:6-2colonialism-and-response/a/article-1857-indian-uprising-ap Lordnether23 (talk) 07:13, 31 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Not really suitable for an edit request. Slatersteven (talk) 11:06, 31 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Why is it not suitable for an edit request? Lordnether23 (talk) 11:07, 31 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
They are only for uncontroversial corrections, not major changes in tone. Slatersteven (talk) 11:10, 31 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
The current text is misleading and lacks a lot of context. I cannot edit the article myself so I submitted an edit request. Lordnether23 (talk) 11:15, 31 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
For which you will need consensus, and that means its a discussion, and not an edit request. You thus need to close this and start a discussion. Slatersteven (talk) 11:20, 31 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
If starting a discussion, I suggest you find better sources. The current text is sourced to a book by an academic historian. The sources you're providing (BBC, an army regiment website, and Khan academy), while not unreasonable, will carry less weight. --RegentsPark (comment) 16:40, 31 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
okay, I'll do that. If you don't mind, could you provide the source for the current text because I couldn't find it in the article. Lordnether23 (talk) 18:36, 31 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 5 February 2026

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The description of the painting in the section ‘Historiography’ is not correct nor properly referenced.

The page for the painting that it links to (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowing_from_Guns_in_British_India) explains that it covers a separate execution in 1872 which is often mistaken for relating to the Indian Rebellion of 1857 (hence the ‘anachronistic’ uniforms).

That page also explains that the idea of the painting being bought and destroyed by the British Crown is a myth.

I would request that the image and description are removed as they are not accurate or related to the topic. BenjaminBluesilk (talk) 23:26, 5 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Fixed. Without prejudice since we're relying on Wikipedia for veracity. RegentsPark (comment) 00:25, 6 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Removal of content without citation under "Cause of rebellion"

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"The domination of higher castes in the Bengal Army has been blamed in part for initial mutinies that led to the rebellion"

This last line under the paragraph of cause of rebellion has no citations. So remove the part so no Misinformation is put forward. The reason for upper caste recruitment was not due to rebellion or any mutiny before it. XylanNN (talk) 14:56, 17 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

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