Voices of Resistance and Reflection: Ghalib and Marx-Engel’s Narratives on the Revolt of 1857

Abstract

The Revolt of 1857 was a pivotal event in Indian history, marking a significant challenge to British colonial rule and the decline of the Mughal order. This research paper examines how Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib, a prominent Urdu poet and eyewitness in Delhi, navigating personal and cultural upheaval in Delhi, and Karl Marx, a Western theorist analyzing global imperialism, interpreted the Revolt of 1857. Mirza Ghalib documented the revolt’s impact in his Persian diary Dastanbuy and personal letters, blending pragmatic loyalty to the British with private critiques of their brutality.Karl Marx and Engels’s journalistic from London for the New-York Daily Tribune, analyzed the revolt as a national uprising against British imperialism, offering a systemic critique rooted in his anti-colonial and materialist framework. By analyzing their works the paper explores their distinct yet interconnected voices of resistance and reflection, revealing the revolt’s personal, cultural, and systemic dimensions. Comparing these narratives- one personal, literary, and culturally rooted; the other theoretical, journalistic, and global- provides a unique lens to explore how diverse voices interpreted the same historical crisis. This study bridges literature, history, and political theory to reveal the multifaceted nature of resistance and reflection during colonial upheaval.