British Lion's Vengeance on the Bengal Tiger
Topic: The Revolt of 1857 · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 2 "Rebels and the Raj"
Meaning
"The British Lion's Vengeance on the Bengal Tiger" is a cartoon from the British magazine Punch, published in 1857. The Bengal tiger stands for the rebel sepoys. It is shown pouncing on a helpless woman and child, and the British lion leaps at it. The cartoon showed revenge as fair and right. It was one of many British images that built public support for harsh punishment of the rebels.
Example
The cartoon appeared in 1857, when news of the killing of British women and children at Kanpur had angered the British public. Readers were meant to see crushing the revolt as protecting the helpless.
Don't confuse with
- Punch's "Justice" (12 September 1857): it shows a woman figure for Justice trampling sepoys, not a lion and a tiger.
- "The Clemency of Canning": this Punch cartoon mocked mercy towards rebels instead of praising revenge.
Related concepts
- Relief of Lucknow
- Colin Campbell
- James Outram
- Henry Havelock
- Sikandar Bagh
- In Memoriam painting
- Punch
- Clemency of Canning
- Blowing from guns
- Felice Beato