Depiction of Sepoy Mutiny 1857 Lieutenant William Alexander Kerr, 24th Bombay Native Infantry, winning the Victoria Cross near Kolapore, July 1857. Oil on canvas by Chevalier Louis-William Desanges, c. 1859.
Trump has told a mythical story about Muslims that highlights how their religion, Islam, hampers their ability to wage war. According to Trump’s story “U.S. General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing was having trouble with Muslim terrorists in the Philippines who were doing tremendous damage. He caught 50 terrorists and took, lined them up, dipped 50 bullets in pig’s blood, and shot 49 of them. The 50th person he told to go back to your people and tell them what happened. For 25 years, there were no more problems. You can read about this in history books, not a lot of history books because they dot don’t like teaching this.”
Historians have totally debunked Trump’s story and proven it wrong on a number of grounds. It is only by a stretch of the imagination bordering on white supremacy that one could conjure the Moros fighting against the U.S. soldiers who had invaded their country as terrorists. Studies by historians of the Rebellion in Moro Province, where Pershing was Governor from 1909 to 1913, do not show the execution of 49 or 50 Moros. Moreover, Pershing’s autobiography, My Life before the World War, 1860-1917, makes no mention of such an event. In fact, most of the historians who studied Pershing’s leadership found that he fought with as much restraint as possible. If the story were true, it would have had to occur around 1911. And, the conflict persisted for at least another two years, strongly suggesting that fear of defilement by pig’s blood was not a magic wand for defeating Muslim terrorists. The rebellion certainly did not end immediately as Trump’s fable claims.
If this story is a myth, then where did it come from? All myths are not supernatural fantasies; some are based on real people and events. Was this myth made up out of whole cloth or was it exaggerated from actual events? Myths give people a way resolving conflicts or handling difficult situations posed by circumstances beyond their control. They reshape the truth to present an idealized image of reality while ignoring those things that contradict that image. What purpose does this fable serve? One clue about this myth is that it was circulated widely on the Internet following 9/11, suggesting that it assuaged the trauma many Americans felt.
A second clue is soldiers in India mutinied against their British officers beginning in January 1857. The Sepoy mutiny occurred against a backdrop of increasing tense relations between Indian soldiers and the British officers whom they served caused, in part, by the racism of junior British officers. But, the key precipitating event happened near Calcutta when a rumor arose that the cartridges used in their rifles were smeared with pig and beef fat. The Indian soldiers objected to using the cartridges because touching the cartridges were a defilement to their religions, predominantly either Muslim (pork is forbidden) or Hindu (beef is forbidden). Within days some Indian soldiers had killed their officers and women and children. By June, the British faced a full-fledged mutiny with many far flung garrisons and towns under attack by mutinous soldiers. The mutiny did not end until January of 1858 when the
British exiled Bahadur Shah, whom the mutineers had proclaimed as their leader.
Although the mutiny was overthrown, it did accomplish two things that shaped the remainder of Britain’s rule of India. First, it ended any attempt to convert Indians to Christianity and allowed Islam and Hinduism to remain the primary religions of India. Second, the mutiny ended attempts to render Indian society into a slightly darker version of British society in which its morals and attitudes mimicked those Britain. Thus, in the broadest sense, the mutiny was successful.
Because Muslims (and Hindus) defeated the whites who would completely conquer India and Muslims brought down the Twin Towers on 9/11, the fable articulated by Trump turned Muslim winners into losers. And, Trump’s fable also turned terrorists who escaped usual punishment because they died into desecrated souls because of their defilement before death.
Historians have totally debunked Trump’s story and proven it wrong on a number of grounds. It is only by a stretch of the imagination bordering on white supremacy that one could conjure the Moros fighting against the U.S. soldiers who had invaded their country as terrorists. Studies by historians of the Rebellion in Moro Province, where Pershing was Governor from 1909 to 1913, do not show the execution of 49 or 50 Moros. Moreover, Pershing’s autobiography, My Life before the World War, 1860-1917, makes no mention of such an event. In fact, most of the historians who studied Pershing’s leadership found that he fought with as much restraint as possible. If the story were true, it would have had to occur around 1911. And, the conflict persisted for at least another two years, strongly suggesting that fear of defilement by pig’s blood was not a magic wand for defeating Muslim terrorists. The rebellion certainly did not end immediately as Trump’s fable claims.
If this story is a myth, then where did it come from? All myths are not supernatural fantasies; some are based on real people and events. Was this myth made up out of whole cloth or was it exaggerated from actual events? Myths give people a way resolving conflicts or handling difficult situations posed by circumstances beyond their control. They reshape the truth to present an idealized image of reality while ignoring those things that contradict that image. What purpose does this fable serve? One clue about this myth is that it was circulated widely on the Internet following 9/11, suggesting that it assuaged the trauma many Americans felt.
A second clue is soldiers in India mutinied against their British officers beginning in January 1857. The Sepoy mutiny occurred against a backdrop of increasing tense relations between Indian soldiers and the British officers whom they served caused, in part, by the racism of junior British officers. But, the key precipitating event happened near Calcutta when a rumor arose that the cartridges used in their rifles were smeared with pig and beef fat. The Indian soldiers objected to using the cartridges because touching the cartridges were a defilement to their religions, predominantly either Muslim (pork is forbidden) or Hindu (beef is forbidden). Within days some Indian soldiers had killed their officers and women and children. By June, the British faced a full-fledged mutiny with many far flung garrisons and towns under attack by mutinous soldiers. The mutiny did not end until January of 1858 when the
British exiled Bahadur Shah, whom the mutineers had proclaimed as their leader.
Although the mutiny was overthrown, it did accomplish two things that shaped the remainder of Britain’s rule of India. First, it ended any attempt to convert Indians to Christianity and allowed Islam and Hinduism to remain the primary religions of India. Second, the mutiny ended attempts to render Indian society into a slightly darker version of British society in which its morals and attitudes mimicked those Britain. Thus, in the broadest sense, the mutiny was successful.
Because Muslims (and Hindus) defeated the whites who would completely conquer India and Muslims brought down the Twin Towers on 9/11, the fable articulated by Trump turned Muslim winners into losers. And, Trump’s fable also turned terrorists who escaped usual punishment because they died into desecrated souls because of their defilement before death.