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{{Short description|Book written by Pearay Mohan in 1920}}
{{Infobox book
| italic title =
| name = An Imaginary Rebellion and How It was Suppressed: An Account of the Punjab Disorders and the Working Martial Law
| image = An Imaginary Rebellion and How It was Suppressed.png
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| caption = Title page for ''An Imaginary Rebellion and How It was Suppressed'' (1920)
| author = [[Pearay Mohan]]
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| country = [[British India|India]]
| language = English
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| publisher = Khosla Brothers
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| published = 1920
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| notes = Foreword by [[Lala Lajpat Rai]]
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'''''An Imaginary Rebellion and How It was Suppressed: An Account of the Punjab Disorders and the Working of Martial Law''''' is a book written by [[Pearay Mohan]], an Indian lawyer and assistant editor of ''[[The Tribune (India)|The Tribune]]''. It was published by Khosla Brothers in 1920, shortly after the release of the [[History of the Indian National Congress|Indian Congress]] report on the Punjab disturbances of 1919. Included in it is a foreword by the Indian revolutionary, [[Lala Lajpat Rai]].

==Publication==
''An Imaginary Rebellion and How It was Supressed'' by [[Pearay Mohan]], was first published by Khosla Brothers of Lahore in 1920, shortly after the release of [[B. G. Horniman]]'s book ''Amritsar and Our Duty to India'' (1920), about the [[Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre]] of April 1919,<ref>{{cite book |title=Jallianwala Bagh Commemoration Volume and Amritsar and Our Duty to India |date=1994 |publisher=Publication Bureau, Punjabi University |isbn=978-81-7380-388-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZARuAAAAMAAJ|page=53 |language=en}}</ref> and the [[History of the Indian National Congress|Indian Congress]] report on the Punjab disturbances of 1919.<ref name=Mohan1999>{{cite book |last1=Mohan |first1=Pearay |title=The Punjab "rebellion" of 1919 and how it was Suppressed: An Account of the Punjab Disorders and the Working of Martial Law |date=1999 |publisher=Gyan Publishing House |isbn=978-81-212-0687-7 |page=xiv |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HSFuAAAAMAAJ|language=en |chapter=Note from the editor|location=New Delhi}}</ref> It was reprinted in two volumes by Gyan Publishing House in 1999, and edited by Ravi M. Bakaya, under the new title of ''The Punjab Rebellion of 1919 and How It was Supressed''.<ref name=Mohan1999/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Mohan |first1=Pandit Pearay |title=Punjab "Rebellion" of 1919 and how it was suppressed (vol.1-2): An account of the Punjab disorders and the working of marital law |url=http://delhi.ichrlibrary.in/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=26172 |publisher=Gyan Publishing |access-date=24 November 2024 |date=1999|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241219032951/https://delhi.ichrlibrary.in/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=26172|archive-date=December 19, 2024}}</ref>

==Content==
[[File:Pearay Mohan.jpg|thumb|Pearay Mohan in the 1999 reprint]]
Written in December 1919, the book has three chapters, preceded by a preface by the author and a foreword by the Indian revolutionary, [[Lala Lajpat Rai]], and followed by seven [[addendum|appendices]] and a supplement. In it, Mohan describes the tragedy at Punjab as a series of five acts; the lead up to the disturbances led by [[Michael O'Dwyer|Sir Michael O'Dwyer]], events of 10 April 1919 at Amritsar, the [[Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre|massacres]], the exaggeration of mob violence and attempt to claim a rebellion, and the fifth act which was yet to occur.

Included in the text is Mohan's theory of the approver [[Hans Raj (approver)|Hans Raj]] working with the British to gather crowds at [[Jallianwalla Bagh]] shortly prior to the massacre there.<ref name=Pathak2007>{{cite book |last1=Pathak |first1=Rashmi |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yERpZ6s156cC&pg=PA58 |title=Punjab Through the Ages |date=2007 |publisher=Sarup & Sons |isbn=81-7625-738-9 |edition=2nd |volume=3 |location=New Delhi |page=58 |language=en |chapter=Firing in the Bagh}}</ref> According to Mohan, the Punjab disturbances were a result of the harsh methods in recruiting labour from the villages.<ref name=Singha2020>{{cite book |last1=Singha |first1=Radhika |title=The Coolie's Great War: Indian Labour in a Global Conflict, 1914-1921 |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-752558-6 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k-MJEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA293|chapter=The ends of War: homecoming for the Indian soldier and follower, 1914-21|page=293 |language=en}}</ref>

The 1999 reprint contains an additional introduction by [[Bipan Chandra]], editor's note, a short biography of Mohan, and an image of him from his family album.

==Response and reviews==
Upon its publication in 1920, the book was immediately banned and copies confiscated by the [[British raj|British government in India]].<ref name=Mohan1999/><ref name=Walia2006>{{cite news |last1=Walia |first1=Varinder |last2=Bagga |first2=Neeraj |title=Jallianwala Bagh revisited|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060413/aplus.htm |access-date=23 November 2024 |work=The Tribune |date=13 April 2006}}</ref>

British historian Mark Condos, in his book ''The Insecurity State'' (2017) described the titile as "provocative" and the book in general as "sensational and incendiary".<ref name=Condos2017>{{cite book |last1=Condos |first1=Mark |title=The Insecurity State |date=2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-41831-7 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLYrDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA8|chapter=Introduction: fear, panic, and the violence of Empire|page=8 |language=en}}</ref> ''The Tribune'' called the book "a virtual encyclopaedia on Punjab under martial law in 1919 ".<ref name=Walia2006/>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* {{cite book |title=An Imaginary Rebellion And How It Was Suppressed |date=1920 |publisher=Khosla Brothers |location=Lahore |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.15881}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:20th-century books]]
[[Category:1920 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Jallianwala Bagh massacre]]

An Imaginary Rebellion and How It was Suppressed - Revision history

Indian constitution at 17:08, 1 March 2026