The First War of Independence – 1857
Q Short Note on First war of Independence
The revolt of 1857 was the landmark in the history of India’s struggle for
freedom.
It started on May 10, 1857, with mutiny of soldiers in Meerut Cantonment
and later the sepoys marched towards Delhi
On May 11, the sepoys crossed Yamuna River and entered Red Fort.
The appealed Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah to lead the revolt and
proclaimed him Shahenshah-e-Hindustan.
The Sepoys captured Delhi, killed many Englishmen and ransacked many
public offices.
The revolt started by Sepoys soon spread to different parts of the country.
Many sections of the society like peasants, artisans, soldiers, educated
Indians and many Indian rulers joined hands to fight against the Britishers.
Hindus and Muslims also came together to oppose British rulers.
Q. The revolt of 1857 was landmark in the history of India’s struggle.
Justify.
The revolt soon spread to different parts of country after many sepoys
started it against the East India Company.
Many sections of the society like peasants, artisans, soldiers, educated
Indians and many Indian rulers joined hands to fight against the Britishers.
Hindus and Muslims also came together to oppose British rulers.
Q. Why was the uprising revolt of 1857 known as Sepoy Mutiny?
The uprising revolt of 1857 is also known as the Sepoy Mutiny because it began
with and was largely driven by Indian soldiers, called sepoys, in the British East
India Company's army.
Q. Why was the revolt also known as the first war of Independence?
The revolt was also known as first war of Independence as it was first time that
different sections of Indian society united and fought as one nation to throw off
the shackles of foreign domination.
Q. What was the aim of British ever since they set foot on Indian soil?
The aim of the British to was to exploit the resources of our country. From 1757
onwards, they won almost every battle against Indian rulers and kept expanding
the area under their control. They sent Indian wealth back home to England. This
angered the Indians. Finally, after 100 years in 1857, several Indians revolted
against the exploitation.
Causes of the Revolt
Main Causes of First War of Independence:
The Indian soldiers were dissatisfied with the treatment meted out to
them. They were unhappy about their pay, allowances and conditions of
service. Some of the new rules of the Company violated their religious
sentiment and beliefs.
Lord Dalhousie’s policy of annexation created fear and resentment among
Indian rulers. They were not allowed to adopt heir to the throne. The policy
ensured that those kingdoms where the kings did not have natural heirs,
would be taken over by the British after the demise of the king.
The zamandari system exploited the peasants who were forced to grow
only those crops that the British industries required. This angered the
peasants. British goods also flooded the market that made the artisans
unemployed.
Many Indians opposed the introduction of western education and the
conversion of Indians to Christianity. The Hindu law of property was
changed to enable a Christian convert to receive ancestral property.
The immediate cause of the revolt was the cartridges of the new Enfield
rifle. It had a greased paper cover which had to be bitten off before the
cartridge was loaded into the rifle. It was suspected of being coated with
the fat of cows and pigs. Both Hindus and Muslims refused to use them.
Mangal Pandey, an Indian Sepoy refused to use the greased cartridge but
also shot down his sergeant. When this news spread, many sepoys started
the revolt.
Political Causes:
The Indian sepoys were dissatisfied with the treatment meted out to them.
The Indian rulers – Bahadur Shah Zafar, Tantya Tope of Gwalior, Rani
Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi and Nana Saheb of Kanpur – had personal scores to
settle with British and led the revolt in their respective territories.
The common people of Delhi, Lucknow Gwalior and other places wanted to
end foreign exploitation.
The policy of annexation of Dalhousie, particularly, the Doctrine of
Lapse, created fear and resentment among Indian rulers.
The British signed many treaties with Kings and Nawabs and violated them
as per their convenience.
Q. What was the Doctrine of Lapse and how did it affect the rulers of
India?
The Doctrine of Lapse was a policy of annexation introduced by Lord
Dalhousie in 1848 and continued till 1856.
The doctrine declared that if any Indian ruler died without leaving behind a
natural heir to the throne, his kingdom automatically became a part of the
British territory.
Several kingdoms like Satara, Sambalpur, Udaipur, Nagpur, Jhansi and
Awadh were annexed by applying this doctrine.
This doctrine created fear and resentment among the Indian kings.
Q. Describe the Subsidiary Alliance of British with Awadh and how did
British violate this alliance.
The treaty signed by British with Awadh was Subsidiary Alliance in 1801. As per
this alliance:
The Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was compelled to accept British army within the
territory.
He paid subsidy for its maintenance.
He couldn’t recruit any European in his service without prior approval.
He had to station a Resident in his court, which reduced the power of
Nawab.
Awadh was an ally of British for nearly a century and even after complying to the
conditions mentioned in the treaty, the British annexed Awadh on the plea that
the government was not functioning properly. The Nawab was exiled to Calcutta
and Begum Hazrat Mahal took over the reign of Awadh.
*Lord Dalhousie was appointed Governor-General of Inda in 1848 and eight years under his rule
was considered the greatest period of British expansion.
Economic Causes
The policy of economic exploitation and destruction of traditional Indian
economy by British caused widespread resentment.
The zamindari system exploited the peasants.
The peasants were forced to grow crops required by British industries.
The peasants were tortured or jailed on failure to pay the revenue.
British goods like textiles overtook the Indian markets which made artisans
and peasants unemployed.
Whenever Princely states was annexed, the British got rent-free land and
huge amount of money and common people faced unemployment and
poverty.
When Awadh was annexed, Nawab’s officials were dismissed, army was
disbanded, and 60000 professional soldiers lost their jobs.
Social and Religious Causes
The social reforms by British interfered with the Hindu’s customs and
traditions.
Many Indians opposed the introduction of Western education and
conversion of Indian to Christianity.
The law of property was changed to enable Christian convert to receive his
share of ancestral property.
The poor and illiterate sections feared the spread of Railways that they
would lose their caste.
Indians were not allowed to travel in First Class train compartments.
The conservative Indians were alarmed by the spread of Western culture
and education.
The Britishers followed the policy of racial discrimination and considered
themselves as superiors.
Even though they advocated equality in matters of judiciary, however, the
judicial system was biased.
Military Causes
The sepoys had helped the British to establish their empire in India, but
often they were humiliated by the Britishers.
There was discrimination between Indian and British soldiers. The highest
pay given to an Indian sepoy as subedar was less than the minimum pay
of European recruit.
The Act of 1856 made is compulsory for new Indian recruit to serve
overseas, due to which, Hindus feared that by working overseas would
leas to loss of caste.
Immediate Causes
The cartridges of the new Enfield rifle had a greased paper cover which had to be
bitten off before the cartridge was loaded into the rifle. The grease was
composed of beef and pig fat. Both the Hindus and Muslims refused to use them.
Mangal Pandey, on March 29, 1857, a young Indian Sepoy from Bengal Regiment,
was the first to refuse it. He not only refused to use the greased cartridge but
also shot down his sergeant. He was arrested, tried and executed. The revolt
started at other places as soon as this news spread.
Course of the Revolt
The Sepoys refused to touch the greased cartridges and broke out an open
revolt at Meerut in April 1857.
They were court martialed and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.
The regiment in Meerut revolted on May 10, 1857, and broke open the
prison and released prisoners.
They marched to Delhi on May 11, 1857, and rebelled under the
leadership of Bahadur Shah Zafar II.
The revolt then spread to other places.
It was led by Nana Saheb in Kanpur along with General Tatya Tope and by
Begum Hazrat Mahal in Awadh.
Rani Lakshi Bai led the revolt in central India and fought valiantly.
The revolt also spread to Bareilly, Agra, Banaras and other places.
Many groups were there who did not join the revolt like Sikhs in Punjab,
Nizam of Hyderabad, Madras and Bombay regiment.
Suppression of the Revolt
Q. What steps did British take to suppress the revolt?
Though the Revolt spread far and wide but the Britishers were able to suppress
the revolt by many ways.
The British military officers freed Delhi, the epicenter of the Revolt, from
the rebels. The Kashmiri Gate was blown up. Hundreds of people were
killed.
Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was tried for treason and exiled to
Rangoon and his sons were shot down as they were held guilty of murder
of English men, women and children.
Lucknow was recaptured in 1858. Rani Lakshmi Bai was killed in the battle
and Tantiya Tope was captured, put on trial and executed. Thus, the British
finally suppressed the massive force of popular rebellion.
Causes of the failure of Revolt
Q Why did the First War of Independence fail inspite of the participation
of different sections of Indian Society? Explain.
The First War of Independence was a great event because people from different
sections of the society took an active part in it. But it was effectively suppressed
by the Britishers. There were several reasons behind its failure.
The revolt had been planned for months but it broke out before the
appointed date. It did not go according to the plan. The revolutionaries
failed to spread it beyond Central India and Delhi. According to the plan,
the revolt should have broken out in many parts of India simultaneously
and it would have been difficult to control the revolt by then Governor-
General of India, Lord Canning.
There was no unity among the rebels. Their motive was not the
nationalism, but they fought for their own self-interest. The sepoys of
Bengal wanted to revive the glory of the Mughals, while Nana Sahab and
Tantiya Tope tried to re-establish the Maratha power and Rani Laxmi Bai
fought for her lost Kingdom.
The revolt was limited to North and Central India. In the North, the Sikhs,
the Nizams and the Scindias were unaffected by the revolt and the
Gurkhas remained loyal to the Britishers.
The rebels could not match the modern weapons, communication system,
military strategies and the disciplined army of the British.
The leadership of the Revolt was very weak. The Indian rulers fought to
liberate their own territories and did not think about the freedom of the
entire country.
Results of the Revolt
Q. What changes were made in the administration of India after the
Revolt was suppressed?
After the revolt, the British authority in India made some changes in their policies
for the re-establishment.
The rule of the East India Company ended. The British crown took over the
administration.
A secretary of State was appointed by the British Parliament to look after
the governance of India with the help of a council.
The Governor-General was given the title of Viceroy- which was the
representative of the British Crown.
The British reorganized the army to prevent any future revolts.
The policy of annexations of Indian territories was given up. The Indian
princes were granted the right of adoption.
Full religious freedom was guaranteed to the Indians.
Indians were also given the assurance that high posts would be given to
them without any discrimination.
