The Great Revolt of 1857

North South
University

HIS 103: Bangladesh History and Culture

Submitted to:
Shaheen Afroze (SAz1)
Associate Professor
Department of History & Philosophy

Submitted by:
Name: Mohiul Islam Omi
ID: 1821478630

Section: 20
Semester: Spring - 2021

Submission Date: 10th May, 2021

Introduction

The 1857 rebellion was a significant moment in Sub-Continent history. The great

revolt/uprising of 1857 is one of the most important historical events. After the battle of palashi,

the British East India Company came to the sub-continent region. Indians battled the British East

India Company in this war in 1857 in order to free themselves from British dominance. The 1857-

58 uprising was significant, but ultimately, it was an unsuccessful uprising in India.

The Revolt of 1857 occurred on May 10, 1857 in the form of a mutiny of sepoys of the

Company's army in the barracks town of Meerut. It was also called civilian rebellion. It was the

last case in which Indian Muslims and Hindus battled and worked together. The Revolt of 1857 is

variously described. It has many terms. It is described as the Sepoy Mutiny, the Indian Mutiny, the

Great Rebellion, the Revolt of 1857, the Indian Insurrection, and the First War of Independence.

British called this Revolt Sepoy mutiny because they wanted to discredit the uprising of 1857.

The first Christian western philosopher Karl Marx to term this Revolt as the first war of

independence by the Indians. He was a German Philosopher, and he wrote it on June 30, 1857 and

published it in the New York Daily Tribune as the leading article on July 15, 1857. The local

people of India believed that Vinayak Damodar Savakar first popularized the term First War of

Independence in his 1909 book. The book name was "The History of the War of Indian

Independence", which was written in Marathi language. This war did not surround India; rather, it

was limited to a few cities, including Meerut, Delhi, Kanpur, and Lucknow. The refusal of the

Sepoys to use grease-covered cartridges (greased with pigs and cows fat) on January 23, 1857, was

the key event that caused the battle. The map which shows us where the Revolt took place in India

is given below.

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The Great Revolt of 1857

The Reason behind called the first war of independence

The uprising of 1857 is known as the first war of independence as it was for the first time

that the entire nation, irrespective of caste, creed, race, and religion, had come together, and they

staged an armed protest against the British’s to gain independence from their colonial rule. It is

involved Hindu, Muslim, Buddha, and Shikh. They cooperate and help each other to gain

independence in the uprising of 1857. When the British East India Company came to India in 1757,

they dominated the local people of India, farmers, etc. Peoples felt so insecure under the control

of British rule because they were forced to change India's religious and social practice, which most

people followed in India (Goyal, 2020). The landlords were also feeling insecure because some

rules of the British like doctrine of lapse was very dangerous for securing their land. British were

so rude to the Indian people. Therefore, the people of India staged armed protection against the

British. It was the first time in the Indian subcontinent where we found that Hindu, Muslims,

Buddha, and Shikh came together to fight against British rule. However, many wars happened in

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The Great Revolt of 1857

the Indian sub-continent, but the Revolt of 1857 was the first movement for gaining independence

against the British. Therefore, it is called the first war of independence.

Causes of the uprising of 1857

The Revolt of 1857 has some root causes and an immediate cause also. Previously, it was

generally assumed that the Revolt was sparked by the Sepoys' frustration. It is no longer

appropriate. The root causes are equally important along with the immediate cause. The root causes

of the Revolt of 1857 are political, social, religious, economic, and military causes. The description

of the root and immediate causes are given below:

British paramountcy: This is the belief in British dominance. In 1820, the British East India

company created one kind of rule in such a way that the British dominated Indian political,

economic and cultural life. In this way, they introduce their dominance. The British began to use

a number of strategies to reclaim control of Hindu princely states that were part of British

subsidiary alliances. British wanted to Indian aristocracy, and British wanted to replace the Indian

aristocracy with British aristocracy.

The doctrine of Lapse: After 1840, Lord Dalhousie created a policy named the Doctrine of Lapse.

He was the governor-general of India in 1848 to 1856 (8 years). Lord Dalhousie used the Doctrine

of Lapse to expand the British Empire. He created a system that the Hindu rulers, who had no child

he had not permitted to adopt any successor. As a result, when the Hindu ruler died, his land would

be annexed. If they did not have any child, then they were not allowed to give their land to anyone.

Based on the Doctrine of Lapse and misgovernment, Lord Dalhousie annexed states. As a result,

rulers in affected states such as Sindh, Punjab, Jhansi, and Oudh became natural enemies of the

central government. It was one of the political causes.

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The Great Revolt of 1857

The increasing pace of westernization: When the British came into this sub-continent they

wanted westernization in this region as early as possible. Hindu society was very much affected

by this increasing pace of westernization. At that time, there had been many rules, customs, and

superstitious things in Hindu-Muslim society. British wanted to remove those things and wanted

to bring western concepts to this region.

Lord Dalhousie said that Hindu women could consider remarriage after the death of her husband.

At that time, there was a custom-named 'satidah'. For this reason, Hindu women cannot marry

again after their husband's death. Therefore, Lord Dalhousie introduced a bill to remove all

obstacles to the remarriage of Hindu widows. It was one of the social reasons.

Converts to Christianity: It is one of the religious causes. They created a system that if someone

converts to Christianity from the Hindu religion, they can still get the property from their Hindu

relatives. Hindu religion believed people thought that the British did these types of things to

destroy the caste system. Western education was not liked by the Hindu and Muslim because they

were orthodox at that time (Metcalf, 1964). They thought that the British were trying to undermine

Indian traditional society.

Economic causes of war: The war's economic causes included the British government's new

agrarian policy, the collapse of local factories, permanent settlements, large-scale unemployment,

the English monopoly of trade, and the Stamp Act. The British did not trust the Indians. As a result,

they were not selected for the important jobs.

The immediate cause of the war: British introduces the Enfield rifle in their army. The use of

greased cartridges was a direct cause of the war. The cartridges were rumored to be greased with

animal fat. It was believed that cartridges were greased with cow and pig fat. Cartridges should be

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bitten off when the gun is loaded. Muslim and Hindu soldiers were as angry about this matter as

the cows are the holy animal for Hindus, and Pigs were abhorrent for the Muslims. It created a

controversy among the Hindu and Muslim soldiers. They thought that it was done by the British

because of the dishonor of their religion. The British ignored the growing discontent among the

Hindu and Muslim soldiers. It is one of the military causes of the war.

Picture: The British Enfield rifle

Beginning of the war of 1857

The first incident occurred on February 26, 1857, at Behrampur, when soldiers refused to

use greased cartridges. Those who against this they got long-term prisons. Mangal Pandey was the

first soldier who attacked the British officers in Garrison Barrackpore. Barrackpore was a place

which is situated near Kolkata. Mangal Pandey belongs to the 34th regiment of the Bengal native

infantry (BNI). After the attack of British officers on March 29, 1857, Mangal Pandey was caught

and hanged. Mangal Pandey’s other fellow mates did not join him at that time. After soldiers

refused to use greased cartridges in Delhi, many soldiers got punished. Some of the soldiers

attacked British officers jointly, and then they went to the Meerut. Many soldiers joined them in

Meerut.

The revolt spread in Bengal also. In Bengal, it created serious tension, especially native infantry

of Chittagong when they released the rebellion and the prisoners (Khan, 2014).

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The Great Revolt of 1857

Because of this uprising British sent three companies of the 54th regiment and one hundred seamen

to Dhaka. They sent Naval Brigade to Jessore, Rangpur, and Dinajpur.

Consequences of the Uprising of 1857

Some of the leaders supported the Revolt but mostly did not support the Revolt. Bahadur
Shah, Nana Shaheeb, and Begum Hazrat Mahal, Rani Laksmibai, Devi Singh, Kadam Singh, and
Tantia Tope supported the Revolt. Mutinous units finally surrendered on June 20, 1858. After the
war, in 1862, Bahadur Shah was exiled to Burma, where he died later. His sons were also killed.
Nana Shaheeb and Begum Hazrat escaped to Nepal. Rani Lakshmibai was defeated by Sir Hugh
Rose in the battle. Tope, Tania In 1859, he was caught and executed. When Bahadur Shah was
exiled to Burma, he felt very lonely. He wrote a song named "Lagta nahi hain mera Dil”. When
Bahadur Shah exiled to Burma and then died, as a result, it was called the ending of the Mughal
emperor in Bengal. Leaders who supported the British and opposed to sepoy British gifted them
elephants, horses, and carriages. Leaders who helped the British and were loyal to them; British
gave them titles such as Nawab, Khan Shaheeb, Khan Bahadur.

Because of their active participation in the rebellion, the Bengal Army and Muslim soldiers

were called a "non-martial group." Following the defeat of the uprising, thousands of Bengali

soldiers and civilians were publicly hanged in the mango garden in present-day Bahadur Shah Park

in old Dhaka district. After the war, the British broke the British East India Company and took

direct control over India. This is called the British Raj period. A special Act removed the Boards

of Control and Directors, and the Secretary of State for India was created, with a 15-member Indian

Council to support the Governor-General and Viceroy of India (Copland, 2004). The Indian army

was completely upgraded. The cruel expansion policy in India was dropped, and the Indian princes

were promised that their states would not be annexed. They were all granted the freedom to adapt.

Indians were given complete religious freedom. Indians were also promised that they would be

given high-ranking positions without discrimination.

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The Great Revolt of 1857

Conclusion

Though the Great Revolt did not reach its aim, it did have far-reaching consequences. It

brought the Company's rule in India to an end. The British Crown took full control of India's

administration. There are many reasons for the failure of this war. Some of the reasons are lack of

efficient leaders than English, no common visions and goals, low-quality weapons, modern Indians

did not support the Revolt, etc. There are many causes of the war. Social, economic, political,

religious, and military causes are responsible for this uprising of 1857. The greased cartridges were

the immediate reason for the war. Considering the soldiers' and civilians' patriotism, passion, and

sacrifices, the incident cannot be defined as a "mutiny," as colonialists described it. The first war

of independence is the best name for describing this war. Uprising's main purpose is to gain

independence from the East India Company. The Revolt of 1857 marked the end of an era and the

beginning of a new one. Sir John Lawrence believed the Revolt was purely a military action

rather than a conspiracy to seize British rule.

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The Great Revolt of 1857

References

Khan, A. (2014, July 14). REVISITING THE GREAT REBELLION OF 1857. The Daily Star.

Retrieved 8 May, 2022, from https://www.thedailystar.net/revisiting-the-great-rebellion-

of-1857-33161

Goyal, V. (Host). (2020, July 2). Revolts of 1857/ India’s First War of independence [Video file].

Retrieved 5 May, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SdYUegJY3w

Copland, I. (2004). Managing Religion in Colonial India: The British Raj and the Bodh Gaya

Temple Dispute. Journal of Church and State, 46(3), 527-559.

https://doi.org/10.1093/jcs/46.3.527

Metcalf, T, R. (1964). THE AFTERMATH OF REVOLT. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton

University Press.