The revolt of 1857
The revolt of 1857
Causes
The Mutiny of soldiers in 1857, followed by extensive rebellion among the civilian population, led to the collapse of the British rule over large regions of northern and central India.
The main causes for the revolts are
a) Grievances of Native rulers Abolition of titles, suspension of pension and annexation of states through Doctrine of lapse by Dalhousie.
He annexed the following states
State | Year | State | Year |
Satara | 1848 | Sambalpur | 1849 |
Jaitpur (U.P) | 1849 | Baghat | 1850 |
Udaipur(C.P) | 1852 | Jhansi | 1853 |
Nagpur | 1854 | Awadh | 1856 |
b) Grievances of sepoys Discrimination in payment, promotions, treatment, foreign allowance ; religious objections of high caste Hindu’s to Lord Cannings General Service Enlistment Act (1856) and service within and outside India.
c) Fear of orthodox and conservative Hindus and Muslim due to the activities of Christian missionaries and the social reforms introduced by the British e.g. abolition of Sati (1829), widow remarriage act (1856) ,spread of western education etc.
d) Grievances of craftsman, peasant and zamindars due to British policies
e) Grievances of middle and upper classes due to their exclusion from high administration and military posts
Immediate cause
Introduction of new Enfield Rifle supposedly greased with fat of cows and pigs. Influenced by the example of his compatriots in Behrampur, Mangal Pandey refused to use the greased cartridges and broke into open mutiny on March 29, 1857, at Barrackpore near Calcutta and used his comrades to join him. Surrounding by guards and European Officers, he tried to commit suicide by shooting himself and was seriously wounded. He was court-martialled on April 6 and hanged at Barrackpore on April 8, 1857. On 10 May 1857 the sepoys of 3rd Cavalry at Meerut openly revolted and released court martialled and imprisoned comrades. They declared Bahadur Sha II as their emperor , followed by the massacre of British Civil and Military officers.
Spread and suppression of revolt.
Then they marched to Delhi
· Declared Bahadar Sha II as emperor
· General Bakht Khan led the Mutineers
· The Revolt then spread to Lucknow, Bareilly,Cawnpore, Agra, Jhansi,Benares,Central India, Bundelkhand and to other places.
The important leaders of the mutiny were Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi, Tantia Topi, Nana Saheb and Kunwar Singh.
The mutiny chiefly centered aroung three cities - Cawnpore, Delhi and Lucknow.
When the revolt broke out at Cawnpore, Nana Saheb who was living there in comfort, joined the rebels and declared himself to be the Peshwa. The English,t here, surrendered to the rebel forces. The English men,women and children were mercilessly massacred. Nana Saheb was finally defeated by Sir Colin Campbell and he fled to Nepal, where he died after a few years. By the middle of November 1857, Cawnpore was brought under control.
Sir Archdale Wilson, Nicholson and Sir John Lawrence were the military officers who freed Delhi from the rebels. The city was sacked by the British soldiers and the people were massacred mercilessly. Bahadur Shah II, the powerless Mughal Emperor in Delhi was tried for treason and exiled to Rangoon, where he died at the age of eighty-seven. His sons surrendered to Lt. Hodson, a fierce cavalry officer but they were cruelly shot down* General Bakt Khan, the leader of the revolt at Delhi, went to Awadha after the fall of Delhi and died fighting the British.
The recapture of Delhi and imprisonment of Bahadur Shah broke the back of the mutiny. Lucknow was another centre of rebellion. The Chief Commissioner, Sir Henry Lawerence and Colonel Neil were killed. Begum Hazarat Mahal, the wife of Nawab of Oudh had also joined the rebels. Finally Lucknow was recaptured by Sir Colin Campbell in March,1858 with the help of a powerful Gurkha contingent under Jang Bahadur.
In Central India, the great rising was led by Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi and Tantia Topi, who came from Cawnpore. Both fought very bravely. The Rani fought very bravely till she was killed in the battle in June 1858. Tantia Topi escaped, but was captured and put to death. In Bihar, the movement under Kunwar Singh was suppressed by William Taylor and Vincent Eyre and his death in the battle in April 1858.
Thus ended the episode of the Great Revolt. Lord Canning proclaimed peace throughout India. Though there was much demand for vengeance from the English, Canning was prudent enough to disregard it , and arranged for the proper trial and punishment of only those who were really guilty.
Important Centres and leaders
Centres | Leaders | Suppressed By |
Delhi | Bahadur Sha II & Bakht Khan | General Nicholson |
Kanpur | Nana Sahib, Tatia Tope, Azimullah Khan | Captured by Havelock* final recover by Sir Campbell |
Lucknow | Begam Hazrat Mahal | Sir Campbell |
Jhansi | Rani Laxmibai | Hugh Rose |
Bareilli | Khan Bahadur Khan | |
Bihar | Kunwar Singh & Amar Singh | Willam Taylor and Eyre |
There was no unity of purpose among the rebels. The sepoys of Bengal tried to restore Mughal glories* Nana Saheb and Tantia Topi tried to re-establish the Maratha power* Rani Lakshmi Bai fought to regain her lost State. Secondly, this rising was not widespread. It was localised to North and Central India. Even in the north, the Punjab, Sind and Rajputana remained quiet. The British managed to get the loyalty of the Madras and Bombay regiments and the Sikhs, Afghans and Gurkhas. The Gurkhas actually helped the British in suppressing the mutiny.
The rebels lacked resources, discipline, planning, modern weapons and good leadership* up their operation. Indian leaders lacked organisation and planning. The rebel leaders were no match to the British Generals. The modern educated Indian did not participate* Finally the English mastery of the sea enabled them to get timely help from England.
Result of revolt of 1857
It put an end to the Company's rule in India
· Administration of India was directly taken over by the British Crown.
· By a special Act, both the Board of Control and the Board of Directors were abolished and the office of the Secretary of State for India was created with an Indian Council of 15 members to assist the Governor-General and Viceroy of India.
· The Indian army was thoroughly reorganised. The policy of ruthless conquests in India was given up and the Indian princes were given the assurance that their States would not be annexed.
· The right of adoption was also given to them.
· Full religious freedom was guaranteed to Indians.
· Indians were also given the assurance that high posts would be given to them without any discrimination.
The queens proclamation
The Queens Proclamation is described as the "Magna Carta" of the people.
- It confirmed the earlier treaties of the East India Company with the Indian Princes
- promised to pay due regard to the ancient rites and customs of India
- granted general pardon to all offenders except those who had directly taken part in the murder of the British subjects.
Different Views about 1857 Revolt
Sir John Lawrence | Sepoy Mutiny |
L.E.R.Rees | A war of fanatic religionist against Christians |
T.R.Holmes | A conflict between civilization and barbarism |
Sir James Outram and W. Taylor | A Hindu Muslim conspiracy |
Benjamin Disraeli | A National rising |
V.D.Sarvarkar | Described mutiny as War of National Independence in his book “First war of Independence” |
R.C.Majumdar | Not a war of independence |
Impact of economic polices of British
Transformation of traditional economy into colonial economy whose nature and structure was decided by the needs of British Economy
- Commercialisation of Agriculture i.e. the production of crops for sales rather than for own use. It disrupted the unity of agriculture and industry in traditional village economy. The heavy land revenue, the encouragement given by Government for the cultivation of cash crops to be used as raw material for industries in England were the main reason for this.
- The rural indebtedness increased several folds. The land revenue policies and the rigid manner by which the British collected, made them to depend on money lenders at high rates of interest. This worsened his economic position and finally he was deprived of his land. This in fact led to the increase in poor agriculture Labourers.
The influx of foreign goods, one way free trade policies of British, the construction and discretionary commercial methods practiced by the Railways, the loss of European markets to Indian manufactures due to high import duty, oppression by British to sell their goods below market rate, the disappearance of Indian rulers and high price of raw material due to their export made the Indian Handicraft industries to disappear. This led to unemployment of rural artisans and overcrowding of agriculture.
- The British exported to Britain a part of Indias wealth and resources for which India got no adequate return. This is known as Economic Drain. With the acquisition of Diwani from Bengal in 1765 , the revenue collected from Bengal was used for purchasing raw materials (known as Investments) and exporting them.
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