INTRODUCTION

The Revolt of 1857 (Also regarded as India's First War of Independece) was
an extremely important event in Indian history. It was initiated by the sepoy of
the company which arouses the accumulated grievances of the people
against the Company’s administration and of their dislike for the foreign
regime.

The Revolt of 1857 —the First War of Independence!

By the first half of the 19th century, the East India Company had brought
major portions of India under its control.
One hundred years after the Battle of Plassey, anger against the unjust
and oppressive British Government took the form of a revolt that shook
the very foundations of British rule in India.

While British historians called it the Sepoy Mutiny, Indian historians

named it the Revolt of 1857 or the First War of Indian Independence.
The Revolt of 1857 had been preceded by a series of disturbances in
different parts of the country from the late eighteenth century onwards

it was a major, but ultimately unsuccessful, uprising in India in 1857–58

against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a
sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown.The rebellion began on
10 May 1857 in the form of a mutiny of sepoys of the Company's army in
the garrison town of Meerut, 40 miles northeast of Delhi (now Old Delhi).
It then erupted into other mutinies and civilian rebellions chiefly in
the upper Gangetic plain and central India, though incidents of revolt
also occurred farther north and east.[c][The rebellion posed a
considerable threat to British power in that region,and was contained
only with the rebels' defeat in Gwalior on 20 June 1858. On 1 November
1858, the British granted amnesty to all rebels not involved in murder,
though they did not declare the hostilities formally to have ended until 8
July 1859. The rebellion is known by many names, including the Sepoy
Mutiny, the Indian Mutiny, the Great Rebellion, the Revolt of 1857,
the Indian Insurrection, and the First War of Independence.
CAUSES OF THE REVOLT OF “1857”
1. Economic Causes:

The most important cause of popular discontent was the British policy of
economically exploiting India. This hurt all sections of society. The peasants
suffered due to high revenue demands and the strict revenue collection policy.
Artisans and craftsmen were ruined by the large-scale influx of cheap British
manufactured goods into India which, in turn, made their hand-made goods
uneconomical to produce. People who made a living by following religious and
cultural pursuits lost their source of livelihood due to the withdrawal of royal
patronage caused by the displacement of the old ruling classes. A corrupt and
unresponsive administration added to the miseries of the people.

2. Political Causes:

The British policy of territorial annexations led to the displacement of a large

number of rulers and chiefs. The vigorous application of the policies of
Subsidiary Alliance and Doctrine of Lapse angered the ruling sections of the
society. Rani Lakshmi Bai and Nana Sahib became bitter enemies of the British
and led to the revolt in their respective territories.
The annexation of Awadh, on grounds of misgovernment, was greatly resented.
The Nawabs of Awadh had always been loyal to the British. The annexation was
widely seen as a blatant act of back-stabbing by the British. It deeply hurt the
sentiments of the Company’s sepoys because most of them came from Awadh.
Moreover, even under the new regime, the people of Awadh got no relief from
oppression. Peasants had to pay even higher revenue and additional taxes
were imposed. The British provided no alternative source of employment to the
people who lost their jobs due to the dissolution of the Nawab’s administration.

3. Social Causes:

The social reforms introduced by the British were looked upon with suspicion by
the conservative sections of the Indian society. Reforms such as abolition of
‘sati’, legalization of widow remarriage and extension of western education to
women were looked upon as examples of interference in the social customs of
the country. The social discrimination faced by the Indians due to the British
attitude of racial superiority also led to much resentment. Educated Indians
were denied promotions and appointments to high office. This turned them
against the British.

4. Religious Causes:

A major cause of the outbreak of the revolt was the fear among the people that
the British government was determined to destroy their religion and convert
Indians to Christianity. The increasing activities of the Christian missionaries
and the actual conversions made by them were taken as a proof of this fear.
The policy of taxing lands belonging to temples and mosques lent further
support to this idea. The belief that their religion was under threat, united all
sections of society against a common enemy.
5. Military Causes:

Indian soldiers formed seven-eighth of the total British troops in India. As they
were an integral part of the Indian society, they too suffered the consequences
of the oppressive British rule. Besides, they had other grievances. The Indian
sepoys were looked upon as inferior beings and treated with contempt by their
British officers. They were paid much less than the British soldiers. All avenues
of the promotion were closed to them as all the higher army posts were
reserved for the British.
There were other specific and more immediate causes for the discontent
among the sepoys. The annexation of Awadh inflamed their strong feelings
against foreign rule. They were also influenced by the general fear that their
religion was in danger. The order that forbade the sepoys from wearing caste
and sectarian marks hurt their sentiments deeply. So also the Act of 1816
which required the new recruits to travel overseas, if needed. The Hindu sepoys
resented this as according to the popular Hindu belief, travel across the sea led
to a loss of caste. Another cause of sepoy discontent was the withdrawal of the
Foreign Service allowance (‘batta’), which the sepoys were getting for fighting
outside the country.

6. Immediate Cause:

Discontent and resentment against British rule had been growing among the
Indians for a long time. By AD 1857, the stage was set for a massive revolt.
Only a spark was needed to set the country ablaze. That spark was provided by
as small a thing as a rifle cartridge.
At this time, the Enfield rifle was introduced in the army. Its cartridges were
covered with a greased paper cover. This greased cover had to be bitten off
before the cartridge could be loaded into the rifle. The news spread that the
grease was made of cow and pig fat. As the Hindus consider the cow sacred
and the Muslims do not eat pit’s meat, both these communities were enraged
at such a blatant attempt to harm their religion. This incident, popularly known
as the Greased Cartridges Incident, became the immediate cause of the revolt.
The first soldier to protest against using the greased cartridges was Mangal
Pandey. He belonged to the 34th Infantry stationed at Barrackpore. He refused
to use the cartridges and was subsequently hanged. On 24 April 1857, some
soldiers stationed at Meerut also refused to use the cartridges. On 9 May 1857,
they were severely punished for this. This incident sparked off a general mutiny
among the sepoys of Meerut. On 10 May 1857, these rebel soldiers killed their
British officers, released their imprisoned comrades and hoisted the flag of
revolt. This was the official beginning of the ‘Great Revolt’. The soldiers then
set off for Delhi. On 11 May 1857, they reached Delhi. Here, they were joined
by the local infantry. The rebels seized Delhi and declared the Mughal emperor,
Bahadur Shah Zafar as the emperor of India.
MAIN EVENTS OF THE REVOLT

Soon there was a rebellion in the Meerut Cantonment. The Meerut Mutiny (May
9, 1857) marked the beginning of the Revolt of 1857. The Indian sepoys in
Meerut murdered their British officers and broke open the jail. On May 10, they
marched to Delhi.

Capture of Delhi:
In Delhi the mutineers were joined by the Delhi sepoys and the city came under
their control. Next day, on 11th May, the sepoys proclaimed the ageing
Bahadur Shah Zafar the Emperor of Hindustan. But Bahadur Shah was old and
he could not give able leadership to the sepoys. The occupation of Delhi was
short-lived.

Fall of Delhi:
The British finally attacked Delhi in September. For six days there was
desperate fighting. But by September 1857, the British reoccupied Delhi.
Thousands of innocent people were massacred and hundreds were hanged. The
old king was captured and later deported to Rangoon where he died in 1862.
His sons were shot dead. Thus ended the imperial dynasty of the Mughals.

Centres of the revolt:

The revolt spread over the entire area from the neighbourhood of Patna to the
borders of Rajasthan. There were six main centres of revolt in these regions
namely Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Jhansi, Gwalior and Arrah in Bihar.

Lucknow:

Lucknow was the capital of Awadh. There the mutinous sepoys were joined by
the disbanded soldiers from the old Awadh army. Begum Hazrat Mahal, one of
the begums of the ex-king of Awadh, took up the leadership of the revolt.
Finally the British forces captured Lucknow. The queen escaped to Nepal.

Kanpur:

In Kanpur the revolt was led by Nana Saheb, the adopted son of Peshwa Baji
Rao II. He joined the revolt primarily because he was deprived of his pension by
the British. He captured Kanpur and proclaimed himself the Peshwa. The
victory was short- lived.
Kanpur was recaptured by the British after fresh reinforcements arrived. The
revolt was suppressed with terrible vengeance. The rebels were either hanged
or blown to pieces by canons. Nana Saheb escaped. But his brilliant
commander Tatya Tope continued the struggle. Tatyaa Tope was finally
defeated, arrested and hanged.

Jhansi:

In Jhansi, the 22 year-old Maratha Queen Rani Lakshmi Bai alias Mankarnika
Tambe led the rebels when the British refused to accept the claim of her
adopted son (named Gangadhar) to the throne of Jhansi. She fought gallantly
against the British forces. But she was ultimately defeated by the English.
Rani Lakshmi Bai escaped. Later on, the Rani was joined by Tatya Tope and
together they marched to Gwalior and captured it. Sindhia, a loyal ally of the
British, was driven out. Fierce fighting followed. The Rani of Jhansi fought like a
tigress. She died (near Kalpi), fighting to the very end. Gwalior was recaptured
by the British. British officer Hugh rose quote that “ she was the only man
among the rebels”
Bihar:

In Bihar the revolt was led by Kunwar Singh. Of Jagdishpur, He was the leader
of Landlords.

RESULT
The British government came out with all the powers to suppress the revolt.
The sepoys fought the battle with their limited strength for four months. Then,
the sepoys had to retreat. On 25th September British troops regained Delhi.
Bahadur Shah was arrested. Nana Saheb lost the battle of Kanpur. His
commander Tantia Topi continued the fight up to April, 1859 A.D. and
surrendered to the British force. Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi lost her life in the battle-
ground. Kunwar Singh, Bakht Khan of Bihar, Bahadur Khan, Moulavi Ahmed of
Faizabad lost their lives one after the other. By the end of 1859 A.D. the British
power was reestablished in troubled areas.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE REVOLT

A. THE DIRECT CONSEQUENCES

The direct effects of the Revolt of 1857 may be summed as follows:

1.The Revolt of 1857 exposed the danger involved in allowing a

commercial organisation to rule over a country. Thus British
government passed Government of India Act 1858on August 2,
1858, according to which the power that the company enjoyed was
snatched and a direct rule was established. The British government
was now established. The British was now directly responsible for
ruling India
2.The supreme executive and legislative authority in India
henceforth came to be known as the Governor-General and the
Viceroy Lord Canning so far known as the Governor General of
India also became the first Viceroy of India.
3.The British assured the people of India that there will be no more
territorial expansion. They also assured the people of India that
religious and social practices would be respected and not be
interfered.
4.The proportion of Indian soldiers in the army was reduced and the
number of European soldiers in the army was increased.
5.The ruling chiefs of the country were assured that their territories
would never be annexed by the British. The Doctrine of Lapse was
also abolished hereby allowing rulers to pass on their kingdoms to
adopted sons.
6.Policies were made to protect landlords and zamindars and give
them security of rights over their lands.
7.Muslims were considered to be responsible for the rebellion in a
big way. Hence their land and property was confiscated on large
scale.
 8.A new agrarian policy was introduced to guarantee security of
tenure and to fix rent for lands. This policy freed the cultivators from
tedious settlements and excessive demands of the state. The
financial system was also decentralized by entrusting some items of
taxation to local governments.
THE INDIRECT CONSEQUENCES

Far more important than the direct results were the indirect ones which followed
the Revolt of 1857.

1.The Revolt of 1857 further widened the difference between the

ruler and the ruled.
2.In the post-Revolt period, to maintain supremacy in India, British
followed the policy of communal disharmony. The seed of communal
discord planted by the English in India sprouted like a poison and
bore the fruits of communalism.
3.After the revolt, although British did not followed the policy of
territorial expansion in India, the period was yet marked by a new
era of economic exploitation of India by British
4.From now on, the British adopted a policy of opposing the
educated middle class and supporting the landlords and the native
princes.
REASONS FOR FAILURE

Although the revolt was a big event in the history of India, it had very
little chance of success against an organized and powerful enemy. The
revolt was suppressed within a little over a year of its outbreak. There
were many reasons for its failure.
1. The revolt did not spread to all parts of the country. Nor was
it supported by all groups and sections of the Indian society.
South and West India remained largely outside the fold of the
revolt. Many Indian rulers refused to help the rebels and some
were openly hostile to the rebels and helped the British in
suppressing eh revolt. The middle and upper classes and the
modern educated Indians also did not support the revolt.
2. The revolt was an un-organized effort. The rebels lacked an
ideology or programme which could be implemented in the
captured areas. None of them knew what to do after the
capture of a region.
3. The leadership of the movement was weak. Most of its
leaders lacked a national perspective and were motivated by
narrow, personal gains. They fought to liberate only their own
territories. No national leaders emerged to coordinate the
movement and give it a purpose and direction.
4. The rebels were short of weapons and finances. Whatever
few weapons existed were outdated and no match for the
sophisticated and modern weapons of the British. The rebels
were also poorly organized. The uprisings in different parts of
the country were uncoordinated. Often the sepoys were an
uncontrolled group of people. They were unable to carry
through their early military successes.
The revolt of 1857 was a landmark event in the history of India.
It was the first great struggle of the Indians for freedom from
British imperialism. The period after the revolt saw major
changes in British policies and in the administrative set-up of
India. Broadly speaking, the revolt sowed the seeds of
nationalism in the minds of the Indian masses.