THE REVOLT

OF
1857

ARSALAN AHMAD
B.A.LL.B
SELF FINANCE
2nd SEMESTER
HISTORY ASSINGMENT
ROLL NUMBER – 10

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INTRODUCTION
A mighty popular revolt breaks out in Northern and Central India in 1857 and
nearly swept away the British rule. The Revolt of 1857 was the most dramatic
instance of traditional India’s struggle against foreign rule. But it was no sudden
occurrence. It was the culmination of the century long traditions of fierce popular
resistance to British domination. It began with the mutiny of sepoys, or the Indian
Soldiers of the Company’s army but soon engulfed wide regions and involved the
masses. Millions of peasants, artisans and soldiers fought heroically for over a year
and by their exemplary courage and sacrifice wrote a glorious chapter in the
history of the Indian people.

GENERAL CAUSES
The Revolt of 1857 was not only about the sepoy content it was much more than
that. As the British had been conquering India bit by bit, the hatred for them was
rising among the Indians in different sections of the Indian society. As the hatred
was raising it result into this revolt.

The main cause of the revolt was the economic exploitation by the British and the
complete destruction of traditional economic fabric, both leads to the lost of the
vast mass of peasants, artisans and handicraftsmen as also a large number of
traditional zamindars and chiefs. Other main cause was the land revenue system
and law administration. Large number of peasants lost their lands to traders and
money lenders and found themselves involved into debts. The new zamindars that

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were chosen by the Britishers, lacked ties of tradition that had linked the old
zamindars to peasants, pushed up the rent and evicted them into case of non-
payments. Many zamindars were harassed for higher land revenue and not
payment of this amount may lead to forfeiture of their land and loss of their status
in the villages. Later they were replaced by the British peoples. Common people
were hit by the corruption at lower level of administration. The police, officials,
and lower law courts were corrupt. Rampant corruption in the Company’s
administration, especially among the police, petty officials and lower law courts,
and the absentee sovereignty-ship character of British rule imparted a foreign and
alien look to it in the eyes of Indians.1

William Edwards, a British official, wrote in 1859 that the petty officials lost no
opportunity to lower down the zamindars. The complex judicial system enabled the
rich to oppress the poor. Jailing and torturing people for debts were quite common.
The growing poverty of the common people made them desperate to join the revolt
in hope that it may change their condition.

The middle and upper classes of Indian society were hard hit by their exclusion
from the well paid higher posts in the administration. The people who were making
their livelihood by cultural pursuits were also get affected by the British
Supremacy. The Indians rulers had been fond of arts and literatures and supported
them at very high rate because of this many people’s livelihood was depended on
cultural pursuits. As the East India Company was taking over the Rulers meant the
sudden withdrawal of this patronage and impoverishment of those who were
dependent on it. Maulavis and pundits, who felt that their entire future was
threatened, were played an important role in spreading the hatred against the
foreign rule.
1
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/history/revolt-of-1857

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The basic cause of being hated by the Indians was that they were unknown to the
language, there was very large communication gap between them and Indians were
not able to understand their points and were not able to tell theirs. Britishers unlike
foreign conqueror before them were not able to socially mix with the Indian people
not even with the people of upper classes, they had a feeling of racial superiority.

Their main aim was to enrich themselves and go back, they don’t want to settle
here. Indians were aware of these foreign characters of the Britishers, Indians
refused to look them as their benefactors. So this anti – British feeling was found
earlier than the time of revolt.

Indians believed that British were invincible and they cannot be defeated but there
was several events happened that proved Indians wrong and encouraged them that
the days of British regime were numbered. The British army suffered major
reverses in the First Afghan War (1832 – 1842), in the Punjab Wars (1845- 1849),
and in the Crimean War (1854 – 1856). In 1855 – 1856 Santhal Tribesmen of
Bihar and Bengal were rise against British with axes and arrows, the British won
this war and suppressed the Santhal uprising. The British suffered in these battles
and this make Indian to think that British army could be defeated if they fight
together. The Indians made a great mistake by underestimating the strength of the
British army, which later harm them in the revolt.

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The policy of Doctrine of Lapse was presented by Lord Dalhousie it was a weapon
of intelligence exercised against the weaker princes of India who lived under
British supremacy. Some of Indian princess were loyal to the British but some were
neglecting their duties and rolling in the luxuries. Lord Dalhousie could not
tolerate the existence of the native rulers within the boundaries of the British
Empire. So he started working on the process of annexing the properties of such

Figure 1 LORD DALHOUSIE

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rulers and to do it more efficiently he introduces the Doctrine of Lapse. By the
application of this policy he disallowed the Indian rajas to adopt sons and
whenever he would die without a natural heir his state should be taken over by the
British Government. Under the Doctrine of Lapse Dalhousie annexed Satara,
Jaitpur, Sambalpur, Bhagat, Udaipur, Jhansi and Nagpur. The Doctrine of Lapse
directly bring some of the rich and prosperous areas under the rule of the British.
Rulers were not feeling secured they knew that Britishers were going to take their
lands, so they thought that they were not going to give it easily and it was another
factor responsible for the Revolt.

The annexation of Awadh and other states caused panic among rulers of India.
Rulers had now noticed that their loyalty towards British is nothing in front of their
greed for territory. This policy of annexation was directly responsible for making
Nana Saheb, The Rani of Jhansi and Bahadur Shah their staunch enemy.

An important factor in turning people against British rule was that they thought
British would harm their religion. This fear was largely due to the activities of
Christian missionaries would can be seen anywhere, at school, in hospitals, at
market place, in prison. These missionaries try to convert people into Christian and
made attacks on Hinduism and Islam. They ridiculed and denounced the beliefs
and customs of Hindus and Muslims. They were provided police protection.
Support from British Government to the missionaries was strengthening their
power to spread Christianity and convert their religion. In 1850, the Government
enacted a law which enabled a convert to Christianity to inherent his ancestral
property. Many officials and military officials believed that it was their duty to
spread Christianity and help missionaries, they provide instruction in schools and
even in jails.

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The conservative religious and social sentiments of the people were also suffered,
they believe that the British Government had no right to interfere in their religious
and customs. They believe that alien Christian has no right to interfere in their
religious matter and customs like abolition of sati, legalization of widow
remarriage and opening of western education of girls. The British had been
promoting western education and laying emphasis on the education of girls. This
was also mis-interpreted by the conservative sections of the society as an attack on
Indian culture. More importantly western education exposed Indians to the new
thoughts of liberty and equality and they realized that the British were treating
them like second rate citizens in their own country. 2

Sepoys were part of the Indian society so at some aspects they have to face the
problems what normal Indians were facing. Indians at that time were very strict in
observing caste rules. The military authorities forbade the sepoys to wear caste and
sectarian marks, beards or turbans. In 1856 an act was passed under which new
recruit had to serve British even overseas but according to the current religious
beliefs of the Hindus, travel across the sea was forbidden and led to loss of caste.

Indian sepoys were treated in very ill mannered, British officers abuse them even
the one who was younger than them. Even though both Indian and British soldiers
are at same position but the Indian soldier, he paid much less and lodged and fed in
a far worse manner than the British soldier. The main reason for dissatisfaction of
sepoys was that they were refused to give the foreign services allowances when
serving in Sindh and in Punjab.

A sepoy mutiny had broken out in Bengal in 1764, the British suppressed it by
killing 30 sepoys. In 1824 when the 47th regiment of sepoys refused to go to Burma
by sea route, the regiment was disbanded, its unarmed men were fired upon the
2
Ritik Shah, “Religious and Social causes – Revolt of 1857”, ( 2014 ).

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artillery and the leaders of the sepoys were hanged. There were any stories that
encouraged the sepoys to participate in The Great Revolt.

The revolt came as a culmination of British policies, but it was not a sudden
occurrence. For nearly a century there had been fierce popular resistance against
the British. From 1763 to 1856 there had been forty major rebellions and hundreds
of minor rebellions. These rebellions were massive in their totality, but were
isolated from each other. They were also localized in their affect.

Everyone was ready to fight against British but only a spark was needed to set a
fire. The greased cartridges provided that spark for the sepoys and their mutiny
provided the general populace the occasion of revolt. The new 'Enfield Rifle'
introduced by the British in the army needed a special type of cartridge which had
a greased paper cover. This paper had to be bitten off before the cartridge was
loaded into the rifle. The grease used in the paper was made of beef and pig fat.3
This enraged both the Hindu and the Muslim sepoys both the religious
communities felt that their religions were at stake. This worked as a spark in the
magazine room and the Mutiny began.4

The Beginning and Course of the Revolt

The revolt began at Meerut, 58 km from Delhi, on 10th May 1857. It soon spread in
the vast area from Punjab in the north and the Narmada in the south to Bihar in the
east and Rajputana in the west. Before the outbreak at Meerut, Mangal Pande was
hanged on 29th March 1857 for revolting against and attacking on his superior
officers. On 9th May, eighty- five sepoys were dismissed, sentenced to 10 years
imprisonment and put into fetters, this sparked the general mutiny among the

3
Raghudev, ” The Revolt of 1857 “, ( 2012 ).
4
Ibid.

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Indian soldiers. On 10th May, they released their imprisoned comrades, killed their
officers and flurred the banner of revolt. The soldiers chose Bahadur Shah as their
leader, Delhi become the centre of the revolt. The rise of the last mughal king to
the leadership made the symbol of the Indian political unity. All the soldiers from
other territories of India were moved towards Delhi and all Indian Chiefs who took
part in the revolt were ready to show their loyalty towards the Mughal Emperor.
Bahadur Shah under the instigation wrote letter to all chiefs and rulers of India to
unite and fight against the British Regime.

The entire Bengal Army soon rose in revolt. Awadh, Rohilkhand, the Doab, the
Bundelkhand, Central India, large part of Bihar and the east Punjab all shook off
British authority. In many of the princely states, ruler remained loyal to the British
but the soldiers revolted or remain on the brink of the revolt. Over 20000 of
Gwalior’s troops went over to Tantia Tope and Rani of Jhansi.

Figure 2 Tantia Tope

In the Northern and Central India, the mutiny of sepoys triggered popular revolts
of the civilian population. After the sepoys destroyed British authority, common

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people rose up in arms often fighting with axes, lathis, bow, arrows and many other
weapons. The peasants and zamindars attacked the money lenders and new
zamindars who had replaced them from the land, they destroyed their record books
and records of their debts. They attacked the courts and revenue offices and thanas

At some places where people who did not participated in revolt, showed their great
sympathy. They started social boycott of those sepoys who remain loyal to the
British. The unity of Hindus and Muslims among the soldiers and people made the
revolt fiercer. At Delhi the nominal and symbolic leadership belonged to the
Bahadur Shah, but the real command lay with a Court of Soldiers headed by
General Bakht Khan. Bahaur Shah was the weakest leader among all the leaders of
revolt, his weakness in leadership was due to his old age and lack of qualities of
leadership created political weakness at the nerve centre of the Revolt and did
incalculable damage to it.

At Kanpur the Revolt was led by the Nana Sahib, the adopted son of Baji Rao 2.
Nana Sahib expelled the
Britishers from the
Kanpur and proclaims
himself the Peshwa.

He acknowledged
Bahadur Shah as the
Emperor of the India and
declared himself to be his

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Governor. Azimullah was another loyal servant of Nana Sahib, he was an expert in
political propaganda.

The revolt of Lucknow was led by Hazrat Mahal, the Begum of Awadh. By the
help of sepoys and peasants of Awadh, the Begum organized an all – out attack on
the British.

The greatest heroes of the revolt were the sepoys, many of them displayed great
courage in the field of battle and thousands died. They had revolted on the question
of the greased cartridges but now to expel the hated foreigners they freely used the
same cartridges in their battles.

The Weakness of the Revolt and its Suppression

Even though the revolt was spread all over the country, it was not able to embrace
the entire country or all the groups and classes of the country. It did not spread to
the South India and East India. Most rulers and zamindars were refused to fight
because they were selfish and had fear for the British. The Sindhia of Gwalior, the
Holkar of Indore, the Nizam of Hyderabad, the Raja of Jodhpur and other Rajput
Rulers, the Nawab of Bhopal, the Rulers of Patiala, Nabha, Jind and other Sikh
chieftains of Punjab, the Maharaja of Kashmir, the Ranas of Nepal and many other
rulers and a large numbers of zamindars gave active help to the British in
suppressing the revolt. Many of the Taluqdars backe off during thr revolt, when the
Government assured them that their estates would be returned to them. The Rani
fell fighting to the British. Her death was a great blow to the strength of rebels. Sir
Huge Rose has aptly said. "Laxmi Bai was the bravest and best military leader of
the rebels." Tantya tope was betrayed by Gwalior Chief Mansingh and fell into the
hands of British he was subsequently hanged on April 18, 1859. Kunwar Singh fell

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in battle field on April 27, 1858, leaving behind a glorious record of valour and
bravery. Nana Sahib was defeated and fled away to the dense forest of Nepal and
escaped death.5

The sepoy mutiny was ruthlessly suppressed. Though the fire of revolution was
extinguished by the end of 1858, in the Sambalpur region of Orissa it continued for
another four years. Sambalpur felt the heat of the revolution till 1862 when its
leader Surendra Sai was arrested. Peace and tranquility was restored the proud
Englishmen regarded the suppression of the revolt as the reconquest of India.6

The modern educated Indians also did not support the revolts. The educated
Indians wanted to end the backwardness of the Indian society, they believe that the
British would help to fix it. The Indian people were sort of modern weapons and
other materials used of wars. Most of them fought with ancient weapons like bow
and arrow and swords and many more. Sepoys were not disciplined, sometimes
they does not behave like a army but like a mob. They do not have coordination.
They do not have common strategies. They overthrow certain places and they have
no idea what to do with that place.

The leaders had no plan for the free India, they were lacked of the forward-
looking programme, coherent ideology, a political perspective or a vision of the
future society and economy.

5
R Jhabbu, “Essay on the Suppression of the revolt of 1857”, PE, (2012)
6
Ibid.

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