The First War of Independence

India got independence from the British rule on 15th August, 1947, but the fundamental struggle
that led to freedom has been a long drawn process. The culmination of traditional opposition to
the British rule came with the First War of Independence in 1857, in which millions of peasants,
artisans and soldiers participated.

The first hundred years of British rule in India from 1757 to 1857, were marked by the British
victories and the rapid expansion of their dominion in India.

Beginning of the Uprising

 In 1856, the British authorities decided to replace the old fashioned musket (called, the
‘Brown Bess’) by the new ‘Enfield Rifle’. The cartridges to be used in the rifle were
greased with fat. The loading process of the Enfield rifle involved bringing the cartridge
to the mouth and biting off the top greased paper with the mouth.
 A rumor spread out, that the cartridges were greased with the fat of pigs and cows.
Soldiers believed that, these cartridges were intentionally greased with animal fat to hurt
their religious sentiments.
 The revolt first began at Barrackpore, when most of the Indian soldiers refused to use the
greased cartridges. As a result, a Brahmin soldier of the 34th Native Infantry at
Barrackpore, named Mangal Pandey led an attack on the adjunct of 34th Native Infantry
on 29th March, 1857.
 After the incident, Mangal Pandey was arrested and hanged on 8th April, 1857. Within a
month of this incidence, uprisings started in Meerut, Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Jhansi and
at many other places.

Events at Meerut

The mutiny started at Meerut on 10th May 1857. The occasion was the punishment of some
sepoys for their refusal to use the greased cartridges. They broke open jails, murdered
Europeans, burnt their houses and marched to Delhi. They seized the city and proclaimed the
aged Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah II as the Emperor of India.

Events at Delhi

After reaching Delhi, they killed many British soldiers and surrounded the entire city. The loss
Delhi, lowered the respect of the British army. So, in order to achieve their respect again, Sir
John Nicholson besieged Delhi with the help of loyal Sikh soldiers. In the end, the British
surmounted Delhi and the old emperor Bahadur Shah was taken prisoner. As a punishment, he
was ordered life imprisonment and deported to Rangoon, where he died in 1862.

Events at Lucknow
Begum Hazrat Mahal, the wife of the Nawab of Awadh let the uprising at Lucknow on 30th
May, 1857. The city was recaptured by the British in March 1858. Begum Hazrat Mahal fled
towards the Nepal Frontier.

Events at Kanpur

The War of Independence was led by Nana Sahib at Kanpur. He wanted to get his pension from
the government, which they were paying to the last Peshwa Baji Rao II. But now the British
refused to grant it. Nana Sahib was the adopted son of the last Peshwa Baji Rao II and at that
time there was a policy called the Doctrine of Lapse applied by the Governor-General Lord
Dalhousie.

Lord Dalhousie annexed few states like – Jhansi, Udaipur, Kanpur, Satara etc., by using this
policy. Being a brave and determined General, Nana Sahib opposed this policy. But in the end,
on 17th June, 1857 General Havelock captured Kanpur after defeating Nana Sahib.

Causes of the Revolt

The Revolt of 1857 is an important landmark in the history of India, which occurred during the
Governor-Generalship of Lord Canning. The Revolt of 1857 was a combination of political,
economical, socio-religious, military and many other causes.

Political Causes

Some of the political causes of the revolt are as follows:

1. Lord Dalhousie’s Policy of Annexation and the Doctrine of Lapse were the significant
causes. As per the Doctrine of Lapse, heirs adopted without the consent of the company,
could inherit only the private property of the deceased ruler and not his territory, which
would come under the company’s rule. They made the British administration very
unpopular and the rulers of the different states as bitter enemies of the British.
2. The British refused to grant pension to Nana Sahib, as he was the adopted son of Peshwa
Baji Rao II. Avadh was annexed in 1856, on charges of maladministration. Satara, Jhansi,
Nagpur and Sambalpur were annexed owing to the Doctrine of Lapse.
3. All the Indian states had either been annexed or had entered into alliances with the
company in 1856. The British had become the supreme power and the Indian princes
were reduced to puppets.
4. Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General of India, annexed many Indian states to the
company using the Doctrine of Lapse.
5. The rulers of Indian states believed that their states were not annexed by the application
of Doctrine of Lapse, but due to ‘lapse of all morals’ on the part of the East India
Company.
6. In 1849, Lord Dalhousie announced that the successors of Bahadur Shah Zafar would not
be permitted to use the Red Fort as their palace. They were required to shift to a place
near the Qutab Minar.
 7. After 7 years, in 1856, Lord Canning announced that after the death of Bahadur Shah
Zafar, his successors would not be allowed to use the imperial titles with their names ans
would be known as mere princes. This decision of the British hurt the feelings of the
Muslims, consequently Bahadur Shah began plotting against them.

Socio-Religious Causes

Some of the socio-religious causes of the revolt were as follows:

1. The British Government’s attempt to interfere in the social and religious life of the
Indians led to widespread fear among the masses.
2. The combined effect of British Expansionist Policies, Economic Exploitation and
Administrative changes adversely affected the Indian society as a whole.
3. British social reforms such as Abolition of Sati (1829), Legalization of Widow
Remarriage, (1856) etc., hurt the sentiments of the orthodox and conservative people.
4. The orthodox Indians felt humiliated to note that in the railway compartments Brahmins
and people from the backward classes were made to sit side by side.

Economic Causes

The most important reason for the popular discontent was the economic exploitation by the
British. The economic exploitation took the following forms:

1. The East India Company made huge profits at the expenses of the people of India. The
company purchased textiles, indigo, food grains and spices from India and sold them
abroad at exorbitant prices.
2. By buying and exporting Indian goods, the company encouraged their production in
India. But gradually, the Indian textiles began to compete with the textiles manufactured
in England. The British put pressure on the East India Company to forbid the sale of
Indian textiles in England. The British Government then put restrictions on the import of
Indian textiles besides imposing heavy import duties on such goods.
3. People moved to cities to find employment, which was very difficult to get. Peasants
were forced to pay tax in cash, which pushed them into the hands of the moneylenders, as
tax was collected even during the famines.
4. Indigo, tea, jute, cotton and opium were crops, which the British wanted the Indians to
grow. If the peasants planted anything else, their crops were destroyed and cattle were
carried off as punishment.
5. The British Economic Policies also affected the upper and the middle classes of the
society. The Inam Commission, appointed in 1852 in Bombay, confiscated as many as
20000 estates. This drove the landed aristocracy to poverty without benefitting the
peasantry, which suffered due to the exorbitant land revenue. It was claimed by the
merchants, moneylenders and the new owners of these estates.

Military Causes

Military causes that led to the revolt were as follows:

 1. Several factors contributed to a change in the attitude of the Indian soldiers towards the
company. The distribution with Indian soldiers was one of the causes of the revolution.
2. The Indian and British soldiers were not treated equally. The salary of the Indian soldiers
was too meager to support their families, while the duties of both the British and the
Indian soldiers were more or less similar.
3. The British Parliament passes the General Service Enlistment Act in 1856, which decreed
that the Indian soldiers could be sent overseas on duty. This act did not take into account
the sentiment of the Indian soldiers. Indian soldiers dreaded sea voyage and considered it
against their customs.
4. Indians were of the belief that, the British were invincible, but the British were beaten in
the First Afghan War (1838-42). This convinced the Indian soldiers that the British could
also be defeated. This gave courage to the Indian soldiers to wage a war against the
British rule.

Consequences of the Revolt

Queen Victoria’s Proclamation

The first significant result of the Revolt was the end of the rule of the East India Company in
India. The Queen’s proclamation incorporating the transfer of governance from East Indian
Company to the British crown was made public at Allahabad, on 1st November, 1858, by Lord
Canning, the first Viceroy of India. The proclamation declared that the British would not
interfere in their internal matters except in the case of ‘misconduct’ and ‘anarchy’. After the
proclamation of the queen, the policy of ‘Doctrine of Lapse’ was abolished.

Relations with Princely States

There was a change in the policy of the new Government towards the Indian Princes, in order to
make them loyal to the British. It assured them that all the treaties entered with the company
would be honoured. Their territories would not be annexed to the British crown. They were
given the right to adopt sons and successors.

End of Peshwaship and the Mughal Rule

The war also ended the Peshwaship and the Mughal rule. As Nana Sahib, the adopted son of
Peshwa Baji Rao II, who had taken part in the war could not be traced, the office of the Peshwa
was abolished. Similarly, the title of Mughal Emperor was also abolished with the death of
Bahadur Shah II in 1862.

Policy of Divide and Rule

After 1858, the British continued their policy of ‘Divide and Rule’ by giving special protections
and concessions to the Princely States, encouraging hatred and ill-feelings among the Hindus and
the Muslims, so that the people of India could never challenge the British authority.

Changes in the Army

The Indian Army had been mainly responsible for the crisis of 1857. After the revolt, it was
thoroughly reorganised and built up on the policy of ‘division and counterpoise.’ The strength of
the European troops in India was increased from 45,000 to 65,000 and the number of Indian
troops was reduced from 2,38,000 to 1,40,000. All big troops and artillery departments were
reserved for the Europeans. Discrimination on the basis of caste, region and religion was
practised in the recruitment to the army. Newspaper, journals and nationalist publications were
prevented from reaching the Indian army to keep them separated from the rest of the population.

Economic Exploitation

The Revolt of 1857 ended an era and sowed the seeds of a new era i.e., the era of Territorial
Expansion gave place to the ear of Economic Exploitation. Indian became a typical colony of the
British, by exporting raw materials and importing British goods. Peasants, rural artisans etc. were
impoverished under the British rule.