WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 1857

BACKGROUND

Lord Canning succeeded Lord Dalhousie as the next governor-general of India in 1856. When
Dalhousie retired the people took a sigh of relief. Dalhousie, because of his autocratic and
expansionist style, left behind a people simmering with discontent. The Muslims were the most
affected, in that they felt that they had been badly treated. It is true that originally the English had
been somewhat afraid of Muslims and felt that they had snatched the sub-continent from them.
They had, therefore, treated the Muslims with undue severity. The annexation of Sindh and
Oudh, the utterly, humiliating position of the last emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, who lived on a
small pension, rankled-in the minds of all Muslims.

CAUSES OF THE WAR

1. POLITICAL

The War of Independence 1857 can be attributed to many causes. As regards the political cause,
Dalhousie's 'Doctrine of Lapse' and annexation of the territories of the native rulers which
created feelings of uneasiness and suspicion throughout India. The British treacherously attacked
and annexed the Kingdom of Oudh and its 80,000 strong army was disbanded. These
annexations gravely enraged the people and angered the soldiers of English East India Company.
Most of the soldiers came from Oudh. The British government confiscated the estates of a
majority of the Taluqdars or Zamindars who became the opponents of the British rule in India.
The annexation of Oudh was not resented by the Muslims only but also by the other rulers of
India. It developed a sense of despair among the people who became uncertain of their future.

The landlords were denied the right of adoption and their estates were confiscated by the
government. There was a lot of uncertainty about land. The government officials very often
cancelled private transfers of land and interfered even with the decisions of the courts. Heavy
assessment and duties made the landlords frantic.

2. RELIGIOUS

The British desired to impose Christianity on every Indian national. Thepolicy of converting the
locals to Christianity was systematically pursued with the assistance of Christian missionaries.
The people were offered different incentives to enter the fold of Christianity. In 1850 a bill was
passed by which the right of inheritance of those Indians was acknowledged who became
Christians. The British policy of imposing Christianity forcibly on the Indians developed a fear
among the people. Both the army and civil population feared that the Government intended to
make everybody a Christian. The Hindu law of property was changed with a motive to facilitate
the conversion of Hindus to Christianity. The leaders issued proclamation and condemned the
Englishmen. They appealed to their brethren to join the holy war against the British.
3. MILITARY

As regards the military causes of the revolt, there was lot of discontentment among the Indian
soldiers. The Indian army mostly consisted of Hindu and Muslim soldiers. The highest pay of a
sepoy of the infantry was less than the minimum pay of a raw European recruit. There was no
promotion of an Indian soldier. The government did not trust the Indian soldiers. The self-respect
of sepoys was trampled upon at every step.

4. THE GREASED CARTRIDGES

In 1856 a new Lee Enfield rifle was introduced into the army which worked with the cartridges
which were greased.The soldiers began to suspect that the grease must be animal fat, either of
cow or pig. Both Hindus and Muslims recoiled against using these cartridges, one end of which
they had to hold with their teeth when loading the rifle. To both Hindus and Muslims the use of
greased cartridges was against their religion.

BEGINNING OF THE REVOLT

A regiment in Barakpur near Calcutta refused to use the greased cartridges. They were
summarily punished. In Meerut on 10th May 1857, the Colonel-in-Command used very harsh
measures against those sepoys who refused to use the cartridges. They were publicly disgraced,
punished and imprisoned. The sepoys revolted and killed their British officers. They liberated
theircomrades, set on fire their barracks and openly revolted. They marched on to Delhi and took
Bahadur Shah Zafar out of the fort and proclaimed him emperor on 11 May1857. At this moment
Delhi became the centre of the revolt and Bahadur Shah its symbol.

END OF THE REVOLT

The British quickly regained the control of Delhi. They now mustered their forces. General
Havelock marched from Bombay and captured Allahabad on 11 June1858. He then left for
Cawnpore and entered Lucknow to relieve the troops, though he could not save Sir Henry
Lawrence. TheIndians fought desperately but were defeated. The British captured Delhi
and sacked it. The emperor was captured.He was sent as a state prisoner to Rangoon where he
died a few years later.

CAUSES OF THE FAILURE OF THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

Many causes were responsible for the failure of Independence War 1857. In the first place the
uprising was localized. There were many parts of India which were not affected by the revolt.
The freedom fighters failed on account of the lack of leadership among them.The British were
more disciplined. They had control over the seas. They were in a position to bring in more men
and material. A large number of troops were quickly sent to India. The British were well
equipped with the modern weapons.
EFFECTS OF THE WAR

The Indian revolt of 1857 was ruthlessly suppressed. The punishments meted out to the survivors
were unparallel for their severity. The innocent suffered with the guilty. Whole villages were
burnt down on suspicion.Since the Muslims had played a leading role and the Muslims as well as
the Hindus had proclaimed Bahadur Shah Zafar as emperor of India, the British were especially
severe on the Muslims after the war.The British killed the people indiscriminately without any
excuse or trial. Wherever the British advanced, whole villages were sacked and people
massacred regardless of their sin.

END OF THE COMPANY

Though the revolt failed in its immediate objective, it laid the ground for a deeper nationalistic
approach, which was the first expression of India's yearning for freedom.

As a direct result of 1857 revolt, the English East India Company was disbanded and the
Government of India was taken over by the Grown with Queen Victoria. The Queen's
proclamation was read out at Allahabad on November 1858. People were promised their rights
pardon was given to all except those who had killed British subjects. The Princes were promised
their former status. Complete freedom of religion was ensured and gradual participation in the
administration of the country was also proclaimed. There was a change in the land policy of the
Government. The extension of permanent settlement of Bengal was seriously considered.
Military positions and strategic points were transferred to the European troops. When the war
broke out both the Hindus and Muslims took part in it in large numbers. The British feared
Muslims more than the Hindus. The Muslim population was seen to be more responsible for the
revolt than the Hindus and was thus penalized by reducing employment opportunities and by
confiscation of property and wealth. The result was that the British vengeance targeted the
Muslims only and pardoned the Hindus. The result of this was that Muslims came to have a
grievance against the Hindus. The differences between the two began to develop and they drifted
away from each other. The problem of Hindu-Muslim unity became impossible to tackle and
ultimately that led to the partition of India in 1947.