I.

WAR OF INDEPENDENCE (1857):

Important landmark in the cultural and political history of India
Fought by Indians against the British in order to get rid of their
domination.
WAR OF INDEPENDENCE OR MUTINY, MILITARY UPRISING,
REBELLION:
Not Soldiers alone but the whole population of India
participated:
Soldiers alone weren’t involved in the events of 1857 but the entire
population of India actively and directly participated in the uprising.

British Politicians had to admit that the uprising was not confined to
only soldiers.
 Lord Salisbury stating in the House of Commons that the
widespread nature of the events made it impossible to attribute
solely to the cartridge issue.
 Benjamin Disraeli, on July 27, 1857, declared that the revolt was
not merely an outcome of soldiers' grievances but a result of the
prevailing general political unrest in the country.
 According to Justice Carthey characterized the events as a
religious and national war, with people from Northern and North-
Western parts of India revolting against English domination. The
spark of the cartridge affair ignited the broader discontent.
 Pointing towards this difficulty, London Newspaper wrote “If the
unrest is limited to the soldiers alone and the people are on our
side, we are at a loss to understand as to why the Indian
Government is sending telegrams upon telegrams for more and
more reinforcements from Britain. If the general public is on our
side as claimed by the ministers and directors of the Company,
 they can easily find in India so many soldiers as to form ten
armies”.
 A study of Sayyed Ahmed khan treatise “The cause of India
Revolt” clearly reveals the fact that this was not merely a military
uprising as single event cannot become a cause of general
uprising. The same was the case with the uprising of 1857. For a
long time, grievances had been rankling in the hearts of the
people. Which ultimately led them to the course of rebellion.