essay on the revolt of 1857

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Revolt of 1857 - First War of Independence Against British

The revolt of 1857 was the conscious beginning of the Independence struggle against the colonial tyranny of the British. There are various names for the revolt of 1857 – India’s First War of Independence, Sepoy Mutiny, etc.

The revolt began on May 10, 1857, at Meerut as a sepoy mutiny. It was initiated by sepoys in the Bengal Presidency against the British officers.

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This War of Independence marked the end of rule by the British East India Company. Post this, India was directly ruled by the British government through representatives known as Governor-General .

This article provides all relevant information related to the 1857 revolt and its causes and effects. This is an important topic for the Civil Services Exam and other government exams.

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Immediate Reason of Revolt of 1857

The immediate factor was the introduction of the ‘Enfield’ rifle. The cartridge had to be bitten off before loading it into the gun. Indian sepoys believed that the cartridge was greased with either pig fat or made from cow fat. This was against the Hindu and Muslim sentiments. Thus they were reluctant to use the ‘Enfield’ rifle. This was a flashpoint to enrage the soldiers against the British. As a result was believed to be the immediate factor for the revolt of 1857 .

Causes of Revolt of 1857

Watch a video on the causes of the 1857 Revolt from our expert faculty below:

The 1857 revolt was initiated due to various factors which are stated below:

• Religious & Social Causes – Racism or racial discrimination was believed to be a major reason for the revolt of 1857 wherein Indians were exploited and were kept away from mixing with Europeans. The whites also started interfering in the religious and cultural affairs of Indians and tortured them as well.

To know more about the Social causes for revolt of 1857 , refer to the linked article.

• Political Causes – The British expansion had led to the propagation of unjust policies that led to the loss of power of the Nawabs and Zamindars residing at various places of India. The introduction of unfair policies like the policy of Trade and Commerce, the policy of indirect subordination ( subsidiary alliance ), the policy of war and annexation, the policy of direct subordination ( doctrine of lapse ), the policy of misgovernance (through which Awadh was annexed) greatly hampered the interests of the rulers of the native states, and they one by one became victims of British expansionism. Therefore, those rulers, who lost their states to the British, were naturally against the British and took sides against them during the revolt.
• Economic Factors – There were various reforms in the taxation and revenue system that affected the peasants heavily. British Government had imposed and introduced various administrative policies to expand their territory.
• Military Factors: Another major cause was the General Enlistment Act of July 25 1856. Passed 10 months before the rebellion, the act required that new recruits to the Bengal Army to accept a commitment for general service. Earlier the enlisted men of the Bengal Army had been exempted from serving overseas as they believed that such an act would be against their beliefs. But the Madras and Bombay regiments had no such inhibitions. Governor-General Lord Dalhousie felt it unfair that the burden of deployment fell squarely on the smaller presidency armies. With the signing of the act, sepoys of the Bengal Army felt that it would also prevent their sons from following their footsteps while fearing the prospect of serving overseas.

The major policies are listed below:

• Permanent Settlement in Bengal
• Mahalwari settlement in Central India & Ryotwari settlement in southern India

To more about such important land revenue systems , check the linked article.

These three settlements were highly exploitative, and in particular, the Permanent settlement had created a devastating impact. Thus the peasants were greatly encouraged to overthrow the British Government from India which led to their active participation in the revolt of 1857.

Military Factors – The Indian soldiers faced a lot of discrimination from the British officials with respect to their salaries, pensions, and promotions. Indians were subjugated in the military while their European counterparts faced no such discrimination. This led to discontent and was a major military factor that resulted in the 1857 revolt.

To know more about military factors in detail, refer to the linked article.

Vellore Mutiny

The Vellore Mutiny took place even before the revolt of 1857 (50 years before). It erupted on 10th July 1806 in Vellore, present-day Tamil Nadu, and lasted only for a day, but it was brutal and it was the first major mutiny by the Indian sepoys in the East India Company.

Impact of Revolt of 1857

The revolt of 1857 shook the foundation of the British East India Company and disclosed their inefficiency in handling the Indian administration. The major impact was the introduction of the Government of India Act, 1858 which abolished the rule of the British East India Company and marked the beginning of the British Raj that bestowed powers in the hands of the British government to rule India directly through representatives.

To know more about the major Impact of the revolt of 1857 , refer to the linked article.

Causes of Failure of the Revolt of 1857

The 1857 revolt was eventually not successful in ousting the British from the country because of several factors.

• The sepoys lacked one clear leader; there were several. They also did not have a coherent plan by which the foreigners would be routed.
• Indian rulers who aided the revolt did not envision any plan for the country after the British were defeated.
• Majorly northern India was affected by this revolt. The three presidencies of Bengal, Bombay and Madras remained mostly unaffected.

List of Important Leaders associated with the Revolt of 1857

Related Links:

Frequently Asked Questions – Revolt of 1857

Who coined the name sepoy mutiny.

In India, the term First War of Independence was first popularized by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in his 1909 book The History of the War of Indian Independence.

What was the immediate reason for the revolt of 1857?

The immediate factor was the introduction of the ‘Enfield’ rifle. It was said that the cartridge of this rifle was wrapped in the fat of cow and pig. The cartridge had to be bitten off before loading it into the gun. Thus the Hindu and Muslim soldiers were reluctant to use the ‘Enfield’ rifle.

What are the causes of Revolt of 1857?

There are many reasons that led to the revolt of 1857. Major reasons for the revolt can be broadly classified into – Political, Social, Economic, Religious, Military, etc. The causes have been discussed in this article under respective sections.

What are the important points of Revolt of 1857?

The main impact of the 1857 revolt was the abolishment of the East India Company, India was under the direct control of British authority, The Indian administration was directly controlled by Queen Victoria. The second major impact that the revolt of 1857 created was to develop unity & patriotism in the nation.

What was the main objective of 1857 revolt?

The major goal of the uprising was to prevent the assimilation of Indians into Western and British culture. Indians felt that the British wanted to strip them of their ethnic and religious identities. Another goal of the uprising was to slow down the acquisition of Indian lands by the British East India Company.

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Essay on Revolt Of 1857

Students are often asked to write an essay on Revolt Of 1857 in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

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100 Words Essay on Revolt Of 1857

Introduction.

The Revolt of 1857, often called the First War of Indian Independence, was a significant event in Indian history. It was a massive rebellion against the British East India Company. The revolt started on May 10, 1857, in Meerut, and soon spread to other parts of the country.

Causes of the Revolt

Several factors led to the Revolt of 1857. The main reasons were the British policies of annexation and disrespect towards Indian traditions. The immediate cause was the introduction of new rifle cartridges rumored to be greased with cow and pig fat, offending both Hindus and Muslims.

Leaders of the Revolt

The revolt was led by various Indian leaders. Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, Kunwar Singh of Bihar, and Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor, were some of the key figures. They fought bravely against the British forces.

Outcome of the Revolt

The Revolt of 1857 was eventually suppressed by the British. Despite its failure, it marked the beginning of a new phase in India’s struggle for freedom. It led to the end of the East India Company’s rule and the start of direct British control.

Significance of the Revolt

250 words essay on revolt of 1857.

The Revolt of 1857 was a significant event in Indian history. It was a massive rebellion against the British East India Company’s rule in India. Many people call it India’s First War of Independence.

There were many reasons for the Revolt of 1857. The British were not treating Indians fairly. They were taking away the land of many Indian rulers. They also introduced new laws and taxes that were not liked by the people. The use of animal fat in the new rifle cartridges was the last straw. This hurt the religious feelings of both Hindu and Muslim soldiers.

The revolt began on May 10, 1857, in Meerut. The Indian soldiers, also known as sepoys, refused to use the new rifle cartridges. They killed their British officers and marched towards Delhi. The revolt spread to other parts of India like Kanpur, Lucknow, and Jhansi.

Many brave leaders led the revolt. Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, Nana Sahib, and Tantia Tope were some of the famous leaders. They fought bravely against the British.

End of the Revolt

The revolt ended in 1858. The British were able to suppress the revolt due to better weapons and lack of unity among the Indian leaders. This marked the end of the British East India Company’s rule. India came directly under the British Crown.

500 Words Essay on Revolt Of 1857

The beginning of the revolt.

The Revolt of 1857, also known as the Indian Rebellion of 1857, was a significant event in Indian history. It started on May 10th, 1857, in the town of Meerut. Indian soldiers, known as sepoys, in the British East India Company’s army, rose against the British. This happened because the sepoys were unhappy with their treatment by the British officers. They were also upset about new rifle cartridges that were greased with animal fat, which was against their religious beliefs.

Spread of the Revolt

The revolt did not stay in Meerut. It spread to other parts of India, such as Delhi, Kanpur, and Lucknow. The rebellion was not just among soldiers. Ordinary people, including farmers and local leaders, also joined in. They were angry about the British rule and the changes it brought to their lives, like high taxes and laws that went against their customs.

End of the Revolt and its Impact

The Revolt of 1857 ended in 1858 when the British took control again. Many of the leaders were killed or sent away. The British government made changes in how they ruled India. The East India Company was ended, and the British Crown took direct control. This event is known as the beginning of the British Raj, which lasted until 1947.

Even though the revolt did not succeed in ending British rule, it had a big impact. It showed the British that the Indian people were not happy with their rule. It also brought together people from different parts of India to fight against a common enemy. This unity was important in later years when India fought for its independence.

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• Introduction

The rebellion

• What is Lakshmi Bai remembered for?
• Who was Mangal Pandey?

Indian Mutiny

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• Table Of Contents

Indian Mutiny , widespread but unsuccessful rebellion against British rule in India in 1857–59. Begun in Meerut by Indian troops ( sepoys ) in the service of the British East India Company , it spread to Delhi , Agra , Kanpur , and Lucknow . In India it is also called the First War of Independence and other similar names.

To regard the rebellion merely as a sepoy mutiny is to underestimate the root causes leading to it. British paramountcy—i.e., the belief in British dominance in Indian political, economic, and cultural life—had been introduced in India about 1820. The British increasingly used a variety of tactics to usurp control of the Hindu princely states that were under what were called subsidiary alliances with the British. Everywhere the old Indian aristocracy was being replaced by British officials. One notable British technique was called the doctrine of lapse , first perpetrated by Lord Dalhousie in the late 1840s. It involved the British prohibiting a Hindu ruler without a natural heir from adopting a successor and, after the ruler died or abdicated , annexing his land. To those problems may be added the growing discontent of the Brahmans , many of whom had been dispossessed of their revenues or had lost lucrative positions.

Another serious concern was the increasing pace of Westernization , by which Hindu society was being affected by the introduction of Western ideas. Missionaries were challenging the religious beliefs of the Hindus. The humanitarian movement led to reforms that went deeper than the political superstructure. During his tenure as governor-general of India (1848–56), Lord Dalhousie made efforts toward emancipating women and had introduced a bill to remove all legal obstacles to the remarriage of Hindu widows. Converts to Christianity were to share with their Hindu relatives in the property of the family estate. There was a widespread belief that the British aimed at breaking down the caste system. The introduction of Western methods of education was a direct challenge to orthodoxy, both Hindu and Muslim.

The mutiny broke out in the Bengal army because it was only in the military sphere that Indians were organized. The pretext for revolt was the introduction of the new Enfield rifle . To load it, the sepoys had to bite off the ends of lubricated cartridges. A rumour spread among the sepoys that the grease used to lubricate the cartridges was a mixture of pigs’ and cows’ lard; thus, to have oral contact with it was an insult to both Muslims and Hindus. There is no conclusive evidence that either of these materials was actually used on any of the cartridges in question. However, the perception that the cartridges were tainted added to the larger suspicion that the British were trying to undermine Indian traditional society. For their part, the British did not pay enough attention to the growing level of sepoy discontent.

In late March 1857 a sepoy named Mangal Pandey attacked British officers at the military garrison in Barrackpore . He was arrested and then executed by the British in early April. Later in April sepoy troopers at Meerut refused the Enfield cartridges, and, as punishment, they were given long prison terms, fettered, and put in jail. This punishment incensed their comrades, who rose on May 10, shot their British officers, and marched to Delhi , where there were no European troops. There the local sepoy garrison joined the Meerut men, and by nightfall the aged pensionary Mughal emperor Bahādur Shah II had been nominally restored to power by a tumultuous soldiery. The seizure of Delhi provided a focus and set the pattern for the whole mutiny, which then spread throughout northern India. With the exception of the Mughal emperor and his sons and Nana Sahib , the adopted son of the deposed Maratha peshwa , none of the important Indian princes joined the mutineers.

From the time of the mutineers’ seizure of Delhi, the British operations to suppress the mutiny were divided into three parts. First came the desperate struggles at Delhi, Kanpur, and Lucknow during the summer; then the operations around Lucknow in the winter of 1857–58, directed by Sir Colin Campbell; and finally the “mopping up” campaigns of Sir Hugh Rose in early 1858. Peace was officially declared on July 8, 1859.

A grim feature of the mutiny was the ferocity that accompanied it. The mutineers commonly shot their British officers on rising and were responsible for massacres at Delhi, Kanpur, and elsewhere. The murder of women and children enraged the British, but in fact some British officers began to take severe measures before they knew that any such murders had occurred. In the end the reprisals far outweighed the original excesses. Hundreds of sepoys were bayoneted or fired from cannons in a frenzy of British vengeance (though some British officers did protest the bloodshed).

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Indian History

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Revolt of 1857

• 02 Nov 2020
• 14 min read
• GS Paper - 1
• Modern Indian History
• Indian National Movement
• Important Personalities

The Indian Mutiny of 1857-59 was a widespread but unsuccessful rebellion against the rule of British East India Company in India which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British crown.

• It was the first expression of organised resistance against the British East India Company
• It began as a revolt of the sepoys of the British East India Company’s army but eventually secured the participation of the masses.
• The revolt is known by several names: the Sepoy Mutiny (by the British Historians), the Indian Mutiny, the Great Rebellion (by the Indian Historians), the Revolt of 1857, the Indian Insurrection, and the First War of Independence (by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar).

Causes of The Revolt

Political Cause

• British policy of expansion: The political causes of the revolt were the British policy of expansion through the Doctrine of Lapse and direct annexation.
• Rani Lakshmi Bai’s adopted son was not permitted to sit on the throne of Jhansi.
• Satara, Nagpur and Jhansi were annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse.
• Jaitpur, Sambalpur and Udaipur were also annexed.
• The annexation of Awadh by Lord Dalhousie on the pretext of maladministration left thousands of nobles, officials, retainers and soldiers jobless. This measure converted Awadh, a loyal state, into a hotbed of discontent and intrigue.

Doctrine of lapse:

• The notable British technique called the Doctrine of Lapse was first perpetrated by Lord Dalhousie in the late 1840s.
• It involved the British prohibiting a Hindu ruler without a natural heir from adopting a successor and, after the ruler died or abdicated, annexing his land.
• To those problems added the growing discontent of the Brahmans, many of whom had been dispossessed of their revenues or had lost lucrative positions.

Social and Religious Cause

• An act in 1850 changed the Hindu law of inheritance enabling a Hindu who had converted into Christianity to inherit his ancestral properties.
• The people were convinced that the Government was planning to convert Indians to Christianity.
• The abolition of practices like sati and female infanticide, and the legislation legalizing widow remarriage, were believed as threats to the established social structure.
• Introducing western methods of education was directly challenging the orthodoxy for Hindus as well as Muslims
• Even the introduction of the railways and telegraph was viewed with suspicion.

Economic Cause

• Many among these groups were unable to meet the heavy revenue demands and repay their loans to money lenders, eventually losing the lands that they had held for generations.
• Large numbers of sepoys belonged to the peasantry class and had family ties in villages, so the grievances of the peasants also affected them.
• Indian handicraft industries had to compete with cheap machine- made goods from Britain.

Military Causes

• Indian sepoys formed more than 87% of the British troops in India but were considered inferior to British soldiers.
• An Indian sepoy was paid less than a European sepoy of the same rank.
• In 1856 Lord Canning issued the General Services Enlistment Act which required that the sepoys must be ready to serve even in British land across the sea.

Lord Canning

• Charles John Canning was the statesman and governor general of India during the Indian Mutiny of 1857.
• He became the first viceroy of India in 1858.
• The Mutiny of 1857, which he was able to suppress successfully
• Passing of Indian Councils Act, 1861 which introduced portfolio system in India
• Withdrawal of “Doctrine of Lapse” which was one of the main reasons of mutiny of 1858
• Introduction of Code of Criminal Procedure
• Enactment of Indian High Courts Act
• Indian Penal Code (1858)

Immediate Cause

• A rumour spread that the cartridges of the new enfield rifles were greased with the fat of cows and pigs.
• Before loading these rifles the sepoys had to bite off the paper on the cartridges.
• Both Hindu and Muslim sepoys refused to use them.
• Lord Canning tried to make amends for the error and the offending cartridges were withdrawn but the damage had already been done. There was unrest in several places.
• He was hanged to death on 8 th April.
• On 9 th May, 85 soldiers in Meerut refused to use the new rifle and were sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment.

Centres of The Revolt

• Lucknow: it was the capital of Awadh. Begum Hazrat Mahal, one of the begums of the ex-king of Awadh, took up the leadership of the revolt.
• He joined the revolt primarily because he was deprived of his pension by the British.
• The victory was short- lived. Kanpur was recaptured by the British after fresh reinforcements arrived.
• The revolt was suppressed with terrible vengeance.
• Nana Saheb escaped but his brilliant commander Tantia Tope continued the struggle.
• Tantia Tope was finally defeated, arrested and hanged.
• She fought gallantly against the British forces but was ultimately defeated by the English.
• Fierce fighting followed where the Rani of Jhansi fought like a tigress but died, fighting to the very end.
• Gwalior was recaptured by the British.
• Bihar: the revolt was led by Kunwar Singh who belonged to a royal house of Jagdispur, Bihar.

Suppression and The Revolt

• The Revolt of 1857 lasted for more than a year. It was suppressed by the middle of 1858.
• On July 8, 1858, fourteen months after the outbreak at Meerut, peace was finally proclaimed by Lord Canning.

Why did the Revolt Fail?

• The revolt was mainly confined to the Doab region.
• The large princely states, Hyderabad, Mysore, Travancore, and Kashmir, as well as the smaller ones of Rajputana, did not join the rebellion
• The southern provinces did not take part in it.
• No effective leadership: the rebels lacked an effective leader. Although Nana Saheb, Tantia Tope and Rani Lakshmi Bai were brave leaders, they could not offer effective leadership to the movement as a whole.
• Limited resources: the rebels lacked resources in terms of men and money. The English, on the other hand, received a steady supply of men, money and arms in India.
• No participation of the middle class: The English educated middle class, the rich merchants, traders and zamindars of Bengal helped the British to suppress the revolt.

Results of The Revolt

• The revolt marked the end of the East India Company’s rule in India.
• This was announced by Lord Canning at a Durbar in Allahabad in a proclamation issued on 1 November 1858 in the name of the Queen.
• The Indian administration was taken over by Queen Victoria, which, in effect, meant the British Parliament.
• The India office was created to handle the governance and the administration of the country.
• Religious tolerance: it was promised and due attention was paid to the customs and traditions of India.
• The rights of Indian rulers were recognised.
• The Doctrine of Lapse was abolished.
• The right to adopt sons as legal heirs was accepted.
• Military reorganisation: the ratio of British officers to Indian soldiers increased but the armoury remained in the hands of the English. It was arranged to end the dominance of the Bengal army.

The revolt of 1857 was an unprecedented event in the history of British rule in India. It united, though in a limited way, many sections of Indian society for a common cause.Though the revolt failed to achieve the desired goal, it sowed the seeds of Indian nationalism.

Books written on the Revolt of 1857

• The Indian War of Independence by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
• Rebellion, 1857: A Symposium by Puran Chand Joshi
• The Indian Mutiny of 1857 by George Bruce Malleson
• Great Mutiny by Christopher Hibbert
• Religion and Ideology of the Rebels of 1857 by Iqbal Hussain
• Excavation of Truth: Unsung Heroes of 1857 War of Independence by Khan Mohammad Sadiq Khan

Revolt of 1857

Table of Contents

The Revolt of 1857, also known as the Indian Rebellion of 1857, was a big uprising against the British East India Company in India. It started on May 10, 1857 , when soldiers in Meerut rebelled. The revolt spread to other areas, with more soldiers and civilians joining. It happened mostly in the northern part of India and central regions. This article below will discuss the events, the causes and the outcome of the Revolt of 1857 . Read till the end for a better understanding of this historical event.

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Immediate Reason for Revolt of 1857

The revolt of 1857 happened because of many reasons. People suffered a lot because of British rules. They faced economic problems because of high taxes and unfair policies. The British also took over Indian states, which made rulers unhappy. Indian soldiers were treated badly compared to British soldiers. The issue of greased cartridges made things worse. When Indian soldiers refused to use them, the revolt started. Even after trying to solve the problem, the anger disappeared. When Mangal Pandey was executed and soldiers were put in jail, the revolt became bigger. This marked the beginning of a big rebellion.

Causes of The Revolt of 1857

The Revolt of 1857 was the result of the policies pursued by the British East India Company, which badly affected various segments of society, including rulers, peasants, and traders. A single policy or event did not trigger the uprising of 1857; it was the result of various political, economic, administrative, and socio-religious factors. These underlying causes can be summarised as follows:

Political Causes

The expansionist policies of the British, which included the Doctrine of Lapse and direct annexations, played a significant role in fueling the revolt. These policies resulted in the displacement of numerous Indian rulers and chiefs, creating fear and resentment among other ruling families. Denying Rani Lakshmi Bai’s adopted son’s claim to the throne of Jhansi and the annexation of territories like Satara, Nagpur, and Jhansi intensified tensions. Additionally, the annexation of Awadh by Lord Dalhousie left thousands unemployed, transforming it from a loyal state to a centre of unrest. These actions contributed to the widespread discontent and played a crucial role in sparking the revolt against British rule in India.

Economic Causes

The economic burden imposed by the British impacted the lives of the peasants. Peasants faced heavy taxes and had to borrow money at high-interest rates from lenders. The failure to repay loans led to land confiscation, leaving peasants without income. Moreover, the British annexation of Indian states deprived rulers of their ability to support artisans and craftsmen, which further destabilised the economic conditions. Additionally, the economic policies of the British East India Company devastated Indian industries and handicrafts.

Mangal Pandey Revolt of 1857

The revolt led by Mangal Pandey in 1857 made Indian soldiers very angry because they feared disrespect for their religion and suspected they were being forced to convert to Christianity. Pandey, a soldier, protested against the use of Enfield rifle cartridges and the distribution of Bibles to soldiers. On March 29, he tried to start a rebellion by attacking Lieutenant Baugh, but he failed. Even though other soldiers didn’t help the officers, they managed to stop Pandey and later hanged him on April 8. His friend, Jemadar Ishwari Prasad, was also hanged. The 34th Regiment was disbanded because they did not stop Pandey’s actions. Sepoy Paltu, who tried to help the officers, was killed. Pandey’s actions were one of the events that led to the 1857 revolt against British rule.

Causes of Failure of the Revolt of 1857

Lack of Support from the Ruling Power: During that period, the ruling classes were beneficiaries of British policies, leading them to back the British rather than support the revolt. Key figures like Sir Dinkar Rao of Gwalior, Sir Salar Jung of Hyderabad, the Sang Bahadur of Nepal, the ruler of Afghanistan, as well as leaders from Patiala, Sindh, and Kashmir, along with certain Sikh chieftains, actively supported the British.

Absence of Nationalistic Sentiment: The rebellions lacked a sense of national identity.

The rulers supported the sepoys because they did not like the East India Company. But back then, people did not feel like they were all part of one big country called India. They mostly cared about their town, area, or sometimes their state. They didn’t think of themselves as all being Indian.

Leaders Associated with 1857 Revolt

Throughout the 1857 Revolt, also recognised as the Indian Rebellion of 1857 or the First War of Independence , numerous notable leaders rose to prominence from various parts of India. Below are the leaders of the revolt of 1857

• Mangal Pandey
• General Bakht Khan
• Begum Hazrat Mahal
• Rani Laxmibai
• Kunwar Singh

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Centers of The Revolt

The main focal points of the 1857 revolt included:

• Barrackpore

Beginning in May 1857 in Meerut, the revolt swiftly spread throughout northern and central India. The uprising predominantly impacted the country’s northern regions, spanning from the vicinity of Patna to the borders of Rajasthan.

British Officials Who Suppressed the Revolt

British officials who suppressed the revolt played a main role in quelling the uprising during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. These officials, representing the colonial administration, were tasked with restoring order and maintaining British control over the affected regions.They used different methods like using soldiers, talking with people, and forcing them to obey, to stop the rebellion and control the Indian leaders and fighters who were against British rule.

Result of The Revolt

The Revolt of 1857 profoundly shook the foundations of the British East India Company, revealing its incompetence in governing India. The significant outcome was the enactment of the Government of India Act in 1858, which ended the British East India Company’s rule and inaugurated the British Raj’s era, placing India directly under the governance of the British Crown through appointed representatives.

Key points of transformation:

• End of company rule: The monumental uprising of 1857 signalled the termination of the East India Company’s governance in India.
• Establishment of direct British Crown rule: India transitioned to direct rule by the British Crown, officially announced by Lord Canning during a Durbar in Allahabad through a proclamation issued on November 1, 1858, in the name of Queen Victoria.
• Administration under Queen Victoria: The administration of India was assumed by Queen Victoria, effectively placing governance under the authority of the British Parliament. The creation of the India Office facilitated the management and administration of the country.

FAQs on Revolt of 1857

What triggered the 1857 revolt.

The 1857 revolt, known as the First War of Independence, was sparked by various factors, including British annexation policies, the Doctrine of Lapse, discrimination against Indians, and oppressive British economic and social policies.

Who is the father of Revolt of 1857?

Mangal Pandey, often considered the catalyst for the 1857 revolt, played a significant role in igniting the spirit of resistance among Indian soldiers.

What were the primary hubs of the 1857 revolt?

The key centres of the uprising included Delhi, Cawnpore, Lucknow, Jhansi, and Gwalior.

What was the main cause of the 1857 revolt?

The main cause of the 1857 revolt was the discontent with British policies, including cultural insensitivity, economic exploitation, and military grievances. The immediate spark was the introduction of rifle cartridges rumored to be greased with cow and pig fat, offending both Hindu and Muslim soldiers and symbolizing the broader disrespect and exploitation by the British.

Why is the Revolt of 1857 called the First War of Independence?

The Revolt of 1857 is known as the First War of Independence because it was the first significant attempt by Indians to unite against British rule. It represented a nationwide effort to reclaim control from the British, laying the foundation for India's eventual fight for freedom. Despite its failure, it is remembered as a key moment in the movement towards Indian independence.

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Table of Contents

Revolt of 1857 Causes

Revolt of 1857 events, revolt of 1857 leaders, reasons of failure of the revolt of 1857, revolt of 1857 consequences.

Prelims : History of India

Mains :  Indian Culture - Salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.

The  Revolt of 1857 , also known as the " First War of Independence ," was the first significant attempt by Indians to end British imperialism. It started on 10 May 1857, first in the form of sepoy mutiny and later as a concerted effort by Indian rulers under the de jure supervision of the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar. As the Revolt of 1857 posed a considerable threat to British power, it was proved as a watershed movement for the British perspective towards India. They became more cautious in their approach towards administration, the nature of the army, differential treatment of the vast Indian communities, etc.

The Revolt of 1857 was mainly concentrated across the vast portions of northern India, engulfing the peasantry and other civilian populations that stood side-by-side with their leaders. Many prominent leaders of the Revolt and common mass fought bravely with the British forces.

There were several factors for the 1857 Revolt, although the British's ruthless exploitation of the Indians was common in all. These factors were already in the process of pressure build-up since the consolidation of Bengal in 1764, first leading to the numerous minor rebellions and ultimately in the Revolt of 1857. These factors are briefly described below:

Political Causes of Revolt of 1857

• Many princely states were annexed by using the  Doctrine of lapse , such as Satara in 1848 and Jhansi in 1854 by  Dalhousie.  Awadh, however, was annexed under an excuse that Nawab Wazid Ali Shah was mismanaging the state.
• These annexations created resentment among the deposed rulers as well as their subjects, many of which were recruited as sepoys.

Economic Causes of 1857 Revolt

• Impact on traditional industries:  The British aimed to make India a consumer of British goods, leading to the collapse of industries like textiles, metalwork, glass, and paper. By 1813, Indian handicrafts lost domestic and foreign markets, and British factories were captured and monopolised through war and colonisation.
• Impact on agriculture:  The  land revenue policies  followed by the Britishers led to the commercialisation of agriculture and made the land a tradable commodity. It gave rise to new landlords, absentee landlords and moneylenders that created resentment in older landlords. The high burden of taxes, erstwhile cultivators being taken away from their lands, etc., made the peasants desperate for a regime change.

Social Causes of Revolt of 1857

• Alien rule:  Britishers never mixed with the Indian people and treated even the  upper-class Indians  with contempt.
• Interference in religion:  Religious leaders, such as  Pandits  and  Maulvis , have also lost all of their previous power and prestige.

Administrative Factors

• Discrimination in the army:  There was discrimination in salary, cost of maintenance and the military ranks between Indian sepoys and their British counterparts. They were also treated with humiliation and abuse, which created discontent amongst Indian sepoys.
• Discrimination in civil administration:  Indians were deprived of  higher posts,  which were primarily taken by the British.

Immediate Cause of Revolt of 1857

The atmosphere was so surcharged that even a small issue could lead to revolution.

• Cartridges of the new Enfield rifle,  which had recently been introduced in the army, had a greased paper cover whose end had to be bitten off before the cartridge was loaded into the rifle.
• Pig and beef fat  were used to make the  grease . The  Hindu and Muslim  soldiers were so outraged by this that they began to suspect that the government was actively attempting to undermine their religion. It was the immediate root of the uprising.
• Barrackpore:  On 29th March 1857,  Mangal Pandey,  stationed at  Barrackpore , revolted against his British officers. He was hanged, which created anger and resentment amongst the sepoys.
• The rest of the Indian sepoys reacted strongly to this, and the next day, on  10th May , the entire  Indian garrison revolted .
• March to Delhi:  After freeing their comrades and killing the British officers, they decided to march on to  Delhi.
• It was clear that it was not merely an army mutiny,  as people from surrounding areas began to loot the  military bazaars  and attacked and burnt the bungalows of the British as soon as they heard the shots fired by the sepoys on their officers.
• Hindu-Muslim unity:  In Meerut and Delhi, the Hindu sepoys overwhelmingly declared Bahadur Shah to be their Emperor. As a sign of respect for the  Hindus' religious beliefs, cow slaughter  was banned wherever the sepoys arrived.
• Central India:  Thousands of Indore's soldiers joined the sepoy rebels in Indore.  Gwalior's troops  went over to  Tantya Tope and Rani of Jhansi.
• In  East Punjab, Mainpuri, Bulandshahr, Danapur, Mathura. Agra. Lucknow, Allahabad, Banaras, Shahabad, Etwah, and Aligarh,   wherever there were Indian troops, they revolted.
• With the revolt in the army, the  police and local administration  also collapsed.
• Telegraph lines were severed, and horsemen carrying alerts to Delhi were stopped.
• Peasants and dispossessed zamindars attacked the moneylenders and new zamindars who had displaced them from the land.
• Destroyed the government files and the accounting records of the moneylenders. 
• Attacked the  British-established law courts , revenue offices, revenue records and police stations.

The  storm centres  of the uprising were located in Arrah, Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, and Lucknow. Even though they acknowledged  Emperor Bahadur Shah's suzerainty , all of these locations decided their own rulers and continued to be independent.

• This system had lost its vitality and was unable to withstand the onslaught of the British.
• Lack of Unity among Indians:  While the sepoys of the Bengal army were revolting, some soldiers in Punjab and south India fought on the side of the British to crush these rebellions.
• No accompanying rebellions in most of eastern and southern India.
• The  Sikhs  did not support the rebels because of the possibility of the revival of  Mughal authority.
• Besides this, there were some elements of the peasantry that had profited from British rule and supported the British during the revolt.
• Lack of Support from the Educated Indians : They did not support the revolt because, in their view, the revolt was  backwards-looking,  and they mistakenly believed that the British would lead the country towards  modernisation .
• While the rebels lacked discipline and  central command.
• The number of  European soldiers  was increased, and they were kept in key  geographical and military positions.
• The Indian section of the army was now organised in accordance with the  "divide and rule" policy.
• To prevent soldiers from developing  nationalistic feelings , regiments were formed based on  caste ,  community , and  region .
• A  Secretary of State for India , aided by a  Council , was now in charge of  India'sgovernance . Previously, the  Company's Directors  wielded this authority.
• Muslims were severely punished, and discrimination was made against them in  public appointments  and in other areas. 
• A policy of preferential treatment of  Muslims  was adopted towards the end of the 19th century. 
• These policies created problems for the Indian freedom struggle and contributed to the growth of  communalism.
• New Policy towards the Princely:  The earlier  policy of annexation  was now abandoned, and the rulers of these states were now authorised to adopt heirs.

Revolt of 1857 UPSC PYQs

Question 1: The Revolt of 1857 was the culmination of the recurrent big and small local rebellions that had occurred in the preceding hundred years of British rule. (UPSC Prelims 2019)

Question 2: Explain how the Uprising of 1857 constitutes an important watershed in the evolution of British policies towards colonial India. (UPSC Prelims 2016)

Revolt of 1857 FAQs

Q) What are the causes of the revolt of 1857?

In 1857, Indian soldiers rose up against their British commanders. Poor terms of service and pensions, bad pay, lack of promotion, and increased cultural and racial insensitivity from British officers all contributed to the feelings of discontent among the Indian soldiers.

Q) What was the immediate reason for the revolt of 1857?

The rebellion began when sepoys refused to use new rifle cartridges, which were thought to be lubricated with grease containing a mixture of pig and cow lard and thus religiously impure for Muslims and Hindus.

Q) Who started the Revolt of 1857?

On March 29, 1857, Sepoy Mangal Pandey of the 34th Bengal Native Infantry launched the 1857 revolt at Barrackpore.

Q) Who were the main leaders of the revolt of 1857?

During the 1857 Revolt, several prominent leaders emerged from different regions of India. Mangal Pandey, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Nana Saheb, Tatya Tope, Kunwar Singh, Bakht Khan and Rani Laxmi Bai are some of the leaders.

Q) What were the causes of the failure of the Revolt of 1857?

The Indian Rebellion ultimately failed to achieve its objective of ending British rule in India because of a lack of unity and external support, the military superiority of the British and a lack of a unified programme and ideology.

Q) What are the main centres of the revolt of 1857?

Following the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny at Meerut in May 1857, uprisings occurred across northern and central India. The main centres of revolt were Delhi, Cawnpore, Lucknow, Jhansi and Gwalior.

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Indian Mutiny (1857): Popular Revolts Against British Imperialism

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• Arup Kumar Sen 3  

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Agrarian Rebellion ; Anti-colonialism ; British colonialism ; Indian independence ; Indian Rebellion of 1857 ; Land settlement policy ; Sepoy mutiny

This essay examines the Indian Rebellion, or ‘Sepoy Mutiny’ of 1857, a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company in the country. Rather than viewing the Indian National Rebellion of 1857 as a momentary outburst, and so limiting its significance within a short historical time frame, the essay locates the ways in which the rebellion was preceded by and influenced other anti-colonial protest movements. It is suggested that in order to have a ‘holistic’ reading of the Rebellion, it is necessary to explore the period from the 1830s to the 1870s, one which witnessed colonialist expansion and also the challenges posed to British rule by a number of peasant and tribal movements in the context of exploitative and oppressive British land settlement policy. The 1857 Mutiny carried different...

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Kumar Sen, A. (2020). Indian Mutiny (1857): Popular Revolts Against British Imperialism. In: Ness, I., Cope, Z. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91206-6_228-1

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India struggle for freedom (1857-1947) : chapter-1 : the revolt of 1857 : revision notes or short notes (arora ias), the revolt of 1857, india struggle for independence , revision notes or short notes, start of the revolt:.

• May 11, 1857: Sepoys from Meerut mutiny, cross Yamuna River, and reach Delhi.
• Sepoys seek legitimacy by appealing to Bahadur Shah II, the Mughal Emperor (a figurehead).
• Bahadur Shah is proclaimed leader (Shahinshah-e-Hindustan).
• Delhi captured, British officials killed, public offices destroyed.

Significance of Delhi:

• Provided a rallying point for rebels by symbolizing past Mughal glory.
• Marked the beginning of a widespread rebellion across North and Central India.

Sepoy Discontent:

• Berhampur (March 1857): Sepoys refuse new Enfield rifles, regiment disbanded.
• Mangal Pandey (34th Native Infantry): Opens fire on British officer, executed.
• 7th Oudh Regiment: Defies officers, faces disbandment.

Spread of the Rebellion:

• Kanpur, Lucknow, Benares, Allahabad, Bareilly, Jagdishpur, Jhansi – all experienced rebel activity.
• Anti-British sentiment fueled the rebellion.

Leadership:

• Kanpur: Nana Saheb (adopted son of last Peshwa) leads the rebellion.
• Lucknow: Begum Hazrat Mahal (wife of deposed Nawab) takes charge.
• Bareilly: Khan Bahadur (descendant of Rohilkhand ruler) commands the rebels.

Overall Impact:

• Nearly half the Company’s sepoy force (232,224) rebelled.
• The rebellion posed a significant challenge to British rule in India.

The Sepoy Rebellion of 1857: Leaders and Causes

Leadership in the rebellion.

• Kunwar Singh (Jagdishpur): A zamindar wronged by the British, he joined the sepoys’ revolt.
• Rani Lakshmibai (Jhansi): Fought the British after they annexed her state using the Doctrine of Lapse.
• Other Centers: The rebellion spread across Bengal and some parts of Bombay presidencies. Only Madras remained loyal.

Causes of the Sepoy Discontent

• Economic Disparity: Despite prestige, sepoy service offered less economic stability compared to pre-British times.
• The introduction of greased cartridges (believed to be made of cow and pig fat) offended sepoys’ religious beliefs.
• Campaigns abroad (Burma, Afghanistan) made it difficult to follow caste restrictions, leading to social alienation upon return.
• The Company’s growing disregard for sepoys’ religious needs caused friction.

British Efforts to Manage Sepoy Discontent

• Initial Accommodation: The Company initially allowed sepoys to follow religious customs within cantonments.
• Caste restrictions hindered military effectiveness.
• Discouraging Brahmin recruitment proved unsuccessful.

Examples of Sepoy Grievances

• 1824: The 47th Regiment refused to travel to Burma fearing loss of caste due to crossing the sea.
• Afghan War: Sepoys forced to eat/drink anything during the war faced social exclusion upon return for violating caste rules.

Conclusion:

• Religious and caste concerns, along with economic anxieties, proved more powerful than the prestige of serving the Company, ultimately leading to the Sepoy Mutiny.

Sepoy Discontent: Beyond Religion

Religious issues:.

• Rumors of forced conversions by Christian missionaries fueled sepoy anxieties.
• Open preaching by missionaries in cantonments offended religious sensibilities.
• Fears about bone dust in flour and beef/pork fat in Enfield rifle cartridges heightened religious concerns.

Economic Disparity:

• Sepoy pay was low (Rs. 7 for infantry, Rs. 27 for cavalry).
• Cavalrymen had to bear significant expenses from their pay.
• Sepoys felt discriminated against compared to higher-paid British counterparts.
• Limited promotion opportunities and racial prejudice added to the discontent.

Social Connection:

• Sepoys, as part of the rural population, shared the general resentment towards British rule.
• A military officer warned Lord Dalhousie that infringing upon the rights of the people could lead to sepoy disloyalty.
• Sepoy discontent went beyond religious anxieties. Poor pay, discrimination, and a sense of being disconnected from societal concerns fueled their growing resentment against the British.

The Sepoy Mutiny: Beyond Military Discontent

Sepoys connected to oudh:.

• Oudh provided a large number of sepoys (75,000).
• Sepoys felt the impact of British policies like land revenue changes in Oudh.
• Petitions (14,000) from sepoys highlighted hardships faced due to the revenue system.
• A Delhi rebel proclamation reflected sepoys’ awareness of the population’s suffering under British rule.

Sepoy Mutiny and Civil Rebellion:

• The sepoy revolt triggered a rebellion amongst the civilian population, particularly in North-Western Provinces and Oudh.
• Sepoy action emboldened the population, leading to widespread expression of grievances.
• Government buildings were attacked, treasuries plundered, and prisons opened.

Social Base of the Rebellion:

• The rebellion involved various social groups: landowners, peasants, artisans, religious figures, civil servants, shopkeepers, and boatmen.
• The sepoy mutiny snowballed into a popular uprising.

British Policies and Discontent

Impact on peasants:.

• Excessive taxes led to widespread debt and poverty.
• Revenue focus: Maximizing revenue with minimal effort.
• Bareilly (1812): Revenue increased by Rs. 14.73 lakh in short time.
• Coercive revenue collection: Torture used to collect taxes (e.g., Rohilkhand: 2.37 lakh coercive actions, 1848-56).
• Reluctance to grant remission even in difficult situations.

Impact on Landowners:

• Oudh (a center of the Revolt): Taluqdars (landowners) lost power and privileges.
• Confiscation of estates left 21,000 taluqdars impoverished and resentful.
• British policies like excessive taxes, harsh revenue collection, and dispossession of landowners created widespread discontent that fueled the Sepoy Mutiny.

Broader Discontent with British Rule

Impact on artisans:.

• Annexation of Indian states reduced patronage for artisans.
• British policy favored British goods, harming Indian handicrafts.
• Skilled artisans lost income with no viable alternatives.

Impact on Religion and Culture:

• British social reforms (influenced by utilitarianism) were seen as a threat to traditions.
• Orthodox Hindus and Muslims feared religious and cultural destruction.
• Reform measures were viewed as aiding Christian missionary efforts.
• This led to religious opposition to British rule.

Nature of the Rebellion:

• Lack of evidence from the rebels’ side makes it difficult to say for sure.
• Leaders’ actions suggest no major pre-existing plan.
• Bahadur Shah (Delhi) and Rani Lakshmibai (Jhansi) initially seemed surprised by the revolt.
• Links between Nana Saheb/Maulvi Ahmad Shah and cantonments remain unproven.
• The purpose of circulating chapatis and lotus flowers is unclear.
• Widespread Uprising: Despite the uncertainty about planning, the revolt became widespread within a month.

Organization of the Rebellion

Efforts after delhi’s capture:.

• Letters sent to neighboring rulers seeking support and participation.
• Establishment of an administrative court in Delhi (10 members, 6 military, 4 civilian).
• Decisions made by majority vote, ruling in the Emperor’s name.
• Similar attempts at organization in other centers.

Unifying Figure: Bahadur Shah Zafar

• Recognized as Emperor by all rebel leaders.
• Coins minted and orders issued in his name.
• Khan Bahadur Khan in Bareilly administered under the Mughal Emperor’s name.
• Delhi seen as a central point for the rebellion.

Challenges Faced:

• Limited resources: Difficulty in acquiring arms and ammunition beyond initial captures.
• Inferior weaponry: Facing modern British arms with swords and pikes.
• Lack of communication: Inability to coordinate effectively between rebel groups.
• Isolated struggles: Each center fighting independently, hindering mutual support.
• Despite organizational limitations, the rebels fought for over a year against heavy odds.

The Sepoy Mutiny: Limited Support and Leadership

Limited support for the rebellion:.

• Merchants, intelligentsia, and some Indian rulers did not join the rebellion.
• Some rulers actively supported the British, fearing the Doctrine of Lapse.
• The British recaptured Delhi using a force with a significant number of Indian soldiers.

Leadership Issues:

• Bahadur Shah Zafar and his wife lacked faith in the sepoys and negotiated with the British.
• Many taluqdars (landowners) focused on protecting their own interests, switching sides when convenient.
• Lack of a shared vision for the future beyond opposing British rule.
• John Lawrence (British official) believed a strong rebel leader could have significantly challenged British rule.

Rebellion Despite Weaknesses:

• The rebels displayed courage and commitment to their cause.
• Thousands fought and died for their beliefs.

The Fall of the Rebellion

• Delhi fell on September 20, 1857, a major blow to the rebellion.
• Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi died fighting in June 1858, earning British respect for her bravery.
• Nana Saheb escaped to Nepal in 1859.
• Kunwar Singh died in May 1858, a thorn in the British side until his death.
• Tantia Tope was captured and executed by the British in April 1859.

Legacy of the Rebellion:

• The rebellion, though unsuccessful, challenged British dominance in India.
• The sepoys’ act of fighting for freedom is considered a patriotic and progressive step.
• The rebellion served as inspiration for future Indian independence movements.

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NATURE OF THE REVOLT OF 1857

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International Research Journal Commerce arts science

The Rebellion of 1857 (also known as the Indian Mutiny) was a watershed event in the history of British India. It was by far the largest, most widespread, and dangerous threat to British rule in India in the nineteenth century. One of its most obvious repercussions was the elimination of the ruling East India Company and the transfer of control of India to the British Crown. As a military crisis of truly massive proportions, the Rebellion also inspired the structural transformation of both the British and Indian armies. In Britain, the crisis resulted in the amalgamation of the East India Company’s European forces into the line, and the commitment of a permanent, 80,000-man garrison on the subcontinent. In India, the mutiny or disbandment of sixty-nine out of the seventy-four regiments of the Bengal army necessitated its entire reconstruction with men as different in origin as possible from those who had so recently rebelled.

Dr. Bishwajit Bhattacharjee

Jaskaran Kaur

Shiv Gajrani has focused on the Revolt if 1857 in Punjab and especially focused on the Sikhs. Surprisingly, almost a majority of historians agree that the Punjabees, particularly the Sikhs cooperated with the British, and aided their victory in 1857. This conclusion, ignores very important issues relating to the nature of the Revolt , a primitivist response to the western threat. Shiv Gajrani argues that the important question is whether the Sikhs acted as a community in favour of the British. In pre-modern societies cohesion has always been far less than in modern societies because in rural economics the role of economic exchange was very confined or limited. The aristocracy interrelated with wider society through institutions which expressed society as a whole, secondly through their political authority. The unit of organised action for the peasantry was either the community or the tribe. In the pre-modern hierarchically stratified society initiative rested with the top. Lower section of the society, especially the peasantry could merely exhibit a readiness to follow a direction. This was the reason that the Revolt took the found individual heroism rather than a General Revolt heroism. Another important point of the Revolt if 1857 was that it was spearheaded by the agrarian based military elite of the poor bias.

Centre for Land Warfare Studies(CLAWS), New Delhi

Rajendra Thakur

The bulk of the writings on the Indian Revolt of 1857 by British authors were guided by their own political and imperial motivations, with an aim to project their racial superiority as well as heroism of their citizens against the Indian rebels. The revolt was highlighted by exceptional leadership of four most prominent military leaders, namely Nana Sahib, Rani Laxmi Bai, Begum Hazrat Mahal and Kunwar Singh, whose combined efforts ensured that the fight continued for almost two years in spite of innumerable odds stacked against them. While the domestic aspect of the Indian Revolt of 1857 has been adequately covered and written about in the Indian academic landscape, not many Indians are aware about the international dimension of this defining historical moment of Indian history. Revolt led to not only public and political debates in numerous countries such as US, Russia, Ireland, Italy, China and the Middle East but also inspired their people to fight against their colonial masters.

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Geopolitics

Agha H Amin

A Provincial Rebellion- Albeit a large one as British Company ruled India had massive provinces in a much more massive country that they OWNED August 2022 DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.18796.23686 Project: operational strategy Agha H Amin Why the Rebellion was confined to only certain regions of Indo-Pak The primary and the first reason for this is very simple. Indo-Pak subcontinent is not one country but a number of countries which have been ruled for most part of their history by one dynasty or race from Delhi till 1947 and now from Islamabad and Delhi. The states of Pakistan and India came into existence in their present form not because the Hindu rulers at Delhi conquered Bengal or Madras or Bombay but because these areas were conquered a long time ago by the EEIC and then subsequently transferred to the British crown in 1858 and to government of India and Pakistan in 1947. The two countries came into existence primarily not because all the regions of Indo-Pak wanted this to happen but because the British simply confined their freedom of choice to two options either to join "India" or "Pakistan". The fragility of this arrangement was successfully challenged for the first time by the Muslim Bengalis who gave us a new version of "two nation theory" by proving that among the Muslims of India and Pakistan also there were two Muslim nations i.e. "West Pakistan Muslims" and "East Pakistan Muslims"! The success of regional parties in Sindh, Balochistan Madras etc. is a clear proof that both the countries consist of different and distinct nationalities. In symbolic terms this arrangement may be compared to "Sigheh or Muttaa" i.e. a marriage limited to a certain period as practiced in Iran!! The sub-continent had been conquered by the EEIC at different periods spread over a century and different regions viewed the British in a different line. We will study some of the regions and bring out the differences. Bengal. This was a very populous region of India. It was ruled by a Nawab before 1757 who had no connection with the Bengalis by race. His departure from the scene in 1757 hardly made any difference to the common Bengali. Bengal in terms of population was the largest province in India in 1857. The North West provinces (Modern UP) had also been part of the Bengal province till 1836 when it was separated. The Bengali common man was a much exploited and oppressed man. But this exploitation and oppression was done by his own Bengali landlords and revenue collector class both Muslim and Hindu. The British did not change the system in this regard. They, however, brought one major change which made post-1857 Bengal one of the most politically conscious regions of India. This was in terms of educating the people. Bengal was too big a province to worry about what was happening in the rest of India. For example the Santhal uprising had little to do with the EEIC. It was an uprising of the Santhal people against oppression by money lenders and railway contractors 543. This rebellion broke out in 1855 and was suppressed by 1857 and the Bengal Army sepoys played a decisive role in suppressing it. The Hindustani sepoy of the EEIC was almost as much of a foreigner for the Bengali as the European. The Bengalis had nothing in common with the Hindustani Brahman, Rajput or Mussulman sepoy of the Bengal Army. These sepoys were actually viewed in Bengal as mercenary watchdogs of the EEIC. Thus although there were only 2,400 European soldiers in Bengal in 1857 as compared to more than 29,000 Hindustani sepoys 544 the rebellion did not succeed. Many sepoy regiments which rebelled were hunted down by common people led by landlords who supported the European troops in destroying them. There were hardly any Bengali in the Bengal Army and during 1857 the British did not recruit any soldiers here. Later on in early twentieth century Bengal became one of the most anti-British area, where probably the maximum number of British officials were assassinated apart from the tribal area of NWFP. But in 1857 the Bengalis were not aware enough to participate in the rebellion. They had no representation in the army so they could not have taken any part in the rebellion. They had little to share with the northwest provinces and EEIC rule had been established here exactly 100 years ago. In all probability the Bengalis were satisfied with the status quo. The Mughal emperor had no relevance to their problems and the only exposure which they had of the Mahrattas was as dacoits and plunderers who raided West Bengal in the pre-1857 era. The pre-1857 Muslim Persian/Turk Nawabs of Bengal had hardly any sympathy with the ethnic Bengali Muslim and mostly relied on Hindu officials for revenue collection.

Waqas Akbar Gondal

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Sepoy Mutiny

The 1857-8 Sepoy Mutiny (aka Sepoy Rebellion, Indian Mutiny, The Uprising or First Indian War of Independence) was a failed rebellion against the rule of the British East India Company (EIC) in India . Initially a mutiny of the Indian soldiers (sepoys) in the EIC army, the movement spread to become a wider rebellion involving a broad spectrum of the Indian population in certain regions.

The rebellion was ultimately quashed, but the victor was also its immediate victim as the British state dissolved the EIC and took over governance of its possessions in India. The grievances that caused the rebellion and the acts of violence perpetrated by both sides would colour Anglo-Indian relations for the next century and beyond.

Naming the Mutiny

The very name of the traumatic events of 1857-8 has changed over time as colonial historians have moved aside for more neutral ones, who have in turn been challenged by writers with a nationalist agenda, and this on both sides. That the events involved far more than merely disaffected soldiers of the EIC and so drifted from a mutiny to a wider rebellion is clear. A significant part of India's population in key areas was directly involved, and in this sense, it was a true popular rebellion or uprising. On the other hand, many Indians remained loyal to the status quo or, as was the case with several princely states, they remained neutral.

Most historians agree that the events of 1857-8 can not be described as a truly "national movement for independence" for the very good reason there was no single Indian nation at that time. Neither was there any real coordination between the various groups of protestors who all had different aims, even if many can be broadly described as being anti-colonial. On the other hand, the people involved did come from all walks of life, and so, in this sense, the uprising did have a 'national' character. If anything, the debate over what exactly to call the events of 1857-8 is indicative of the complex tensions in India both before, during, and long after they had subsided. As the historian I. Barrow summarises: "What the rebellion was (and what it subsequently meant) is one of the great debates of South Asian and British imperial history" (116).

Sepoys in the EIC Army

Although the East India Company was established as a trading company, from the mid-18th century, it employed its own army to protect its interests and to expand its territorial possessions. From 1765, only Britishers could hold officer rank in the EIC armed forces, but the rank-and-file majority was made up of Indian soldiers. These latter troops were first known as peons and then sepoys – a corruption of the Persian term sipahi . Sepoys far outnumbered European soldiers. The average ratio of Indian troops to British in EIC armies in the 19th century was around 7:1. Many Indians joined the EIC for better pay than was possible elsewhere and as a chance to improve their status in traditional Indian society. Dependency on such a large number of Indian soldiers was a risk for the Company, but one it had to take given the difficulties in recruiting British soldiers and enticing men of experience to defect from the regular British Army. The sepoys were well-trained and well-equipped, and they helped the EIC expand its control across India, especially following the four Anglo-Mysore Wars (1767-1799) and the two Anglo-Sikh Wars (1845-1849). At the time of the Sepoy Mutiny, the EIC employed around 45,000 British soldiers and over 230,000 sepoys.

Causes of the Rebellion

The main causes of the Sepoy Mutiny may be summarised as:

• Sepoys were unhappy with the pay inequality compared to British soldiers.
• Sepoys were suspicious that rifle cartridges used animal fats they could not touch as part of their religious beliefs.
• The sepoys' unwillingness to serve abroad.
• Indian princes had lost their states or had to pay high protection fees to the EIC.
• An overtaxed population
• Concerns that traditional Indian cultural practices were under threat.
• Concerns for traditional Indian manufacturing industries facing unfair competition from EIC imports.
• British snobbery and institutional racism.

The sepoys had several grievances, which they felt, despite peaceful protest, were not being addressed by the EIC. There had been several small-scale uprisings since 1806, but these had been ruthlessly quashed. The sepoys were not happy that they received much lower pay compared to British EIC soldiers. Neither had sepoy wages been raised for over 50 years, meaning that in real terms their pay had lost half of its value since 1800. Indian soldiers were not happy either with the obligation to serve outside India, which would require Hindus to perform costly rites of purification, or the institutional racism that prevented them from ever becoming officers. The final straw was the introduction of greased cartridges for compulsory Enfield rifles. The animal fat grease of pig or cow offended Hindu and Muslim beliefs since the cartridges had to be prepared by mouth (as it happened the grease came from neither of these taboo animals). The cartridge rumour fueled others, such as that sepoy flour was being mixed with cow and pig bones or that their salt was being deliberately contaminated with pig and cow's blood (the salt did have a red tinge, but this came from the sacking used to transport it). In short, the segregation of men from officers and a lack of communication between the two groups was building a powder keg of mutual suspicion.

There were other discontents besides the sepoys. 1857 saw the collapse of the Mughal Empire , which had been crumbling for quite some time, its institutions of rule in India now all but invisible. Many of the independent Indian princely states were far from happy with the EIC, in many places the Mughals' successor. Some princes had benefitted from hiring out EIC armies to quash their own interior rebellions and to defeat their neighbours, but others were obliged to pay the EIC 'protection money' in a system not far removed from extortion.

Another serious bone of contention was the EIC's policy of taking over princely states whenever it could get away with it. Indian princes not being allowed to pass on their territories to an adopted son when they had no direct heir – the Doctrine of Lapse – was one method of acquisition, particularly after 1848 when the Marquess of Dalhousie (1812-1860) became EIC Governor-General. Even accusations of poor governance led to some princes losing their throne. The aggressive expansionist policies of the EIC led to several princely states actively joining the Sepoy Mutiny and others remaining neutral.

The ordinary people of princely states also suffered. Ever since the 1793 Bengal Permanent Settlement, the EIC had been rapaciously extracting taxes from the peoples it governed, even in times of crisis. Indians were not happy with the British justice system and police that imposed these fiscal obligations. With the removal of some princes, a whole network of employment was lost, especially for soldiers and armourers. Artisans suffered from competition from EIC-imported goods, particularly textiles made in the great northern manufacturing mills of England , and the EIC had a stranglehold on the indigo and opium business through its trade monopoly.

Lord William Bentinck (1774-1839), Governor-General of the EIC from 1828, was known for his social reforms and most notoriously for his abolition of sati (aka suttee ) in 1829. Sati is the custom for a Hindu widow to sacrifice herself on the funeral pyre of their late husband. There may have been those glad to see the end of this ritual, but there were others equally concerned that other cultural practices might be next in what was considered the EIC's continued 'Westernization' of India. Educating Indians in English and preparing them for a servile life in the lower ranks of the British administration was advocated by such figures as Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859), a member of the EIC Council, who famously denigrated the value of Indian classical education. Missionaries were permitted by the EIC into India from 1833, and their presence was another assault on Indian culture . The institutional racism of the EIC and the snobbery of the British were additional, not insignificant causes of discontent.

The Rebellion Spreads

The initial spark that set off the sepoys was the punishment of one of their own, Mangal Pandey (aka Pande), in March 1857. Pandey had wounded a European EIC officer near Calcutta, and for his crime, he was executed. This was a matter of justice perhaps, but the outrage sprang from the decision to also flog Pandey's entire sepoy company. Then, on 10 May 1857, the EIC sepoys at Meerut raised arms. They protested the 10-year prison sentences handed down to 85 fellow sepoys for refusing to use greased Enfield cartridges. The mutineers killed their British officers and then went on a rampage. As one mutineer lamented: "I was a good sepoy, and would have gone anywhere for the service, but I could not forsake my religion " (James, 239). The mutineers captured nearby Delhi on 11 May, murdering European men, women , and children as well as Indians who had converted to Christianity .

The EIC leadership was unprepared for the rising, which saw the sepoys promote the retired Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah II (1775-1862) as their leader. Then the rebellion spontaneously spread across India, involving not just sepoys but landlords, merchants, and peasant farmers of both the Hindu and Muslim faiths. Bengal was where the EIC had real problems. 45 of the 74 sepoy regiments in the Bengal army rebelled. As a precaution, 24 of the remaining 29 sepoy regiments were disbanded or disarmed by the EIC. The Bengal cavalry regiments also mutinied. Fortunately for the British, in the EIC's other two main centres – Madras and Bombay (Mumbai) – the former army remained loyal, and only two regiments rebelled in the latter.

The sepoy cause was then taken up by a host of Indian princes disgruntled at their poor treatment by the EIC. Queen Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi (1835-1858) and Nana Saheb, claimant to the Maratha title of Peshwa, were examples of rulers who raised arms against the EIC. Some princes remained loyal to the EIC such as the Maharajas of Gwalior and Jodhpur (although some of their troops nevertheless mutinied). At the same time, the violence and widespread looting and extortion convinced many better-off Indians to remain in support of the EIC's rule rather than see their businesses fold and towns descend into total chaos. There were also those who tried to remain neutral when they could.

The rebellion continued to spread with remarkable speed, helped by agents sent out for that very purpose and new people joining it after they witnessed the rebels' success and the weakness of the British. In many cases, too, the rebels had nothing to lose. Most of northern and central India was literally up in arms, particularly in the Ganges and Narmada valleys. As the EIC mobilised loyal troops, fierce fighting broke out at Banaras, Gwalior, Jhansi, Kampur, and Lucknow. There were lesser episodes of rebellion in Assam, Rajasthan, and Punjab. To fight the rebels, the EIC now employed the regular British Army regiments, which it typically hired out, along with loyal Sikh troops and new allies such as the Gurkhas from Nepal. Delhi was retaken on 18 September 1857 after a brutal six-day battle , then Kanpur and Lucknow in March 1858.

The rebellions were ultimately quashed by the spring of 1858 for two reasons: the far superior resources of the EIC and the lack of coordination amongst the rebels in terms of command and demands. Particular groups, although not split along religious lines, each had their own grievances they wanted addressed, ranging from grand schemes like reinstating the Mughal emperor to petty acts of vengeance against a hated local tax collector. These different groups might have all agreed that they wanted the British out of India, but they could not agree on who would replace them. In the end, 40,000 British troops shipped in from Europe decided the conflict in the EIC's favour. In June 1858, Lord Canning, Governor-General of the EIC, announced that peace had been restored and that Queen Victoria promised amnesty for the rebels, a guarantee of the rights of Indian princes, and religious toleration for all.

Casualties were high on both sides, but far more so on the Indian side, as here summarised by Barrow:

2,600 British enlisted soldiers and 157 officers were killed. Another 8,000 died of heatstroke and disease, while 3,000 were severely injured. Indian deaths from the war and the resulting famines may have reached 800,000. (115)

Atrocities and massacres were committed on both sides against military personnel and civilians in cities and rural areas. There are countless documented cases of unlawful imprisonment, torture, rape, execution without trial, and murder against European and Indian men, women, and children, and people of all religions. This bloodbath understandably led to much ill feeling and mutual suspicion over the next century.

In the aftermath, the EIC ruthlessly dealt with the rebellion's leaders. Bahadur Shah II was exiled to Burma, but his sons were executed. Queen Rani Lakshmi Bai was killed in battle, and another prominent rebel leader, the Maratha Tantia Tope was executed. The British, for reasons unbeknown but to themselves, blamed Muslims for the rebellion far more than Hindus, and British soldiers were often guilty of harsh treatment or worse of captives of the former religion. There were so many lootings, kangaroo courts, and hangings that even the EIC directors had to issue a resolution to its employees to show more restraint. The historian W. Dalrymple describes the thousands of revenge hangings and murders as "probably the bloodiest episode in the entire history of British colonialism" (391).

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The British state, already unimpressed with the EIC's governance in India, took the final step in what had been a gradual process of regulation and control to finally take full possession of EIC territories in India on 2 August 1858. As far as Parliament was concerned, the EIC had neither the right nor the competence to wage wars in the name of the British people. The Sepoy Mutiny was taken as a warning that a commercial company with nobody to answer to but its shareholders could not and would not rule people through consent, compromise, or suitable attention to justice.

The EIC navy was disbanded, and in June 1862, the EIC's nine European regiments were taken over, although it was not until 1895 that the various surviving EIC presidency armies were finally united into a single British Indian Army. This new army had a much higher proportion of British soldiers than its predecessor.

The Mutiny did not lead the British to question what they considered their right to colonise India, it made them search for the errors they thought they had made in their colonial rule. So began what is popularly termed the British Raj (rule). On 1 June 1874, Parliament formally dissolved the East India Company. The sepoys and the Indian civilians who had joined them had seen off one oppressor only for it to be replaced by another, or rather the same but with a different mask. In 1877, Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India, and British rule continued to squeeze what resources it could from India until independence was gained in 1947, a movement that drew much inspiration from the mutiny almost a century before.

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Bibliography

• Barrow, Ian. The East India Company, 1600–1858. Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2017.
• Dalrymple, William. The Anarchy. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019.
• James, Lawrence. Raj; The Making And Unmaking Of British India. St. Martins Press, 1998.
• JON WILSON. India Conquered. Simon & Schuster India, 1970.
• Mansingh, Surjit. Historical Dictionary of India . Scarecrow Press, 2006.
• Reid, Stuart & Embleton, Gerry. Armies of the East India Company 1750–1850 . Osprey Publishing, 2012.
• Spear, Thomas George Percival & Spear, Percival & Thapar, Romila. History of India. Viking Pr, 1990.
• Tharoor, Shashi. Inglorious Empire. Scribe US, 2018.

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• The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 - India’s First Fight for Independence

What was the Revolt of 1857?

In 1857–59, the Indian Mutiny, also known as the Sepoy Mutiny or the First War of Independence, was a massive but ultimately unsuccessful revolt against British control in India. It began in Meerut and spread to Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, and Lucknow, with Indian troops (sepoys) serving in the British East India Company. It is known in India as the First War of Independence and other names. 

The uprising constituted a significant danger to British dominance in the region, and it was only put down on June 20, 1858, when the rebels were defeated in Gwalior. The British gave amnesty to those rebels who were not implicated in murder on November 1, 1858; however, they did not proclaim the war officially finished until July 8, 1859. In this article we will be covering the 1857 mutiny and its related important details.

History of the Revolt of 1857

To dismiss the uprising as a sepoy mutiny is to overlook the core circumstances that led to it. By the 1850s, the East India Company had gained control over a large portion of India. The East India Enterprise, a private company that entered India to trade in the 1600s, later evolved into a diplomatic and military organisation. The firm used a large number of native soldiers, known as sepoys, to keep order and defend trading sites. British officers were in charge of the sepoys in general. Sepoys took great pride in their military abilities in the late 1700s and early 1800s, and they were fiercely loyal to their British superiors.

However, tensions began to surface in the 1830s and 1840s. Many Indians began to assume that the British were attempting to convert the Indian population to Christianity. As more Christian missionaries arrived in India, speculations of impending conversions gained traction. There was also a widespread perception that English officers were losing contact with the Indian troops who were under their command. The East India Company would seize control of Indian territories where a local monarch died without an heir under a British strategy known as the "doctrine of lapse." The method was vulnerable to exploitation, and the firm utilized it to illegally annex areas. In the 1840s and 1850s, as the East India Company conquered Indian nations, Indian troops in the company's employ began to feel outraged.

Main Causes of the Mutiny of 1857

Historians have identified various political, economic, military, religious, and social causes of the 1857 Indian rebellion. 

Political Causes

The British policy of expansion: The British policy of expansion through the Doctrine of Lapse and direct annexation was the political grounds of the revolution. Many Indian monarchs and chiefs were deposed, instilling fear in the hearts of other royal families who feared a similar fate.

The adoptive son of Rani Lakshmi Bai was not allowed to ascend on the throne of Jhansi. Under the Doctrine of Lapse, Satara, Nagpur, and Jhansi were annexed.

Also annexed were Jaitpur, Sambalpur, and Udaipur. Lord Dalhousie's acquisition of Awadh on the pretense of maladministration resulted in the joblessness of thousands of lords, officials, retainers, and troops. This action turned Awadh, which had hitherto been a loyal state, into a hotbed of dissatisfaction and intrigue.

What is the Doctrine of Lapse?

Lord Dalhousie was the first to use the famous British approach known as the Doctrine of Lapse in the late 1840s. The British prevented a Hindu ruler without a natural heir from adopting a successor and annexed his land after the ruler died or abdicated. To these issues was added the growing discontent of the Brahmans, many of whom had lost prestigious positions or had lost their revenues.

The Social and Religious Cause of the Rebellion of 1857

The fast expansion of Western Civilisation in India sparked worry throughout the country. A Hindu law of inheritance was altered in 1850, allowing a Hindu who converted to Christianity to inherit his ancestral lands. People believed that the government intended to convert Indians to Christianity. The legalization of widow remarriage and the eradication of customs like Sati and female infanticide were seen as threats to the existing social system. For Hindus and Muslims alike, introducing western techniques of education was a direct challenge to orthodoxy. Even the arrival of railways and the telegraph was met with skepticism.

Economic Cause of the Revolt of 1857

Peasants and zamindars in rural areas were enraged by the Company's high land taxes and strict revenue collection techniques. Many of these clans were unable to satisfy the high tax demands and repay their money lenders, and their lands, which they had held for generations, were eventually forfeited. Because a large number of sepoys belonged to the peasantry class and had familial links in villages, the peasants' grievances impacted them as well. Following the Industrial Revolution in England, a flood of British-produced goods flooded India, destroying businesses, particularly the Indian textile industry. The handicraft industry in India had to compete with low-cost British machine-made items.

Military Causes of the Mutiny of 1857

The Revolt of 1857 began as a sepoy mutiny: Indian sepoys made up over 87 percent of British forces in India, yet they were seen as inferior to British soldiers. A sepoy from India was paid less than a sepoy from Europe of the same rank. They had to serve in regions that were far from their homes. Lord Canning issued the General Services Enlistment Act in 1856, requiring sepoys to be ready to serve even if they were on British soil across the sea.

Immediate Causes of the Mutiny of 1857

The incidence of greased cartridges eventually sparked the Revolt of 1857. There was a rumour that the new Enfield rifles' cartridges were lubricated with cow and pig fat. The sepoys had to nibble off the paper on the cartridges before loading these guns. They were rebuffed by both Hindu and Muslim sepoys. Lord Canning attempted to right the wrong by withdrawing the problematic cartridges, but the harm had already been done. There was rioting in a number of locations. Mangal Pandey, a sepoy at Barrackpore, had refused to use the cartridge and assaulted his superior officers in March 1857. On April 8th, he was hanged to death. On May 9th, 85 troops at Meerut were sentenced to ten years in prison for refusing to use the new firearm. 

Centres of the Revolt of 1857

The uprising expanded across the entire region, from Patna's outskirts to Rajasthan's borders. Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Jhansi, Gwalior, and Arrah in Bihar were the primary centres of insurrection in these areas.

Lucknow: Awadh's capital was Lucknow. Begum Hazrat Mahal, one of the ex-king of Awadh's begums, took command of the revolt.

Kanpur: Nana Saheb, Peshwa Baji Rao II's adopted son, led the revolt. He joined the revolt primarily because the British had taken away his pension. The victory was fleeting. After fresh reinforcements arrived, the British recaptured Kanpur. The revolt was crushed with a heinous vengeance. Nana Saheb escaped, but his brilliant commander Tantia Tope persisted in the fight. Tantia Tope was eventually defeated, apprehended, and executed.

Jhansi: Rani Lakshmi Bai, twenty-two, led the rebels after the British refused to recognize her adopted son's claim to the throne of Jhansi. She fought valiantly against the British forces but was eventually defeated by them.

Gwalior : Tantia Tope joined Rani Lakshmi Bai after she escaped, and the two marched to Gwalior and captured it. Fierce fighting ensued, during which the Rani of Jhansi fought like a tigress but died fighting to the death. The British re-captured Gwalior.

Bihar : Kunwar Singh, a member of the royal house of Jagdispur in Bihar, led the revolt. 

How Did the British Suppress the Revolt of 1857?

The Revolt of 1857 lasted over a year. By the middle of 1858, it was suppressed. Lord Canning declared peace on July 8, 1858, fourteen months after the outbreak at Meerut.

Causes of Failure 

Despite the fact that the revolt was fairly widespread, a large portion of the country remained unaffected. The Doab region was largely spared from the revolt. Sind, Rajputana, Kashmir, and the majority of Punjab. The large princely states of Hyderabad, Mysore, Travancore, and Kashmir, as well as the smaller Rajputana princely states, did not join the rebellion. The southern provinces did not participate. 

The insurgents lacked a strong commander. Despite the fact that Nana Saheb, Tantia Tope, and Rani Lakshmi Bai were courageous leaders, they were unable to effectively lead the movement as a whole.

In terms of both soldiers and money, the insurgents lacked resources. In India, on the other hand, the English received a regular supply of soldiers, money, and weaponry.

The British were assisted in suppressing the insurrection by the English educated middle class, wealthy merchants, traders, and zamindars of Bengal.

Aftermath of the Mutiny of 1857

End of East India Company Control: The revolution brought the East India Company's rule in India to an end.

The British Crown's direct rule: India was placed under the direct rule of the British Crown. Lord Canning declared this at a Durbar at Allahabad on November 1, 1858, in the name of the queen, in a proclamation.

Religious Tolerance: It was promised and achieved because India's cultures and traditions were respected.

The governor general's post was abolished, and the Viceroy's office was established.

Military Reorganization: While the proportion of British commanders to Indian soldiers grew, the armoury remained under English hands. It was planned to put an end to the Bengal army's domination.

In the history of British control in India, the uprising of 1857 was unparalleled. Many parts of Indian society were brought together for a similar purpose, although in a limited way. Despite the fact that the revolution failed to achieve its goal because of many reasons but it did sow the seeds of Indian nationalism. It was considered as one of the turning points in the Indian history after which the entire course of events changed. 

FAQs on The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 - India’s First Fight for Independence

1. Name some 1857 Indian freedom fighters.

Some of the 1857 revolt's Indian freedom fighters are mentioned below: 

Mangal Pandey

Tantiya Tope

Bahadur Shah II

Begum Hazrat Mahal

Khan Bahadur Khan

Kunwar Singh

Maulvi Liyakat Ali

2. Why did the 1857 revolt fail?

There were many reasons behind the failure of the 1857 revolt which are given below:

Only limited areas participated in the revolt

Large provinces such as Mysore, Kashmir, Travancore Hyderabad etc didn't participated. 

South India didn't join it and remained untouched.

Unclearty of the purpose and a commonly goal.

Absence of single leadership.

Middle class didn't support the revolt. 

Limited resources.

3. What was the result of 1857 revolt?

The 1857 revolt was a failure and it didn't spread much. It was suppressed by the Britishers aggressively. Due to this revolt, Britishers came to know about their weaknesses in the management that time. The Company rule was said to be abolished afte this and direct British Crown came in India. After this, Government of India Act, 1858 came and Indian territories came under the direct control of the British Crown. The Office of the Governor General of India was abolished and was said to be replaced by the Viceroy of India. This act also led to the establishment of a new office called Secretary of State. 

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The Revolt of 1857, Its Reasons and Consequences

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Pass it on: The Secret that Preceded the Indian Rebellion of 1857

British officials were alarmed at the rapid distribution of mysterious Indian breads across much of the Raj

“There is a most mysterious affair going on throughout the whole of India at present,” Dr. Gilbert Hadow wrote in a letter to his sister in Britain in March 1857. “No one seems to know the meaning of it.… It is not known where it originated, by whom or for what purpose, whether it is supposed to be connected to any religious ceremony or whether it has to do with some secret society. The Indian papers are full of surmises as to what it means. It is called ‘the chupatty movement.’ ”

The “movement” that Hadow was describing was a remarkable example of rumor gone wild. It consisted of the distribution of many thousands of chapatis —unleavened Indian breads—that were passed from hand to hand and from village to village throughout the mofussil (interior) of the subcontinent. The chapatis were real, but no one knew for sure what they were for. Most Indians thought they were the work of the British, who—through the East India Company —had ruled over large portions of the country for almost a century (and were, according to one well-known prophecy, due to be unseated at that century’s end). The British, who had nothing to do with the mysterious transmission, guessed the breads were a piece of mischief-making on the part of the Indians, though opinion was divided as to whether the breads came from the east, near Calcutta (Kolkata), from the north, in the province of Oude (Avadh) or from Indore, in the center of the country. Extensive inquiries into the meaning of the breads produced plenty of theories but few facts; even the runners and watchmen who baked them and carried them from village to village “did not know why they had to run through the night with chupatties in their turbans,” though they took them just the same.  

India at the time of the 1857 rebellion. Click to view in higher resolution. Map: Wikicommons.

The chupatty movement first came to British attention early in February 1857. One of the first officials to encounter it was Mark Thornhill, magistrate in the little Indian town of Mathura, near Agra. Thornhill came into his office one morning to find four “dirty little cakes of the coarsest flour, about the size and thickness of a biscuit” lying on his desk. He was informed that they had been brought in by one of his Indian police officers, who had received them from a puzzled village chowkidar (watchman). And where had the chowkidar got them? “A man had come out of the jungle with them, and given them to the watchman with instructions to make four like them and to take these to the watchman in the next village, who was to be told to do the same.”

Thornhill examined the chapatis in his office. They bore no message, and were identical to the breads cooked in every home in India, a staple part (even today) of the locals’ diet. Yet discreet inquiries soon revealed that many hundreds of chapatis were passing through his district, and through other parts of India as well—everywhere from the Narmada river in the south to the border with Nepal several hundred miles to the north. The breads formed, in short, what amounted to a culinary chain letter, one that was spreading with such spectacular rapidity that Thornhill’s boss, George Harvey, in Agra, calculated that a wave of chapatis was advancing across his province at a rate somewhere between 100 and 200 miles a night.

That rate was particularly disconcerting because it was vastly swifter than the fastest British mails, and urgent inquiries were made as to the source and meaning of the “movement.” They yielded the information that the breads were being distributed far more widely than anyone in Agra had yet realized, and that the Indians who received them generally took them as some sort of a sign. Beyond that, however, opinions remained divided.

Rumors spread with great rapidity before and during the mutiny—not least because of the large number of British women and children at the mercy of the rebels in towns such as Delhi and Kanpur.

From the North-West Provinces :

I have the honour to inform you that a signal has passed through numbers of the villages in this district, the purport of which has not yet transpired… A Chowkeydar, on receiving one of these cakes, has had five or six more prepared, and thus they have passed from village to village.… An idea has been industriously circulated that the Government has given the order.

From the interrogation of an official at the King of Delhi’s court:

I did hear of the circumstance. Some people said that it was a propitiatory observance to avert some impending calamity; others, that they were circulated by the Government to signify that the population throughout the country would be compelled to use the same food as the Christians, and thus be deprived of their religion; while others again said that the chupatties were circulated to make it known that Government was determined to force Christianity on the country by interfering with their food, and intimation of it was thus given that they might be prepared to resist the attempt.

Q. Is the sending of such articles about the country a custom among the Hindoos or Mussulmans; and would the meaning be at once understood without any accompanying explanation? A. No, it is not by any means a custom; I am 50 years old, and never heard of such a thing before.

From Delhi:

It was alluded to , and it was supposed to portend some coming disturbance, and was, moreover, understood as implying an invitation to the whole population of the country to unite for some secret objective afterwards to be disclosed.

From Awadh :

Some time in February 1857, a curious occurrence took place. A Chowkeydar ran up to another village with two chupatties. He ordered his fellow-official to make ten more, and give two to each of the five nearest village Chowkeydars with the same instructions. In a few hours the whole country was in a stir, from Chowkeydars flying around with these cakes. The signal spread in all directions with wonderful celerity. The magistrates tried to stop it, but, in spite of all they could do, it passed along to the borders of the Punjab. There is reason to believe that this was originated by some intriguers of the old Court of Lucknow.

From the confidential physician to the King of Delhi:

Nobody can tell what was the object of the distribution of the chupatties. It is not known who first projected the plan. All the people in the palace wondered what it could mean. I had no conversation with the King on the subject; but others talked in his presence about it, wondering what could be the object.

A chowkidar–an Indian village watchman. All Indian villages had one, and it was these men, running between their homes and the nearest neighboring settlement with chapatis, who so effectively raised panic among the ruling British.

Numerous explanations were considered. A few suggested that the chapatis might conceal “seditious letters” that were “forwarded from village to village, read by the village chief, again crusted over with flour, and sent on in the shape of a chupatty, to be broken by the next recipient,” but examination of the breads revealed no hidden messages. Some of the more knowledgeable British officials linked the spread of the chapatis to an effort to prevent the outbreak of cholera in central India and added that, since incidence of the disease was associated with the movement of the Company’s armies, “there was a widespread belief that the British were in fact responsible for the disease.” Another official suggested that the chupatty movement had been initiated somewhere in central India by dyers, anxious that their dyes “were not clearing properly,” or were the product of some spellwork aimed at protecting crops against hail.

All in all, the British were extremely spooked by the spread of the chapatis. Vital though their Indian empire was to them, they controlled the subcontinent with a comparative handful of men—about 100,000 in all, less than half of whom were soldiers, ruling over a population of 250 million—and they were all too aware of just how inadequate these numbers would be in the event of any serious rebellion. That, combined with a declining number of British officers who  understood India, spoke Indian languages fluently or had any real sympathy for the people whom they ruled, meant that the colonial hierarchy remained perpetually jittery. Tall tales, panic and misapprehension spread readily in such a climate, and plenty of people felt a certain disquiet in the early months of 1857. The British officer Richard Barter wrote:

Lotus flowers and bits of goats’ flesh, so it was rumoured, were being passed from hand to hand, as well as chupatties. Symbols of unknown significance were chalked on the walls of towns; protective charms were on sale everywhere; an ominous slogan, Sub lal hogea hai (‘Everything has become red’) was being whispered.”

A cartridge for the new Enfield rifle. Indian soldiers in the East India Company's armies believed they risked defilement because the new rounds were being issued greased with the fat of pigs and cows–untrue, but sufficient to spark the most dangerous uprising against British imperial rule since the American Revolution.

It is no surprise, the historian Kim Wagner notes, that, faced with such a plethora of portents, “the British regarded with deep suspicion, bordering on paranoia, any type of communication in India which they could not understand.” The colonial administration well understood that rumors, however unfounded, could have serious consequences, and there were plenty of notably more dangerous urban legends about. One popular story, widely believed, suggested that the British were attempting the mass conversion of their subjects to Christianity by adulterating their flour with bone meal from cows and pigs, which was forbidden to Hindus and Moslems, respectively. Once defiled, the theory went, men who had consumed the forbidden meal would be shunned by their co-religionists and would be easier to bring into the Christian fold, or could be sent as soldiers overseas (crossing the “black water” being forbidden to Hindus of high caste). And, historically, much the same thing had happened before in times of trouble. Coconuts had passed at great speed from village to village in central India in 1818, at a time when the mofussil was being ravaged by large bands of merciless looters known as the Pindaris . Most worryingly of all, some very similar rumors had once been recorded far to the south, in the Madras Presidency in 1806, at the time of a serious outbreak of mutiny among Indian soldiers stationed at Vellore . As John Kaye wrote a few years later:

Among other wild fables, which took firm hold of the popular mind, was one to the effect that the Company’s officers had collected all the newly-manufactured salt, had divided it into two great heaps, and over one had sprinkled the blood of hogs, and over the other the blood of cows; that they had then sent it to be sold throughout the country of the pollution and desecration of the Mahommedans and Hindoos, that all might be brought to one caste and to one religion like the English.

It is not surprising that one of the many subsidiary rumors that accompanied the chupatty movement was that the breads were being carried and distributed, the eventual trial of the King of Delhi noted, “by the hands of the very lowest caste men that can be found; and the natives say that it is intended by Government to force or bribe the headmen to eat the bread, and thus loose their caste.” Hence the consumption of food supplied by the British was, notes Tapti Roy, commonly “considered as a token that they should likewise be compelled to embrace one faith, or, as they termed it, ‘One food and one faith.’ ”

The mysterious appearance of chapatis—loaves of an Indian unleavened bread—spooked the British administrators of the Raj shortly before the outbreak of rebellion in 1857.

By the time of the chupatty movement, no more than a handful of aged India hands could remember such long-ago events as the Vellore Mutiny. But those who did would not have been surprised by what happened next, for some very similar beliefs were spreading in the early months of 1857. A rumor that spread like wildfire among the sepoys (Indian soldiers) stationed at cantonments throughout the north of the country was that the British had come up with yet another diabolical contrivance for breaking their caste and defiling their bodies: the greased cartridge.

It was no secret that the Company’s armies had been making preparations for the introduction of a new sort of ammunition for a new model of Enfield rifle . To be loaded, this cartridge  had to be torn open so that the powder it contained could be poured down the barrel of the muzzle-loading gun; because the soldier’s hands were full, this was done with the teeth. Then the bullet had to be rammed down the rifled barrel. To facilitate its passage, the cartridges were greased with tallow, which, in the U.K., was made of beef and pork fat. The greased cartridges thus posed precisely the same threat to observant sepoys as would flour adulterated with the blood of pigs and cows, and though the British recognized the problem early on, and never issued a single greased cartridge to any Indian troops, fear that the Company was plotting to defile them took hold among the men of many Indian regiments and resulted in the outbreak of rebellion in the cantonment of Meerut in April 1857.

Scottish Highlanders charge during the suppression of the rebellion of 1857.

The revolt of 1857, which the British call the Indian Mutiny but many Indians prefer to think of as the First War of Independence, was the defining event in British imperial history. It came as a greater shock than the loss of the American colonies, and prompted reprisals far more hysterical and vicious than those visited on rebellious subjects elsewhere in the Empire. In one sense, this was not surprising; since India had a large and settled British population, there were more women and children around for the rebels to kill. In another, however, the appalling atrocities visited by the Company’s armies on the people of northern India were far from justified, since the British proved to be just as prone to rumors and panics as their Indian subjects. Wild stories circulated freely in the panic-stricken atmosphere of 1857, and there were enough real massacres and murders to make almost anything seem possible. Thousands of entirely blameless Indians who found themselves caught up in the hysterical aftermath of the rebellion were flogged, or blown from cannon, or forced to clean bloodied paving stones using only their tongues before being summarily hanged.

By the time the British came to examine the causes of the rebellion, therefore, the chupatty movement had assumed a fresh significance. It was generally believed, in retrospect, that the circulation of the breads had been a warning of trouble ahead, and that the wave of chapatis must have been set in motion by a cunning group of determined conspirators who had begun plotting the rising months, if not years, in advance. The rapid spread of disorder in 1857–when regiment after regiment had mutinied, and revolts against British rule had sprung up throughout most of northern and central India–made it almost impossible to believe that the rebellion could have been spontaneous (as most modern historians concede it was), and considerable effort was made to chronicle the movement and trace the spread of the anomalous chapatis .

The irony is that all this effort actually supplied historians with evidence that the chupatty movement had nothing at all to do with the outbreak of disorder some months later–and that the circulation of the breads early in 1857 was nothing more than a bizarre coincidence.

Kim Wagner, who has made the most recent study of the phenomenon, concludes that the movement had its origins in Indore, a princely state still nominally independent of British rule, and that it began as an attempt to ward off the ravages of cholera:

The geographic circulation of the chapattis was not systematic or exponential; their transmission was erratically linear and different ‘currents’ moved at different speeds. Some currents simply ran cold, while others moved in parallel, or paused before continuing. Thus, long after the chapattis reached their northern-most point of Meerut, there was another northwards distribution from Cawnpore to Fattehgarh, which was widely reported in the newspapers… The circulation took place along well-established routes of transmission, which followed the main trade and pilgrimage routes between the bigger cities. At some point the chapattis passed beyond the limits of their meaningful transmission and simply continued through the country as a “blank” message. This allowed different meanings an interpretations to be attributed to them, and the chapattis became an index of people’s thoughts and worries.

Furthermore, the superstitious impulse that still encourages the transmission of chain letters clearly applied in 1857:

Although the original specific meaning of the chapattis had been lost early in the distribution, the dire consequences of breaking the chain of transmission remained, and thus ensured their successful circulation over an immense area. In the event, the chapattis were not ‘harbingers of a coming storm.’ They were what people made them into, and the significance attributed to them was a symptom of the pervasive distrust and general consternation amongst the Indian population during the early months of 1857.

Seen from a distance of 150 years, the chupatty movement can appear a quaint anomaly, a strange and colorful rumor of interest mostly to historians and psychologists. And yet it’s just as possible to see the bloody results of the mutual incomprehension between the British and native communities in India as a potent reminder that mistrust and panic can have serious consequences.

These are deep waters that we trawl in, and dangerous ones, too.

Richard Barter. The Siege of Delhi. Mutiny Memoirs of an Old Officer (London: Folio Society, 1984); Troy Downs. ‘Host of Midian: the chapati circulation and the Indian Revolt of 1857-58.’ Studies in History 16 (2000); Christopher Hibbert. The Great Mutiny: India 1857 (London: Penguin, 1978); House of Commons. “Proceedings of the Trial of Badahur Shah.” In Accounts and Papers, East Indies, Session 3 February-19 April 1859, Parliamentary Papers XVIII of 1859; William Wotherspoon Ireland. History of the Siege of Delhi (Edinburgh: A&C Black, 1861); John Kaye. History of the Sepoy War in India, 1857-58 (London, 3 vols.: WH Allen, 1864); Tapti Roy. The Politics of a Popular Uprising: Bundelkhand in 1857 (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1994); Mark Thornhill. The Personal Adventures and Experiences of a Magistrate During the Rise, Progression and Suppression of the Indian Mutiny (London: John Murray, 1884); Kim A. Wagner. The Great Fear of 1857: Rumours, Conspiracies and the Making of the Indian Uprising (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2010); Andrew Ward. Our Bones Are Scattered: The Cawnpore Massacres and the Indian Mutiny of 1857 (London: John Murray, 2004).

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Mike Dash is a contributing writer in history for Smithsonian.com. Before Smithsonian.com, Dash authored the award-winning blog A Blast From the Past.

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Revolt of 1857 Notes (Free PDF)

• Updated on  
• Jan 19, 2024

India was under British rule for 200 years. The fight for independence was not easy and certainly not won in a day . Many revolts were won & lost which led to the moment of independence for India . One of the major revolts was the Sepoy Mutiny also known as the Revolt of 1857 or the Indian Revolution of 1857. In this blog, you will learn about the revolt of 1857, its causes & failures and how it became the harbinger of other Indian National Movements . The revolt started on the 10th of May 1857, by sepoys in Meerut. The revolt lasted for a year but was unsuccessful. Furthermore, India needed certain peaceful changes and this revolution brought her that. A major highlight of this revolt was that it abolished the East India Company’s rule in India. Additionally, central and northern parts of India took part in the Revolt of 1857 and various reasons bundled up the Indians.

NCERT Class 7 History: Chapter 8 Eighteenth-century Political Formations (Free PDF)

This Blog Includes:

Causes of the indian revolt of 1857, political causes, economic causes, military causes, the immediate cause of the revolt of 1857, what were the effects of the revolt of 1857 on india, centres of the revolt of 1857, the suppression and the revolt of 1857, historical movements of the revolt of 1857, who opposed the revolt of 1857, failure of the revolt of 1857, leaders of the revolt of 1857, list of british officials, the aftermath of the revolt of 1857, best books related to the revolt of 1857, short note on revolt of 1857, important questions on the revolt of 1857.

Timeline of the Revolt of 1857

The Timeline of the Revolt of 1857 is as follows:

There were numerous Political, Economic, Military as well as Social Causes that led to the Revolt of 1857, read below to know more!

The Political Causes of the Revolt of 1857 were:

• The uprising’s political roots can be attributed to Britain’s expansionist strategy, characterized by the Doctrine of Lapse and the Practice of Direct Annexation.
• Rani Lakshmi Bai’s adopted son faced the prohibition of ascending the throne of Jhansi.
• The Doctrine of Lapse led to the annexation of Satara, Nagpur, and Jhansi.
• Additionally, Jaitpur, Sambalpur, and Udaipur were also subjected to annexation.
• Lord Dalhousie’s annexation of Awadh, justified by allegations of maladministration, resulted in the displacement of numerous nobles, officials, retainers, and soldiers.
• This action transformed Awadh, previously a loyal state, into a breeding ground for discontent and intrigue.

The Economic Causes of the Revolt of 1857 were as follows:

• Many individuals within these communities found it challenging to meet the high revenue requirements and settle their debts with moneylenders, resulting in the eventual loss of ancestral lands.
• A significant portion of the sepoys, who were part of the peasantry, shared familial connections with the villages.
• Consequently, the grievances faced by the rural population had a direct impact on the sepoys as well.
• The discontent among peasants and landowners created a ripple effect, influencing the sentiments of the sepoys.
• This influx had detrimental effects on various industries, notably the textile sector in India.
• The indigenous handicraft industries in India were compelled to contend with inexpensive machine-made products from Britain, leading to a decline in their economic viability.

The Military Causes of the Revolt of 1857 were:

• Comprising over 87% of the British military forces in India, these sepoys faced discriminatory treatment in comparison to their British counterparts.
• Despite holding the same rank, Indian sepoys received lower pay than their European counterparts.
• Adding to their grievances, in 1856, Lord Canning implemented the General Services Enlistment Act, mandating that sepoys must be prepared to serve even in British territories beyond the seas.

Social Causes 

The Social Causes of the Revolt of 1857 are as follows:

• An 1850 legislation altered the Hindu law of inheritance, allowing a Hindu who had embraced Christianity to inherit ancestral properties.
• This change fueled suspicions among the populace, leading many to believe that the government had intentions of converting Indians to Christianity.
• The abolition of customs such as sati and female infanticide, along with the enactment legalizing widow remarriage, was perceived as a menace to the established social structure.
• The introduction of Western methods of education directly challenged the traditional beliefs of both Hindus and Muslims.
• Additionally, the arrival of railways and telegraph systems was met with scepticism, further contributing to the apprehension surrounding the impact of Western influence in the country.

Also Read: What is the Golden Revolution?

The Revolt of 1857 ultimately originated from the controversy surrounding the use of greased cartridges.

• A rumour circulated that the cartridges for the recently introduced Enfield rifles were coated with animal fat from cows and pigs.
• Sepoys, before loading these rifles, had to bite off the paper on the cartridges, hence leading to the refusal of both Hindu and Muslim sepoys to utilize them.

Despite attempts by Lord Canning to rectify the mistake by withdrawing the offending cartridges, the damage had already been done, sparking unrest in various regions.

• In March 1857, Mangal Pandey, a sepoy stationed in Barrackpore, rejected the use of the controversial cartridge and assaulted his senior officers.
• He was subsequently executed on the 8th of April.
• On the 9th of May, 85 soldiers in Meerut also refused to employ the new rifles and were consequently sentenced to ten years of imprisonment.

Also Read: Third Carnatic War: Causes, Battles and Impact

The revolt of 1857 was not a success but created a huge impact on India. The major impact was the abolishment of the East India Company, India was under the direct control of British authority, The Indian administration was directly controlled by queen victoria. The second impact that the revolt of 1857 created was to develop unity & patriotism in the nation. Press was restricted since the Revolt of 1857 involved the Peasants as well. The press played an important role in the freedom struggle. It helped to educate Indians, influence them & aware of government policies. 

The revolt spread over the entire area from the neighbourhood of Patna to the borders of Rajasthan. Additionally, the main centres of revolt, commonly known as the sepoy mutiny in these regions namely Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Jhansi, Gwalior, and Arrah in Bihar. 

• Lucknow : It was the capital of Awadh. Begum Hazrat Mahal, one of the begums of the ex-king of Awadh, took up the leadership of the revolt. 
• He became a participant in the uprising mainly due to the British withholding his pension.
• The triumph proved to be fleeting as Kanpur fell back into British hands with the arrival of additional troops.
• Furthermore, the rebellion faced a brutal suppression, marked by merciless retribution.
• While Nana Saheb managed to evade capture, his skilled strategist Tantia Tope persisted in the fight.
• However, Tantia Tope was ultimately overcome, apprehended, and executed.
• Consequently, she bravely resisted the British forces but, in the end, succumbed to the English adversaries.
• Bihar : The revolt was led by Kunwar Singh who belonged to the royal house of Jagdispur, Bihar. 
• The ensuing battle witnessed the Rani of Jhansi displaying remarkable courage, akin to a tigress in combat, until her demise in the thick of the struggle.
• Unfortunately, the British managed to reclaim Gwalior after the fierce encounter.

Also Read:  Important Revolutions in India You Must Know About

The uprising of 1857 extended beyond a year before being quelled by mid-1858. On the 8th of July 1858, Lord Canning declared peace, concluding the tumultuous events that began in Meerut fourteen months earlier.

Additionally, there were many historical movements during the Revolt of 1857 which are still the centres of conversations when we talk about our Independence struggle.

• Mangal Pandey – Mangal Pandey did not just refuse to use cartridges greased with cow or pig fat, he created an uproar within his Infantry which led to injuring the British generals. His bravery is unmatched to date though he was hanged by the East India Company.
• Cawnpore Massacre – Cawnpore or Kanpur was the highlight of the Revolt of 1857. When Cawnpore was sieged by the sepoys, they allowed the British rescue party to travel to Allahabad through Cawnpore. However, the British soldiers and civilians (including 120 women and children) were killed by the sepoys. This enraged the East India Company who tortured, looted the Indian civilians and executed a large number of sepoys in Cawpore and recaptured the city. 
• Rani of Jhansi’s historic win – Rani Laxmibai refused the East India Company to annex Jhansi. The British forces then slowly marched towards Jhansi. It was in the darkness of the night that the rebels attacked the fort where the British leaders and their servants were resting and killed all of them.

You will be surprised to know that a lot of the Indian communities didn’t support the Revolt of 1857. While more than a quarter of the native soldiers were Muslims, the Ulemas of the community did not support or believe that military violence was required against the East India Company. 

Furthermore, a lot of important Sikhs and Pathan leaders in the Punjab province sided and conspired with the East India Company as they feared that if the Revolt drove out the British, the Mughals would come to power. 

Gwalior was one of the centres of rebellion by the sepoys and civilians yet the state’s ruler, Jayaji Rao Scindia supported the British.

The revolt was an extraordinary event in Indian history, but the result of the revolt was unsuccessful due to some major drawbacks. Here are all the reasons for the failure of the revolt of 1857:

• The insurgence was predominantly confined to the Doab region, with notable exceptions in the large princely states of Hyderabad, Mysore, Travancore, and Kashmir, alongside the smaller ones in Rajputana, abstaining from participation.
• Additionally, the southern provinces refrained from engaging in the rebellion.
• In addition, despite the bravery of figures such as Nana Saheb, Tantia Tope, and Rani Lakshmi Bai, their leadership failed to provide the necessary direction to the entire movement.
• Resource Constraints: The rebels faced notable deficiencies in terms of manpower and financial support. In contrast, the English authorities received a consistent influx of reinforcements, funds, and weaponry within India.
• Exclusion of the Middle Class: The English-educated middle class, affluent merchants, traders, and landowners in Bengal actively supported the British in quelling the rebellion, as they opted not to participate in the insurrection.

Also Read: What is Blue Revolution?

Many leaders took part in the Revolt of 1857, here are all the leaders:

The List of British Officials:

• General John Nicholson
• Major Hudson
• Sir Hugh Wheeler
• General Neil
• Sir Colin Campbell
• Henry Lawrence
• Major General Havelock
• William Taylor and Eye
• Colonel Oncell

White Revolution, The Story of India’s Milk Revolution

The Results of the Revolt of 1857 were:

• End of Company Rule: The revolt marked the end of the East India Company’s rule in India
• The direct rule of the British Crown: India came under the direct rule of the British Crown. This was announced by Lord Canning at a Durbar in Allahabad in a proclamation issued on November 1, 1858, in the name of the queen. 
• Religious Tolerance: The British Crown promised religious tolerance and the customs and traditions of India were given more attention.
• Administrative Change: The governor general’s office was replaced by that of the Viceroy. 
• Military Reorganisation: The ratio of British officers to Indian soldiers increased but the armoury remained in the hands of the English to end the dominance of the Bengal army. 

Here are some books you can dig into for more details on the Revolt of 1857. 

• Religion and Ideology of the Rebels of 1857 by Iqbal Hussain
• Rebellion, 1857: A Symposium by Puran Chand Joshi
• Great Mutiny by Christopher Hibbert
• Facets of the Great Revolt 1857
• The Indian War of Independence by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
• Awadh in Revolt, 1857-1858 by Rudrangshu Mukherjee
• The Indian Mutiny: 1857 by Saul David

The Revolt of 1857 was first started on May 10, 1857, by sepoy mutiny in Meerut. The revolt lasted for a year and was unsuccessful yet it brought the changes that India needed for years. A major highlight of this revolt was that it abolished the East India Company in India. Central & northern parts of India took part in the revolt of 1857. There were various reasons that bundled up the Indians. It was also known as the Sepoy Mutiny, the Indian Mutiny and the Great Rebellion. The main outcome of the revolt in 1857 was the end of company rule in India and the establishment of direct rule of the British Crown. 

Download Social Science Class 7 History Chapter 8 Important Questions and Answers PDF

The revolt of 1857 was an unprecedented event in the history of British rule in India. It united, though in a limited way, many sections of Indian society for a common cause. Though the revolt failed to achieve the desired goal, it sowed the seeds of Indian nationalism. 

Why were the powers of the East India Company transferred to the British Crown?

Post the sepoy mutiny, the powers of East India Company were transferred because the company rule was ended in India after the revolt. 

How did the position of governor-general change after the revolt of 1857?

The governor-general was given the title of a viceroy who became a personal representative of the crown.

How was the revolt suppressed by the British?

The company decided to regain control over its lost territories and suppressed the revolt in complete retaliation. 

What was the role of Mangal Panday in the revolt of 1857?

Mangal Panday was a young soldier stationed in the British army at Barrackpore refused to use the rifle and attacked his British officers.

Check out Class 6 History Notes:

Relevant Blogs

There was a change in rifle, Sepoys had to tear the cartridges with their mouths & it was greased with cow & pig fat. The sepoys were also sentenced when they rejected the rifles & cartridges.

The revolt of 1857 lasted for a year.

Yes, Mangal Pandey was among the leaders of the revolt of 1857.

Yes, Rani Laxmi bai adopted a son & after the doctrine of lapse only the true & natural male heir was allowed to rule.

There were political, social, religious & military causes that resulted in the revolt of 1857.

Yes, the revolt of 1857 is considered the first war of independence.

We hope you liked our blogon the Revolt of 1857. If you want to read more articles like this, you can get Short notes on the Modern History of India here. Also, you can visit our general knowledge page on Indian History ! The Revolt of 1857 is one of the topics covered in government exams & UPSC as well. Read about such informative blogs on Leverage Edu and stay informed about Indian history.

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What was the impact of revolt of 1857??

The main impact of the 1857 revolt was the abolishment of the East India Company, India was under the direct control of British authority, The Indian administration was directly controlled by queen victoria. The second major impact that the revolt of 1857 created was to develop unity & patriotism among the nation.

Hope this answers your question!

Thanks for giving the information. It was helpful for my board project 🙏😊

Hi, Keerthana! We are glad you found it useful. Here you can also check some of our top reads: Decoding the Battle of Plassey of 1757! Battle of Buxar: Significance, Causes and Aftermath Indian Freedom Fighters

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The Year of Blood

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Rudrangshu Mukherjee places the ‘soldier-peasant’ at the forefront of the Revolt. Violence has rarely been described with so much realism and subtlety. The imaginative use of primary source materials adds clarity to accounts such as the massacre in Satichaura Ghat  and the trial of Mangal Pandey. The layers of complexity that defined the relationship between the rulers and the subjugated are also exposed.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter | 6  pages, introduction: in pursuit of a revolt, chapter | 22  pages, the azimgarh proclamation and some questions on the revolt of 1857 in the northwestern provinces, chapter | 30  pages, ‘satan let loose upon earth’: the kanpur massacres in india in the revolt of 1857, chapter | 14  pages, the sipahi and the sepoy mutinies, two intellectual traditions of the revolt of 1857: a study of popular resistance, responses to 1857 in the centenary year, part | 58  pages, mangal pandey, chapter one | 5  pages, 29 march 1857, chapter two | 9  pages, life of a sepoy, chapter three | 7  pages, the greased cartridge, chapter four | 6  pages, chapati, rumours and prophecy, chapter five | 6  pages, chapter six | 7  pages, chapter seven | 16  pages, appendix: excerpts from documents on the trial of mangal pandey.

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The Revolt of 1857

Updated 21 April 2023

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Category History

Topic Revolt of 1857

The revolt of 1857 was a major event in the history of India. It ended the control of the East India Company and led to the re-establishment of direct British rule in India.

Historical Significance

Historians continue to debate the causes of the revolt. However, some scholars believe that this uprising marked the beginning of the Indian national independence movement.

Political Causes

The revolt of 1857 was an attempt by Indians to abolish the British East India Company. It lasted for one year but was unsuccessful and brought about many changes to the Indian society.

The main political cause of the revolt was Lord Dalhousie’s policy of annexation. His policy of annexation led to the severance of the native princely states in different parts of India.

He also introduced the Doctrine of Lapse which said that the lands of a ruler who died without a male heir would be forfeit to the British. This was considered a very unfair policy by Indians.

This led to the exploitation of the common people. This made them irritated with the British and hence they joined the revolt against the Company. They wanted to break the system by which the Company collected taxes.

Economic Causes

One of the major causes of the revolt was the economic exploitation of India by the British. British land revenue policies like permanent settlement in Bengal, Mahalwari settlement in Central India and Ryotwari settlement in southern India ruined the prospects of Indian peasants and zamindars.

As a result, these people could not afford to maintain their households. The peasants also became dependent on money-lenders and traders at usurious rates, who would often evict them from their land.

The aristocratic households in India were also impoverished as a result of the British policies of land revenue. In Awadh, 21,000 taluqdars had their estates confiscated and lost their status in the villages.

This paved the way for widespread rebellion by the Indian rulers and their subjects. Many Hindu princely states, which had been under subsidiary alliances with the British, became dissatisfied with the British policies of conquest. These included the doctrine of lapse (the belief in British dominance over Indian leadership), and the policy of annexation, which deprived their rulers of their customary powers and privileges.

Religious Causes

The revolt of 1857 was primarily a war of religion. It was a result of British attempts to interfere with Indian social and religious customs.

Lord Dalhousie’s policies of territorial expansion and westernization, along with his support for widow-marriage and women’s education, hurt Hindus’ sentiments. They also feared that the British would force Hindus to convert to Christianity.

In addition, the British had begun to tax religious places, such as temples and mosques. They regarded these taxes as an attack on their religion and a violation of the law.

Nevertheless, there were many other causes that could have triggered the revolt. Some of them included the new Enfield rifle, which was designed to use cartridges greased with pig or cow fat. These cartridges horrified both Hindu and Muslim sepoys. They thought that the British were trying to contaminate their religions with their weapons.

Social Causes

The revolt of 1857 was a major turning point in the history of India. It was the first rebellion against British rule and it inspired future generations of Indians to fight for independence.

There were several reasons that led to the outbreak of the revolt. These included a lack of economic and social development under the British rule.

Another reason was the constant exploitation of India by the British East India Company. This caused great harm to the people of India, including the peasants and artisans.

The British policy of racial discrimination was also one of the main causes of the revolt. The British viewed the Indians as racially inferior and culturally backward. They were not allowed to mix with the Europeans and thus they suffered greatly under their rule.

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Mangal Pandey Biography, History and Role in Revolt of 1857

Mangal Pandey was one of the greatest freedom fighter of India who helped in Revolt of 1857. Check here Mangal Pandey Biography and his Role in Revolt of 1857.

Table of Contents

Mangal Pandey, a name synonymous with bravery and rebellion, played a pivotal role in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Often referred to as the “Sepoy Mutiny” or “India’s First War of Independence,” this uprising marked the beginning of a significant resistance against British colonial rule in India.

Biography of Mangal Pandey

Mangal Pandey was born on July 19, 1827, in the village of Nagwa, located in the Ballia district of what is now Uttar Pradesh, India. He hailed from a prosperous, high-caste Brahmin family with strong Hindu beliefs. His birth anniversary, known as his Jayanti, is celebrated annually on July 19.

Mangal Pandey Military Career

In 1849, Mangal Pandey joined the Bengal Army, the military force of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three major British presidencies in India. By March 1857, he was serving as a private soldier in the 5th Company of the 34th Bengal Native Infantry (BNI) regiment of the British East India Company. This regiment included many Brahmin soldiers, who were particularly aggrieved by the British policies.

Joining the Bengal Army

In 1849, Mangal Pandey joined the Bengal Army, a segment of the British East India Company’s military forces. By March 1857, he was serving as a private soldier (sepoy) in the 5th Company of the 34th Bengal Native Infantry. His regiment was stationed at Barrackpore, where growing discontent among the Indian soldiers was palpable.

The Spark of Rebellion

On the afternoon of March 29, 1857, Lieutenant Baugh, the adjutant of the 34th Bengal Native Infantry, was informed of the unrest among his soldiers. He learned that Mangal Pandey was inciting his fellow sepoys to revolt and threatening to shoot the first European he encountered. Pandey, armed and pacing in front of the regiment’s guardroom near the parade area, was visibly agitated.

According to testimony from a subsequent inquiry, Pandey’s discontent was fueled by his opposition to the new Enfield rifle cartridges, rumored to be greased with cow and pig fat. These rumors deeply offended both Hindu and Muslim soldiers. As British soldiers disembarked from a ship near the cantonment, Pandey seized his weapons and headed to the quarter-guard building, further inciting his comrades.

Role in Revolt of 1857

The introduction of the Enfield rifle in the 1850s, with its cartridges that had to be bitten off at the ends, sparked widespread anger among Indian soldiers. Hindus revered cows, and Muslims considered pigs unclean, making the use of these cartridges unacceptable. Mangal Pandey, a devout Hindu Brahmin, was particularly incensed and decided to take a stand.

On March 29, 1857, as Lieutenant Baugh learned of the brewing mutiny, he discovered that Pandey was leading the charge. Pandey’s threats and actions aimed to inspire his fellow sepoys to rebel against their British officers. He even went so far as to threaten to shoot the first European he saw.

The Confrontation

General Hearsey, the commanding officer, quickly became aware of the situation and rode to the scene with his two sons. To restore order, Hearsey drew his revolver and commanded the sepoys to return to their duties, threatening to shoot anyone who disobeyed. As the sepoys hesitated, Pandey attempted to take his own life. He placed the musket’s muzzle to his chest and pulled the trigger with his toe, but the wound was not fatal. He was subsequently arrested, marking the beginning of his transformation into a martyr for India’s fight for independence.

Death of Mangal Pandey

Mangal Pandey was executed by hanging on April 8, 1857, after inciting a rebellion against British authorities. His defiance was sparked by the introduction of the Enfield rifle cartridges, rumored to be greased with cow and pig fat, which offended Indian soldiers’ religious beliefs. On March 29, 1857, Pandey openly encouraged his fellow sepoys to rise against their British officers, leading to his arrest after a failed suicide attempt.

Court-martialed and found guilty of mutiny, Pandey’s execution became a catalyst for the Indian Rebellion of 1857. His actions symbolized resistance against British rule and inspired widespread defiance. Today, he is celebrated as a national hero, remembered for his bravery and sacrifice. Pandey’s legacy continues to inspire generations, immortalized in literature, films, and songs as a significant figure in India’s struggle for independence.

Legacy of Mangal Pandey

Mangal Pandey’s legacy is profound, symbolizing resistance against British rule. His defiance in 1857 sparked the Indian Rebellion, inspiring widespread revolt. Pandey is celebrated as a national hero for his bravery and sacrifice, epitomizing the fight for India’s independence. His actions influenced later freedom fighters and movements, embedding his name in India’s historical narrative. Pandey’s legacy endures in popular culture, including literature, films, and songs, ensuring he remains an inspirational figure. His story continues to motivate generations, highlighting the enduring spirit of resistance and the relentless pursuit of justice in India’s struggle for freedom.

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Mangal Pandey Biography

What is mangal pandey famous for.

In Indian history, Mangal Pandey is renowned as a freedom fighter who dedicated his life to rid the nation of the British raj. He was instrumental in the 1857 uprising, sometimes referred as as the Sepoy Mutiny. He is well-known in India for being one of the country's first freedom fighters.

Who did Mangal Pandey shot?

The first pistol fired on an Englishman during the Revolt of 1857 was when Pandey shot at the Sergeant-adjutant Major's Lieutenant Henry Baugh as he approached on a horse.

Is Mangal Pandey a true story?

A 2005 Indian historical biographical drama film titled Mangal Pandey: The Rising is based on the life of the soldier Mangal Pandey, who is credited with helping to ignite the Indian uprising of 1857 and is also known internationally as The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey (also known as The First War of Indian Independence).

Who was the hero of 1857 war?

The 1857 beginning of India's first freedom movement has come to be largely associated with individuals like Mangal Pandey, Nana Saheb, Tatya Tope, Rani Laxmibai, and Veer Kunwar Singh.

Who started first freedom fight in India?

One of the earliest instances of army protest occurred in Barrackpur, a town close to Kolkata. The British-designated "Native Sepoys"—Indian soldiers of the East India Company—revolted shortly after in the month of May 1857. They marched to Delhi on March 10 and recognized Moghul King Bahadurshah II as the Emperor.

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