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THE REVOLT OF, , , , , , , , , , , , ® Causes of the Revoit, , __ ® Spread of the Revolt, _ ® Suppression of the Revolt, , : ® Results of the Revolt, , he revolt of 1857 is often termed as the fi, , The revolt of 1857 was the result and the culmination of, , 1857, , > Beginning of the Revolt of 1857, » Case Study : Revolt of Awadh, > Failure of the Revolt, , rst war of Independence because for the fir, , Popular discontent and a clear, , resistance against the exploitation and Oppressive policy of the British in India., , British ruled India for about 100 years from 1757 till 1857. The British rule created dissatisfaction and, distrust among the masses which led to outbreaks and continuous uprising in different parts of the, country. In 1857, a major revolt occurred which shook the very foundation of British rule. | had vast, participation of peasants, craftsmen, soldiers, nobles and rulers., , The revolt which broke out in Northern and, Central India in 1857, is now popularly known as, the Revolt of 1857. Scholars till date are divided, in their opinion as to whether it was just a mutiny, of sepoys—a mere product of their discontent, or, the first Indian war of independence., , juts and Bolts, , British historians are of the view that it was, just a mutiny of the sepoys-the Indian soldiers of, lower ranks in the English Army. They assert this, Wal was a mutiny as the whole of India did not, Participate in it. South India, Punjab and Bengal, were only marginally affected. The early Indian, historians opine that it was indeed the first war of, independence as it had a widespread effect. The, coming together of soldiers of different regions,, rulers and chiefs of different states and principles, to fight for the common aim of overthrowing the, British rule was unprecendented in Indian history., Many sections of Indian societylandlords,

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act o a, , peasants, artisans, scholars joined the Revolt. deprived of their estates by the, Modern Indian historians maintained that the Inams. Besides the decline of, , uprising of 1857 was just a revolt of certain, discontented groups against colonial policies., , CAUSES OF THE REVOLT, , The revolt of 1857 was the biggest challenge, to British authority. It started with a mutiny of, the soldiers but was soon joined by all the, sections of Indian @ Z, {eras The revolt was a, of various, inces of the people ff, , against the British rule., , The British land-revenue policies angered, many chiefs and landlords by robbing them of, their power and privileges. Some landlords, like, those of Tirunelveli, Aligarh and Travancore,, rganised localised revolts even before 1857., , The British annexed territories on the basis, bsidiary alliance and the Doctrine of, | discontinuing the titles and, lers. They thus, dislodged many, e including Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi, lana Sahib, the adopted son of Peshwa Baji, ) Il. They deposed nawab Wajid Ali Shah of, on grounds of misgovernment. The, of, , , , Revolt of 1857, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , employees. They were deprived, , _ 4 Ns, livelihood. The landlords or el, , , , , , , f boli 4, the exploitation of the economic ind!, India especially raw Materials for “pouty |, industries, the tariff on Indian goog. its, had also developed hatred a, , rule. The discrimination of Indians itty, Europeans as matter of 4 the, opportunities and social supremac, , Vm,, , i m Y Of the, had given birth to suspicion ang dislike ¢ rit,, British. thy, , : er, BAINSt the Shap, , uts and Bolts, , , , Religious Causes, , The fear among the people that the Britis,, government was determined to destroy the;, -feligion and convert all Indians to Christianity, The increasing activities of the Christian, missionaries and the actual conversions Made by, them were taken as a proof of this fear. The, policy of taxing lands belonging to temples ang, mosques lent further support to this Mass fear, The belief that their religion was under threat, united all sections of society against a common, enemy., , Social Causes, , The English also began to interfere in the, social and religious life of the people. Reforms, such as the abolition of 'sati', legalization of, widow remarriage and the extension of western, education to women were looked upon by, orthodox Indians as examples of interference in, the social customs of the country. The social, discrimination faced due to so-called racial, superiority also led to much resentment., lucated Indians were denied promotions and

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opportunities for appointmen, itions. This turned them against th,, , Causes, the rising discontent in the, , ' i behavi, reflected in the behaviour of the Sepoys, who, , seven-eighths of the British troops, ie sepoys were discontented beeenage, , jr salaries and opportunities of, pt not equal to those of the Baten, the special allowance that was given :, | them when they were sent to war yt, giscontinued. Besides, the sepoys eee, gritish regulations banning beards and the use of, caste marks, and the replacement of turbans with, leather caps. There was a sepoy revolt against, guch regulations at Vellore in 1806. Many sepoys, | also resented having to cross the seas in violation, of social taboos to fight wars for the British, in, 1828, the sepoys at Barrackpore revolted against, an order to go to Burma by sea., In 1856, the General Service Enlistment Act, , made it compulsory for sepoys to travel beyond, India's frontiers by land and sea., , Immediate Cause, , In 1856, the Enfield were introduced in the, ‘ompany's army. The cartridge used in it had a, ased cap, which had to be removed bitten off, re use. The Hindu and Muslim sepoys were, because they believed that grease was, from the fat of, animals which,, , the t to high, , British,, , Country was, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , like wildlife. Enfield rifle, , BEGINNING OF THE REVOLT OF 1857, , - The soldiers were simply protesting against, suse of the greased cartridges. But the, vernment neglected their protests, insisted on, > use of cartridges and punished those who, , , , refused to Obey them, , when the soldiers of, Barrackpur refused to us:, their leaders were pun, , In first quarter of 1857,, the 19th regiment at, the greased cartridges,, , we ished and the regiment, isbanded. The revolt began on 29 march,, , ae” named, Mangal Pandey of 34th, , fe » fired at his Sergeant Major and asked, Comrades to revolt against the British in, , defence of their caste and, , religion. But he and one of his, , active comrades were, , Captured, tried and executed., , On 9 May, 1857, 85 sepoys of a, , cavalry regiment at Meerut, , refused to use the greased, , Cartridges. They were, , Punished with ten years of 4, , rigorous imprisonment, , disgraced publicly., , and Mangal Pandey, , , , Rani Lakshmi Bai, , Tantia Topa Nana Sahib, , On May 10, the 3rd cavalry regiment at, Meerut revolted and the infantry also became a, party to it. The soldiers released the prisoners,, killed some English officers and civilians and, marched to Delhi. They captured Delhi on May 12, and Bahadur Shah II was proclaimed the Emperor, of India., , SPREAD OF THE REVOLT, Large parts of North and Central India and, Bihar joined the revolt. The important centres of, the revolt were Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly,, Jhansi, and Arrah in Bihar. In Delhi, the aged, emperor Bahadur Shah was the symbolic leader, , @

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but the real command was with a court of, soldiers headed by General Bakht Khan at Kanpur., The revolt was led by Nana Sahib, the adopted, son of the last Peshwa., , uts and Bolts, , , , The chief responsibility of fighting on behalf, of Nana Sahib fell on the shoulders of Tantiya, Tope, one of his most loyal commanders. Tantiya, Tope won immortal fame because of patriotism,, determined fighting and skillful guerilla, Operations. ., , One of the greatest leaders of the revolt was, Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi. Tales of her bravery, and courage and military skills have inspired, Indians ever since the revolt of 1857., , Kunwar Singh, a zamindar, of Jagdishpur near Arrah, was, the chief organiser of the, revolt in Bihar. Though he was, nearly 80 years of age, he was, an outstanding military leader., , Apart from these leaders,, in Northern and Central India,, there were popular civilian, revolts. The common people too joined the, revolt, often fighting with spears, axes, bows,, arrows and lathis, ., , CASE STUDY : REVOLT AT AWADH, , Known as the granary of India, Awadh was, important strategically for the control of the, fertile plains between the Ganga and the Yamuna, rivers. It was a wealthy kingdom. After the Battle, of Buxar (1764), Awadh came under the British, power., , Annexation of Awadh : Awadh was taken, , , , Kunwar Singh, , over during GovernorGeneral Dalhousie's reign. It, was claimed that Awadh, was not being governed, properly and it was the, Company's duty to provide, proper administration to its, , people., , , , , , , Begam Hazrat Mat, , Awadh was first made a subsidiary Under th., Subsidiary Alliance and finally became a Part oy, the British territory in 1856. Wajid Ali Shah, the, , Nawab of Awadh, was exiled to Calcutta,, , The Rebellion : As a result of the Fising, rebellions everywhere, the nobility of Awadh also, decided to avenge the injustice they had Suffereg, by the British. Begum Hazrat Mahal, the Wife of, the exiled Nawab, seized control of Lucknow and, led the rebellion from there. She was helped by, Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah, the rebel leade; at, Faizabad., , , , , , The Residency, Lucknow, , Henry Lawrence, the British Commissioner at, Lucknow, fortified the Residency compound,, where the British Officers were staying with their, families. On 31st May 1857, the sepoys laid siege, , overpower the rebels and heavy Casualties, were, , recorded on both sides. Lawrence himself was, killed in the fighting., , Bahadur Shah Zafar was not Only the last, Mughal Emperor, in fact he was the only Mughal, , ID sci sciences Cae}

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ror whose photographs were, picture was taken by Revolt Tytler, , snepat, , taken. This, and Charles, , , , uts and Bolts, , The sons of Bahadur Shah Zafar were shot at, , Kabull Gate. which was renamed "Khoo:, Dorwaza'. after the cold blooded ticket ws, , qe leaders and centres of the Revolt where, spread from Delhi ‘, , , , ba, , Begum Hazrat Mahl, Khan Bahadur Khan, , , , Kunwar Singh, Rani Lakshmibai, Tantiya Tope, , ‘SUPPRESSION OF THE REVOLT, , Delhi was recaptured by the British forces on, , 20 September 1857. The Mughal Emperor,, , _ Bahadur Shah Zafar was taken prisoner and, , deported to Rangoon in Burma (now called, , _ Myanmar). The Mughal dynasty, thus, came toan, , end. Bakht Khan, Rani Lakshmi Bai, Khan Bahadur, , ~ khan and Kunwar Singh died fighting. Nana Sahib, , and Begum Hazrat Mahal escaped to Nepal., Tantia Tope was captured and hanged., , After the suppression ‘, , the rebel soldie the, , , , , , It was literally murder ...., bloody and awful sights lately but such a one as 1, , pss a terrible fate. The British used utmost, ality and ruthlessness to suppress it. They, al down villages and resorted to public, , anging or blowing people off at the mouth of, the canons. All these acts of brutality were done, to dissuade another mass revolt in future, , , , An account of a 19-year-old British officer,, Edward Vibart, , The orders went out to shoot every person..., | have seen many, , witnessed yesterday | pray | never see again. The, women were all spared but their screams on, seeing their husbands and sons butchered, were, most painful....| feel no pity, but when some old, grey bearded man is brought and shot before, your very eyes, hard must be that man's heart |, think who can look on with indifference., , (Extracted from William Dalirymple’s ‘The, Last Mughal; the Fall of a Dynasty’), , FAILURE OF THE REVOLT, , No doubt, the Indian leaders were brave,, skillful, patriotic, but they were no match to the, English generals like Havelock, Campbell etc. They, were more able and experienced. In all areas, the, revolt was suppressed within a little over a year, of its outbreak. Many reasons were responsible, , for the failure., , , , Henry Havelock Colin Campbell, , —, \ 89 }