History for kids

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During the British Raj, there was unrest and discontent

amongst the people of India. Soon, many rebellions followed in
various parts of the country. There were several causes which
led to this. One of them being that the Hindu soldiers protested against the addition of Gurkha, Sikh and lower caste
soldiers to their ranks. Economic policies of the British had an
adverse effect on the soldiers' families back home.

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The use of animal grease on the cartridges of the newly

introduced Enfield rifles was the last straw. While loading
the rifles, soldiers had to bite off the end of the cartridges.
It was made up of either pig or cow fat, which violated the
religious sentiments of the Muslim and Hindu soldiers.

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In 1857, three regiments of the army refused to use the ammunition for the Enfield rifles. These men were disbanded.
Then later another 85 soldiers disobeyed orders to load
their rifles. They were arrested. The rest of the soldiers mutinies on May 19, 1857. These men marched on to Delhi and
demanded that the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah
Zafar, take over as the ruler of India and the head of the
rebels. Though he reluctantly agreed, the British defeated
him and sent him into exile in Burma, where he dies in 1862.

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This uprising came to be known as the Sepoy Mutiny or the

revolt of of 1857. Mangal Pandey is the most famous figure
of this uprising who attacked the British regiment. He was
later arrested and hanged.

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Soon after, another regiment revolted. Ninety thousand

men from the Bengal Army joined the mutiny. Initially the
British suffered heavy casualties as they were unable to
respond to the uprising. After suffering major losses in
Kanpur and Lucknow, the British sought the help of the
loyal Sikh and Gurkha forces. The British with their help
managed to ward off the army of rebels near Delhi.

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In response to the mutiny, the British Parliament passed an

act, abolishing the East India Company. India became a
crown colony to be governed by the British Parliament directly. A British cabinet member, the Secretary of State for
India, and the Governor General looked after Indian affairs.

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In the following year, the title of Viceroy was bestowed

upon the Governor-General of India by Queen Victoria. She
introduced a policy of 'Divide and Rule' which prevented
Indians from united to rebel against her. By implementing
this, the British sought accommodations with Princes and
landlords, in turn allowing them a degree of freedom. This
ensured their loyalty. The army was reorganized to avoid
further conspiracies.

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The British turned their attention to commerce and development. The first step was the building of a transport
system to move imported British ready made goods and
to export Indian raw materials. Construction of the railroad
and railway stations began and many new towns came
into existence just to transport Indian resources to the markets. New roads were built, a new communications system
came into existence and a harbour was built in Bombay.

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During this period the conditions of the poor worsened. Village artisans went broke as a result of competition from
English machine-made goods. Many were forced into poverty with the destruction of the Indian craft industry. They
were forced to turn to tilling land for a living.

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During the American Civil War, Indian agriculture shifted

from foodstuffs to cotton for supply to the English textile
industry. This and a severe drought in the 1870s led to a
terrible famine that spread throughout the country of
India.
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