FirstIndependenceWarofIndia

20150811:SonaalTopno

CausesfortheRevolt(1857)
1.PoliticalCause:
TheannexationpolicyofBritishwasoneofthemajorcausesfortherevolt.ThisSubsidiary
treaties signed by Wellesley with different rulers were never honored unless it suited the
British interests. Lord Dalhousie's "Doctrine of Lapse" had created fear and uneasiness
throughoutIndia.

LordDalhousie
TheannexationofHindustateslikeSatara,NagpurandJhansiwereresentedbytheHindus.
TheannexationofOudhwhoserulerhadbeenafriendandanallyoftheEnglishEastIndia
Company for about a century was resented not only by the Muslims but also by the other
rulers of India. The British Government had ordered that on the death of the last Mughal
EmperorBahadurShahII,hissuccessorhadtogiveuptheirancestralpalace,andRedfort.
By stopping the pension to Nana Saheb, the adopted son of the Peshwa Baji Rao II, the
Britishmadehimtheirdeadlyenemy.Besides,theMuslimswereingeneraldissatisfiedwith
theBritish.Theyfeltthattheyhadlosttheirpoliticalpower.
2.AdministrativeCause
The Indians disliked and distrusted the administration of the British. For example, the
replacement of Persian language by English as the court language was not liked by the
people. The judicial system of the British was costly, mechanical and involved much time.
Thepeoplealwaysfeltinsecureoftheirproperty,lifeandhonours.Themostaffectedpartof
British administration was the revenue system. Under the British the peasants and the

landlords suffered equally. The peasants had to pay heavy taxes. The British excluded the
Indians from all high civil and military jobs. So the educated Indians who expected to get
gainfulemploymentintheserviceofthecompanyweredisappointed.
3.EconomicCauses
Theeconomicexploitationofthecountry,thehugedrainofwealthandthedisappearanceof
thenativeindustriesdislocatedtheeconomiclifeofthepeopleinIndia.TheBritishimposed
heavyprotectivedutiesonimportedgoodsinBritainwhileBritishgoodswereimportedinto
Indiaatanominalduty.TheIndianweaversandcraftsmenwereforcedtoworkaccordingto
the desires of the servants of the company. They in return received very little wages.
Naturallytheylosttheirinterest.ItdestroyedthecottontextileindustryofIndiawhichwasthe
largest and most beneficial industry. Loss of employment affected others who were
dependent on those employees for their livelihood. Lord Bentinck's resumption of rentfree
tenuresreducedthelandownerstopoverty.Theoutbreakofsevenfaminesinthefirsthalf
ofthenineteenthcenturymadetheeconomydistressmoreacute.
4.SocialandReligiousCauses
The conservative section of Indian population was alarmed by the rapid spread of western
culture in India. The abolition of 'Sati' and female infanticide and legalizing remarriage of
widows were considered to be an Interference in the customs and tradition of the Hindus.
TheHindulawofpropertywaschangedtoenableaChristianconverttoreceivehisshareof
ancestral property. Obviously it was to encourage the Hindus to convert into Christianity.
ReligioussentimentswerearousedwhentheBritishimposedtaxesonthelandsbelongingto
templesandmosques.

5.MilitaryCauses
A feeling of discontent developed among the Indian sepoys. The highest pay given to an
Indian sepoy as Subedar was less than the minimum pay of a raw European recruit.
Generally, there was no promotion for Indian soldiers. The Sepoys were also insulted very
badly. The feeling of discontent was Intensified by Lord Canning's General services
EnlistmentAct(1856)orderingallrecruitsoftheBengalarmytobereadyforserviceboth
withinandoutsideIndiaandevenoverseas.TheproportionoftheIndiantroopstotheBritish
troops was very high. The number of Indian soldiers was five times more than that of the
British.Further,placesofstrategicimportancelikeDelhiandAllahabadwerewhollyheldby
theIndiansoldiers.ThesefactorsemboldenedtheSepoystoriseagainsttheBritish.
6.ImmediateCause
ThegreasedcartridgessuppliedforthenewEnfieldRifleswastheimmediatecauseforthe
mutiny.Thecartridgeshadtobebittenoffbeforeloading.BelievingthatthefatofCowand
Pighadbeenusedtogreasethesecartridges,bothHindusandMuslimsrefusedtousethem
asthecowissacredtotheHindusandpigisdetestabletotheMuslims.On29March,1857
at Barrackpore, near calcutta, (Kolkatta) Mangal Pandey, a young Indian Brahmin sepoy
fromBengalRegimentrefusedtousethegreasedcartridge.Whenhewasforcedbyhis
sergeantheshothimdown.Hewasarrested,triedandexecuted.Britishofficerstransferred
BarrackporeinfantrytoMeerut.Whenthisnewsspreadmanysepoysstartedtherevolt.

SpreadandSuppressionoftheRevolt

The first sign of unrest appeared early in 1857 at Barrackpore in Bengal. But it was
suppressedandtherebelswerepunished.ThesepoysbrokeoutintoopenrevoltatMeerut
in May 1857.They broke open the prison and released their imprisoned comrades. Then
theygallopedtoDelhiandbroughtitundertheircontrol.TherevoltthenspreadtoLucknow,
Bareilly,Kanpur,Agra,Jhansi,Benares,CentralIndia,Bundelkhandandtootherplaces.The
importantleadersofthemutinywereRaniLakshmiBaiofJhansi,TantiaTope,NanaSaheb
andKunwarSingh.ThemutinychieflycenteredonthreecitiesKanpur,DelhiandLucknow.

CausesfortheFailureoftheRevolt
DisunityamongtheIndianswasthefirstandtheforemostcause.
Therevoltwasnotwidespreadamongthepeople.ItdidnotextendbeyondNorth
India.SouthIndia,Punjab,SindandRajasthankeptquiet.

AlargenumberofrulersoftheIndianstatesandthebigZamindarsdidnotjointhe
movement.
TherulersoftheIndianstates,whodidnotsupportthemovement,remainedneutral.
TheeducatedIndiansdidnotsupportthemovementingeneral.
ThepossessionsofawidespreadTelegraphandPostalCommunicationprovedvery
helpfultotheBritishforpropermilitaryactionsandsendingtheirreinforcementsatthe
earliesttime.
Therebellioussoldierswereshortofmodernweaponsandothermaterialsofwar.
Theyhadtofightwithtraditionalweaponswhichwerenomatchtothemodern
weaponspossessedbytheBritishforces.
TheIndianleaderslikeNanaSaheb,TantiaTope,RaniLakshmibaiwerenomatchto
theBritishgenerals.
TherevoltwasplannedthroughoutthecountryonMay31,1857butitbrokeout
prematurely.Obviously,preparationsfortherevoltremainedincomplete.
Theorganizationandtheplanningoftherebelswasverypoor.TheIndianleaders
werebraveandselflessbuttheylackedunityofcommandanddiscipline.
TheRevolutionarieshadnocommonidea.TheMuslimswantedtoreviveMughalrule
andtheHinduswantedtorevivethePeshwaRaj.
TheBritish,throughtheirdiplomacyof'DivideandRule'preventedmostoftheIndian
rulerstojointogetherforacommoncause.
ResultsoftheRevolt

ThoughtheGreatRevoltfailedtoachieveitsaim,itcertainlyproducedfarreachingresults.It
putanendtotheCompany'sruleinIndiain1858andtheadministrationofIndiawasdirectly
takenoverbytheBritishCrown.BypassingaspecialActon1858,boththeBoardofControl
andtheCourtofDirectorswereabolishedandtheofficeoftheSecretaryofStateforIndia
wascreated.HewasassistedbyanIndianCouncilof15members.TheGovernorGeneral
of India was designated as Viceroy of India. It meant the representative of the Crown. The
policyofruthlessconquestinIndiawasgivenupandtheIndianprincesweregiventheright
of adoption. Full religious freedom was guaranteed to Indians Indians were also given
assurance that high posts would be given to them without any discrimination. The Indian
armywasthoroughlyreorganized.ThenumberoftheEuropeanforceswereIncreased.The
ArtillerywasputunderthechargeoftheBritish.TheGreatrisingof1857,sowedtheseeds
ofthattreewhichborefruitin1947whenIndiabecamefreefromtheforeignyoke.

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