Revolt of 1857 was a very important event of Indian history.

By 1849 British were in control

of India and ruled over the entire territory directly or controlled through subordinate rulers.
Nature of Revolt - Different scholars over a period of time defined its nature in their own way
resulting in a dialogue among them. The British govt and British historians of the time
described it as a Sepoy mutiny. Some said that it was a Sepoy mutiny and later some
disgruntled landed feudal leaders also joined it (Sir John Lawrence and Seeley). They held
these sepoys to be unpatriotic and selfish though they were joined by feudal lords of some
states which had been annexed.
Educated urban intellectual people than residing in Calcutta Bombay and Madras kept away
and considered it as a backward-looking movement. Jawahar Lal Nehru also in his Discovery
of India maintained that the revolt was essentially a feudal outburst headed by feudal chiefs
and their followers aided by widespread anti foreign sentiment which was shared by both the
sepoys and the people. But its objective was to bring back the rule of old landed aristocracy
Raja, Maharajas and Nawabs and to restore the privileges of their feudal lords which had
been done away by the British. Nehru believed that it was much more than a Sepoy mutiny
and had acquired the character of a popular rebellion.
In 1856 Lord Dalhousie annexed Oudh on grounds of mal administration and exiled the last
Nawab to Calcutta.
British direct control over large territories also exposed them and people experienced the
brunt of their exploitative policies and administration.

While some like Outram described it a result of Hindu -Muslim conspiracy. Malleson held
that some Muslim clerics like Maulvi Ahmadullah, Nana Saheb the adopted son of last
Peshwa and Rani Jhansi entered into a conspiracy to start the revolt and that it was an
organized revolt.
V. D. Savarkar called it the first war of Indian independence.
Scholars like Mujumdar and Sen believed that it can not be characterized as a national war of
independence because there was no feeling of nationalism among Indians at that time. Some
of the Indian leaders / rulers like Lakshmi Bai, Nana Saheb joined for their personal reasons
i.e . When Jhansi was annexed by the British or when Nana Saheb's pension was stopped.
Begum Hazart Mahal wife of the exiled ruler of Oudh and other Taluqdars of Oudh fought
for the restoration of their kingdom and restoration of their feudal privileges respectively.
To Bipin Chandra it was revolt of sepoys and was accompanied by a rebellion of civil
population particularly in the North-Western region and the province of Oudh. The Bengal
army soldiers were recruited from these two areas largely. The Sepoy revolt resulted in a
popular uprising inspire of the weakness and limitations of the Sepoy efforts to unite the
country. At the end we will discuss to what extent any of these descriptions aptly describe the
nature of revolt.

Revolt of 1857 was not the first time when Indians rebelled against the British. In 1792-99
there was the revolt of Kattabomman in Tirunelveli area of Tamilnadu in 1792-99.
Paiks rebellion in Orissa 1804-06 was against the British occupation of Orissa in 1803.
Revolt of Dewan Velu Thampi (Dewan of Travancore )in Travancore 180809.

Revolt of Rain Bharmal in Cutch and Kathiawar.

Revolt of Ramosis in 1822-29 against the British occupation of Peshwa's territories in 1818
resulting in large-scale unemployment among Ramosis who served in the lower ranks of
police.

Kittur uprising in Sambhalpur, Orissa in 1840-41agsinst the British interference in the

succession issue after the death of the ruler.

Satara revolt in 1842 when British disposed and banished the popular ruler.
Bundela revolt in Sagar and Damoh (M. P. ) in 1844-45 against the British land revenue
policy
Gadkari rebellion in Kolhapur in 1839-45.

Savantvandi revolt also in Maharashtra in Savantvadi in 1827-33 against the deposition of the
ruler and the policies enunciated by the British.

Raju rebellion in Vishakhapatnam area in 1831-32 by the ruler who was doposed and
dispossessed of his estate by the British in return for a small amount of pension.
Palkonda outbreak in Palkonda, A. P. by the Zamindar whose property was attached for non
payment of revenue.
Gumsur outbreak in Ganjam district of Orissa in 1829-35 by the Zamindar over his failure to
clear the land revenue arrears to the British. Parlakimedi outbreak in Orissa by the Zamindars
over the same issue . Both movements were suppressed heavily.

Farzazi movement in Bengal. In the later stages the movement merged with the Wahhabi
movement. It lasted from 1820-1870. It was about degeneration of Islamic society and loss of
power to the British. It's aims were to reform Islamic society and also restore Muslim rule.

Move me of Pagal Panthis in Sherpur, East Bengal from 1845-72. It was related to the
resentment of the peasants against the oppression of the Zamindars.
Kuka movement in Punjab by Bhagat Jawahar Male. It was a religious reform movement to
begin with but it later became a movement for the restoration of Sikh sovereignty after the
annexation of Punjab by the British.

The Revolt of 1857 was the biggest of the revolt which seriously shook the foundation of
British rule in India. In a way it was the culmination of the previous movements and the
largeest in terms of the territory on which it spread, popular support and the challenge it
posed.

LookAfter Lord Dalhousie came to India as the Governor General and the revolt started
during his tenure.
Causes for the revolt were :-
Political - Lord Dalhousie's policy of Doctrine of Lapse ie any Indian ruler who did not have
a natural heir his kingdom would be taken over by the British after his death. His adopted
son would not be allowed to succeed to the throne. This policy took away the right of legal
adoption Indian kings. Lord Dalhousie annexed Satara, Jaitpur, Sambhalpur, Baghat (near
Shimla ), Udaipur in Orissa, Jhansi, Nagpur, Berar.

Annexation of Oudh by Lord Dalhousie in 1856 on grounds of mal administration created

unrest in Oudh. The British increased the land revenue demands from the Talukadars and
Zamindars which was high and did not recognize their privileges which they enjoyed under
the Nawab. Nawab was exiled to Calcutta. It was Nawabs wife Begum Hazart Mahal who
appealed to the Taluqdars and started the revolt in Oudh.
British also did not recognize the adopted son of Lakshmi Bai Rani of Jhansi forcing her to
rebel when her pleadings were not accepted by the British.
Similarly the British did not recognize Dhondu Pandit the adopted son of last Peshwa Baji
Rao II who had been exiled to Bithur near Kanpur and stopped the pension which they were
paying to Baji Rao II.
Bahadur Shah Jafar the mughal ruler was also a pensioner of the British. His pension was not
much. He was also told that after his death his successors would be deprived of their ancestal
possessions and his sons would only be called Princes .
When British took control of the Indian states either directly or indirectly these rulers were
asked to disband their armies or reduce their strength as the British armies were stationed in
their kingdom. Lakhs of families lost their livelihood.
Their high handed attitude and contempt for the Indians also Created hatred towards them in
the minds of Indians.
The treatment given to these states also alarmed other kings and they also became
suspicious.

Economic causes- Decline of Indian industries, increase in joblessness, poverty. In British

administration all high posts were reserved for British and Europeans. The land revenue
policies ie Permanent Settlement in Bengal, Ryotwari system in South and Mahalwari
system were exploitative and increased the land revenue demands from the people.
In Bengal the Zamindars were recognized as the owners of their Zamindari lands and the
owners overnight became tenants of the Zamindars (Lord Cornwallis introduced Permanent
Settlement of Bengal in 1793). Under the Mughal and the Nawabs the Zamindars were not
the owner of the lands in their Zamindari but only had the right to collect revenue due to the
states from the peasent proprietors only, for which they were compensated by the state.

The judicial system introduced was costly, very time consuming and favoured the
Zamindars.
Peasents increasingly fell into the hands of the money lenders.

Social and Religious causes -

Christian missionaries disparaging Indian religions and luring Indians to convert to
Christianity and the British administration often supporting them.
There was an unrest among Indians against the interference by the British in their
religious affairs .Some were even against the passing of laws which affected their social
practices like abolition of Sati or widow remarriage. so

Spread and support given by Britishers to introduce and to spread of western education and
culture was seen as a deliberate attempt to attack their culture and it's values.

Military causes- Indian soldiers in British army were discriminated in terms of pay, service
conditions etc. vis a vis the British or European soldiers. They could not rise above a certain
level, received less pay and allowances for the same work and faced racial discrimination and
slur.
By The passing of General Enlistment Act in 1856 they were required to serve anywhere in
the British army even overseas. For Indians going overseas was seen meant not being able to
follow caste and other religious distinction and thus excommunication from the caste by the
society.
Defeat of the British army in the first Afghan was also shattered the myth of invincibility of
the British army.

Bengal army consisted of soldiers recruited from Oudh and the annexation of Oudh increase
of revenue etc. also affected their families and their prevailed in Oudh a strong anti British
sentiment.

The British administration withdraw the privilege of free postage earlier giveeto Indian
soldiers with the passing of Post Office Act of 1854.

Earlier when the soldiers were sent to fight anywhere in India outside of their area they were
given Bhatta or allowances when entire India came under their control they could now be
sent to any part and the Bhatta was now stopped as they were not moving into any foreign
area within India.
The Immediate cause was the issue of greased carteridges. In 1856 the new Royal Enfield
rifle was introduced and the loading of the carteridges required biting the cap with the mouth
as they came in a sealed cover. It was alleged that the seal was greased with fat of cows and
pigs. This issue agitated both hindu and muslim soldiers. Soldiers were not ready to use those
rifles but the army officers were adamant that it was an act of discipline they didn't do enough
to allay the fear of soldiers. Soldiers believed that it was a deliberate attack on their religion.
Presence of missionaries in the Cantonments made the soldiers suspicious of a larger
conspiracy. In some Cantonments the missionaries had been allowed to run their propaganda
by some officers.

Beginning and extent of the Revolt - The revolt started on May 10, 1857 from Meerut some
sixty kilometers from Delhi.
The soldiers there were forced to use the Enfield rifle when they refused they were ordered to
be arrested. The soldiers killed their officers and took control over the Cantonment looted the
arms and marched to Delhi where they were joined by troops from Delhi who also revolted.
The soldiers than declared the reluctant sixty years old Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah II as
the emperor of Hindustan. Begunm Zenat Mahal the young wife of Bahadur Shah and her son
Birjis Kadir proded Bahadur Shah to accept the leadership. Bahadur Shah was a pensioner of
the British and only a nominal ruler.
Soon letters were written in the name of Bahadur Shah and sent to other kings to join the
revolt and drive out the British. When the news reached other Cantonments similar revolts
also started there.

Extent-The revolt was limited to UP, Delhi parts of Bihar and Central India. Delhi, Jhansi,
bihar, Mathura, Faizabad, Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Gwalior, Haryana, Sambhalpur,
Bareilley , Bulandshahar, Etawah, Moradabad, Shahjahanpur, Bharand Mandasore were the
centers of revolt and from there it spread to rural areas and small towns.

By July 1858 The Britishers had reestablished their authority and suppressed the revolt.
British were able to control the spread revolt in Punjab and used troops from Punjab to
recapture Delhi and other areas. They also used Gorkha soldiers. Even when revolt was
limited to North India it struck fear in their hearts they were on the verge of loosing their
empire in India. The feeling of nationalism was still in it's nascent stage the idea of India as a
unified entity was in the making. The revolt brought about the transition in some ways from
being subjects to citizens.

Causes for the failure -

Revolt could not spread to whole of India and it allowed British to move troops from other
areas to suppress it. It was also poorly organized.

It was not inspired by any positive idea of a future India .It lacked planning and funds.
Sikhs , Marathas, Rajputs etc. from other areas did not participate.

Those who revolted had limited resources. That were short of arms and ammunition. Soldiers
had what they looted from the British.
British used very effective use of telegraph and railways.
Revolt was largely feudal in character with some nationalistic feeling and common hatred
towards British rule.
British had some very good Generals on their side.

Result :-It brought to an end the the rule of East India Company and from than on India came
to be directly governed by the British govt.
Governer General was also designated as Viceroy as the representative of the British crown.
The British realised that traditional leaders/ rulers still commanded a lot of respect and hold
over their people and people could gather at their call. They now assured the Indian rulers
that they would not follow any expansionist policy and respect their treaties and and assured
them that no state would be assimilated into British India.
They also decided not interfere in the religious affairs of Indians.
Zamindars,merchants etc were now patronised to promote British interests.

The composition of Bengal army was changed and that they stopped recruiting Rajpura,
Bhumihars, Brahmans, etc. from UP and Bihar. They also came up with the new theory of
martial races and Sikhs, Gurkhas and others were now referred to as martial races and were
considered by them as more loyal.
The ratio between Indian and British soldiers was narrowed down to 3:1.

Impact of the revolt was much bigger than its results. British myth of invincibility was broken
down. Leaders of the revolt became leaders of the masses and heroes of the folklore. Stories
of their bravery were passed on from generations and inspired people. They continued to
inspire future generations.
Savarkar referred to Revolt as the first war of Independence irrespective of its factual
character. There were others like Savarkar who drew inspiration from it.