War of Independence 1857

War of Independence is an important landmark in the history of Sub-Continent. This War was fought in
1857 by Indians against the British in order to get rid of their domination. It is also given names as Indian
Rebellion, Indian Mutiny as well as Indian Revolt. The main causes of the War were political, social,
economic, military and religious. It was an extreme effort made by Indians, but they failed due to certain
reasons including mutual jealousies, disunity, and lack of central leadership etc.

This war was not spread throughout India but it was limited to few areas mainly Meerut, Delhi, Kanpur,
Lucknow etc. The main event which became the immediate cause of the war was the refusal of the
Sepoys to use the grease covered cartridges (greased with fat of pig and cow) on January 23, 1857. At
the same time, an Indian sepoy killed two British officers at Barrackpore, when he was forced to use
greased cartridges. He was arrested and hanged to death on April 8, 1857. This news spread as fast as
jungle fire.

On 6th May, 1857 A.D. 85 out of 90 Indian soldiers at Meerut refused to bite the greased cartridges with
their teeth. These 85 soldiers were court-martialed and imprisoned for 10 years. They were stripped off
their uniforms in the presence of the entire Indian crowd. It was too much of a disgrace and this incident
sent a wave of indignation. On 10th May 1857, the Indian soldiers at Meerut broke into open revolt.
They released their companions and murdered a few European officers. On the night of 10th May the
mutineers marched to Delhi and reached there on 11th May.

The revolutionaries reached from Meerut to Delhi on 11th May, 1857 and the small British garrison at
Delhi was not able to resist and consequently fell into their hands within 2 days. The Mughal Emperor,
Bahadur Shah Zafar, was proclaimed Emperor of India. In order to regain Delhi, Sir John Lawrence sent a
strong British force commanded by John Nicholson. After a long siege of four months, the British
recovered Delhi in September 1857 A.D. The Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was captured, his two
sons and a grandson were shot dead before his eyes and he was sent to Rangoon where he died in the
year 1862 A. D.

Causes of War

Political

As British extended their control, they introduced many ways of grabbing land like the use of Doctrine of
Lapse was introduced by Lord Dalhousie was very unpopular. The mistreatment of Mughal Emperor was
also another cause and when Lord Dalhousie moved the capital from Delhi. It angered many people.
English was replaced by Persian as an Official language.

Religious and Social

As the rule of British grew so did its culture. The British thought that they were Superior Culture and
Disrespected the Indian culture they also did not get mixed with the Indians as they thought that Indians
are uneducated and uncivilized people. This arrogant attitude and the introduction of new ways of life
with railways, roads and telegraph were not accepted to many Indians. Indians thought that their
religion was any threat by foreigners was sent Christian monks to spread their religion. These monks
insulted the religion of the Indians. This angered many Indians.
Economic

We have learnt that how British merchants traded with India which was very profitable for them. The
British imposed high taxes on Indians and the tax collectors were corrupt and kept some money for
themselves the resentment grew when the British filled Indian market with cheap mass-produced goods
and many families were unable to sell their goods thus this made most of the Indians poor. British also
made the salary of their army (Infantry) low.

Military

There were many Indian soldiers in the British army but not even a single one of Indian was made an
officer. The British used their army to fight other countries and this was not accepted to Indians who
wanted to leave their mother land. They were also rumors that The Indians were forced to convert into
Christianity before they could be made the Officers.

The Events Of 1857

● In January 1857 the British announced that they would introduce a new rifle with a paper cartridge
covered with grease to keep the powder dry and before the cartridge would be loaded the end had to
be bitten off. However, a rumor spread that the grease was made up of Cow and pigs fat. The Sepoys
were so angry that they refused to use the new rifle.

● In March a Sepoy named Mangal Pandey defied his British officer and was executed.

● In May Sepoys of Meerut refused to touch the new cartridge so they were put to prison but their
fellow Sepoys freed them and killed all the British then the soldiers marched to Delhi and captured it.
The Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II wined the support of Hindus and Muslims. The War spread
and British lost control of Mathura, Kanpur, Jhansi and Allahabad as well as Delhi and Lucknow. This area
is now known as Uttar pardesh. However British proved to be too powerful and quickly regained the
areas they had lost.

● In September Delhi was regained and Bahdur Shah was put into life time prison. In august 1858 the
war was officially over.

Reasons for Failure of War of Independence 1857

1.Lack of Unity

Although the whole Indian nation faced resentment against the British but the aims were different. The
Muslim wanted to regain control and again set up the Mughal Empire. There was no general plan or a
Leader. The princes did not want the Imperial power once again. There was no sense of patriotism and
India was too dived for such a feeling. The only uniting force was Islam but the other groups opposed
them which were Hindus and Sikhs as they did not want the rule of Muslim once again on the India.
These were the reasons as British considered this as “Muslim Revolt”.

2.British Strength:

The most powerful country of that time and because of Industrial Resolution they had High tech
weapons. The British army was well trained and was much disciplined and they were provided with large
weapons and Funds by the British government. The Perhaps the major reason for the failure of this
uprising was the strength of the British. The Britain was Indians were still fighting with each other and in
the meantime the British use its clever techniques and weapons to crush the rebellion furthermore it
had the support. of some loyal states like Kashmir who sent 2000 troops to support the British win the
war.

The Effects of the War

The failure of the war conformed the British masters of India. The war did not loosen control but rather
tightened it. The East India Company was abolished and the Britain took full control of the Indians
affairs. In 1877 the Queen Victoria was given the title as Empress of India and the Mughal royal family
decade away. There were very cruel acts in the war as in the town of Cawnpore the Indians had
murdered several British women and children to avenge their deaths the British killed anyone who was
sympathetic to Indians. They also introduced Viceroy who was known responsible for all the acts in the
country. He had over thousand civil servants to help him administer the country. These ranged from
highly paid judge to lowly paid junior administer. After the War the British stopped funding Muslim
schools and because Muslims still were not ready to accept the British rule so they did not go in the
British schools and became uneducated. This was not the case with Sikhs and Hindus and they became
friendly with the British and very quickly learned to speak English. After 1857 British did not trust the
Indians and thus, they were not taken in the army and the British did not allow Indians to have their own
weapons and thus making the further rebellions less effective. The Control of the British in India was
now unchallenged.

Conclusion

Most of the European historians have pointed out that it was a revolt of Indian soldiers who were
offended at the use of greased cartridges. In their opinion, the discontented sepoys were incited by the
landlords and the deposed native princes and the people of India were not directly involved in this
rebellion. They further assert that it was not a national war of independence, in as much as the revolt
was confined to a particular region and not to the whole of India; large areas like the Punjab, Sind and
Rajputana remained unaffected. It was admittedly a great and courageous effort by patriotic Indians to
get rid of the foreign domination. It was a glorious landmark in our history in as much as Hindus and
Muslims fought shoulder to shoulder to win back their lost independence. The sepoys and the people
fought gallantly up to the very end. Though the revolt was unsuccessful, the spirit of the people
remained unshaken. The revolt left an impression on the minds of the Indian people and thus paved the
way for the rise of a strong national movement.