War of Independence (1857-1858)

Causes:

There were multiple political, religious, social, military and economical causes for the War of
Independence (1857).

In terms of political, the British East India

company wanted to annex all the states of India
such as Jhansi, Satara, Surat, Ramgarh and
Oudh. Therefore, they introduced policies such
as the Doctrine of Lapse and Subsidiary
alliances.

According to the doctrine of lapse, any princely state under the British East India Company would
have its princely status abolished if the ruler had no male heir or was incompetent.

Lord Dalhousie was the Governor-General of India at the time when this system was implemented
and he was the one who used this policy extensively. This the reason this policy is associated with
him.

What is meant by doctrine of lapse?

The Doctrine of Lapse was introduced by Lord Dalhousie. According to this doctrine, if any Indian
ruler dies without leaving a male heir, his kingdom would automatically pass over to the British.

Doctrine of Lapse – Final Wave of Annexations by Lord Dalhousie

• Lord Dalhousie was the Governor General from 1848 to 1856.

• He led the final wave of annexations.
• This final wave of annexations was done through his policy of Doctrine of Lapse.
• As per Doctrine of Lapse, the Kingdom would ‘Lapse’ and would become part of British
East India Company territory if the ruler of a Kingdom died without male heir.

Doctrine of Lapse – Different Kingdoms that were Annexed

Through Doctrine of Lapse many Kingdoms were annexed which are given below:

• The Kingdom of Satara was the 1st kingdom to be annexed through the Doctrine of Lapse
in 1848.
• The Kingdom of Sambalpur was annexed in 1850.
 • The Kingdom of Udaipur was annexed by Dalhousie through the Doctrine of Lapse
in 1852.
• The Kingdom of Nagpur was annexed in 1853.
• The Kingdom of Jhansi was annexed in 1854.
• The final annexation through the Doctrine of Lapse was the Kingdom of Awadh in 1856.

This policy was taken as a threat by the ruler of many princely states and the Indians were not
ready to accept the systems like this. As a result, they became concerned about the plans of the
British.

In a Subsidiary alliance, the rulers were not allowed to negotiate or make a treaty with any other
Indian ruler without the investigation of officials of East India Company.

As a result, the British were to protect the state from neighbouring attacks but the ruler was to pay
for the maintenance of the force.

If the ruler failed to make the payment, his territory was to be annexed by the Company as a
penalty.

This is also known as “Non-Intervention policy” and was introduced by Lord Wellesly, the
Governor-General from 1798 to 1805. The Indians were enraged due to these policies and they
eventually stood up against the British.

Apart, the British disrespected the Mughals when they shifted the Mughal court and the Muslims
were deeply affiliated with the Mughals because they ruled India for years. This action of the
British offended the Muslims.

Religious and Social causes:

The people of India were very sensitive about their religion and they were not ready to compromise
on their faith.

When they came across the fact that East India Company was spreading Christianity in their land,
they became furious and opposed these measures of the British.

The ideology of many British to “westernise” the Indian subcontinent was met with massive
criticism and the people Thomas Babington Macaulay introduced the western concepts to the
education in India.

Similarly, many Europeans believed that the Indian subcontinent to follow only one religion and
ideas like this were objected widely. Specifically, Hindu customs such as Suttee were banned.
In Suttee, the widow was burned on the funeral pyre of her husband in order to show her affection
for her. The Governor-General, William Bentinck abolished this practice on December 4, 1829.
This measure was taken as an insult by many Hindus.

For the Muslims women, Purda (Hijab) was discouraged and some reports say that multiple
mosques were also destroyed by the British which made the Muslims rise in revolt against the
British.

Socially, the Indians were considered racially inferior and they were known as “second class
citizens” because the Brtish considered them superior.

They believed that it was the duty of the white men to civilize the other communities and dominate
them. This ideology created mistrust between the Britsh and the natives.

These religious and social reasons resulted in the First War of Independence of1857.

Military:

The salary of the Indian soldiers in the Brtish army was meagre, and they were denied higher
ranks despite their services.

On the other hands, the British soldiers were offered high ranks, posts and fancy salaries and this
disproportion, offended the sepoys. Moreover, some Hindus were forced to go overseas despite
their will.

The problem with this was that a Hindu cast would lose its cast if they travelled overseas but, the
British neglected these facts and adopted a harsh attitude towards the Indian soldiers.

A new rifle was introduced which had fat on it which was to be bitten off by teeth. It was rumoured
that it was made of fats of both cow and pig.
In short, loading the rifle often required tearing open the greased cartridge and many sepoys
believed that the cartridges were greased with cow and pig fat.

The problem with this was that cow is sacred for the Hindus while the pig is forbidden in Islam.
Therefore, many soldiers refused to use this rifle and as a result, the uprising started.

Economical:

The Indians were overburdened with massive taxes and the per capita income at that time was also
very low. These measures greatly influenced the tenants who stood against the British.

The elevated status which the Indians enjoyed in the government during the Mughal era was now
over and the British denied high ranks in the government.

The industry in the Indian subcontinent was greatly disturbed because the cheap raw materials
were exported to Britain where semi-finished and finished products were manufactured.

The British sold these products to make a great profit but the sale of local industry in India
declined and Britain was not keen to export its finished products to India.

The economic policies brought massive profit to the British but the locals were adversely affected
and their sales, production and overall trade were influenced.

The agricultural sector was also disturbed because the British did not invest in the advancement
of agriculture and many fertile lands became unproductive as well.

To summarise, some of the causes of the 1857 War of Independence are:

• The annexation policies disturbed the local Nawabs (rulers).

• The spread of Christianity was not acceptable to Indians (religious).
• The Indian customs such as Suttee were banned (social).
• The salary of Indian soldiers was very low (military).
• Heavy taxation enraged poor tenants (economical).