Date: ______________

5. The Great Uprising of 1857

1. Fill in the blanks. R
a) The British troops led by Sir John Nicholson defeated the rebels and restored
Delhi.
b) The silver currency introduced by the British in Khurda region was known as
Sicca.
c) The Scindias,/Holkars,/Nizam/Patiala were one of the Indian rulers who
actively supported the British in suppressing the Great Uprising of 1857.
d) The British refused to continue the pension of ex-Peshwa Baji Rao II to his
adopted son Nana Saheb.
2. Name the following.(R/U)
a) The chief organiser of the Great Uprising of 1857 in Arrah.
Kunwar Singh
b) The last Mughal ruler in India.
Bahadur Shah Zafar
c) The sepoy who refused to use the new Enfield rifles and fired at Lieutenant
Baugh.
Mangal Pandey
d) The British Governor-General during the Great Uprising of 1857.
Lord Canning
3. State whether the following statement is true or false. Correct the false
statement and rewrite.(R/AN)
a) Buxi Jagabandhu, was the hereditary military commander of King Mukunda Dev
II. True
b) The Nizam of Hyderabad revolted against the British. False
The Nizam of Hyderabad actively supported the British.
c) The Hindu and Muslim sepoys declined to use the greased cartridges as this
would violate their religious beliefs. True
d) The policy of Doctrine of lapse permitted Christian missionaries to come to
India to carry out proselytising activities. False
The Charter Act of 1813 permitted Christian missionaries to come to India
to carry out proselytising activities.
4. Complete the following statements. (U/AN)
a) The traditional salt makers of Odisha were deprived of making salt due to the
introduction of salt monopoly by the British.
 b) The British policies such as Subsidiary Alliance, Doctrine of Lapse angered
many Indian rulers and chiefs as they lost their power and honour.
c) The Khurda Uprising 1817, forced the British government to adopt the policy
of ‘leniency, indulgence and forbearance’ towards the people of Khurda.
d) The self-sufficient village economy of India was destroyed because the British
laid more emphasis on commercial crops such as indigo.
5. Answer the following questions in detail. (U/AP)
a) Explain any three causes that led to the failure of the revolt of 1857.
 Weak leadership:
One of the important reasons of the failure was the weak leadership.
Bahadur Shah was too weak and an old person to lead the uprising.
All the leaders fought to defend their own territories and neither
coordinated nor planned with one another as a unit. No national
leader emerged to give purpose and direction to the uprising.
 Unorganised effort and lack of planning:
The rebels failed on account of unorganised effort and lack of
planning. They were brave but ill disciplined and unorganised. They
worked without any common plan and did not have a definite aim
acceptable to all. They lacked an ideology or programme which could
be implemented in the captured areas from the British.
 Limited scope of the uprising:
The uprising was localised. There were many parts of India which were
not affected by the uprising at all. It was confined to areas such as
Bihar, modern Uttar Pradesh and parts of modern Madhya Pradesh.
The British Indian territories such as Bombay, Madras and Western
Punjab remained outside the fold of the uprising and not at all
affected by it. Many Indian rulers such as the Scindias of Gwalior, the
Holkars of Indore, the Nizam of Hyderabad, the rulers of Patiala and
many other ruling chiefs and zamindars refused to help the rebels and
actively supported the British in suppressing the uprising.
 Superior military resources:
The British were better equipped and had superior resources to fight
while the rebels were short of modern weapons and whatever existed
was outdated. They fought with old weapons such as arrows, swords,
pikes, etc. against the superior military tactics and highly skilled and
well equipped forces of the British
 Lack of interest by the middle, the upper class and the intellectuals:
The educated Indians did not support the uprising. Their lack of
interest was a serious drawback. Their view was that the rebels
 supported the old order along with their superstitions and were
opposing the progressive social measures. Furthermore, except the
discontented and the disposed zamindars, the middle and upper
classes did not support the uprising.
b) How did discontent among the sepoys lead to the Great Uprising of 1857?
The British government decided to replace the old fashioned musket by
the new ‘Enfield Rifle’. It needed a special type of cartridge which was
covered with greased paper. The paper had to be bitten off before
loading the cartridge into the rifle. The grease used in the paper
contained beef and pig fat. Therefore, Hindu and Muslim sepoys declined
to use the greased cartridges as this would violate the religious
injunctions of both the communities. They believed that the government
was purposely trying to obliterate their religion. This incident exploded
the spark and became the immediate cause of the Great Uprising of1857.
c) A new phase of colonial rule started in India after 1857. Briefly explain any four
results of the Great Uprising of 1857.
The Great Uprising of 1857 was the great struggle of the Indians for
freedom from the British. The result of the uprising marked the end of
the Mughal dynasty. By the end of 1859, the British regained their
control over the country. They could not continue ruling the country with
the same policies and introduced major changes in British policies and in
the administrative set-up of India.
In August 1858, the British Parliament passed an Act for the Better
Government of India in order to manage the Indian affairs in a
responsible manner. The responsibility of Indian administration was
transferred from the East India Company to the British Crown. Thereby,
the rule of the English East India Company formally came to an end.
Lord Canning was the Governor-General during the time of the
uprising. He was to continue but was thereafter given the title of Viceroy,
meaning, a personal representative of the crown.
The British gave assurance to all ruling chiefs that their territory would
never be seized in the future. They were permitted to pass on their
property to their successors, including adopted sons.
Thorough reorganisation of the Indian army was another important
outcome of the uprising. It was decided that the proportion of the
European soldiers to Indian sepoys would be increased in the army to
prevent future uprisings. The Indian soldiers would be recruited from the
Gurkhas, Sikhs and Pathans.
The British Government also proclaimed to abstain from all
 interference with the religious and social customs of the Indian subjects.
The British believed that the Muslims were responsible for the
uprising. Therefore their land and property was confiscated on large
scale.
The British tried to win the loyalty of zamindars and landlords. They
framed new policies providing them security of their rights over lands.

6. Rani Laxmibai fought valiantly against the British to protect her kingdom. Fill
in the blanks and complete the paragraph given below. (R/U/EV)

Rani Lakshmibai was the ruler of Jhansi. She was the widowed queen of Gangadhar
Rao, the last of the Jhansi rulers. She was also a victim of Lord Dalhousie’s policy of
Doctrine of Lapse. She joined the rebel sepoys and fought against the British forces.
The British forces under Sir Hugh Rose occupied the fort and the city of Jhansi.
Tatya Tope, the general of Nana Saheb, joined Rani Lakshmibai at Kalpi. They
conceived the idea of seizing Gwalior. The Scindia ruler of Gwalior was forced to flee
to Agra and Gwalior fell into the hands of the rebel leaders. On hearing the news of
loss of Gwalior, Hugh Rose left Kalpi for Gwalior. A fierce battle was fought and the
British recaptured Gwalior.

7. On the map of India mark the following: (R/AP)

i. Rani Lakshmibai belonged to this kingdom.Jhansi
ii.Nana Saheb led the Great Uprising of 1857 from this region. Kanpur
iii. The first major outbreak of the Great Uprising of 1857 occurred in this
region.Meerut
iv. Begum Hazrat Mahal organised the uprising from this region.
Lucknow
v. Kunwar Singh, was the chief organiser of the uprising in this region.
Arrah
8. The British passed several laws such as the abolition of Sati to reform the
Indian society. However, the resentment against the British government
continued among the Indians. Evaluate the response of Indian subjects towards
the reforms introduced by the British. (EV/CR)
Accept relevant answers