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School: Utpal Shanghvi School

Std: 8th –IGCSE Subject: History

Topic: The Revolt of 1857

Important words

● Great Revolt: Great Revolt of 1857 was a revolution in India

which was sparked off as a result of the resentment and
anger of people against the unjust, oppressive and
exploitative British rule.
● Nana Saheb: Nana Saheb was the adopted son of Peshwa
Baji Rao II, who became one of the leaders of the Revolt
of 1857.
● Greased cartridges: Greased cartridges were cartridges
used by Britishers in a new rifle introduced by them. These
cartridges were greased with cow fat and pig lard and had
to be bitten off before loading the rifle.
● Mangal pandey: Mangal Pandey was a sepoy who refused to
use the greased cartridge and attacked his seniors. He was
hanged to death.
● Rani Lakshmibai: Rani Lakshmibai was the bravest and the
best of the military leaders of the rebels who led the
Revolt in Jhansi. She was only 22 years old at the time of
the Revolt.

Textuals

Fill in the blanks:

 Match the following:

Choose the correct answer:

True or false:
Answer in one or two sentences:
 Extra Questions

Fill in the blanks:

1. The aggressive expansionist policy of Lord Dalhousie caused

widespread resentment among the Indian rulers and their
subjects.
2. Dalhousie unjustly annexed several Indian states to fulfil
his objective of extinction of all native states.
3. Dalhousie annexed the states of Satara, Nagpur and Jhansi
by applying the Doctrine of Lapse.
4. Nana Saheb, the adopted son of Peshwa Baji Rao II was
denied a pension after his father's death.
5. Awadh had always been a friendly, faithful and a
subordinate ally.
6. The nawab of Awadh was exiled to Calcutta.
7. The British showed scant respect for the treaties that had
been signed with the Indians.
8. The land revenue system, introduced by the British, caused
great hardship and misery among the peasants.
9. Under the zamindari system, for instance, the peasants
were oppressed by the zamindars and exploited by the
moneylenders.
10. If the cultivators failed to pay the land revenue to the
zamindars or return the loans to the moneylenders on time,
they were often flogged, tortured or jailed.
11. The impoverishment of the peasantry led to numerous
famines.
12. Landlords also suffered from a sense of insecurity.
13. Thousands of jagirs were confiscated by Bentinck and
Dalhousie when they were unable to produce written title
deeds of ownership.
14. The interests of the Indian economy were sacrificed for
the interests of British trade and industry.
15. The interests of British led to the utter collapse of
traditional handicraft industries.
16. Nothing was done by the government to develop modern
Indian industries.
17. Poets, musicians, artists and artisans dependent on royal
patronage lost their jobs.
18. The establishment of British rule in India was
accompanied by the spread of western culture.
19. People were disturbed by the rapid spread of an alien
civilization, which they considered to be a threat to Indian
society and culture.
20. The efforts of the missionaries to convert people to
Christianity caused great alarm.
21. Some of the missionaries ridiculed the religious beliefs
and practices of the Hindus and Muslims in their effort to
convert people to their faith.
22. The introduction of Western education undermined the
position and importance of the pundits and the maulvis and
was seen as an attack on ancient traditions and values.
23. The office of the Inspector of schools in Patna was
referred to as the ‘shaitane daftar’.
24. The introduction of the railways and posts and telegraphs
aroused grave doubts and fears, especially among the
simple villagers.
25. Villagers thought that the telegraph system was a form
of Western magic.
26. The British judicial system introduced the principle of
equality. This was regarded as a threat to the existing
caste norms and privileges of the upper classes.
27. The British looked down on the Indians and followed a
policy of racial discrimination.
28. The Revolt of 1857 started as a mutiny of the sepoys in
the Company's army.
29. The sepoys had helped the British to establish their
empire in India, but they were neither appreciated nor
rewarded for their efforts.
30. There was grave discrimination between the Indian sepoy
and his British counterpart.
31. A capable and dedicated sepoy could not rise above the
post of subedar.
32. An Indian soldier was paid much less salary than his
British counterpart.
33. Many of the senior British officers were old and
incompetent men who could not command the respect of
the Indian soldiers.
34. After the annexation of Awadh, the nawab's army was
disbanded. The soldiers lost their means of livelihood and
their bitterness against the British increased.
35. The restoration of the Mughal empire was proclaimed with
the booming of guns.
36. The sepoy revolt had been transformed into a war of
independence.
37. Inspired by the capture of Delhi, rebellions broke out
over a wide area covering the North-Western province,
Central India and Western Bihar.
38. British reinforcements arrived from Punjab, and Delhi was
recovered in September 1857.
39. A reign of terror followed Thousands of innocent people
were massacred and hundreds were hanged without trial.
40. Bahadur Shah Zafar was taken prisoner, tried and exiled
to Rangoon.
41. The royal princes were shot down and their bodies
displayed on the streets.
42. The revolt in Kanpur was led by Nana Saheb, the adopted
son of the former Peshwa Baji Rao II.
43. Nana Saheb captured Kanpur and proclaimed himself the
Peshwa.
44. The queen of Awadh escaped to Nepal.
45. The Revolt in Jhansi in central Indian was led by the
'bravest and best of the military leaders of the rebels',
the 22-year-old Rani Lakshmibai.
46. Rani Lakshmibai fought gallantly against the British
forces, but Jhansi was captured. Rani Lakshmibai escaped,
mobilized her forces and with the help of Tantya Tope,
captured Gwalior and drove out Sindhia a loyal ally of the
British.
47. By July 1858, 14 months after the outbreak at Meerut,
peace was declared.
48. Queen Victoria was declared the Empress of India in 1876
by the Royal Title act, 1876
49. Queen Victoria issued a proclamation promising to look
after the welfare of the Indian people.
50. After the revolt the right to adopt sons as legal heirs was
acknowledged.
51. A general pardon was granted to all the rebels, except
those who had killed British subjects, after the revolt
52. Indians would be given opportunities to be associated with
the administration. High posts in government services
would be given on the basis of merit, not race.
53. Of the estimated 1,50,000 people killed in the Revolt,
1,00,000 were civilians.
54. The annexation of Satara, Nagpur and Jhansi
transformed the courageous Rani of Jhansi into a staunch
enemy of the British.
 Complete the following:

1. One hundred years after the Battle of plassey in 1757, the

smouldering embers of resentment and anger against the
unjust, exploitative and oppressive British government
exploded into flames and shook the very foundation of
british rule in India. British historians called at the 'Sepoy
Mutiny'; Indian historians refer to it as the 'Great Revolt
of 1857' or the 'first war of Indian independence'.

2. Dalhousie announced that Bahadar shah Zafar's successor

would not be allowed to stay on in the historic Red fort. He
would have to move to a place near the Qutub Minar, on
the outskirts of Delhi. This was a great blow to the dignity
of the Mughal emperor and deeply hurt the sentiments of
the Muslims.

3. The annexation of Awadh, on grounds of maladministration,

outraged the people of India, in general, and Awadh, in
particular.

4. Treaties were broken whenever it suited them to do so.

This created a sense of fear and insecurity among the
rulers of subordinate states.

5. The policy of economic exploitation by the British and the

complete destruction of the traditional economic structure
caused widespread resentment among all sections of
society.
6. When Awadh was annexed, the estates of the zamindars
and talukdars were confiscated by the British. They
became sworn enemies of the British rule.

7. Social reforms such as the abolition of sati and female

infanticide, the Widow Remarriage act and the
introduction of women's education caused deep resentment
among the orthodox section of society. They interpreted
these measures as deliberate attempts by the British to
destroy the sanctity of their religion and social customs.

8. In 1856, an Act was passed which made it compulsory for

all new recruits to serve overseas, if required. This hurt
the sentiments of the Hindus because they believed that
overseas travel would lead to a loss of caste.

9. By 1857, the country was seething with discontent. All that

was needed was a spark to trigger off an explosion. The
issue of the greased cartridges provided that spark. The
British had introduced a new rifle known as the Enfield
Rifle in the army. The cartridge had a greased paper cover,
which had to be bitten off before loading the rifle.

10. In January 1857, a rumour started at the Dum Dum

cantonment (in Calcutta) that the cartridges were greased
with the fat of animals, which was taboo for both Hindus
and Muslims.
11. On 29 March 1857, Mangal Pandey, a sepoy at Barrackpore,
refused to use the cartridge and attacked his senior
officers. He was hanged to death. In the eyes of his fellow
sepoys, Mangal Pandey was not a rebel but a martyr. On 9
May, 85 soldiers in Meerut refused to use the new rifles
and were sentenced to 10 year's imprisonment.

12. Enraged by the humiliating treatment of the comrades,

the sepoys of the Meerut army rose in revolt the following
day. The sepoy stormed the jail and freed their comrades,
shot their European officers, set their bungalow on fire
and cut the telegraph line to Delhi.

13. On 11 May 1857, Bahadur Shah Zafar was persuaded to

accept the leadership of the revolt. He was proclaimed
emperor of Hindustan.

14. British reinforcements arrived and Kanpur was

recaptured. The rebels were punished severely. Nana
Saheb escaped. His brilliant commander, Tantya Tope,
continued the struggle but was later arrested and hanged.

15. The sepoys in Lucknow (capital of Awadh) were joined by

the disbanded soldiers of the old Awadh army as well as
the talukdars and the peasants. The Revolt was led by
Hazrat Mahal the queen of the deposed and exiled Nawab
of Awadh.
16. The British forces were defeated and besieged in the
Lucknow Residency for several months.

17. Rani Lakshmibai fought gallantly against the British

forces, but Jhansi was captured. Rani Lakshmibai escaped,
mobilized her forces and with the help of Tantya Tope,
captured Gwalior and drove out Sindhia - a loyal ally of
British.

18. Rani Laxmibai symbolized courage and bravery and the

spirit of freedom.

19. Great Revolt of 1857 was a revolt in India which was

sparked off as a result of the resentment and anger of
people against the unjust, oppressive and exploitative
British rule.

20. Greased cartridges were cartridges used by Britishers in

a new rifle introduced by them. These cartilages were
greased with the fat of animals, which were taboo for both
Hindus and Muslims and had to be bitten off before
loading the rifle.

21. Rani Lakshmibai was the bravest and the best of the
military leaders of the rebels who led the Revolt in Jhansi.
She was only 22 years old at the time of the Revolt.

22. According to Indian Historians:

● The Revolt was the outcome of the accumulated grievances
of different sections of people and the sepoys alone.
● Those who joined the Revolt had different reasons and
different motives, but they were all united in their hatred
of British rule and their determination to over-throw it.
● It had wide popular support of various sections of society.
Even the boatmen of Lucknow refused to carry British
soldiers across the river.
● The struggle created a strong bonding and a sense of unity
between the Hindus and the Muslims. They fought shoulder
to shoulder, against a common enemy.

23. Revolt was the first large-scale expression of a desire for

freedom from foreign rule.

24. The proclamation of Queen Victoria was an attempt to

pacify the feelings and sentiments of the Indian people
and to convince them that their interests were now safe
under the rule of the British Crown.