Chapter : The Great Uprising (Notes by Utkarsh Singh)

1. Before the battle of Plassey(1757) the East India Company was merely a
trading group in India.
2. However, after their consistent successes in winning numerous wars against
many provinces in India, The British had annexed a large part of India and
had established themselves as a political power.

3. Nearly 100 years of the presence of the British government had angered all
sections of Indian society. This included noblemen, zamindars, peasants,
tribal communities and the sepoys.
4. Between 1757 and 1856 there were numerous protests all over India.

5. Causes of the uprising:

1) Economic causes : The main cause of popular discontent was the

British policy of economically exploiting India:
● The British had started putting high taxes on land
● The peasants unable to pay taxes started taking loans from
moneylenders
● When the peasants were unable to pay their loans, their land was
taken away

● The artisans source of income was royal patronage and the market
● Since many empires were annexed by the British, royal patronage was
no longer a source of income.
● The british had also started promoting british goods in the Indian
market
● These goods were cheaper compared to the handicraft ones as they
were made by the help of machines.
● The profits made by the artisans reduced tremendously.
● Due to the withdrawal of royal patronage, cultural and religious
occupations like poets, musicians, priests diminished

2) Political causes : In order to increase its power and prestige, the

British East India Company broke the pledges, promises, and many a
times dishonoured the treaties signed with Indian rulers.
● By bringing out the political policies such as the Doctrine of
Lapse and the Subsidiary Alliance the British displaced nearly
the whole of the ruling class.
● The Indian rulers lost their independence
● Their armies were disbanded
● They had no actual power over their territories.

3) Administrative causes : The basic administration for the commoners

was dependent on the Police, petty officials and Lower Law courts.
There was huge corruption in these administrative sectors which
angered the civilians

4) Social Causes : Racial overtones and a superiority complex

characterised the british administrative attitude towards the native
indian population
● The british passed laws banning ‘Sati’
● They legalised widow remarriage
● Women were encouraged to take up western education
● The indians were not allowed to travel in first class
compartments in trains
● Educated Indians were denied promotions and the opportunity
to be appointed to high posts

5) Religious Causes : A major cause of the Uprising was the fear among
people that the Company wanted to convert all Indians to Christianity.
● The christian missionaries were very active during this time.
● A law was passed in 1850 that a christian convert would be
allowed to inherit ancestral property.
6) Military causes : The sepoys too suffered greatly by the hands of the
british
● The annexation of Awadh angered them greatly
● They were also influenced that their religion was under threat
● The sepoys were paid much less than the british soldiers
● They were also treated unfairly by them
● All high posts in the army were reserved for the British. No
Indian could rise higher than a subedar
● The sepoys were not allowed to wear caste and religious marks
 ● An act was passed that required sepoys to travel overseas if
needed
● The foreign service allowance or ‘bhatta’ which the sepoys got
when they were sent to travel overseas was discontinued.

7) Immediate cause : The new Enfield-Pritchett rifle had its cartridges

smeared with pig/cow meat. The sepoys were enraged by this because
it was considered unacceptable in the religions

1. The first soldier to protest against the new cartridges was Mangal Pandey.
2. He was a sepoy in the 5th Company of the 34th Native Infantry Regiment,
stationed at Barrackpore.
3. On 29 March 1857, he fired at his British commander and asked the other
sepoys to join him to end the rule of the Company
4. Mangal Pandey was arrested and hanged on 8 April.
5. On 24 April, 85 sepoys of the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry, stationed at Meerut
refused to use the cartridges.

6. Meerut’s rebellious sepoys seized Delhi and made Bahadur Shah Zafar their
leader and asked him for support
7. Bahadur Shah Zafar wrote letters to many chief rulers of India urging them to
organise a confederacy of Indian states and help fight British
8. Bareiley’s subedar Bakht Khan an experienced leader came to Delhi and took
charge as the head of the sepoys
9. Storm Centres of the Revolt

01. Kanpur - Peshwa Bajirao II was the ruler of Kanpur. He had an

adopted son Dhondu Pant (Nana Saheb). The British did not
acknowledge him as the next Pehwa. When the sepoys reached Delhi,
Nana Saheb took charge
02. Lucknow - In 1856, the British annexed Awadh and sent Wajid
Ali Shah to exile. The sepoys made Begum Hazrat Mahal (Wajid Ali
shah’s wife their leader). Many Britishers were hiding in the British
 residency there. On 23 November the refugees in the residency were
killed
03. Bareilley - Khan Bahadur Khan was leading the sepoys here. He
organised a massive army of 40,000 soldiers and offered stiff
resistance to the British
04. Arrah - Kunwar Singh was a zamindar of Jagdishpur. The British took
away his land. With the help of the sepoys he was able to deliver a
huge blow to the Britishers
05. Jhansi - Rani Laxmibai with the help of Tantiya Tope fought the British
daringly.
1. How British recaptured lost territories

01. Delhi - John Nicholsan captured Delhi and imprisoned Bahadur Shah Zafar in
Rangoon
02. Kanpur - Sir Colin Campbell defeated Naan Saheb in war. Nana Saheb fled to
Nepal
03. Jhansi - Sir Hugh Rose defeated Rani Laxmibai and Tantia Tope. tantia hid in
the jungles but, the british found him and hanged him
04. By 1859, Kunwar Singh, and Khan Bahadur Khan were killed by the british
05. Lucknow - Sir Henry Havelock and James Outram tried to recover Lucknow
but were unsuccessful. It was Colin Campbell who captured Lucknow. Begum
Hazrat Mahal fled to Nepal

2. By 1859, the British Authority over India was re-established.

3. Why the revolt failed:

4. After the uprising

➔ There were many changes made in british policies in India
➔ In August 1858, The british parliament passed an act by which the company’s
rule over india ended
➔ By this act, a minister of the british cabinet called the secretary of state was
appointed to manage affairs in India and was responsible to the parliament
➔ He was to be assisted by a body called the India Council
➔ The Government of India was to be headed by the Governor-General. He was
given the title of Viceroy
➔ He was to be helped by the Executive council and a Legislative Council
➔ He would report to the Secretary of State in England
➔ Queen Victoria assured the princely states that the Government would not
annex their territories
➔ The Doctrine Of Lapse was withdrawn
➔ The Queen promised not to interfere in the social and religious beliefs and
customs of the people
➔ The British started the divide and rule policy.
➔ They accused the muslims of instigating the uprising and began discriminating
against them
➔ The army was reorganised
➔ The ratio of European soldiers was increased. 1 : 2 in Bengal and 1 : 5 in
Madras
➔ Important positions such as artillery were totally in British control
➔ The Sikhs, Pathans and Gurkhas were considered Martial
➔ People who belonged to areas such as Awadh, Bihar, etc. were considered
non-Martial.