The First War of Independence - 1857 PDF

# The First War of Independence - 1857 ## The Revolt of 1857 - The Revolt of 1857 was a landmark in the history of India's struggle for freedom. - It started on May 10, 1857 with the mutiny of soldiers in Meerut Cantonment. - Revolutionary soldiers marched towards Delhi. - On May 11, 1857, Delhi was...

# The First War of Independence - 1857 ## The Revolt of 1857 - The Revolt of 1857 was a landmark in the history of India's struggle for freedom. - It started on May 10, 1857 with the mutiny of soldiers in Meerut Cantonment. - Revolutionary soldiers marched towards Delhi. - On May 11, 1857, Delhi was a mute witness to a band of sepoys who crossed over the River Yamuna and entered the Red Fort. - They appealed to the aged Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah, an emperor without any authority, to take over the leadership of the revolt. - He was proclaimed the Shahenshah-e-Hindustan. - The sepoys captured the city of Delhi, killed many Englishmen and ransacked many public offices. - The revolt was started by the Indian soldiers in the service of the East India Company, it soon spread to different parts of the country. - Different sections of the society like peasants, artisans, soldiers, educated Indians and many Indian rulers joined hands to fight heroically against the foreign rule. - Hindus and Muslims also came together to oppose the foreign domination. - The event is also called The Uprising, the Revolt of 1857 or the Sepoy Mutiny by the British. - But Indian historians call it the First War of Independence as it was the first time that different sections of Indian society united and fought as one nation to throw off the shackles of foreign domination. ## Causes of the Revolt ### Political Causes - The revolt was the outcome of the widespread resentment that had been boiling against the British for a long time. - The Indian sepoys were dissatisfied with the treatment meted out to them. - The Indian rulers-Bahadur Shah Zafar, Tantya Tope of Gwalior, Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi and Nana Saheb of Kanpur-had personal scores to settle with the British. They led the revolt in their respective territories. - The common people of Delhi, Lucknow, Gwalior and other places had no narrow ambitions of power or money. They wanted an end of the foreign exploitation. - The policy of annexation of Dalhousie, particularly, the Doctrine of Lapse, created fear and resentment among Indian rulers. - They were not allowed to adopt heirs to the throne. This policy ensured that those kingdoms, where the kings did not have natural heirs, would be taken over by the British after the demise of the king. - It is believed if the British would not have snapped the compensation that kings were paid earlier in return of a share in government, the kings would not have joined the revolt. - The British signed many treaties with the Kings and Nawabs but violated them, as per their convenience. - One such treaty signed with Awadh was Subsidiary Alliance in 1801. - The Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was compelled to accept the permanent British army within the territory and to pay a subsidy for its maintenance. - He could not recruit any other European in his service without prior approval. - He had to station a Resident in his court, which reduced the power of the Nawab. - Gradually, the Indians lost all trust in the British. - Awadh had been an ally of the East Indian Company for nearly a century. Still it was annexed on the plea that the government was not functioning properly. - The Nawab was exiled to Calcutta. - Begum Hazrat Mahal took over the reign of Awadh. - This shocked the other rulers. ### Economic Causes - The policy of economic exploitation and the destruction of the traditional Indian economic structure by the British caused widespread resentment among Indians. - The zamindari system exploited the peasants who were forced to grow only those crops that the British industries required. - They were tortured or jailed on failure to pay the revenue in time. - Industrial goods like textiles from Britain flooded the Indian markets. - This destroyed Indian industries and made the artisans and peasants unemployed. - Whenever the princely states were annexed, the British got rent-free land and huge amount of money. - The common people faced unemployment and poverty. - When Awadh was occupied by the British, Nawab’s officials were dismissed and his army was disbanded. - About 60,000 professional soldiers lost their livelihood. ### Social and Religious Causes - The social reforms by the British were considered an interference in the customs and traditions of the Hindus. - Many Indians opposed the introduction of western education and the conversion of Indians to Christianity. - The Hindu law of property was changed to enable a Christian convert to receive his share of ancestral property. - The spread of railways created further fear among the poor and illiterate sections of the society that they would lose their caste. - Indians were not allowed to travel in first class train compartments. - The conservative Indians were alarmed by the rapid spread of western culture and English education in India. - The British looked down upon Indians and followed a policy of racial discrimination. - They considered themselves as ‘superiors’. - They advocated a judicial system based on the principle of equality but in actual practice it was biased. ### Military Causes - The Sepoys had helped the British to establish their empire in India but instead of receiving awards or promotions, they were humiliated by the British. - There was discrimination between the Indian and the British soldiers. - The highest pay given to an Indian sepoy as subedar was less than the minimum pay of a European recruit. - The Act of 1856, made it compulsory for new Indian recruit to serve overseas. - It hurt the feelings of the soldiers as Hindus believed that overseas travel would lead to the loss of caste. ### Immediate Causes - The cartridges of the new Enfield rifle had a greased paper cover which had to be bitten off before the cartridge was loaded into the rifle. - It was said that the grease composed of beef and pig fat. - Both the Hindus and the Muslims refused to use them as the cow is sacred to the Hindus and the pig is detestable to the Muslims. - On March 29, 1857 at Barrackpore near Calcutta, Mangal Pandey, a young Indian Sepoy from Bengal Regiment, refused to use the greased cartridge and shot down his sergeant. - He was arrested, tried and executed. - When this news spread, many sepoys started the revolt. ## Course of the Revolt  - The sepoys broke out into an open revolt at Meerut in April, 1857. - They refused to touch the greased cartridges. - They were court-martialed and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. - The regiments in Meerut revolted on May 10, 1857. - They broke open the prison and released the imprisoned soldiers. - They marched to Delhi on May 11 and rebelled under Bahadur Shah Zafar II. - The Revolt then spread to other places. - It was led by Nana Saheb in Kanpur along with his General, Tantya Tope and by Begum Hazrat Mahal in Awadh. - Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi led the revolt in Central India and fought valiantly. - The Revolt also spread to Bareily, Agra, Benaras and other places. - The Sikh leaders in Punjab, Nizam of Hyderabad and Scindia of Gwalior did not join the revolt. - The Madras and the Bombay Regiments also did not join the revolt. - The Afghans and the Gurkhas remained loyal to the British. - The Revolt was started by the sepoys but the participation of the peasants and the artisans gave the Revolt its real strength. - It reflected the Hindu-Muslim unity. - Although the Revolt was a great event but it was effectively suppressed by the Britishers. ## Suppression of the Revolt - British military officers freed Delhi, the epicentre of the Revolt, from the rebels. - The Kashmiri Gate was blown up. - Hundreds of people were massacred. - Bahadur Shah Zafar II, the Mughal Emperor, was tried for treason and exiled to Rangoon. - His sons were cruelly shot down as they were held guilty of the murder of the English men, women and children. - The control of Delhi and imprisonment of Bahadur Shah Zafar by the British broke the backbone of the mutiny. - Lucknow was recaptured in 1858. - Rani Lakshmi Bai was killed in the battle and Tantya Tope was captured and hanged to death. - Thus, ended the episode of the historic Revolt, also called the First War of Independence. ## Causes of the Failure of the Revolt - The Uprising had been planned for months, but it broke out before the appointed date. - It did not go according to the plan as the revolutionaries failed to spread it beyond Central India and Delhi. - If the plan had gone as per the schedule, the revolt would have broken out in many parts of India simultaneously and it would have been very difficult for Lord Canning, the Governor-General at that time, to control the revolt. - There was no unity among the rebels. - The ideas of nationalism had not yet developed. - There was no common ideology amongst the rebels. - The sepoys of Bengal wanted to revive the glory of the Mughals while Nana Saheb and Tantya Tope tried to re-establish the Maratha power and Rani Lakshmi Bai fought for her lost kingdom. - The rising was not widespread. It was limited to North and Central India. - In the North, the Sikhs, the Nizams and the Scindias were unaffected by the Revolt and the Gurkhas not only remained loyal to the Britishers, but helped the British in suppressing the mutiny. - The rebels could not match the sophisticated and modern weapons and the disciplined army of the British. - Moreover, an organised communication system and military strategies led to British victory. - The leadership of the Revolt was neither strong nor gave direction to the rebels. - The Indian rulers fought to liberate their own territories and did not think about the freedom of the whole country. - Moreover, the Company officials got timely help from the government of Britain. ## Results of the Revolt - The rule of the East India Company ended with Queen Victoria’s Proclamation of November 1, 1858. - She assumed the title of the Empress of India. - The British crown took over the administration of India. - A Secretary of State was appointed by the British Parliament to look after the governance of India with the help of a council. - The Governor-General was given the title of Viceroy-The Representative of the British Crown. - The British reorganised the army to prevent any future revolts. - The policy of ruthless conquests and annexations of Indian territories was given up. - The Indian princes were given the assurance that their States would not be annexed and were granted the right of adoption. - Full religious freedom was guaranteed to the Indians. - They were also given the assurance that high posts would be given to them without any discrimination. - By the end of 1859, British authority in India was fully re-established. - But the Revolt proved to be the first great struggle for freedom. - It became a source of inspiration for the later freedom struggles and its heroes became household names in the country. ## Keywords - **ally:** a state formally cooperating with another for a military or other gains - **court-martialed:** a judicial court for trying members of armed services accused for offences against military law - **mutiny:** an open rebellion against the proper authorities, especially, by soldiers and sailors against their officers - **racial discrimination:** unfair treatment or bias against a person or a group of people on the basis of their race-hair type, colour of eyes or skin - **revolt:** take violent actions against an established government or ruler, or an authority - **Sergeant:** a rank of non-commissioned officer in the army or air force - **shackles:** a pair of fetters connected together by a chain, used to fasten a prisoner's wrists or ankles together - **Subebar:** it is rank in Indian Army, ranking below the commissioned officers - **subsidy:** money that is paid usually by a government to keep the price of a product or service low or to help a business or an organisation to continue to function - **treason:** the crime of betraying one's own country.