Revolt of 1857

The Indian Revolt of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown.

• In 1757, after the Battle of Plassey, the British took the first step towards acquiring power in northern India. In 1857, the dominant ‘Revolt’ took place, which was a result of the policies and character of colonial rule after 1757. Because of these, significant changes took place in the British strategy for controlling India. The overall impact of British expansionist policies, economic exploitation, and administrative innovations over the years had adversely affected the positions of all – zamindars, rulers of Indian states, artisans, sepoys, traders, peasants, pundits, etc. The underlying discontent erupted in the form of a violent series of events in 1857 which shook the British Empire in India to its very foundations.
• However, the period between 1757 and 1857 was not peaceful at all; it saw a series of famous outbursts in the form of religious and political violence, tribal movements, agrarian riots, and peasant uprisings.
• Right from the very early days of the East India Company’s rule, rebellions and uprisings occurred for various reasons in different regions.
• Major revolts took place in the east, west, northeastern regions, and south which were suppressed with brutality by the East India Company.

Influence of Outside Events:

Outside events like the first Afghan War (1838-42), Punjab Wars (1845-49), and the Crimean Wars (1854-56) coincided with the Revolt of 1857. Due to which the British suffered severe losses because of all these concurrent events.

Main Event of The Revolt of 1857

Soon there was a rebellion in the Meerut Cantonment. The Meerut Mutiny (May 9, 1857) marked the beginning of the Revolt of 1857. The Indian sepoys in Meerut murdered their British officers and broke open the jail. On May 10, they marched to Delhi.

• The Revolt began in Meerut, and it soon embraced a vast area from Punjab in the north and Narmada in the south to Bihar in the east and Rajputana in the west.
• The 19^th Native Infantry at Berhampur which refused the newly Enfield rifle and broke out in Feb. 1857; was disbanded in March 1857.
• Also, from the 34th Native Infantry, Mangal Pandey went a step further and fired at the Sergeant Major of his unit at Barrackpore. The 7^th Awadh regiment also met with a similar fate.
• The biggest explosion came from Meerut on April 24, when 90 men of the 3^rd Native Cavalry refused to accept greased cartridges. This sparked general mutiny among Indian soldiers at Meerut.

Discontent among Sepoys

• The mixing of bone dust in flour and Enfield rifle introduction enhanced sepoys’ disaffection with the British government.
• Also, the greased wrapping paper cartridge of a new rifle was made up of beef and pig fat which had to be bitten off before loading by Indian sepoys. (pig was a taboo for Muslims and the cow was sacred to Hindus).
• The sepoys felt their religiousness in grave danger by all these actions made by the British government.
• Religious beliefs and prejudices of the sepoys came into conflict with the conditions of service in the company’s army and cantonments.
• The company put restrictions on wearing caste and sectarian marks and secret rumors of the activities of the chaplains (often maintained at the company’s expense which meant at Indian cost). They saw these activities of the company as interference in their religious affairs.
• In 1856, Lord Canning’s government came with the General Service Enlistment Act; it caused resentment as because of this act, Bengal Army recruits had to serve anywhere as required by the British government.
• The Indian sepoys were also unhappy with the emoluments they got as compared with their counterparts, British soldiers. Also, Indian sepoys got dissatisfied with foreign service allowance (Bhatta), when serving in Sindh or in Punjab. The annexation of Awadh inflamed their feelings further.
• Indian sepoys were made to feel subordinate at every step; they were discriminated against racially in promotions and privileges matters.
• This resulted in a long history of revolts in the British Indian Army – Bengal (1764), Vellore (1806), Barrackpore (1825), and during the Afghans Wars (1838-42).

Bahadur Shah selected as ay Smbolic Head:

• Simon Fraser, the political agent, and lieutenant Willoughby, the officer-in-charge of the arsenal at Delhi were killed by their own European officers. The old and powerless Bahadur Shah Zafar was proclaimed the Emperor of India.
• Delhi soon became a center of the Great Revolt and Bahadur shah, its symbol. This shows that the long reign of the Mughals had become the traditional symbol of India’s political unity.
• The sepoys and all the Indian Chiefs hurried to show their loyalty to the Mughal emperor, indicating that the rebel soldiers were also inspired by politics, despite that it could be said that they were carrying on a common goal (relief from the British) for which the appeal of religion was also a major factor.
• The entire Bengal Army quickly rose in Revolt which spread quickly. Awadh, Rohilkhand, Bundelkhand, the Doab, central India, large parts of Bihar, and east Punjab shook off British authority.

Capture of Delhi

In Delhi, the mutineers were joined by the Delhi sepoys and the city came under their control. The next day, on 11th May, the sepoys proclaimed the aging Bahadur Shah Zafar the Emperor of Hindustan. But Bahadur Shah was old and he could not give able leadership to the sepoys. The occupation of Delhi was short-lived.

Fall of Delhi

The British finally attacked Delhi in September. For six days there was desperate fighting. But by September 1857, the British reoccupied Delhi. Thousands of innocent people were massacred and hundreds were hanged. The old king was captured and later deported to Rangoon where he died in 1862. His sons were shot dead. This ended the imperial dynasty of the Mughals.

Centers of the 1857 Revolt

The revolt spread over the entire area from the neighborhood of Patna to the borders of Rajasthan. There were six main centers of revolt in these regions namely Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Jhansi, Gwalior, and Arrah in Bihar.

Other Centers of the 1857 Revolt

British Official Associated With Revolts

Leaders of the 1857 Revolt

• Mangal Pandey
  • Mangal Pandey was born in a high-caste Hindu family in Uttar Pradesh (Ballia).
  • He joined the 34th Bengal native infantry as a sepoy at a young age.
  • He was enraged, knowing that the cartridge used in the New Enfield rifles were made up of animal fat, mainly from cows and pigs.
  • The sepoys felt their religion was in grave danger, and this is considered one of the major sparking points of the 1857 Revolt.
  • Then, he fired upon Lt. Baugh the Adjutant of the 34th Bengal native Infantry at Barrackpore on 29th March 1857. To read more about the Revolt of Mangal Pandey – [March 29, 1857], check the linked article.
  • He encouraged his fellow sepoys to join him.
  • He was later arrested in injured condition and was sentenced to death.
  • He was hanged on 8th April 1857, ten days before the fixed date of execution.
  • The daring and dashing act of Mangal Pandey triggered off a series of revolts all over the country.
  • The Indian government issued a stamp to commemorate him in 1984.
• General Bakht Khan
  • In Delhi, Bahadur Shah was the leader. 
  • But the real power lay with the soldiers. Bakht Khan, who had led the revolt of the soldiers at Bareilly, arrived in Delhi on 3rd July 1857. 
  • From that date, he exercised real authority in Delhi.  
  • He formed a Court of soldiers composed of both Hindu and Muslim rebels.
• Nana Saheb
  • At Kanpur, the revolt was led by Nana Saheb, the adopted son of Peshwa Baji Rao II.
  • The rebellious sepoys also supported Nana Saheb and under his leadership, both the military and civilian elements were united. They expelled the British from Kanpur and Nana Saheb was declared the Peshwa.
  • His troops were commanded by Tantya Tope and Azimullah.
• Begum Hazrat Mahal
  • At Lucknow, the Begum of Awadh provided leadership and proclaimed her son, Birjis Qadr, as the Nawab of Awadh. 
  • But here again, the more popular leader was Maulavi Ahmadullah of Faizabad, who organized rebellions and fought the British. 
  • Therefore, in Lucknow, Begum Hazrat Mahal was assisted by Maulvi Ahmadullah.
• Rani Laxmibai
  • Rani Lakshmi Bai/Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi was another great popular leader. 
  • She believed that she had been robbed of her ruling rights in defiance of recognized Hindu law.
  • Though she showed some hesitation at the initial stage, she fought valiantly once she joined the ranks of the rebels. 
  • To read more about Rani Lakshmi Bai and her contribution to the freedom struggle, check the linked article.
• Kunwar Singh
  • He was a local zamindar in Arrah in Bihar.
  • Under his leadership, the military and civil rebellion was so completely fused that the British dreaded him the most.
• Khan Bahadur
  • The order of the rebellion in Bareilly rested with Khan Bahadur Khan, a progeny of the former ruler of Rohilkhand. He resented the British and was not interested in the pension offered to him by the latter.
  • When the rebellion failed, Bareilly, too, was retrieved by the British. He fled to Nepal where the Nepalese seized him and then turned him over to the British. Khan Bahadur Khan was hanged in 1860.
• The Unsung Heroes
  • Apart from those known leaders who are remembered for their courage and patriotism, there were plenty of unacknowledged and unrecognized but no less brave leaders among the peasants, sepoys, and petty zamindars.
  • They also battled the British with outstanding courage. Sepoys and peasants laid down their lives for the sake of their country, ignoring their religious and caste differences and rising above their own narrow individual interests.

Causes of Failure of the Revolt

1. Limited Uprising: Although the revolt was fairly widespread, a large part of the country remained unaffected by it. The revolt was mainly confined to the Doab region. Sind, Rajputana, Kashmir, and most parts of Punjab. The southern provinces did not take part in it. It failed to have the character of an all-India struggle. Important rulers like Sindhia, Holkar, Rana of Jodhpur, and others did not support the rebels.
2. No Effective Leaders: lacked an effective leader. Nana Saheb, Tatya Tope, and Rani Lakshmi Bai were brave leaders, no doubt, but they could not offer effective leadership to the movement as a whole.
3. Limited Resources: lacked resources in terms of men and money. The English, on the other hand, received a steady supply of men, money, and arms in India.
4. No Participation of the Middle Class: The English-educated middle class, the rich merchants, traders, and zamindars of Bengal helped the British to suppress the revolt.

Result of the Revolt of 1857

• The government of India Act, of 1858 (Good governance Act 1858) was passed to end the rule of the company and transferred it to the British crown which was the outcome of the 1857 revolt.
• The British Governor-General of India was given the title of a viceroy who became the representative of the monarch. It ended the system of double government by abolishing the Board of Control and Court of Directors.
• It created a new office, the Secretary of State for India, vested with complete authority and control over the Indian administration. The secretary of state was a member of the British cabinet and was responsible ultimately to the British Parliament.
• The 1857 revolt marked the end of the East India Company’s rule in India. India now came under the direct rule of the British Crown. This was announced by Lord Canning at a Durbar in Allahabad in a proclamation issued on 1 November 1858 in the name of the Queen. Thus, the Indian administration was taken over by Queen Victoria, which, in effect, meant the British Parliament. The Governor General’s office was replaced by that of the Viceroy.
• The Doctrine of Lapse was abolished. The right to adopt sons as legal heirs were accepted.

The signification of the Revolt of 1857

• The significance of the Revolt of 1857 lies in the fact that it voiced, violently, the grievances of various classes of people.
• The British were made to realize that all was not under control in British India.
• Modern Nationalism was unknown in India, yet the revolt of 1857 played an important role in bringing the Indian people together and imparting to them the consciousness of belonging to one country. It had seeds of nationalism and anti-imperialism, but the concept of common nationality and nationhood was not inherent to the revolt of 1857. One may say that the revolt of 1857 was the first great struggle of Indians to throw off British Rule. It established traditions of local resistance to British rule which were to pave the way for the modern national movement.
• Hindu Muslim Unity Factor- During the entire revolt, there was complete cooperation between Hindus and Muslims at all levels- people, soldiers, and leaders. All rebels acknowledged Bahadur Shah Zafar, a Muslim, as the emperor and the first impulse of the Hindu sepoys at Meerut was to march to Delhi, the Mughal imperial Capital. Rebels and sepoys, both Hindu and Muslim, respected each other’s sentiments. Immediate banning of cow slaughter was ordered once the revolt was successful in a particular area. Both Hindus and Muslims were well represented in leadership, for instance, Nana Saheb had Azimullah, a Muslim and an expert in political propaganda, as an aide, while Laxmibai had the solid support of Afghan Soldiers. Thus, the events of 1857 demonstrated that the people and politics of India were not basically communal before 1858.

Nature of the Revolt

from different people’s perspectives, i.e. how they saw the Revolt

• R.C. Majumdar – “Neither first nor a national war of independence”.
• V.D. Savarkar – “War of independence”.
• Eric Stokes – “Elitist in character”.
• Lawrence and Seeley – “Mere sepoy mutiny”.
• Percival Spear – “ Three phases of the Revolt”.
• T.R. Holmes – “A conflict between civilization and barbarism”.

Hindus and Muslims fought united, but modern nationalism was absent.

Effects of the Revolt of 1857

• Government of India Act, 1858: Company rule abolished; Crown took over.
• Queen’s proclamation altered the administration.
• Army reorganized (Proportion of Indian soldiers changed): Martial races recognized (Sikhs, Gurkhas, Pathans, etc.) by the British.
• Racial hatred deepened.

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