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The Great Revolt of 1857 - Its Origin, Character, Causes and Failure and Its Consequences.

The Great Revolt of 1857 - Its Origin, Character, Causes and Failure and Its Consequences.

Section titled “The Great Revolt of 1857 - Its Origin, Character, Causes and Failure and Its Consequences.”

2020-04-27 15:11 :42

Beginning of the Revolt and Its Leaders

Section titled “Beginning of the Revolt and Its Leaders”
  • The revolt began at Meerut, 58 km from Delhi, on May 10 1857.
  • Delhi was captured and Simon Fraser, the Political Agent and several other Englishmen were killed became a rally point for the revolt.
  • Even before the revolt there were rumblings of resentment
    • 19th Native Infantry was disbanded in March for not using new Enfield rifles
    • 7th Oudh regiment and 34th Native Infantry also revolted.
    • Mangal Pande of the 34th Native Infantry regiment - Barrackpore.
  • Leader of Revolt at Lucknow - Begum Hazrat Mahal and her Son Birjis Qadir was proclaimed the nawab.
  • Leader of Revolt at Bareilly - Khan Bahadur
  • Who led the revolt at Faizabad - Maulvi Ahmadullah/ Danka Shah
  • At Kanpur Nana Saheb, Kunwar Singh in Bihar
  • Awadh, Rohilkhand, the Doab,Bundelkhand,central India, large parts of Bihar and East Punjab were affected.
  • Shah Mal in Barhut in UP
  • During the revolt the real command lay with a court of soldiers headed by General Bakht Khan who had led the revolt of Bareilly troops and brought them to Delhi.
  • The court consisted of ten members, six from the army and four from the civilian departments. The court conducted the affairs of the state in the name of the emperor.

Reasons for Revolt :

Section titled “Reasons for Revolt :”
  • Immediate reason as proclaimed in Delhi was that the rebels saw their faith in danger. The official-missionary nexus gave credence to this. Rumours about mixing of bone dust in Atta, greasing of cartridges with animal fats etc were rife.
  • Army consisted of mainly upper caste Hindus who were traditional when the expanse of the empire increased they were asked to serve abroad which was against tradition. Ex 47th Regiment of Barracpore in 1824.
  • native sepoys were discriminated against in their salaries and promotion as compared to an ensign of British Origin.
  • Sepoy was actually a peasant in uniform, if their or their communities rights were infringed their loyalties and sympathies would not lie with the British.
  • Sepoys were mostly from Oudh, which was annexed for misgovernment and a harsh revenue settlement was imposed on them.
  • Revenue was often collected hastily and coercively without any remission even during hardships.
  • Utilitarianism and Evangelization theories made the common man suspect every action of the Britishers.
  • Traditional Handicrafts were destroyed and craftsmen were left unemployed.
  • Enfield replaced Brown Bess
  • Disobedience incendiarism arson in Ambala, Lucknow, Meerut
  • Dispossession of taluqdars
  • Feudal elements and big landlords were common in rebellion
  • Social homogeneity and collective power promote spread
  • Social reforms

Reasons for Failure :

Section titled “Reasons for Failure :”
  • No source of arms and ammo, whatever they had were obsolete.
  • No quick system of communication
  • Not aware about the strengths and weakness of their compatriots
  • country as a whole was not with them. Merchants, intelligentsia and Indian rulers were aloof and even supported the British.
  • Rebels were in general poorly served by their leaders. Bahadur Shah and Zeenat Mahal were concerned about their own safety, taluqdars tried to protect their property and interest first.
  • had no political perspective or a definite vision of the future

Consequnces of Revolt/Impact :

Section titled “Consequnces of Revolt/Impact :”
  • Served as an inspiration for the national liberation movement later.
  • Reactionary and vested interests became pillars of Br rule.
  • Policy of divide and rule deliberately pursued and control over civil and military position by Europeans increased.
  • Control transferred to Crown this was more formal than substantial with the Act of 1858.
  • Against desire of extension of territorial possession promised to respect rights, dignity and honour of native princes. Amnesty given to those not directly involved in killing of Br subjects -> many Talukdars of Awadh reinstated.
  • Indian Civil Services Act 1861 passed to freely and impartially admit Indians in Covenanted Civil Service, Exam to be held in London.
  • Army Amalgamation Scheme transferred EIC troops to the Crown. European troops to have periodical visits to England, strength of them increased, Indian troops reduced, Indian artillery units disbanded.
  • Representation of Indians in representative institutioins were sought and Indian Councils Act 1861 passed.
  • Racial bitterness among Indians, dehumanised the natives and generalised all of them as being unworthy of trust.
  • Territorial expansion gave way to Economic exploitation.

Awadh

Section titled “Awadh”
  • Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was removed on the ground of misgovernment and exiled to calcutta
  • New summary settlement had disturbed the existing social order, the taluqdars who were traditional landowners were replaced, their forts destroyed and their armies disbanded
  • New settlement was inflexible, oppressive, inconsiderate
  • Rumours and prophecies showed the apprehensions, faith, convictions of people.
  • Enfield cartridges greased with fats of cows and pigs, mixing of bone dusts in atta, distribution of Chapattis as a sign of upheaval.

Nature and Character of the Revolt

Section titled “Nature and Character of the Revolt”
  • Historians like Kaye, Malleson, Trevelyan, Lawrence, Holmes have painted it as a mutiny
  • Certain Indian contemporaries such as Munshi Jiwan Lal, Durgadas Bandyopadhyay, Syed Ahmed khan held a similar view
  • Some have described it as religious war against the Christians or racial struggle b/w Black and White.
  • It was not war of races : it is true that at one side there were Europeans but there were also supported by their black counterparts
  • Some have called it Oriental Barbarism vs Occidental civilisation : this was not so British were also guilty of excesses. Ex. Hodson indulged in indiscrinate shooting at Delhi. Neill hanged hundreds without trial. Lucknow corpses showed occidental barbarism.
  • leaders fought for their feudal privileges not national cause and were mutually jealous of each other.
  • It cannot be called of a national character since majority of people remained disinterested and some even apathetic.

Elitist?

Section titled “Elitist?”
  • Judith Brown : Feudal elements were decision makers, gave direction
  • Eric Stokes : rural revolt of 1857 was elitist in character
  • Rudrangshu Mukherjee : taluqdar participation never universal
  • B won due to unlimited men and resources, sophisticated weapons

Was it War of Independence?

Section titled “Was it War of Independence?”
  • J Nehru : Essentially it was a feudal outburst headed by feudal chiefs aided by anti foreign sentiments. Chiefs were unorganised and no constructive ideal or community of interest.
  • RCM : Some individuals/rulers had patriotic motive of freein country from imperial British rule
  • RC Majumdar : concluded that it was first national war of Independence is neither First nor National nor War of Independence.
  • Sen Concludes that What began as fight for religion ended as War of Indpendence since they wanted to get rid of the alien govt and restore old King.

PYQs

Section titled “PYQs”

The Great Revolt of 1857, - Origin, character, causes of failure, the consequences

  1. Critically examine the nature of the Revolt of 1857. How did it affect the British policy in India after 1858? [1980, 60m]
  1. “The Mutiny was not inevitable in 1857, but it was inherent in the constitution of the Empire.” Comment. [1983, 20m]
  1. “On the whole, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the so-called First National War of Independence was neither First, nor National, nor a war of Independence.” Comment. [1985, 20m]
  1. “Whatever might have been its original character, it (Rebellion of 1857) soon became a symbol of challenge to the mighty British power in India.” Comment. [1988, 20m]
  1. “The new attitude of caution and conservatism can be detected in almost every sphere of British activity in India after the Revolt of 1857.” Comment. [1994, 20m]
  1. Examine the nature of the Revolt of 1857 and indicate the manifold changes in British civil and military administration of India after 1857. [1998, 60m]
  1. Do you believe that the uprising in 1857 was nationalist in nature? If not, what was its character? [1999, 60m]
  1. “Whatever might have been its original character, it (Rebellion of 1857) soon became a symbol of challenge to the mighty British power in India.” Comment. [2005, 20m]
  1. “The Revolt of 1857 seemed to call the very presence of the British into question. What it did not do was reverse these changes.” Comment. [2007, 20m]
  1. “The annexation of Awadh shook the loyalty of these Sepoys, as it was for them an ultimate proof of untrustworthiness of the British.” Comment. [2009, 20m]
  1. “In 1857, the rebel sepoys showed a remarkable centripetal tendency to congregate at Delhi.” Do you agree? Substantiate. [2011, 30m]
  1. “The military, feudal and traditional overtones of the Revolt of 1857 were overshadowed by its nationalist or proto-nationalist character.” Critically examine. [2014, 10m]
  1. “The Mutiny of 1857 was much more than a Mutiny of Sepoys and much less than a National Rebellion.” Comment. [2016, 10m]