The Great Revolt of 1857

module

1 policies of east india company

2 sepoys and peasants

3 the rebellion

4 aftermath

12/6/2008 12:14:36 AM

The Great Revolt of 1857

Intro

Age of Discovery! Arrival of the British Early Revolts The FIRST WAR!! Causes Course of the Revolt Reasons for Failure After-effects of the war In conclusion

The Great Revolt of 1857

Age of Discovery!(15th – 17th Century)

Portugal

Spain (Castille)

Vasco da Gama

Christopher Columbus

Travel Routes

Arrival of the British

The Great Revolt of 1857

The East India Company arrives in India (1619)

Early Revolts

Sepoy Mutiny, Vellore (1806)

Barrackpore Mutiny (1824)

The Great Revolt of 1857

The FIRST WAR!!

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, in his famous book, “Discovery of India”, has written,

“The very fact that a country with such a great illustrious past should be ruled over by a handful of people from a distant Island is something that makes me wild.”

It was the inner feeling of the entire country.The Great Revolt

of 1857

Causes

Political The Doctrine of Lapse

Administrative English

Courts

Taxes

Economic Exploitation

Loss of livelihood

The Great Revolt of 1857

Causes

Social Racial arrogance Sati & Female Infanticide Christianity for inheritance

Religious Christian Missionaries Taxes on temple & mosque lands!

Military Pay No mark on forehead, beard or turban!

Immediate cause

The Great Revolt of 1857

Immediate Cause

Can

you

guess?The Great Revolt of 1857

Mangal!

The Great Revolt of 1857

The Great Revolt of 1857

The Great Revolt of 1857

The Great Revolt of 1857

Course of the Revolt

Meerut (April 1857)

No ‘Greased’ catridges

Prison

Cawanpore

Nana Saheb

‘Jhansi’ Lakshmi Bai

The Great Revolt of 1857

The Great Revolt of 1857

The Great Revolt of 1857

Reasons for Failure!

Lack of Unity !

Lack of Modern Weapons and Techniques

Leadership

Results of the Revolt

The Great Revolt of 1857

After-effects of this war

Bye-bye East India Company!

Hi! British Crown and Viceroy

(Queen Victoria and Lord Canning)

The Great Revolt of 1857

In Conclusion

Q) Why knowing about this war is important for us?

A) It was the mother of the freedom movement, which brought India its independence.

The Great Revolt of 1857

East India company : The company which come to India and ssettled at Calcutta (now Kolkata) to carry out their trade activities during the later half of the 18th century .

Mutiny: The situation when the soldiers as a group disobey the orders of their officers in the army is termed mutiny .

Firangis : A name given to the foreigners (British) out of contempt and hatred.

Sepoy : The soldiers .

SOME INTERNAL QUESTION

Name the husband of the Rani of jhansi Laxmi Bai?

Ans- Peshwa Baji Rao II.

When was the photo of Bahadur Shah Zafar removed from the coins?

Ans- 1849.

From where did Mutiy start?

Ans- Meerut

When was law making conversion to Christianity made easier?

Ans- 1850 .

Which emperor blessed the mutiny?

Ans- Bahadur Shah Zafar.

When was subsidiary alliance imposed on Awadh?

Ans- 1801.

When was Awadh taken over?

Ans- 1856.

SOME INTERNAL QUESTION (Contd…)

Loss of Power for Nawabs

Since the mid-eighteenth century, nawabs and rajas had seen their power erode. They had gradually lost their authority and honour. Many ruling families tried to negotiate with the Company to protect their interests.

Annexation of Awadh: Awadh was one of the last territories to be annexed. In 1801, a subsidiary alliance was imposed on Awadh, and in 1856 it was taken over.

The peasants and the sepoys

In the countryside peasants and zamindars resented the high taxes and the rigid methods of revenue collection. 

Some of the new rules violated their religious sensibilities and beliefs:-

Belief Against Sea Voyage and its Impact

Responses to Reforms

Mutiny to Popular Rebellion

After a hundred years of conquest and administration, the English East India Company faced a massive rebellion that started in May 1857 and threatened the Company’s very presence in India.

From Meerut to Delhi Execution of Mangal Pandey: On 29 March

1857, a young soldier, Mangal Pandey, was hanged to death for attacking his officers in Barrackpore.

The Backlash: The response of the other Indian soldiers in Meerut was quite extraordinary.

Anointment of the New Leader: The sepoys of Meerut rode all night of 10 May to reach Delhi in the early hours next morning.

Contd.

Political Importance of Bahadur Shah Zafar: The Mughal dynasty had ruled over a very large part of the country. Most smaller rulers and chieftains controlled different territories on behalf of the Mughal ruler. 

The Spread of Rebellion

After the British were routed from Delhi, there was no uprising for almost a week. It took that much time for news to travel. Then, a spurt of mutinies began.

Spread of Rebellion: Regiment after regiment mutinied and took off to join other troops at nodal points like Delhi, Kanpur and Lucknow. 

Widespread Rebellion: The British were greatly outnumbered by the rebel forces. They were defeated in a number of battles.

Rise of New Leaders: Many new leaders came up. For example, Ahmadullah Shah, a maulvi from Faizabad, prophesied that the rule of the British would come to an end soon.

Contd.

The Company Fights Back

Counterattack: Unnerved by the scale of the upheaval, the Company decided to repress the revolt with all its might.

Arrest of The Last Mughal Emperor: The last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar was tried in court and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Long Battle: The recapture of Delhi, however, did not mean that the rebellion died down after that. People continued to resist and battle the British.

Contd.

Shifting Loyalties: Just as victories against the British had earlier encouraged rebellion, the defeat of rebel forces encouraged desertions.

Aftermath

The British had regained control of the country by the end of 1859, but they could not carry on ruling the land with the same policies any more.

Given below are the important changes that were introduced by the British:-

The British Parliament passed a new Act in 1858 and transferred the powers of the East India Company to the British Crown in order to ensure a more responsible management of Indian affairs.

All ruling chiefs of the country were assured that their territory would never be annexed in future.

It was decided that the proportion of Indian soldiers in the army would be reduced and the number of European soldiers would be increased. 

Contd.

 The land and property of Muslims was confiscated on a large scale and they were treated with suspicion and hostility. 

The British decided to respect the customary religious and social practices of the people in India.

Policies were made to protect landlords and zamindars and give them security of rights over their lands.

British raj in India

*British mostly lied on present countries of India , Pakistan & Bangladesh .*When we talk about other countries lying in Indian sub continent Burma , Ceylon , Singapore ,Nepal and Bhutan were the major countries under British.*Many fierce battles occurred and India kept on felling in the hands of British. E.G: Battle of Plassey and Battle of Buxar.

CAUSES OF THE REVOLT

*By his Doctrine of lapse policy lord Dalhousie annexed many states of India such as Satara, Jhansi, Nagpur etc. According to his policy, if an Indian ruler did not have his real son , he was not allowed to adopt any son of his relative to become his successive.

*The Muslims were also very unhappy with the East India Company. It was declared by the company that after the death of Bahadur shah II , his successor would not enjoy the title of Raja, held by the Mughal Emperor.

*The English introduced many changes in Indian social life such as- Abolition of sati, child marriage, allowing widow to remarry, banning girl child infanticide etc.

*The introduction of Railways meant that the untouchables would also travel the same compartment as Brahmins.

*Economic exploitation of India and her people became the potent cause of unrest. The English company had its officials carried India’s wealth to England in several ways.*The Indian soldiers were discriminated and were considered inferior.*The Indian soldiers were sent across the seas which was forbidden as per Hindu religious beliefs.

*Several months of increasing tensions coupled with various incidents preceded the actual rebellion. *On 26 February 1857 the 19th Bengal Native Infantry (BNI) regiment became concerned that new cartridges they had been issued were wrapped in paper greased with cow and pig fat, which had to be opened by mouth thus affecting their religious sensibilities.

* Their Colonel confronted them supported by artillery and cavalry on the parade ground, but after some negotiation withdrew the artillery, and canceled the next morning's parade.

Onset of the rebellion

Mangal pandey*On 29 March 1857 barrackpur , near parade ground, Calcutta , 29 year old mangal pandey took various steps against east India company . he declared that he will rebel against his commanders.

*Sergeant-Major James Hewson went to investigate only to have Pandey shoot at him. Hewson raised the alarm. When his adjutant Lt. Henry Baugh came out to investigate the unrest, Pandey opened fire but hit Baugh's horse instead.

*general hearsey when saw the fire in the eyes of mangal pandey , he asked Indian jemadar to arrest mangal pandey , the jemadar refused to do so. *on 22nd of the April jemadar was put onto the death by general hearsey because of disobedience towards British raj.*After failing to incite his comrades into an open and active rebellion, Mangal Pandey tried to take his own life by placing his musket to his chest, and pulling the trigger with his toe. He only managed to wound himself, and was court-martialled on 6 April. He was hanged on 8 April.

Bahadur shah zafar*Bahadur Shah Zafar was proclaimed the Emperor of the whole of India. Most contemporary and modern accounts suggest that he was coerced by the sepoys and his courtiers to sign the proclamation against his will. In spite of the significant loss of power that the Mughal dynasty had suffered in the preceding centuries, their name still carried great prestige across northern India.

*initially, the Indian soldiers were able to significantly push back Company forces, and captured several important towns in Haryana, Bihar, Central Provinces and the United Provinces. When the European troops were reinforced and began to counterattack, the sepoys who mutinied were especially handicapped by their lack of a centralised command and control system.

*on may 11 the regiments that had rebelled at Meerut the previous day reached Delhi and asked for a formal audience with Bahadur Shah which was granted the next day. It was attended by several excited sepoys who treated him familiarly or even disrespectfully.

Rani laxmi bai : jhansi ki raniJhansi was a Maratha-ruled princely state in Bundelkhand. When the Raja of Jhansi died without a biological male heir in 1853, it was annexed to the British Raj by the Governor-General of India under the doctrine of lapse. His widow, Rani Lakshmi Bai, protested against the denial of rights of their adopted son.

When war broke out, Jhansi quickly became a centre of the rebellion. A small group of Company officials and their families took refuge in Jhansi's fort, and the Rani negotiated their evacuation. However, when they left the fort they were massacred by the rebels over whom the Rani had no control; the Europeans suspected the Rani of complicity, despite her repeated denials.

By the end of June 1857, the Company had lost control of much of Bundelkhand and eastern Rajasthan . After being driven from Jhansi and Kalpi, on 1 June 1858 Rani Lakshmi Bai and a group of Maratha rebels captured the fortress city of Gwalior from the Scindia rulers, who were British allies. The Rani died on 17 June, the second day of the Battle of Gwalior probably killed by a carbine shot from the 8th Hussars, according to the account of three independent Indian representatives.

Major places which were involved into the Indian rebellion

•Meerut •Delhi•Agra•Allahabad•Oudh•Awadh•Kanpur•Jhansi•Lucknow•Punjab•indore

consequences of the Indianrebellion

Consequences of the Indian rebellion

The Revolt of 1857 was the most dramatic instance of India's struggle against foreign rule. But it was no sudden occurrence. It was the culmination of a century long resistance to domination by the British whose scale, duration and intensity of plunder were unprecedented in Indian history..

First war of independence , the revolt of 1857 broke but with failure of the revolt the thinking of purna swaraj ( complete independence ) came into the minds youth and public.

The British parliament passed a new act in 1858 known as government of India act 1858 and transferred the powers of east India company to the British crown in Oder to be more responsible towards managing Indian affairs.The land and property of Muslims was confiscated on a large scale and they were treated with suspicion and hostility.

The British decided to respect the social believes and practices of people of India .

Let us summarize*British east India company ruled over present Days of Bangladesh , India , Pakistan , Thailand,Myanmar & Ceylon.

*Doctrine of lapse and many other kinds of policies which were introduced by British was the main cause of this revolt. •Rani Lakshmi Bai, Mangal Pandey, Bahadur Shah ll and Tantya Tope were the great leaders of this revolt.

•*Merrut, Delhi ,Kanpur, Punjab, Indore, Awadh and Oudh were the major places where these revolts occur.

•The first war of independence helped in the realization of independence in the minds of youth and public