THE REVOLT OF 1857

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY

COURSE: HIS 103
Instructor: Muhammad Asiful Basar (Mab2)
ANTI-COLONIAL MOVEMENTS DURING THE EIC REGIME

Mostly Two Types of uprisings:

(i) Peasant Uprisings
(ii) Tribal Uprisings

NATURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EARLY RESISTANCE

• In many instances local issues might have triggered off the rebellion.
• Immediate context of a movement may be the oppression of local
landlords, once the movement started, it ended up as protest against the
British Raj.
• From 1763 to 1856 there were more than 40 major rebellions apart from
hundreds of minor ones. These rebellions were, however, local in
character and effects. They were isolated from each other because each
rebellion had a different motive.
Sannyasi Movement Faraizi Movement
Titumir Haji Shariatullah
•Religious belief, Ethnic ties and traditions played a positive
role in mobilizing the peasants and strengthening their solidarity.
•Very often the nationalistic sprits of the people inspired the
development of the movement.
•The political and social awareness played less significant role
in the development of those movements, rather economic issues
were more important.
•Attempt was made by the ruling class to define the rebellions as
a problem of law and order and act of crime.
•However, the rebels did not have a future plan beyond the
restoration of the old order.
 THE REBELLION OF 1857

The Sepoy Mutiny (1857), also commonly known as the Indian Mutiny,
Indian Rebellion, or, amongst an older generation of nationalist historians,
the First War of Independence, was an armed uprising that began in locally
raised units of the East India Company's Bengal Army (the other two armies
of the East India Company were the Madras Army and the Bombay Army).
Upwards of three-quarters of the sepoys serving in the Bengal Army
mutinied.

The revolt of 1857 forms one of the most important chapters in the history
of the struggle of the Indian people for liberation from the British rule. It
shook the
foundations of the British Empire in India and at some points it
seemed that the British rule would end at any point of time.
What started merely as a sepoy mutiny soon engulfed the
peasantry (Indigo Movement) and other civilian population
over wide areas in northern and Eastern India.
This historic event was the first large scale revolt in its kind
against British rule in India. This rebellion marked the end of
the old style monarchies and inaugurated a new idea of
nationalism among many Indians.
 COMPOSITION OF THE ARMY
After establishing its control in Bengal, the East India Company realised to
construct a regular military force in Bengal Presidency in order to expand its
political power further. But considering the paucity of the available English
troops in Bengal Robert Clive decided to raise a few hundred natives ‘with
due regard to their physical and other military qualifications’. These men were
not the native inhabitants of Calcutta or the lower province of Bengal, but
were chosen from the agricultural classes of northern India. Most of these
men came from Bihar, Awadh, the Doab, Rohilkhand, and even from beyond
the Indus, which included the Pathans, Jats and some Rajputs.
According to Robert Orme, the company ideologue of the 1750s, the
inhabitants of the wheat-producing zones of northern India were better built
and thus more ‘martial’ than the shorter people in the rice-producing areas
of south and east. Dirk Kolff had also pointed out that the company’s gradual
reliance on recruits from outside Bengal proper stemmed partly from the fact
that the majority of the two thousand sepoys who fought with Clive in the
battle of Plassey were brought from Madras, but had names that indicated a
Rajput or north Indian origin.
Composition of EIC’s Army
The passing of the general order of 1834 allowed for the recruitment of a
wider range of Hindu and Muslim groups, thereby breaking the high-caste
monopoly of the army and undermining the very identity and ritual purity of
the sepoys.

With regards to the provinces in lower Bengal, the sepoys – having no formal
socio-cultural ties with the region or the people – after the open outbreak of
mutinies in various cantonments attempted to get back to their own districts
in the Gangetic heartland, from where they were recruited, carrying with
them the messages of the rebellion. As a consequence, the rebellion in the
region of Bengal remained confined mostly to the cantonment areas.
Background
One hundred years after the Battle of Plassey, anger against the unjust
and oppressive Company rule, took the form of a revolt that shook the
very foundations of British rule in India. Many British historians called this
event as Sepoy Mutiny, while Indian historians named it the Revolt of
1857 or the First War of Indian Independence.

Historians have held divergent views about the nature of the event. It has
been described as a “Mutiny” confined to the army which did not have
the command over the people in any manner. Many others described it as
a religious war against the Christians. Some Indian nationalists have called
it a well-planned national struggle and as the first war of Indian
Independence.
OUTLINE OF THE REBELLION

The rebellion of 1857 was initially sparked off by the sepoys belonging to
the Bengal Artillery in the school of Musketry in Dumdum located on the
outskirts of Calcutta. Despite repeated attempts by the colonial authorities
to diffuse the already tensed situation, what appeared to be a minor crisis
escalated and led to more serious incidents at Barrackpore, the
headquarters of the Presidency Division of the Bengal Native Infantry.

 On 10 May 1857, the sepoys stationed at Meerut belonging to the 3rd

Bengal light Cavalry, and the 20th and 11th regiments of Native Infantry
mutinied, killed the officers and their family members, plundered the
bungalows of the cantonment and proceeded to Delhi.
 On 11 May 1857, Delhi was under siege by the mutineers
that now consisted of, apart from the division Meerut,
sepoys belonging to the 5th Light Field Battery, Foot Artillery,
3rd Battalion 2nd Company, and the 38th and 54th Native
Infantry.

 With the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar taking up

the nominal leadership of the rebels sepoys, Delhi became
the springboard of the sepoy operations. After the fall of
Delhi, the mutiny of the sepoys spread like wild fire across
the various cantonments of northern India.
 By the end of May 1857, the whole of the Gangetic heartland was in
ferment. A handful of British officials looked in vain for support and
fresh reinforcements from outside. Station after station fell to the
mutiny. As the message of the rebellion spread to small stations and
cantonments, attention turned towards the bigger stations.

 On 30 May 1857, the sepoy regiments of the 7th light Cavalry, 13th, 48th and
71st Native Infantry mutinied in Lucknow. This was immediately followed
by the mutiny of the sepoys belonging to the 18th, 68th Native Infantry, 15th
Light Field battery and 8th irregular Cavalry in Bareilly. Once the Lucknow
garrison had mutinied the out stations followed in quick succession:
Sitapur, Faizabad, Gonda-Bahraich, Sultanpur and Salon.
Once the rebellion of the sepoys in the cantonments of the
provinces in the Gangetic heartland was met with initial success
and the prospect of the overthrow of the colonial rule was
seemingly visible, support now came from various quarters of the
civil population. For instance, in Awadh some of the Talukdars and
members of the Nawabi bureaucracy had joined the rebellion.
The news of this defeat augmented the efforts of the Talukdars
and their peasants to join the rebellion wholeheartedly. As a
result, in the countryside the rebellion of the sepoys acquired a
popular character. The city of Lucknow in fact witnessed the
most prominent instances of the transformation of the mutiny of
the sepoys into a civil uprising.
 CAUSES OF THE REBELLION OF 1857

• POLITICAL CAUSES:
Lord Dalhousie was the Governor-General of India till 1848-1856. Under him the
British followed an expansionist policy in India. Dalhousie through his policies had
added considerable territories to the British Empire in India. EIC’s policy of
effective control and gradual extinction of native states in India – eventual
culmination in doctrine of lapse – or the right of succession to the throne if there
was no legitimate successor. Right to adoption to the throne was denied. Most
importantly, Bahadur Shah Zafar, the Mughal emperor, was old and sick. After the
death of his son Faqir-ud-Din, Governor-General Canning announced that the
successor would have to renounce the regal title and the ancestral Mughal palaces.
These acts greatly unnerved the Muslim sentiments. In other words, dissatisfaction
towards the colonial rule.
Lord Dalhousie
This policy enraged the Indian rulers against the British
government. As part of the Doctrine of Lapse policy,
the titles and pensions of some Indian princes were
confiscated. The pension of Baji Rao ll’s son Nana
Sahib was discontinued after his father’s death and
Rani of Jhansi had been deprived of her right to rule in
violation of the recognized Hindu law. Dalhousie
further proposed to abolish the title of the Mughal
emperor after the death of Bahadur Shah II.
• ADMINISTRATIVE AND ECONOMIC CAUSES:
Annexation of Indian states produced startling economic and
social effects. The Indian aristocracy was deprived of power
and position. The employment of Indians in the services were
restricted. Chances of promotion was rare. Land revenue policy
– most unpopular. Revenue maximization led many peasants to
loose their own soil that they owned for generations. Large
estates were confiscated and were sold by public auction to the
highest bidders. As a consequence many of the landed
aristocrats too were at a great loss.
• Social and religious causes:
The social reforms introduced by the British were looked upon
with suspicion by the conservative sections of the Indian
society. Reforms such as abolition of ‘sati’, legalization of
widow remarriage and extension of western education to
women were looked upon as examples of interference in the
social customs of the country. The social discrimination faced
by the Indians due to the British attitude of racial superiority
also led to much resentment. Educated Indians were denied
promotions and appointments to high office. 
A major cause of the outbreak of the revolt was the fear among
the people that the British government was determined to
destroy their religion and convert Indians to Christianity.
Religious disability Act of 1850 modified Hindu customs. The
increasing activities of the Christian missionaries and the actual
conversions made by them were taken as a proof of this fear. The
policy of taxing lands belonging to temples and mosques lent
further support to this idea. The belief that their religion was
under threat, united all sections of society against a common
enemy.
• Military causes:
Indian soldiers formed seven-eighth of the total British troops in India. As
they were an integral part of the Indian society, they too suffered the
consequences of the oppressive British rule. Besides, they had other
grievances. The Indian sepoys were looked upon as inferior beings and
treated with contempt by their British officers. They were paid much less
than the British soldiers. All avenues of the promotion were closed to them
as all the higher army posts were reserved for the British.
Another cause of sepoy discontent was the withdrawal of the foreign
service allowance (‘batta’), which the sepoys were getting for fighting
outside the country.
Immediate cause:
The spark for the sepoy mutiny was provided through the
introduction of a new rifle in Indian army. At this time, the
Enfield rifle was introduced in the army. Its cartridges were
covered with a greased paper cover. This greased cover had to
be bitten off before the cartridge could be loaded into the rifle.
The news spread that the grease was made of cow and pig fat.
As the Hindus consider the cow sacred and the Muslims do not
eat pig meat, both these communities were enraged at such a
blatant attempt to harm their religion. This incident, popularly
known as the greased cartridges incident, became the
immediate cause of the revolt.
Mangal Pandey General John Hearsey, confronting mutineers
at Barrackpore, West Bengal, India, Mangal
Pandey incident, 29 March 1857
 Causes of the failure of the rebellion of 1857:

(a) The revolt was highly localized and restricted to North

India. Regions beyond the river Narmada in the south
remained largely undisturbed.

(b) The revolt failed to embrace all the sections of the society.
Many of the native rulers and the big zamindars refused to
join the revolt against the British. They extended an active
support to the British to suppress the revolt. Modern
educated Indians were suspicious of the rebels. They feared
the opposition of the rebels in bringing about social reforms.
(c) The rebels lacked a common cause and had different goals.
At most places the rebels were encouraged to revolt against the
local zamindars and money-lenders and did not have a larger
goal to pursue. They lacked a spirit of nationalism.

(d) The British had better resources and succeeded in

suppressing the revolt. They had vast resources at their disposal
and were helped by the modern means of transport and
communications. They also had the services of capable generals
as Havelock, Outram, and Lawrence available who could plan
the suppression of the revolt well and win back their lost
regions.
(c) The revolt was poorly organized and lacked coordinated
planning amongst the leaders.

Impact of the Revolt:

The 1857 revolt marks the end of an era of mercantile
capitalism and early colonial rule and the beginning of direct
imperial hegemony of the British crown. While in the first
century, i.e., from 1757 to 1857, the British crown indirectly
ruled India, in the second century, i.e., from 1858 to 1947, the
British crown directly ruled India through the Viceroy
appointed by the Monarch.
The results of the 1857 revolt may be subdivided
as:

(i) Constitutional changes,

(ii) Changes in the army,

(iii) Religious, judicial and diplomatic effects, and

(iv) Social effects.

Constitutional Changes:

The most significant result of the mutiny was the transfer of

power from a trading company to a sovereign power of Britain
by the Government of India Act of 1858. This Act of 1858
completed the process initiated by the Charter Act of 1853. In
the place of the President of the Board of Control, the Secretary
of State for India was appointed. The Secretary of State for India
was assisted and helped by a 15-member body of India Council.
Out of the fifteen, eight were appointed by the crown and the
rest were to be appointed by the court of the directors.
The designation of the Governor General of India was changed to
Viceroy. In case of the rulers of the Indian states, the crown made
categorical announcement that all the treaties and agreements entered
into by the East India Company will be honored and respected and
made it clear that no renewal was necessary.

Changes in the Army:

Before the revolt of 1857, the army of the British in India was divided
into two major divisions – king’s forces and company’s troops. As a
result of the revolt the two forces were united and called king’s forces
and one-third of it should consist of the Europeans.
The artillery section was exclusively kept under the British. As a
consequence of more European soldiers in the army, the expen­
diture on the army doubled up. The Bengal Army was virtually
abolished. They reduced the Brahmins from the army and
recruited Gurkhas, Sikhs, Jats and Rajputs of the Punjab.
Religionist, Judicial and Diplomatic Effects:

Queen Victoria’s proclamation of 1 November, 1858

guaranteed freedom of faith and equal treatment to all Indians.
The Queen made it clear that there was to be no distinction
between one individual and another on the pretext of race,
religion, sex and creed.
The British crown agreed to provide employment to the
Indians in the bureaucratic structure of the times, which
was denied previously. In the sphere of judiciary, the
Sadar courts and Crown’s Supreme Court were
amalgamated into High Courts which were established in
the presidency towns of Madras, Bombay and Calcutta.
In the sphere of diplomatic ties between India and
Britain, now there was a change and the British began to
show greater interest in the internal development of
India than in foreign affairs.