Revolt

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Great Revolt of 1857 (Causes, Nature,

Importance, Outcome)
Great Revolt of 1857
The Great Revolt of 1857 (also Indian rebellion of 1857, the Great uprising of 1857, the
Great rebellion, Indian Sepoy mutiny) is regarded as India’s First War of Independence
against the British rule. It was the most remarkable single event in the history of India
after the establishment of British rule. It was the result of the century-old British rule in
India. In comparison to the previous uprisings of the Indians, the Great Revolt of 1857
was of a greater dimension and it assumed almost an all-India character with
participation of people from different sections of the society. This Revolt was initiated by
the sepoys of the company. So it has been commonly termed as `Sepoy Mutiny‘. But it
was not simply a revolt of the sepoys.

Causes
The causes of the Great Revolt of 1857 and Sepoy Mutiny may be studied in the
following heads:

Political cause: Major political cause for the outbreak of the Revolt was the policy of
annexation followed byDalhousie. On application of the ‘Doctrine of Lapse’ or on the
ground of mis-governance he annexed states after states deploring their rulers. Satara,
Jhansi, Sambalpur, Nagpur, etc. fell victim to his aggressive policy. All these states
came under British rule. In 1856, he captured Oudh on the plea of misrule. He looked at
the palaces of Nagpur and Oudh. Not only the ruling house, but also the employees and
other dependent families were deprived of their livings for the policy of Dalhousie. His
maltreatment towards the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah-II hurt the sentiment of the
Muslim community. Discontinuation of the pension of the Peshwa Nana Sahib shocked
the Marathas. This discontentment of royal families, army men and common people was
jointly exposed in the Great Revolt of 1857.

Economic cause: The Great Revolt of 1857 was also an outburst of grievances due to
the economic exploitation of the company. India’s traditional economy collapsed as a
result of the British ‘investment’ policies and revenue administration. The company’s
trade policy destroyed Indian handicrafts. Huge numbers of Indians were thrown out of
employment. The British opened a new avenue of exploitation on the peasants By
introducing permanent settlement. Exploitation of the Zamindars gave rise to landless
laborers who became restless by and by. Thus out of discontent the artisans and
peasants joined hands with the sepoys in the mutiny.
Military cause: The sepoys of the company regiment had been feeling dissatisfied with
the English for various reasons.

1. This was a great disparity in salaries between the Indian and European soldiers.
2. The Indian sepoys were treated with contempt by their European officers.
3. The sepoys were sent to distant parts of the empire, but were not paid any extra
allowance.
4. Indian sepoys were refused promotion in service as like their European
counterparts. Out of such discontent the Indian sepoys led to a mutiny.

Social cause: The English could not establish any social relationship with the Indians.
The racial arrogance of the British created a difference between the rulers and the
ruled.

Enactment of some Acts like the Lex Loci act of 1850 greatly offended the sentiment of
the people. Some of these acts were taken as deliberate blows at the Hindu religion,
custom and right of inheritance.

Direct cause: At that time, Enfield rifles were introduced in the army. The bullets of
these rifles were covered by paper with grease like thing. The Sepoys were to cut the
cover by teeth before using it. The Hindu and Muslim soldiers refused to cut the covers.
They protested against this and were arrested. That ignited the fire.

Under the leadership of Mangal Pandey the agony of the Sepoys was exposed at
Barrackpore in Calcutta (March, 1857 A.D.). But the planned revolt started at Meerut
(May, 1857 A.D.). Gradually it spread from Punjab in the north to Narmada in south,
from Rajputana in the west to Bihar in the east. As the revolt was started by the Indian
sepoys in the British army, the revolt became known as Sepoy mutiny. When the
sepoys of Meerut reached Delhi there was huge upsurge. They declared the old Mughal
Emperor Bahadur Shah as the Badshah of India. He was accepted as the symbol of
Hindu-Muslim unity. With the outbreak of mutiny among Sepoys common men joined
the revolt. Farmers and artisans put further force behind the mutiny. The second reason
for this mass revolt was the unity among the Hindus and Muslims. On observing this
historians thought that, up to this period there were no communal feelings among the
masses.

End of the Revolt


The British government came out with all the powers to suppress the revolt. The sepoys
fought the battle with their limited strength for four months. Then, the sepoys had to
retreat. On 25th September British troops regained Delhi. Bahadur Shah was
arrested. Nana Saheb lost the battle of Kanpur. His commander Tantia Topi continued
the fight up to April, 1859 A.D. and surrendered to the British force. Lakshmi Bai of
Jhansi lost her life in the battleground. Kunwar Singh, Bakht Khan of Bihar, Bahadur
Khan, Moulavi Ahmed of Faizabad lost their lives one after the other. By the end of
1859 A.D. the British power was reestablished in troubled areas.

Reason of failure of the revolt


There were several reasons behind the failure of this revolt.

1. There was no central organization of the sepoys. There was no unified action also.
Bahadur Shah, Nana Saheb, Lakshmi Bai, no one had acceptance as a real
leader. They had different goals and times again they had contradictions.
2. The British had a huge number of forces. New groups of soldiers were sent to
India after the end of the Crimean war. Fresh army men came from Singapore. As
a result of these, in the middle of the revolt the strength of the British force was
doubled. The chance of a win became remote.
3. The sepoys had no improved arms with them. On the other hand, the British force
had a huge and improved armory. They could not match improved guns and rifles
with their old model musket, spears and sword. So the defeat was almost certain.
4. Further the leaders of this revolt could not get the support of several native states
like Holker, Scindia and Rajput sardars and kings. They supported the British.
Educated middle-class people also were behind British power.

Nature of the Great Revolt of 1857


There are differences of opinions amongst historians about the character of this great
revolt. Some historians are of the opinion that the revolt in the North-Western province
was a lawless revolt by a group of sepoys.

On the other hand, some historians believe that it was more than just a sepoy mutiny as
it had a large mass base. Though in the beginning it was like sepoy mutiny, but later on
it turned out to be a real mass upsurge.

Karl Marx in his several essays described this revolt as nationalist fight for
independence. Marxist writers looked at this event as an uprising of peasants against
the feudal system of exploitation. V.D. Savarkar, the great revolutionary, described this
revolt as the first struggle for independence. M.N. Roy said that it was the reaction of
the feudal against capitalism.

On the centenary of the great revolt Dr. Ramesh Chandra Majumder wrote and
published a book entitled ‘Sepoy Mutiny’ and ‘Revolt of Eighteen Fifty Seven’. Dr.
Majumder thought that this was nothing but a revolt of the sepoy. He also said that in
some places few non-military persons came out in support of the sepoys but they were
local landlords, talukdars and feudal leaders. In his opinion it was nothing better than
the feudalistic reaction of the revolt.
But many historians are of the opinion that the Great movement of 1857 A.D. cannot be
termed as narrow, isolated and reactionary. The sepoys established a symbol of Hindu-
Muslim unity by electing Bahadur Shah as the Emperor of India. In the Azamgarh
declaration a call was given to people of all classes of mass to unite against British rule.
It may be right that they had no idea about the national government, but nationalism
was there. So it can be called a national movement.

Also read: Nature of Revolt of 1857 in India

Importance and Outcome of the Great Revolt of 1857


It can be said that the great revolt of 1857 A.D. was a failure, but was not fruitless.

1. United Effort: From this revolt, we can have a picture of India’s struggle for keeping
the rights. There were several revolts before this, but there was no feeling of Indian-
ness in those revolts. The revolt of 1857 A.D. was a collected effort of different sections
of people.

2. Awakening of Peasants class: The peasants joined this revolt which was out and
out against the British. This was unique.

3. Development of National Feeling: Dr. K. M Panikkar wrote that though the sepoys
had limitations and weaknesses, their efforts to make India free from British rule
was patriotic work and a progressive step. If we do not consider any historical event on
the basis of its success then the revolt of 1857 A.D. was never a tragedy. Even in spite
of failure that served a great purpose, it was a source of inspiration in India’s freedom
struggle.

4. End of Company Rule: The political result of this great revolt was the end of
company’s rule in India. By a new act introduced in the British Parliament the British
government took the charge to rule India. From then onward a Viceroy as a
representative of the British King ruled India.

5. Queen’s proclamation: The Queen’s Proclamation showered many promises in


1858 A.D. Government service was promised irrespective of caste, religion and on the
basis of merit only. Ill framed “doctrine of lapse” of Lord Dalhousie was canceled. New
recruitment policy of the army men was announced to see that they could not organize
any revolt. In the important positions of the government no native people (Indian) was
given any chance.

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