Question

Analyse the causes and the impact of the revolt of 1857

Answer 1

The main persons behind this rebellion were the soldiers [sepoy]. That is why it is also called sepoy Mutiny. But the revolt did not remain limited to the soldiers, later it spread and took a massive form. Some people also called this-‘India’s first war of Independence’.The revolt was started on 10th May of 1857 in the town of Meerut. Though in some places, fractional clashes began before that. It ended on 20 June 1858.The first martyr of 1957 revolt was Mangal Pandey. He attacked his British sergeant on 29 March 1857 at Barrackpore.Some of the leaders of the rebellion were- Rani Lakshmibai [Jhansi],Kunwar Singh [Bihar], Bahadur Shah [Delhi], Nana Saheb [Kanpur], Tatia Tope [Kanpur], Begum Hazrat Mahal [Lucknow]. There was a deficiency of central leadership.The revolt was started due to the induction of enfield riffles in the army. It was believed that the cartridges used in the riffles were made of pig fat and cow fat which were restricted for the Muslims and Hindus respectively. They protested against these.Lord canning was the governor general at that time.The revolt was failed to spread across the India. Some epicenters of the revolt were- Kanpur, Lucknow, Aligarh, Agra, Arrah, Delhi, and Jhansi