Question

freedom struggle of India after revolt 1857

Answer 1

The Revolt of 1857 —the First War of Independence. Article shared by : The Revolt of 1857 —the First War of Independence! ... While British historians called it the Sepoy Mutiny,Indian historians named it the Revolt of 1857 or the First War of Indian Independence.

Answer 2

On 29 March 1857, the Indian sepoys of Barrackpore revolted under Habildar Mangal Pande’s leadership. On 10 May, the Meerut sepoys of the East India Company revolted. The revolt quickly spread to Delhi, Kanpur, Aligar, Lucknow, Jhansi, Allahabad, Oudh and other places of north India.

The revolt that was started by the dissatisfied sepoys soon became a general rising against the British government. It soon became a great challenge to the mighty British power in India. Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi, Tantia Tope, Kunwar Singh of Bihar, Nana Sahib, the Begum of Oudh and Ahmadulla of Faizabad were some of the important leaders of this revolt.

Entire north India from Bihar to the Punjab was in arms against the British. The city of Delhi was captured by the rebels after terrible fighting. Gwalior also was snatched from British hands. The rebels had declared Bahadur shah the emperor of Hindustan.

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 by Dalhousie. 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. fill victim in his aggressive policy. All these states came under British rule. In 1856, he captured Oudh on the plea of misrule. He looked 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 discontent of royal families, army men and common people jointly exposed in the Great Revolt of 1857.

 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 10 landless laborers who became restless by and by. Thus out of discontent the artisans and peasantry joined hands with the sepoys in the mutiny.

The sepoys of the company regiment had been feeling dissatisfied with the English for various reasons.

Thus was a great disparity in salaries between the Indian and European soldiers.

The Indian sepoys were treated with contempt by their European officers.

The sepoys were sent to distant parts of the empire, but were not paid any extra allowance.

Indian sepoys were refused promotion in service as like their European counterparts. Out   of such discon­tent the Indian sepoys led to a mutiny.

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 greatly offended the sentiment of the people. Some of these acts were taken as deliberate blow at the Hindu religion, custom and right of inheritance.

 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 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 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 was no communal feelings among the masses.