What did the people who revolt in 1857 want to achieve in according to 7th social
a.P book?
Answers
Answer: Nationalism is a modern movement. Throughout history people have been
attached to their native soil, to the traditions of their people, at the established
territorial authorities; and by the end of the 18th century that nationalism became a
sentiment molding public and private life determining factors of modern history. The
British ruled over India for about two centuries. They started interference in the
religious matters and other social practices of Hindus and Muslims and it infuriated
the Indians and their anger resulted in the armed revolt of 1857. Though the British
crushed the revolt but they could not crush the spirit of nationalism among Indians.
The English education was introduced in India to prepare the clerks and to mentally
win over the Indians. But when the Indians studied the European history, literature
and philosophy, they began to think in terms of Indian freedom from the British
slavery. The bond of unity among the Indians was strengthened by the introduction of
railway, Telephone, Post and Telegraph. Though these were introduced for
promoting the British interests but they helped in the growth and development of
Indian nationalism.
The revolt of 1857 was much more than a mere product of sepoy discontent. It
was in reality a product of the character and policies of colonial rule, of the
accumulated grievances of the people against the Company’s administration and their
dislike for the foreign regime. For a century, as the British had been conquering the
country bit by bit, popular discontent and hatred against foreign rule was gaining
strength among the different sections of Indian society. It was this discontent that
burst forth into a mighty popular revolt.
The 1857 Revolt
The Revolt of 1857 was a land mark in the history of India. Though Indian
Nationalism crystallized as a national movement during the last decades of the 19th
century, its first sprouting was visible in the beginning of the last century. Before a
survey of the rise and growth of Indian National Movement, a brief reference to a
major event of the nineteenth century is appropriate. That event was the Revolt of
1857. The uprising of 1857 was the last, though unsuccessful, attempt of the social
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classes of the old society to drive out the British from India and revert to the preBritish social and political existence. The Revolt was the result of pent-up
indignation and accumulated discontent among the various strata of the old society
who suffered from the British conquest, because of the new economic forces and
measures brought into operation by that conquest, and the various social innovations
introduced into the country by the British Government. The principal causes of this
Revolt, however, were the annexation policy of the British which brought about the
liquidation of a number of feudal states, the new land revenue system, which reduced
the Indian peasantry to acute economic misery as well as the large scale ruination of
the millions of the Indian artisans and handicraftsmen as a result of the influx of the
machine-made goods from British in the Indian market. Although the Revolt began
as a military mutiny, it quickly became a well-spread insurrection. In other words, the
mutiny was soon converted into a rebellion in many parts of Northern and Central
India.
The Nature of the 1857 Revolt
British historians called the 1857 revolt as “Sepoy Mutiny”. Indian historians
termed it as “The National War of Independence”.1
Neither name is appropriate,
because, it was not only the sepoys, but peasants, artisans and some native rulers also
participated in it. As the revolt did not spread to all parts of country, it would be a
misnomer to call it a ‘National War of Independence. ’However, it is considered a
milestone in the history of India. It was also a beginning of the great movement that
was about to take place, later to drive out the British from India. Therefore, it can
undoubtedly be called ‘The First war of Indian Independence’.
A strong, spontaneous popular revolt broke out in Northern and Central India
in 1857.It began with the mutiny of Sepoys of the Indian Army against their British
Officers. It later involved the masses in other parts of the country. Millions of
peasants, artisans and people from all walks of life, fearlessly joined the revolt.