Why did Bahadur Shah not wish to accept the leadership of the revolt of 18567?
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Following the outbreak of the rebellion on 10 May 1857, the Meerut sipahis as a body marched to Delhi, where they arrived early next morning. They put an end to the company’s administration in the city, and assumed control of Shahjahanabad and its immediate outskirts. Bahadur Shah Zafar, who at that time occupied the Mughal throne, was declared the emperor of the whole of India with the title Shahenshah-i-Hind. This was a reflection of the popular perception that the Mughal emperor was the legitimate sovereign of India.
It would be incorrect to assume that the Company’s soldiers were politically naive. Their revolutionary decision to march to Delhi transformed the character of the mutiny—their aim was to overthrow the East India Company’s government. The rebel sipahis of the Meerut garrison clearly understood that the colonial state could be successfully overthrown only by establishing an alternative source of authority with wide acceptability. They attempted to create their own state with the Mughal emperor as its nominal head.
It is not easy to speculate as to what the shape of that state would have been had the Revolt been successful. However, the evolution of the sipahi government at Delhi did contain seeds of democracy. Real power was firmly in the hands of the soldiers. The Court of Administration established by them (organized essentially on democratic principles) was the main organ of the new state, but Bahadur Shah was formally the head of the state. He had the right to be present at all sessions of the Court, but the elected members of the Court took the actual decisions. The emperor’s approval would then be sought, and his seal would be put on documents recording these decisions. It needs to be emphasized that through this arrangement the rebel regime gained widespread support and was able to undermine the legitimacy of the Company over a vast area in northern, central, eastern, western and even southern India. After all, the sipahis were aware that the Company too had reluctantly recognized the de jure authority of the Mughals and had strictly adhered to the rituals of the Mughal darbar.
It would be incorrect to assume that the Company’s soldiers were politically naive. Their revolutionary decision to march to Delhi transformed the character of the mutiny—their aim was to overthrow the East India Company’s government. The rebel sipahis of the Meerut garrison clearly understood that the colonial state could be successfully overthrown only by establishing an alternative source of authority with wide acceptability. They attempted to create their own state with the Mughal emperor as its nominal head.
It is not easy to speculate as to what the shape of that state would have been had the Revolt been successful. However, the evolution of the sipahi government at Delhi did contain seeds of democracy. Real power was firmly in the hands of the soldiers. The Court of Administration established by them (organized essentially on democratic principles) was the main organ of the new state, but Bahadur Shah was formally the head of the state. He had the right to be present at all sessions of the Court, but the elected members of the Court took the actual decisions. The emperor’s approval would then be sought, and his seal would be put on documents recording these decisions. It needs to be emphasized that through this arrangement the rebel regime gained widespread support and was able to undermine the legitimacy of the Company over a vast area in northern, central, eastern, western and even southern India. After all, the sipahis were aware that the Company too had reluctantly recognized the de jure authority of the Mughals and had strictly adhered to the rituals of the Mughal darbar.
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