Revolt of 1857

The formation of independent India as we now know it followed a freedom struggle that lasted for around two centuries. The east india company which came to india in the early seventeenth century with the royal charter for trade with east and southeast asia and india to compete with other european powers at the time soon became more than a trading company following the battle of buxar in 1765 after which they received diwani rights for bengal, bihar and orissa and only expanded further in the indian subcontinent from there. But they were essentially only a trading company with no prior experience of ruling and an exploitative nature. The 1857 revolt was the outcome of dissatisfaction among common people that was brewing for nearly a hundred years.

Some uprisings before the 1857 revolt

The revolt of 1857 was not out of the blue. The resentment among the Indian population in various sections of society was rising long before 1857. It can be seen by these other minor uprisings in india against the company rule before 1857: there were many civil uprisings in various parts of country like revolt in midnapore and dhalbhum against the new land revenue system from 1766-74, uprisings in gorakhpur, basti and bahraich in 1781 and uprisings in Palamau(1800-02), Bhiwani (1809) and many more. 

There were some peasant revolts like the Faraizi revolt and Narkelberia.Tribal revolts like the Santhal rebellion which lasted from 1855-56 was also significant.

Causes for 1857 revolt

It wasn’t a specific reason that brought this revolt but a mixture of many exploitative experiences in different spheres of a common man’s life that eventually led to the 1857 revolt.

Political causes

India had only seen rule by kings and the modern policies of britishers did not find validity in the common mass of india. The exploitative policies of Britishers like ‘Subsidiary alliance’ and ‘Doctrine of lapse’ which took away inheriting rights from Indian rulers deepened political dissatisfaction amongst both the common people and the Indian rulers. 

Economic causes

Heavy taxation which led to loan traps with money lenders caused instability in peasants’ lives. The age long system of zamindari was also now being forced out of practice so neither section was happy economically with the east india company rule.

Administrative causes

Corruption was more prevalent than before with no one to check on it for a long time during that period.

Social religious causes

The government started taxing the temples and mosques for the first time in india. Along with other reforms that directly contradicted people’s way of conducting their religious lives like abolition of sati, widow remarriage also deepened dissatisfaction among Indian people.

Other reasons

The British faced a failure at the first afghan war which broke their image of a mighty force among people. 

Immediate reason

The final spark that concluded all the other dissatisfaction into a big revolt was perhaps the condition of sepoys in the army. The conditions of their service constantly worsened and attacked their religious beliefs. The Indian sepoy was also treated as a second class citizen compared to their British counterparts in the army.

Spread of the revolt

Following the introduction of greased wrapping paper, the new rifle’s cartridge was rumored to be made of beef and pig meat. It had to be bitten off before being used and was offensive to both hindus and muslims as cow is sacred to hindus and pig is taboo for muslims.

The revolt started at Meerut on 10 may, 1857. The foreshadowing of this revolt started before in february of 1857 when the nineteenth infantry at Barrackpore refused using the new cartilages and a young sepoy named Mangal Pande of the thirty fourth native infantry fired at the sergeant major of his own unit in barrackpore for which he was later got executed in April and his unit also faced consequences as it got disbanded soon after.   and soon spread in punjab, bihar and rajputana territories. It soon spread to Delhi where european officers, Simon Fraser and Lieutenant Willoughby were shot dead and bahadur shah was proclaimed as the emperor. In the north western region of the Indian subcontinent, this sepoy revolt was joined by civilians. Various local rulers also joined and then led the revolt from their regions, Rani Laxamibai who assumed the role of leader in Jhansi was the prime example of this, she was later joined by Tatia tope and together they marched to the city of Gwalior. In Kanpur, the revolt was led by the adopted son of Baji Rao 2, Nana Saheb. In the city of Lucknow, the revolt was looked over by Begum Hazrat Mahal. Sir Henry Lawrence was killed when a siege of the residency was done by the Indian rebels during this revolt. Sir Henry Havelock and Sir James Outram tried to recover Lucknow but found no success. Khan Bahadur at Bareilly, Kunwar Singh in Bihar and Maulvi Ahmadullah in Faizabad were the other important leaders of 1857 who took charge in their local areas.

How the 1857 revolt was suppressed by the british

Delhi was taken back by the British under the leadership of John Nicholson on 20 september 1857. The Indian rulers were either killed or imprisoned.

Reasons for failure of 1857 revolt

1. It wasn’t an organized all india revolt with lack in any preparation. 
2. Only the north and north western part of the country was affected. The rest of the regions saw no effect.
3. Lack of preparation
4. Lack of unity 

Hindu muslim unity

One of the distinct feautures of this revolt was that it saw unity among the hindu and muslim communities which is different from all the communalism that followed this revolt a century later.

Consequences

This revolt ended the east india company’s rule and brought india under direct leadership of the british government. It is said to be the turning point of modern history as it clearly marks the change in political scenario of the country where a lot of changes took place.

Why it proved to be the turning point of modern indian history

Educated middle class was neutral during the revolt of 1857 as they didn’t agree with the ideologies of Indian rulers leading this revolt. The educated middle class did not go back to the old practices of religious delusion. They also still had faith in the British government and not the company’s rule. As a lot of them had lived and seen what it was like to be in Britain, they had high expectations from the British government when power was overtaken by them from the east india company. This all changed after the dissatisfaction which were the two following acts of 1858 and 1861. This led to the entry of educated middle class on the political sphere in India which eventually led to independence of India, a hundred years later. 

Conclusion

The east india company which came to india in the early seventeenth century with the royal charter for trade with east and southeast asia and india. They soon transitioned to political entities controlling significant parts of India and expanding. With this came their exploitative practices which were borne by Indian people to some extent but caused resentment. The 1857 revolt was amalgamation of dissatisfaction in all aspects of life and the introduction of  cartilages in the new rifles which fiddled with the sepoys’ religious sentiments became the instant spark. The revolt was suppressed soon however as Indian people lacked preparation and proper leadership but this proved to be a turning point nonetheless as with it emerged Educated middle class on the political scene who organized nationalism and gave a reliable Indian leadership to the Indian people.