history

2.  The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major, but ultimately
unsuccessful, uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of
the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign
power on behalf of the British Crown.[4][5] The rebellion began on 10
May 1857 in the form of a mutiny of sepoys of the Company's army
in the garrison town of Meerut, 40 mi (64 km) northeast of Delhi
(now Old Delhi). It then erupted into other mutinies and civilian
rebellions chiefly in the upper Gangetic plain and central
India,[a][6][b][7] though incidents of revolt also occurred farther north
and east.[c][8] The rebellion posed a considerable threat to British
power in that region,[d][9] and was contained only with the rebels'
defeat in Gwalior on 20 June 1858.[10] On 1 November 1858, the
British granted amnesty to all rebels not involved in murder, though
they did not declare the hostilities to have formally ended until 8 July
1859. Its name is contested, and it is variously described as
the Sepoy Mutiny, the Indian Mutiny, the Great Rebellion,
the Revolt of 1857, the Indian Insurrection, and the First War of
Independence.

3.  Rebellion broke out when a soldier called Mangal Pandey attacked a British
sergeant and wounded an adjutant while his regiment was in Barrackpore.
General Hearsey ordered another Indian soldier to arrest Mangal Pandey
but he refused. Later the British arrested Mangal Pandey and the other
Indian soldier. The British killed both by hanging them because what they
had done was thought to be treachery. All other soldiers of that regiment lost
their places in the army. On May 10th 1857, cavalry troops while doing
parade at Meerut broke ranks. They freed the soldiers of the 3rd regiment,
and they moved towards Delhi. Soon many Indians of north India joined
these soldiers. They entered the Delhi Fort where Bahadur Shah II, the
Mughal Emperor, lived, and asked him to become leader of the rebellion. He
agreed unwillingly. Very soon the revolt spread throughout north India.
Important Indian leaders of royal families joined the rebellion, and started
fighting the British at several places. They included: Ahmed Ullah, an advisor
of the ex-King of Oudh; Nana Saheb, his nephew Rao Saheb, and his
retainers, Tantia Tope and Rani Lakshmibai; the Rani of Jhansi; Kunwar
Singh; the Rajput chief of Jagadishpur in Bihar; and Firuz Saha, a relative of
the Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah.

4.  At the beginning the British were slow to respond.
Then they took very quick action with heavy forces.
They brought their regiments from the Crimean
War to India. They also redirected many regiments
that were going to China to India. The British
forces reached Delhi, and they surrounded the city
from 1st July 1857 until 31st August 1857.
Eventually street-to-street fights broke out between
the British troops and the Indians. Ultimately, they
took control of Delhi. The massacre at Kanpur
(July 1857) and the siege of Lucknow (June to
November 1857) were also very important.

5.  Immediate Reason of Revolt of 1857
 The immediate factor was the introduction of the ‘Enfield’ rifle. The
cartridge had to be bitten off before loading it into the gun. Indian
sepoys believed that the cartridge was greased with either pig fat or
made from cow fat. This was against the Hindu and Muslim
sentiments and religious ideologies. Thus they were reluctant to use
the ‘Enfield’ rifle. This was a flashpoint to enrage the soldiers against
the Britishers. This was believed to be the immediate factor for the
revolt of 1857.
 Causes of Revolt of 1857
 The revolt of 1857 was initiated due to various factors which are
stated below:
 Religious & Social Causes – racism or racial discrimination was
believed to be a major reason for the revolt of 1857 wherein Indians
were exploited and were kept away from mixing with Europeans. The
whites also started interfering in the religious and cultural affairs of
Indians and tortured them as well. This enraged Indians and led to
the revolt of 1857.

6.  To know more about the Social causes for revolt of 1857, refer to the
linked article.
 Political Causes – The British expansion had unjust policies that led
to the loss of power from the Nawabs and Zamindars residing at
various places of India. The introduction of unfair policies like the
policy of Trade and Commerce, the policy of indirect subordination
(subsidiary alliance), the policy of war and annexation, policy of
direct subordination (doctrine of lapse), policy of misgovernance (in
which Awadh was annexed) greatly hampered the interests of the
rulers of the native states, and they one by one became victims of
British expansionism. Therefore, those rulers, who lost their states to
the British, were naturally against the British and took sides against
them during the revolt.
 Economic Factors -There were various reforms in the taxation and
revenue system that affected the peasants’ heavily. British
Government had imposed and introduced various administrative
policies to expand their territory.
 The major policies are listed below:

7.  Permanent Settlement in Bengal
 Mahalwari settlement in Central India & Ryotwari settlement in southern India
 To more about such important land revenue systems, check the linked article.
 These three settlements were highly exploitative, and in particular, the Permanent
settlement had created a devastating impact. Thus the peasants were greatly
encouraged to overthrow the British Government from India and led to their active
participation in the revolt of 1857.
 Military Factors – The Indian soldiers went through a lot of torture by the British
officials with respect to their salaries, pensions, promotions. Indians were subjugated
in the military while their European counterparts faced no such discrimination. This
arose discontent and was a major military factor that resulted in the revolt of 1857.
 To know more about military factors in detail, refer to the linked article.
 Vellore Mutiny
 The Vellore Mutiny took place even before the revolt of 1857(50 years before). It
erupted on 10th July 1806 in Vellore, present-day Tamil Nadu, and lasted only for a
day, but it was brutal and it was the first major mutiny by the Indian sepoys in the East
India Company.

8.  Following are the economic causes of the uprising of 1857:
 In order to consolidate their hegemony over India, the British
Government bought cheap raw material from India and then flooded
the Indian markets with their finished goods. This had a devastating
impact on the Indian cottage industries as the Indian artisans and
craftsmen spiraled into unemployment. Slowly but surely, poverty
increased manifold in the Indian hinterland, forcing the peasantry
into indebtedness.
 The land revenue settlements imposed by the British Government
led to farmers having to borrow heavily from moneylenders
and zamindars. Despite this, it was difficult to make ends meet and
produce had to be extracted out of the land without following
precautions to preserve the nutrients of the soil. As a result, the
farmers had to borrow further and eventually lose their land to the
moneylender or the zamindar.

9.  The British administration turned India into an
agricultural economy by forcing the peasantry to
grow only those crops (like indigo) which suited the
operation of the British economy.
 When the Indian states were taken over by the
Company government, the zamindars and
the talukdars were also relieved of their estates.
This turned the zamindari class, which had till then
been loyal to the British, against the Company
government. The annexation of states also
resulted in the artisans, poets, musicians and other
courtiers losing their livelihood.

10.  The revolt of 1857 shook the foundation of British East India Company and
disclosed their inefficiency in handling the Indian administration. The major
impact was the introduction of Government of India act which abolished the
rule of British East India Company and marked the beginning of British raj
that bestowed powers in the hands of the British government to rule India
directly through representatives.
 To know more about the major Impact of the revolt of 1857, refer to the
linked article.
 Causes of Failure of the revolt of 1857
 The revolt was eventually not successful in ousting the British from the
country because of several factors.
 The sepoys lacked one clear leader; there were several. They also did not
have a coherent plan by which the foreigners would be routed.
 Indian rulers who aided the revolt did not envision any plan for the country
after the British were defeated.
 Majorly northern India was affected by this revolt. The three presidencies of
Bengal, Bombay and Madras remained mostly unaffected. The Sikh soldiers
also did not take part in the rebellion.

11. Economic Causes:
(i) Industrial revolution.
(ii) Unemployment of craftsmen.
(iii) Heavy tax on sale of Indian goods.
(iv) Exploitation of farmers by Zamindars.

12.  Political Causes -1857 Revolt

 The English East India Company had initially started as a
trading power but it gradually started enjoying political clout.
The British rule was formally established after the battle of
Plassey in 1757 in Bengal. They soon began to consolidate
their power through annexation and alliances etc. They also
did not shy away from misusing their newly found political
power to strangulate Indian way of life.
 Political Causes of 1857 Revolt
 While the war of 1857 was a reaction of different sections of
Indian society against policies of the British which included
various aspects viz. social, economic, administrative, military
etc., the political grievances against the British Raj played the
most important role in an outbreak of 1857 revolt.

13.  Doctrine of lapse, in Indian history, formula devised
by Lord Dalhousie, governor-general of India (1848–
56), to deal with questions of succession to Hindu
Indian states. It was a corollary to the doctrine of
paramountcy, by which Great Britain, as the ruling
power of the Indian subcontinent, claimed the
superintendence of the subordinate Indian states and
so also the regulation of their succession.
 he company took over the princely states of Satara
(1848), Jaitpur and Sambalpur (1849), Nagpur and
Jhansi (1854), Tore and Arcot (1855) and Udaipur
(Chhattisgarh) under the terms of the doctrine of
lapse. Oudh (1856) is widely believed to have been
annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse.

14.  The Subsidiary Alliance System was “Non-
Intervention Policy” used by Lord Wellesley
who was the Governor-General (1798-1805)
to establish British Empire in India. According
to this system, every ruler in India had to
accept to pay a subsidy to the British for the
maintenance of British army.
 Tanjore/Mysore (1799), Avadh (1801),
Peshwa (1802), Bhonsle (1803), and
Scindhiya (1804) accepted this alliance.

15.  Subsidiary Alliance
 Subsidiary Alliance was a system devised by Lord Wellesley in
1798. All those who entered into such an alliance with the
British had to accept certain terms and conditions such as the
rulers had to disband their military force, allow the British to
position their troops within the kingdom, and act in accordance
with the advice of the British Resident who was now to be
attached to the court.
 The kingdom of Awadh became an easy prey to subsidiary
alliance in 1801 which ultimately resulted in its complete
annexation in 1856.
 The subsidiary alliance was often forced on the local rulers
who lost all their powers and prestige under the said
arrangement. Due to this they harboured a grudge against
British Raj and found an opportunity in the Sepoy Mutiny to
equal scores with the British.

16. Political Causes of 1857 Revolt
While the war of 1857 was a reaction of
different sections of Indian society against
policies of the British which included
various aspects viz. social, economic,
administrative, military etc., the political
grievances against the British Raj played
the most important role in an outbreak of
1857 revolt.

17.  Dalhousie s Aggressive Policy of annexation
 It is believed by many historians that Lord Dalhousie laid the
foundations of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. He was driven by
conviction to bring all the Indian states ruled by local rulers into the
fold of British administration. For which he started to use doctrine of
lapse.
 Under the doctrine of lapse, the British annexed any Indian state
where the ruler did not have a male heir. Under this spurious
doctrine, he annexed Satara, Sambalpur, Jhansi and Nagpur etc.
which angered the local ruler, who had to now live in the looming
fear of annexation of their state by the British.
 Adopting heir was an ancient practice among Indian rulers. By
depriving them of their right and by forcibly annexing their states
British made many enemies out of these local rulers who ultimately
became leaders of 1857 revolt. E.g. Rani Laxmibai, Nana Sahib etc.

18.  Denial of the right to succession
 The right of succession was not only denied to many Hindu princes but also to the
once mighty Mughals. On the death of Prince Faqiruddin in 1856 whose succession
had been recognised only conditionally by Lord Dalhousie, Lord Canning announced
that the next prince on succession would have to renounce the regal title, royal
palaces and other privileges.
 Mughals were the symbol of political unity of India. And this British move to dethrone
them angered the Indian people. Soon after the break out of the revolt, Bahadur
Shah, the last Mughal emperor, was made the symbolic head of the Great revolt and
Delhi became its centre.
 Misuse of political power
 British enjoyed political power in India without any corresponding responsibilities.
Furthermore, this political power was exercised to the full extent for commercial
advantage.
 They used their political power to destroy Indian trade and industries with a policy of
discrimination in tariff and import and export policies, which ultimately destroyed
Indian economy and caused economic impoverishment of India and its people.


19.  Hatred against the British rule
 Annexation of Indian states and the removal of the local rulers led to the dissolution of the court which resulted in
the loss of patronage to musicians, dancers, artisans, administrative officials, army men and so on. These people
lost their source of livelihood.
 What enraged the people was how British land revenue settlements had dispossessed landholders, both big and
small, and foreign commerce had driven artisans and weavers to ruin.
 These people harboured resentment against British rule and became active participants in the Revolt of 1857.
 The search for alternative power
 Anger was brewing against British rule, among different sections of society due to its oppressive nature, and for the
fact that it destroyed Indian way of life. People craved to go back to Pre-British political system and administration.
 Once British rule had collapsed, the rebels in places like Delhi, Lucknow and Kanpur tried to establish some kind of
structure of authority and administration. This was, of course, short-lived but the attempts show that the rebel
leadership wanted to restore the pre-British world of the eighteenth century.
 The leaders went back to the culture of the court. Appointments were made to various posts, arrangements made
for the collection of land revenue and the payment of troops, orders issued to stop loot and plunder.
 Conclusion
 The political objective of the 1857 uprising was to overthrow British rule and replace it with an alternate order. The
company s policy of greed and aggrandisement created contempt in the mind of people for the company s rule
which was further worsened due to aloofness of the British towards sensitivities of the Indian society. The
discontent and disaffection of Indians ultimately manifested in the form of the Great Rebellion of 1857.

20.  Ryotwari system
 This system of land revenue was instituted in the late 18th century by Sir
Thomas Munro, Governor of Madras in 1820.
 This was practised in the Madras and Bombay areas, as well as Assam and
Coorg provinces.
 In this system, the peasants or cultivators were regarded as the owners of
the land. They had ownership rights, could sell, mortgage or gift the land.
 The taxes were directly collected by the government from the peasants.
 The rates were 50% in dryland and 60% in the wetland.
 The rates were high and unlike in the Permanent System, they were open to
being increased.
 If they failed to pay the taxes, they were evicted by the government.
 Ryot means peasant cultivators.
 Here there were no middlemen as in the Zamindari system. But, since high
taxes had to be paid only in cash (no option of paying in kind as before the
British) the problem of moneylenders came into the show. They further
burdened the peasants with heavy interests.

21.  Mahalwari system
 The government of Lord William Bentinck, Governor-General of India (1828
to 1835) introduced the Mahalwari system of land revenue in 1833.
 This system was introduced in North-West Frontier, Agra, Central Province,
Gangetic Valley, Punjab, etc.
 This had elements of both the Zamindari and the Ryotwari systems.
 This system divided the land into Mahals. Sometimes, a Mahal was
constituted by one or more villages.
 Tax was assessed on the Mahal.
 Each individual farmer gave his share.
 Here also, ownership rights were with the peasants.
 Revenue was collected by the village headman or village leaders
(lambardar).
 It introduced the concept of average rents for different soil classes.
 The state share of the revenue was 66% of the rental value. The settlement
was agreed upon for 30 years.
 This system was called the Modified Zamindari system because the village
headman became virtually a Zamindar.

22. The Permanent Settlement, also known
as the Permanent Settlement of Bengal,
was an agreement between the East India
Company and Bengali landlords to fix
revenues to be raised from land that had
far-reaching consequences for both
agricultural methods and productivity in the
entire British Empire and the political

23.  The Permanent Settlement was brought into effect by the
Governor-General Lord Cornwallis in 1793. This was basically an
agreement between the company and the Zamindars to fix the land
revenue. First enacted in Bengal, Bihar and Odisha, this was later
followed in northern Madras Presidency and the district of Varanasi.
He envisaged the creation of a hereditary class of landlords in India.
This system was also called the Zamindari System.
 Key Features of Permanent Settlement:
 Landlords or Zamindars were recognised as the owners of the land.
 They were given hereditary rights of succession of the lands under
them.
 The amount to be paid by the landlords was fixed.
 It was agreed that this would not increase in future (permanent in
nature).
 The fixed amount was 10/11th portion of the revenue for the
government and 1/10th was for the Zamindar.

24.  The Zamindar also had to give the tenant a patta which
described the area of the land given to him and the rent he
had to pay the landlord.
 Zamindars being sons of the soil, it was thought that they
could reach the far corners of the region and also understand
local customs very well.
 Because of the permanent nature of the system, there was a
sense of security for everyone.
 The company knew the amount it would get in revenue. The
landlord also was assured of the amount.
 Finally, the farmers also, in lieu of the patta were certain of
their holdings and knew how much rent was to be paid.
 Since the settlement was of a permanent nature, the
Zamindars would have an interest in the improvement in the
land thereby improving the revenue.

25.  Impact on Zamindar:
 In Mughal era, Zamindar was not owner of the land but only a collector of revenue.
 With permanent settlement vesting ownership rights in Zamindar, he assumed a position
that never been his before.
 The Zamindars became wealthier.
 Further, Zamindars were not the same old hereditary landholders, but anyone could
become a Zamindar provided he had good connection in East India Company or some
other hack.
 They all became petty capitalists and they invested in trade, commerce thus some positive
impact on other segments of economy was seen.
 For East India Company, this system of New Zamindars secured the British Dominion in
India.
 A new crop of unofficial middlemen also grew between the Zamindars and Peasants.
 A Zamindar would sublet the land to a middlemen and would relocate to big cities like
Calcutta to live a luxurious life.
 Zamindars thus turned into Absentee landlords due to permanent settlement.
 But not everything was rosy for Zamindars.
 Company retained the ultimate ownership and was able to sell the land via public auction if
the fixed rent was not paid on due date by Zamindar.
 The Zamindar had to deposit the collected revenue on a day fixed before sunset, if not
done, he would lost part or full of estate and then the estate would be sold in open auction.
 Many Zamindars turned defaulters and it created problems.