2. POINTS
Aurangzeb was the last powerful Mughal
ruler. ( died in 1707 )
Bahadur Shah Zafar was forced to leave
the kingdom in 1857.
In 1600 East India Company acquired a
charter from the ruler of England.
Mercantile companies in those days
primarily to make more profit.
6. POINTS
The sea route to India was discovered by
Vasco Da Gama in 1498.
Afterwards French came to trade in India.
Fine quality silk and cotton was produced
in India.
In 17th to 18th century the traders sank
each other's ship.
Effort to fortify settlements and carry
profitable trade led to conflict amongst
local rulers
9. POINTS
The 1st factory of East India Company
was set up on the banks of river Hughli in
1651.
By 1696 it began building forts around the
settlements.
Kolkata was first Kalikata ,then Calcutta
and afterwards became Kolkata.
Farman is a royal edict, royal order.
At that time Murshid Quli Khan was the
Nawab of Bengal
12. POINTS
After Aurangzeb's death the Bengal
Nawabs asserted their power and
autonomy
Murshid Quli Khan was followed by
Alivardi Khan and then by Sirajuddaulah
as the Nawab of Bengal.
The conflicts led to confrontations and
finally culminated in the famous battle of
Plassey.
15. POINTS
Alivardi khan died in 1756 , Sirajddaulah
became the Nawab of Bengal.
Sirajddaulah marched 30,000 soldiers to
the English factory at Kassimbazar
,captured the company officials, locked the
warehouse, disarmed all Englishmen and
blockaded English ships.
Finally in 1757 Robert Clive led the
company's army against Sirajddaulah at
Plassey.
17. POINTS
Robert Clive promised Mir Jafar that if he
wins the battle against Sirajddaulah he will
make him the Nawab of Bengal.
Sirajddaulah was assassinated and Mir
Jafar was made the Nawab.
Mir Jafar was deposed because he was
protesting for dignity and sovereignty and
hence was replaced by Mir Qasim.
Mir Qasim lost the war at Buxar in 1764
and Mir Jafar was reinstalled.
20. POINTS
In 17th-18th century Nawabs had to pay
5,00,000 rupees.
Mir Jafar died in 1765. And Clive declared
-"We must indeed become Nawabs
ourselves"
Clive collected 401,102 pounds of Indian
fortune.
Robert Clive committed suicide in 1774.
"Nabobs is an English word for Nawab.
23. POINTS
Regional ruler had to pay a little part of his
territory as a penalty to the company on
his failure to pay in cash.
Haider Ali was the ruler of Mysore from
1761 to 1782.
Tipu Sultan stopped the export of
sandalwood, pepper and cardamom.
Haider and Tipu together were ambitious ,
arrogant and dangerous.
28. POINTS
From the late 18th century British also
wanted to destroy Maratha power.
Mahadji Sindhia and Nana Phandis were
two famous Maratha soldiers who fought
the battle in Panipat.
Finally in 1817-19 Britishers crushed the
Marathas.
A new policy "Paramountcy" was initiated
by Lord Hastings.
32. POINTS
In late 18th century East India Company
began worrying about Russia.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh died in 1839.
Lord Dalhousie was the Governor-General
from 1848 to 1856.
In 1856 the company took over Awadh.
Warren Hastings was one of the many
Important figures who played a significant
role in company power expansion.
36. POINTS
From 1772 a new system of justice was
established.
Qazi is a word for court judge.
In 1775 eleven pandits were asked to
compile a digest of Hindu laws.
Sawars are trained soldiers on horseback.
The cavalry requirements of the
company's army declined.
38. POINTS
In the early 19th century the British began
to develop a uniform military culture.
British empire was fighting in Burma,
Afghanistan and Egypt where soldiers
were armed with muskets and matchlocks.
The Revolt of 1857 gives us a glimpse in
to the world of sepoys.
41. Nature of the War
• Mutiny or Independence movement?
• It was Mutiny in the opinion of British as they were in the
ruling power and those who rebelled or opposed their
colonial power were called as Rebels and the opposition
breakout which was a civil war is called as Mutiny in
British perspective
42. CONT
War of Independence is an important landmark in the
history of Sub-Continent. This War was fought in 1857 by
Indians against the British in order to get rid of their
domination.
It was an extreme effort made by Indians, but they failed
due to certain reasons including mutual jealousies,
disunity, and lack of central leadership.
43. Cont
This war was not spread throughout India, but it
was limited to few areas mainly Meerut, Delhi,
Kanpur, Lucknow etc.
44. CONT
The main event which became the immediate cause of
the war was the refusal of the Sepoys to use the grease
covered cartridges (greased with fat of pig and cow) on
January 23, 1857. At the same time, an Indian sepoy
killed two British officers at Barrackpore, when he was
forced to use greased cartridges.
45. ABOUT THE NEW
CARTRIDGE
A rumor had broaden that the new cartridge enclosed in
a paper covered with the fat of cow and pig.
HINDUS
MUSLIMS
COW WAS HOLY FOR HINDUS
PIG MEAT WAS TABOO BY QURAN
46.
47.
48. Causes of the war
There were many causes of war of independence
Political causes
Religious causes
Social causes
Military causes
Economic causes
50. 1. Spread in limited areas
One of the reasons of failure of first war of independence
was that it was spread in limited areas.
The foremost cause was the sudden start of the war in
confusion, without any preparation or proper planning.
Secondly since there was an extreme lack of
communication and coordination among various groups of
freedom fighters who started their uprising according to
their own wishes, it became easy for the English troops to
curb the revolt of different areas on by one.
51. 2. Lack of unity and planning
The revolt was not properly organized. The leaders of
the first war of Independence did not coordinate their
efforts at any stage. There was no unity among the
freedom fighters. They fought independent of one
another. As a result they could not assemble their
resources against a common enemy. They were
defeated at different places. Bakht Khan was defeated
at Delhi, Begum Hazrat Mahal lost at Awadh, Rani
Jhansi was routed at Jhansi. Nana Sahib lost at Kanpur
and Bahadur Khan was defeated at Bareilly. On the
contrary, the British acted under one command, in one
direction, with one fixed aim.
52. 3. No unified leadership and
discipline
There was also an absence of a capable leader who
could organize the scattered forces in to one unit fighting
for unified policy and aim. Nana Saheb, Rani Lakshmi
Bai, Tantia Tope, Bahadur Khan, Bakht Khan and Kunwar
Singh remained confined to their own locality. None of
them emerged as the leader of the entire movement. As
a result, these freedom fighters lacked discipline and their
efforts could not get the required momentum at national
level. On the other hand, the British succeeded against
the rebels because of the determination and leadership of
their military commanders like Havelock, Neill, Nicolson
and Hugh Rose.
53. 4. Better resources of the
British
The British had better resources than Indians. They were
short of not only war equipment but also food and ration.
They had to face an enemy which was well equipped
and well organized. Nearly 112,000 English soldiers
pored in to India and 310,000 were recruited fresh
from among the Indians. Indians were fighting mostly
with swords and spears, while the English were using
better equipped rifles. The telegraph proved very useful
to the English. It kept them informed about the
movements of rebels and largely helped them in keeping
contact among themselves.
54. Fourthly, English troops were modern and strikingly
advanced not only in warfare but also in new ways of
swift and speedy communication. They did not have to
cross long roads and grounds to deliver a message or
order but could simply wire it with a few minutes. The
Indians on the other hand were devoid of such means.
That’s why they utterly fell behind and got defeated.
55. 7. No support of native rulers
Many native rulers, rather than supporting our freedom
fighters, helped the British in suppressing the revolt. The
rulers of Patiala, Jind, Gwalior, Hyderabad etc,
supported the British by all possible means. The king of
Nepal also helped the English by putting his army under
the command of the British (Gurkha regiment).
56. Fifthly, the English had full command on
waters due to their advanced navy they
got enforcement from their Crimean fronts
to counter Indian aggression without any
delay. Being equipped with modern
weapons especially Enfield rifles they
could hunt down Indians who were still
fighting with their sticks, swords and
daggers to fight their highly powerful
opponents.
57. 8. No support of educated
Indian and middle class
It is a stark fact that the first war of independence never
assumed the shape of a well organized national struggle.
The educated Indians and the middle class also did not
support the revolt. On the contrary, their feelings were
against it. The money lenders and merchants were also
against the war as it went against their economic
benefits.
58. 9. Non-Cooperation of Sikhs
and Punjab
The Sikhs of the Province of Punjab considered the
Muslims as their traditional enemies. Thus they decided
to support the British in the war of Independence. The
Sikh soldiers played a decisive role in the recovery of
Delhi from the freedom fighters.
59. 10. No concept of Nationalism
The leaders of the first war of Independence had no
concept of nationalism and nation-state. They were
fighting for their own regional interests.
60. 11. economic conditions
The economic conditions of Indian troops also entailed
an obvious cause of their defeat. On the one hand the
war started out of awkwardness, mismanagement and
lack of planning and even the emperor was practically
penniless who was asking for loans from Delhi
landlords but they were determined to save their
money, not their freedom. The British troops, on the
other hand, had been wealthy because the prosperous
regions of India were totally under their control.
