Revolt Of 1857

The Indian public had been suffering under an oppressive foreign rule for almost a century by now and the discontentment had been rising. The revolt of 1857 which although broke out in a sudden and spontaneous manner had deeper reasons.

Economic Ruin of the Country Since India was ruled as colony by the British, their economic policies were formulated accordingly. Once the British were in control of a certain area they began implementing their oppressive colonial market policies. They would force Indians to sell cheap and buy dear. This over time had completely destroyed the Indian economy and had sent millions in poverty. Such a massive change in the economic status of Indians had never taken place in its entire history, and the people resented this injustice inflicted upon them.

Displaced People

British rule brought drastic changes to the lives of many Indians. Land lords who had for long enjoyed land and social privileges found themselves stripped of their land and left impoverished. Artisans who were patronized by the Indian rulers now had no patrons amongst the new British rulers, and were out of work. The subsidiary alliance had forced many kings to disband their armies in order to meet the costs of maintaining the mandatory British troops and this resulted in large scale unemployment. These displaced people became major enemies of the British rule in India

Religious influence and social reform

The British besides conquering India were also keen to spread their religion, Christianity. Missionaries were actively encouraged and laws allowing only Christians to inheritproperty were passed. The army maintained a chaplain at state cost. Indians serving in the army did not have their religious views respected and were often made to violate them. The British egged on by social reformers banned sati and legalized widow marriage. While these were progressive steps viewed for the betterment of Indian society, they were received by the conservative sections of society as a direct attack on their culture.

Since the British had remained a foreign alien ruler for over a hundred years, and made no effort whatsoever to integrate into Indian society, the people opposed it strongly. Earlier foreign invaders had always integrated into Indian society and there had been a synthesis of ideas. In the case of the British, the British were simply trying to impose their ideas and beliefs on the Indians. This did not go down well with the Indian people.

Western Education

The British had been promoting western education and laying emphasis on the education of girls. This was also mis-interpreted by the conservative sections of the society as an attack on Indian culture. More importantly western education exposed Indians to the new thoughts of liberty and equality and they realized that the British were treating them like second rate citizens in their own country.

Policies of Annexation

The British in order to gain control of India had adopted some devious annexation policies which illegally displaced many Indian kings. The British also refused to recognize the titles of the sons of the kings. The British humiliated the Mughals, by proclaiming that after the death of Bahadur Shah II, his sons would be known as mere princes and would have to vacate the Red Fort.

One particular annexation that the British made proved to be a major mistake. A large part of the English East India Company's army was from a kingdom known as Awadh, a loyal ally of the British. Since the soldiers lacked any nationalistic feelings they had helped the British conquer the rest of the country. However, when the British annexed their kingdom, Awadh, on flimsy grounds, they were angered and revolted.

A few other minor factors had also been brewing. The British power had come across as invincible after they successfully overran a once mighty country. This myth was shattered when the British were defeated in Afghanistan. This gave Indians a new found confidence to revolt. Finally all that was needed was a spark, and this came with the greased cartridges controversy. The British introduced the new Enfield rifle which had a cartridge greased with the fat of a cow or pig. The soldiers before they could load the cartridge into the weapon had to bite off the cover, which was coated as mentioned above. This violated the religious feelings of Hindus as well as Muslims, for they are forbidden from eating the meat of a cow and pig respectively. The soldiers perceived this to be a direct and deliberate attack on their most sacred beliefs and refused to use these cartridges.

On 8th May 1857, the soldiers of the third Native cavalry were sentenced to ten years in prison for refusing to use the new cartridges. Their imprisonment angered the other Indian soldiers based at Meerut and the next day they freed their comrades and killed the British officers. After this they set off for Delhi at sunset and reached by the next morning. The local infantry of Delhi assisted them in taking over the city and killing many European officials. The rebels instated the aged and powerless Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah II to the post of Emperor of India. The Mughals had for long been considered the symbol ofpolitical unity in India, and this development transformed the rebellion into a revolutionary war. Bahadur Shah II was pressured into organizing a movement, and he sent letters to all the important Indian kings to organize a confederation of Indian states, which collectively could drive the British out of India. A Court of Soldiers was established with General Bakht Khan heading it, and this body became the real command centre for the revolt. Soon the revolt spread to many parts of the country with several Indian kings attacking British positions. Notable personalities of the revolt were people like Nana Sahib, the Rani of Jhansi, Tantia Tope and Kunwar Singh amongst many others.

The revolt met with some early successes but was eventually suppressed by the British within a year. The revolt had failed in its objective of overthrowing the British power, although it did result in some far reaching changes. The revolt of 1857 failed because it suffered from weak leadership and was hardly organized. This proved a major handicap when dealing with the well trained and equipped British troops. Also the revolt failed to extend to all parts of the country, and large sections of the population did not support it. In fact the British were able to use many divisions of the Indian unit of their army in suppressing the revolt. The revolt however did however make an impact on the British power, the English East India Company would be replaced by the British crown The revolt had created a sense of a nation amongst the Indians, and these nationalistic feelings would eventually result in the freedom struggle.

divisions of the Indian unit of their army in suppressing the revolt. The revolt however did however make an impact on the British power, the English East India Company would be replaced by the British crown The revolt had created a sense of a nation amongst the Indians, and these nationalistic feelings would eventually result in the freedom struggle.