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Home , Kunwar Singh, Nana Saheb, Rani of Jhansi

IAETSD JOURNAL FOR ADVANCED RESEARCH IN APPLIED SCIENCES ISSN NO: 2394-8442

UNDERSTANDING THE SCENARIO OF REVOLT OF 1857:A REVIEWS VivekYadav Independent Scholar JS University, Shikohabad

Abstract:Until the first half of the 19th century, East HazratMahal [Lucknow]. There was a Company had kept India more and more in its deficiency of central leadership. control. After a hundred years after the Society of o The revolt was started due to the induction of Society, a cruel and brutal British government enfield riffles in the army. It was believed that became a form of anger resistance, which eliminated the cartridges used in the riffles were made of the basis of the British rule of India. Although the pig fat and cow fat which were restricted for British historians referred to this soldier controversy, the Muslims and Hindus respectively. They the Indian actor described it as the 1857 rebellion or protested against these. the first war of Indian independence. At the end of 18 o Lord canning was the governor general at that century, before the rebellion of the 1857, the riot time. started in different parts of the country. Sunni o The revolt was failed to spread across the rebellion in northern Bengal and the poplar rebellion India. Some epicenters of the revolt were- in and Bangladesh ended on Sunday at the end , Lucknow, Aligarh, Agra, , of the century. There was a fierce movement of the Delhi, and . Maldives and the farmers of Bangladesh's Muslim farmers. . The first half of the nineteenth century also witnessed a number of tribal revolts. In this context, 2 . General Survey mention may be made of the rebellions of the Bhils 2.1 The Revolt of 1857: of , the Santhals of Bihar and the The first expression of organised resistance was the Gonds and Khonds of Orissa. However, all these Revolt of 1857. It began as a revolt of the sepoys of disturbances were localized. Although serious and, in the Company’s army but eventually secured the some cases, long drawn, these did not pose any participation of the masses. Its causes lay deeply serious threat to the existence of the British Empire. embedded in the grievances that all sections of Indian society nurtured against the British rule. 1. Causes, Effects of Revolt 2.2 Causes of the Revolt: One of the important events of Indian history is the Revolt of 1857. It was the first rebellion against the Political Causes: which took the massive form. The political causes of the revolt may be traced to the British policy of expansion through the Doctrine of o The main persons behind this rebellion were Lapse and direct annexation. A large number of the soldiers [sepoy]. That is why it is also Indian rulers and chiefs were dislodged, thus called sepoy Mutiny. But the revolt did not arousing fear in the minds of other ruling families remain limited to the soldiers, later it spread who apprehended a similar fate. and took a massive form. Some people also called this-‘India’s first war of Independence’. Rani Lakshmi Bai’s adopted son was not permitted to o The revolt was started on 10th May of 1857 in sit on the throne of Jhansi. , and Jhansi the town of . Though in some places, were annexed under the . Jaitpur, fractional clashes began before that. It ended Sambalpur and Udaipur were also annexed. Other on 20 June 1858. rulers feared that the annexation of their states was o The first martyr of 1957 revolt was Mangal only a matter of time. The refusal to continue the Pandey. He attacked his British sergeant on pension of , the adopted son of Baji Rao 29 March 1857 at Barrackpore. II, created hostility among the ruling class. Moreover, o Some of the leaders of the rebellion were- the sentiments of the people were hurt when it was Rani Lakshmibai [Jhansi], declared that the descendants of the titular Mughal [Bihar], Bahadur Shah [Delhi], Nana Saheb Emperor, Bahadur Shah II, would not be allowed to [Kanpur], Tatia Tope [Kanpur], Begum live in the Red Fort. The annexation of by Lord Dalhousie on the pretext of maladministration left thousands of nobles, officials, retainers and

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soldiers jobless. This measure converted Awadh, a India had adversely affected the service conditions of loyal state, into a hotbed of discontent and intrigue. Indian sepoys. They were required to serve in areas far away from their homes. In 1856 Lord Canning Social and Religious Causes: issued the General Services Enlistment Act which A large section of the population was alarmed by the required that the sepoys must be ready to serve even rapid spread of Western civilization in India. An Act in British land across the sea. in 1850 changed the Hindu law of inheritance enabling a Hindu who had converted into Christianity The ‘Bengal Army’ was recruited from high caste to inherit his ancestral properties. Besides, the communities in Awadh. They were not prepared to missionaries were allowed to make conversions to cross the ocean (Kalapani) which was forbidden as Christianity all over India. The people were per Hindu religious beliefs. They developed the convinced that the Government was planning to suspicion that the Government was trying to convert convert Indians to Christianity. The abolition of Indians to Christianity.After the annexation of practices like sati and female infanticide, and the Awadh the Nawab’s army was disbanded. These legislation legalizing widow remarriage, were threats soldiers lost their means of livelihood. They became to the established social structure.Even the bitter enemies of the British. introduction of the railways and telegraph was viewed with suspicion. Immediate Cause: The Revolt of 1857 eventually broke out over the Economic Causes: incident of greased cartridges. A rumour spread that In rural areas, peasants and zamindars resented the the cartridges of the new Enfield rifles were greased heavy taxes on land and the stringent methods of with the fat of cows and pigs. Before loading these revenue collection followed by the Company. Many rifles the sepoys had to bite off the paper on the among these groups were unable to meet the heavy cartridges. Both Hindu and Muslim sepoys refused to revenue demands and repay their loans to money use them. Canning tried to make amends for the error lenders, eventually losing the lands that they had held and the offending cartridges were withdrawn, but by for generations. Large numbers of sepoys were drawn then the damage had been done. There was unrest in from the peasantry and had family ties in villages, so several places. the grievances of the peasants also affected them. 3. Main events of the revolt The economic exploitation by the British and the Soon there was a rebellion in the Meerut complete destruction of the traditional economic Cantonment. The Meerut Mutiny (May 9, 1857) structure caused widespread resentment among all marked the beginning of the Revolt of 1857. The sections of the people. After the Industrial Revolution Indian sepoys in Meerut murdered their British in England, there was an influx of British officers and broke open the jail. On May 10, they manufactured goods into India which ruined marched to Delhi. industries, particularly the textile industry, of India. : Indian handicraft industries had to compete with In Delhi the mutineers were joined by the Delhi cheap machine- made goods from Britain. India was sepoys and the city came under their control. Next transformed into a supplier of raw materials and a day, on 11th May, the sepoys proclaimed the ageing consumer of goods manufactured in Britain. All those the Emperor of Hindustan. But people who previously depended on royal patronage Bahadur Shah was old and he could not give able for their livelihoods were rendered unemployed. So leadership to the sepoys. The occupation of Delhi they bore a deep- seated grievance against the British. was short-lived.

Military Causes: Fall of Delhi: The Revolt of 1857 started as a sepoy mutiny. It was The British finally attacked Delhi in September. For only later on that other elements of society joined the six days there was desperate fighting. But by revolt.Indian sepoys formed more than 87% of September 1857, the British reoccupied Delhi. British troops in India. They were considered inferior Thousands of innocent people were massacred and to British soldiers. An Indian sepoy was paid less hundreds were hanged. The old king was captured than a European sepoy of the same rank. Besides, an and later deported to Rangoon where he died in 1862. Indian sepoy could not rise to a rank higher than that His sons were shot dead. Thus ended the imperial of a Subedar.The extension of the British Empire in dynasty of the Mughals.

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1858, fourteen months after the outbreak at Meerut, peace was finally proclaimed by Canning.

5. Causes of the failure of the revolt 4. Centres of the revolt Limited Uprising The revolt spread over the entire area from the Although the revolt was fairly widespread, a large neighbourhood of Patna to the borders of Rajasthan. part of the country remained unaffected by it. The There were six main centres of revolt in these regions revolt was mainly confined to the Doab region. Sind, namely Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Jhansi, Rajputana, Kashmir, most parts of Punjab. The and Arrah in Bihar. southern provinces did not take part in it. It failed to have the character of an all-India struggle.Important rulers like Sindhia, , Rana of Jodhpur and  Lucknow others did not support the rebels. Lucknow was the capital of Awadh. There the mutinous sepoys were joined by the disbanded soldiers from the old Awadh army. Begum No Effective Leaders HazratMahal, one of the begums of the ex-king of The rebels lacked an effective leader. Nana Saheb, Awadh, took up the leadership of the revolt. Finally Tantia Tope and Rani Lakshmi Bai were brave the British forces captured Lucknow. The queen leaders, no doubt, but they could not offer effective escaped to . leadership to the movement as a whole.

 Kanpur Limited Resources In Kanpur the revolt was led by Nana Saheb, the The rebels lacked resources in terms of men and adopted son of PeshwaBaji Rao II. He joined the money. The English, on the other hand, received a revolt primarily because he was deprived of his steady supply of men, money and arms in India. pension by the British. He captured Kanpur and proclaimed himself the . The victory was No Participation of the Middle Class short- lived. Kanpur was recaptured by the British The English educated middle class, the rich after fresh reinforcements arrived. The revolt was merchants, traders and zamindars of Bengal helped suppressed with terrible vengeance. The rebels were the British to suppress the revolt. either hanged or blown to pieces by canons. Nana Saheb escaped. But his brilliant commander Tantia 6. Conclusion Tope continued the struggle. Tantia Tope was finally The great uprising of 1857 was an important defeated, arrested and hanged. landmark in the history of modern India. The revolt marked the end of the East India Company’s rule in  Jhansi India. India now came under the direct rule of the In Jhansi, the twenty-two-year-old Rani Lakshmi Bai British Crown. This was announced by Lord Canning led the rebels when the British refused to accept the at a Durbar in in aproclamation issued on claim of her adopted son to the throne of Jhansi. She 1 November 1858 in the name of the Queen. Thus, fought gallantly against the British forces. But she Indian administration was taken over by Queen was ultimately defeated by the English.Rani Lakshmi Victoria, which, in effect, meant the British Bai escaped. Later on, the Rani was joined by Tantia Parliament. The Governor General’s office was Tope and together they marched to Gwalior and replaced by that of the Viceroy.The Doctrine of captured it. Sindhia, a loyal ally of the British, was Lapse was abolished. The right to adopt sons as legal driven out. Fierce fighting followed. The Rani of heirs was accepted. The Revolt of 1857 paved the Jhansi fought like a tigress. She died, fighting to the way for the future struggle for freedom in India. very end. Gwalior was recaptured by the British. References  Bihar In Bihar the revolt was led by Kunwar Singh.  Allen, Charles. Soldier Sahibs: The Men Who Made the North-west Frontier. Abacus, New ed., 2001. ISBN 0349114560. 4.1 Suppression of the Revolt  Anderson, Clare. Indian Uprising of 1857–8: The Revolt of 1857 lasted for more than a year. It Prisons, Prisoners and Rebellion. New York: was suppressed by the middle of 1858. On July 8, Anthem Press, 2007. ISBN 9781843312499. [6]

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