The First War of Indian Independence

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1 The First War of Indian Independence
Historians called First war of Indian independence – the sepoy mutiny of 1857 For them it was just a bunch of Indian sepoys who had mutinied. They largely failed to recognize the involvement of a vast section of Indian society that took part in this struggle. Lack of planning and co-ordination resulted in defeat of Indians. The sepoys, a generic term used for native Indian soldiers of the Bengal Army, had their own list of grievances against the Company administration, mainly caused by the ethnic gulf between the European officers and their Indian troops.  The mutiny broke out in the Bengal army because it was only the military sphere that Indians were organized. First War of Indian Independence is a term predominantly used in India to describe the Indian Rebellion of The event challenged and ended the power and control of British East Indian Company in India to be replaced by nine decades of British colonial rule, known as the British Raj

2 The Revolt of 1857 The revolt of 1857 is considered as a great landmark in the history of India, it was started at Meerut military regiment and spread at different parts of India, a variety of causes were behind the revolt but the greased cartridge for the Enfield riffle was the immediate factor for the outbreak Introduction of Enfield riffle whose cartridges made of beef and pig fat to be bitten off before loading served as the spark of the revolt Revolt began on Meerut on 10th may 1857 as the mutiny in Indian soldiers, it became epicenter of the revolt

3 sentiments of Indian soldiers
1)Sepoys refused to use the cartridge due to religious reason they had to bite them open, greased with pork fat which was considered unclean by Muslims 2)The soldier has to tear open the edge of the cartridge with his teeth 3)He pours the powder down the muzzle of his riffle, then he thrusts the bullet, still wrapped in the cartridge paper which makes it a tight fit into the muzzle He then takes his ramrod from its slot beneath the riffle barrel and rams paper, bullet and powder to the bottom Use of greased cartridge made from the fat of cow and pig hurt the religious sentiments of Indian soldiers

4 Before the outbreak of 1857 revolt Mangal Panday started his revolt on march 29 of that year and became the first martyr of the events of 1857 Delhi, Kanpur Lucknow Jhansi Gwalior,bareilly, Arrah and Fazhiabad were most important centers of the revolt the British army under john Nicholson played a prominent role to suppress the revolt. After the revolt the British crown directly took over the government of India by putting an end to east India companies rule. The British prime minister lord Parl Mirston passed the government of India act of in the parliament which enacted the direct rule of British crown over India

5 Leaders of the revolt Begum Hazrat Mahal Nana Sahib Rani Laxmi Bhai
General Bakht Khan Begum Hazrat Mahal Nana Sahib Rani Laxmi Bhai Bakht Khan was commander-in-chief of Indian rebel forces in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the East India Company Begum Hazrat Mahal, also known as Begum of Awadh, was the first wife of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah. She rebelled against the British East India Company during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 Nana Sahib, born as Dhondu Pant, was an Indian, Maratha aristocrat, who led the Kanpur rebellion during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Rani of Jhansi, also called Lakshmibai, and born as Manikarnika, was the queen of the Maratha-ruled Jhansi State, situated in the north-central part of India

6 CONCLUSION Though the Sepoy War has been dismissed as a chaotic, disorganized peasant uprising, several facts go undisputed that offer a counter-argument. The "unorganized peasants" of India fought one of the most powerful empires in the world to near defeat with limited resources and even more limited training. Nevertheless, the lesson of the Sepoy War is not one of victory or justice, but failure. Though the exact cause of the Sepoy War has yet to be agreed upon, and it is likely that there were many complex causes rather than one, it is clear that British interference governments and the oppression of the Indian people, religious and economic, created a bloody revolution. If there is a lesson to be learned from any of this, it is that a people, once pushed into a corner, will fight for nothing more than the freedom to fight, and live, if not for religion then for their basic right to live in freedom. Furthermore, in the desperate vengeance of a people reduced to pure indignity, lives a coldness that rivals that of their oppressors.