The 1857 Revolt—the First Independence War!

• Ranganathan SVN Kondala

In the first half of the 19th century, the East India Company controlled large parts of India.

One hundred years after the Battle of Plassey, a revolution against the unjust and repressive British government shook British control in India.

British historians termed it the Sepoy Mutiny; Indian historians called it the Revolt of 1857 or the First War of Indian Independence. The 1857 Revolt followed a series of disruptions in various sections of the country from the late eighteenth century

The late 18th century saw the Sanyasi Rebellion in North Bengal and the Chunar Rebellion in Bihar and Bengal. The most major mid-19th-century peasant uprisings were those of Malabar's Moplah peasants and Bengal's Muslim Faraizi movement.

Many tribal revolts occurred in the first half of the nineteenth century. The Bhils of Madhya Pradesh, Santhals of Bihar, and Gonds and Khonds of Orissa rebelled. All disturbances were localised. Although serious and sometimes lengthy, these did not threaten the British Empire.

The Revolt of 1857 was the first organised resistance movement. It started as a sepoy insurrection in the Company's army but gained widespread support. Grievances against British rule held by all parts of Indian society were its root reason.

Reasons for the Revolt:

Political:

British expansion through the Doctrine of Lapse and direct annexation contributed to the insurrection. Many Indian monarchs and chiefs were overthrown, causing other leading families to fear a similar fate.

Rani Lakshmi Bai's adopted son couldn't rule Jhansi. The Doctrine of Lapse annexed Satara, Nagpur, and Jhansi. Annexed were Jaitpur, Sambalpur, and Udaipur. Another ruler worried their states might be annexed soon. The ruling elite was furious because Nana Saheb, Baji Rao II's adopted son, was denied pension.

The populace were also hurt when Bahadur Shah II's descendants were denied housing in the Red Fort. The takeover of Awadh by Lord Dalhousie under the guise of maladministration unemployed thousands of lords, officials, retainers, and soldiers This measure turned loyal Awadh into a place of dissatisfaction and intrigue.

Social and Religious Causes:

The fast spread of Western civilization in India worried a significant portion of the populace. A Hindu who converted to Christianity might inherit his ancestral possessions under an 1850 Act. All around India, missionaries could convert people to Christianity. The people believed the government would Christianize Indians.

Abolition of sati and female infanticide and legalisation of widow remarriage threatened societal order.Rail and telegraph introductions were looked with scepticism.

Economic Causes:

Rural peasants and zamindars opposed the Company's strict land taxes and revenue collection tactics. These groups struggled to meet revenue expectations and repay money lenders, losing their generations-old lands. Many sepoys were peasants and had familial ties in communities, therefore their grievances touched them.

British economic exploitation and the dismantling of the ancient economic system generated considerable hatred from all classes. After the Industrial Revolution in England, British manufactured products flooded into India, destroying its textile sector.

Indian handicrafts competed with cheap British machine-made items. India supplied raw resources and bought British goods. All those who relied on royal patronage lost their jobs. Their grievance against the British was deep.

Military Causes:

Sepoy Mangal Pandey at Barrackpore refused to use the cartridge and fought his superiors in March 1857. He died by hanging on April 8. After refusing the new gun, 85 Meerut troops were condemned to ten years in prison on May 9.

Revolt events: A rebellion erupted in Meerut Cantonment. The Meerut Mutiny (May 9, 1857) started the Revolt of 1857. Indian sepoys in Meerut killed British officers and broke into the jail. They marched to Delhi May 10.

Capture of Delhi: The mutineers and Delhi sepoys took possession of the city. On May 11, the sepoys declared the elderly Bahadur Shah Zafar Emperor of Hindustan. However, Bahadur Shah was too old to lead the sepoys. The Delhi occupation was brief.

The British assaulted Delhi in September, resulting in its fall. Desperate fighting lasted six days. In September 1857, the British retook Delhi. Thousands of innocents were killed and hundreds hung. Captured and transported to Rangoon, the old king died in 1862. Shot dead were his sons. Mughals' imperial dynasty ended.

Revolt centers:

The uprising spanned from Patna to Rajasthan. These territories' uprising centres were Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Jhansi, Gwalior, and Arrah in Bihar.

Lucknow

Lucknow was the capital of Awadh. The dispersed Awadh soldiers joined the mutinous sepoys there. Hazrat Mahal, a begum of the ex-king of Awadh, led the insurrection. British soldiers finally took Lucknow. The queen fled to Nepal.

Kanpur:

Nana Saheb, Peshwa Baji Rao II's adopted son, led the Kanpur uprising. He rebelled because the British took his pension. He took Kanpur and became Peshwa. Victory was brief.

Fresh reinforcements helped the British retake Kanpur. The insurrection was brutally repressed. Rebels were hung or canonied. Nana Saheb fled. However, his excellent leader Tantia Tope persisted. Finally defeated, Tantia Tope was caught and executed.

The twenty-two-year-old Rani Lakshmi Bai led the rebels in Jhansi when the British rejected her adopted son's claim to the crown. She bravely fought the British. She lost to the English.

Rani Lakshmi Bai fled. After Tantia Tope joined the Rani, they marched to and took Gwalior. Sindhia, a British ally, was expelled. Heavy fighting ensued. The Jhansi Rani battled fiercely. Fighting to the end, she died. British recaptured Gwalior.

Bihar:

The Bihar uprising was led by Kunwar Singh.

Repression of the Revolt:

The 1857 Revolt lasted almost a year. This was suppressed by mid-1858. Canning declared peace on July 8, 1858, fourteen months after Meerut.

The revolution failed due to a limited uprising.

Despite its extensive nature, the revolution did not touch much of the country. The insurrection mostly occurred in Doab. Sind, Rajputana, Kashmir, mainly Punjab. Southern provinces didn't participate. It was not an all-India struggle.Sindhia, Holkar, Jodhpur's Rana, and others opposed the rebels.

Uneffective Leaders:

Rebel leaders were ineffective. Yes, Nana Saheb, Tantia Tope, and Rani Lakshmi Bai were brave leaders, but they couldn't lead the revolution.

Few Resources:

Rebels were short on men and money. However, India supplied the English with soldiers, money, and weaponry.

No Middle Class Participation:

English-educated Bengali merchants, traders, and zamindars helped the British quell the insurrection.

The insurrection of 1857 was a significant event in contemporary Indian history. The revolution ended East India Company rule in India. Britain now ruled India directly. Lord Canning declared this at a Durbar in Allahabad on November 1, 1858, in the Queen's name. Queen Victoria, aka the British Parliament, took over Indian administration. The Viceroy replaced the Governor General.

The Doctrine of Lapse ended. Son adoption as legal heirs was allowed. The Revolt of 1857 made India's freedom movement possible.

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