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THE REVOLT OF 1857

The Revolt of 1857 was a mighty popular revolt that broke out against the British rule in
Northern and Central India. The revolt began as a mutiny of the Indian soldiers. Later it engulfed
a number of native chieftains and their dependants, Zamindars, peasants, artisans, traders an even
priestly men. The revolt shook the British Empire in India in its very foundation. It was the
outcome of many political, social, economic and military problems.
Political Background
After the battle of Plassey, the English East India Company followed a policy of
territorial annexation and abolition of titles. This caused much political discontent, particularly
among the ruling princes and nobles of India. Subsidiary Alliance System, Doctrine of Lapse and
Misrule were used as devices for territorial expansion.
States like Hyderabad (1798), Mysore (1799), Tanjore (1799), Awadh (1801), Peshwa
(1802), Scindia (1803) and Travancore (1805) became the protected allies of the English East
India Company through the Subsidiary Alliance System of Wellesley.
Dalhousie annexed States like Satara, Jaitpur, Sambalpur, Baghat, Udaipur, Jhansi and
Nagpur by the application of the Doctrine of Lapse. In Satara Venkatarao, the adopted son of
Shahji Maharaj was not permitted to succeed and Dalhousie annexed it in 1848. Nagpur was
annexed in 1853 rejecting the request of Yawant Rao, the adapted son of Raghu Ji. In Jhansi Rani
Lekshmi Bai, the widow of Gangadhar Rao applied for recognizing Anand Rao, the adapted son
to be the successor. But Dalhousie ignored the request and annexed it in 1853. Similarly he
annexed Jaitpur in 1849 and Bghat in 1850. Sambalpur and Udaipur were annexed in 1849 and
1856 respectively but later hey were restored to the native rulers.
Oudh was annexed on 13 February 1856 on the pretext of misrule. Nawab Wazid Ali
Shah, the ruler of Oudh submitted without any resistance. But there was much disaffection
among the Talukdars, the disbanded soldiers and the people of Oudh.
The Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah II was asked to move from Red Fort to Qutub. His
name was removed from the coins. In 1856, Lord Canning declared that the titular sovereignty of
the Mughals would come to an end with the death of Bahadhur II and his successors would be
known as mere princes.
After the Mahratta wars Peshwa Baji Rao II was granted an annual pension of Rupees 8
lakh and the estate of Bithur near Kanpur. But after the death of Baji Rao, Dalhousie refused to
accept Nana sahib as the heir of the Peshwa. Nana sahib was asked to vacate the estate of
Bithur. Consequently, Nanasahib and his lieutenant Tantia Tope became the enemies of the
English East India Company. In 1855, the widow of Tanjore Rajah was denied pension. Azimjah
, the rightful successor of Mohamad Ghaus was denied privileges in the same year. Punjab was
annexed in 1853 and placed under a Chief Commissioner.
People also disliked Absentee Sovereignty or being ruled from a thousand of miles
distance. Pax Britannica pursued by the company led to the disbanding of the Pindaries, Thugs
and the irregular soldiers.
British had suffered many reverses in the First Afghan War of 1839-1842 and Crimean
Wars of 1853-1856. This shattered the state of discipline in the companys forces. There was also
a current belief that the companys rule would come to an end hundred years after the battle of
Plessey of 1857. Such a political background finally prepared the way to mass movement to put
an end to the companys rule.
Economic Background

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The impact of British rule on Indian economy was disastrous. The British followed a
policy of exploiting the economic resources of India. They destroyed the industry of Bengal and
the peasants were reduced to poverty. Many trade monopolies developed. The British imposed
heavy inland duties on Indian goods. At the same time they encouraged the import of English
goods into India duty free. Under the Charter Act of 1813, Indian trade was opened to the private
merchants from England. All this throttled Indias internal trade.
India became an agricultural colony of the British. Indian raw materials were exported to
England at very low prices. They came back to India in the form of manufactured goods and
were sold at high prices. The machine made goods of England crippled Indias traditional cottage
and small scale industries. Those who were engaged in these trades took to agriculture.
The land revenue settlement introduced by the British Government led to undesirable
results. The Permanent Revenue settlement of Bengal satisfied neither the Zamindar nor the
cultivator. In Madras and Northern Sircars periodical settlements were introduced. But there was
the general complaint that assessments were heavy. In Bombay and North West Provinces too
revenue settlements were effected. There were similar complaints of oppressive assessments. In
areas like Oudh the Ryotwari Settlement was introduced. But this destroyed the prospects of
most of the Talukdars of Oudh.
The Charter Act of 1833 gave freedom to Englishmen to settle down in India and to carry
on trade. This encouraged the slave owners of the West Indies to migrate to India as planters.
They undertook indigo plantations in Bengal, Bihar and other areas. The traditional indigo
cultivators were reduced to slavery. The peasants did not have even the minimum requirements
of food and clothing. The Inam Commission set up under the Act of 1852 confiscated 20,000
estates in Decan. This adversely affected the land owning class and the dependant peasants.
Thus under the companys administration all classes of people became impoverished.
The periodical recurrence of famines only added to their miseries and hardships.
Socio-Religious Background
There many social and religious problems behind the revolt of1857. The British had a
feeling of racial superiority. They treated the Indians with contempt. The Indians were addressed
as Suar (pig) and Nigger. An ordinary Indian was regarded as untrustworthy and unfit to hold
high administrative post. In civil service the highest post for an India was that of a Sadar or
Amin.The Indian judges were not allowed to try these cases in which Europeans were involved.
All these hurt the Indian sentiments of honour.
The activities of the Christian missionaries and the social reforms introduced by the
Government fanned the flames of discontent among the Hindus and the Muslims. The Charter
Act of 1813 had given unrestricted freedom to the Christian missionaries to engage themselves in
proselytizing activities. The Christian missionaries made open attack on the Hinduism and Islam.
This made the Hindus and Muslims anxious of their respective religions. The measures like the
abolition of Sati(1829) and female infanticide, extension of Western education to girls, Widow
Remarriage Act (1856), the Religious Disabilities Act (1850), and the taxing of religious
properties greatly hurt the conservative sections of Indians. Even the railways and steam ships
were looked upon as instruments of converting India into a Christian land. A rumor spread that
the government mixed cow bones in salt and eatables. All this led to many to incite anti- British
feeling and mobilize people to a great revolt in 1857.
Military Background
There was dissatisfaction among the ranks of the sepoys in the Indian army since
formation of the first sepoy units by Robert Clive. The sepoys had outnumbered the Englishmen

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in the Indian army. In 1856 the number of Indian soldiers in the army was 2,33,000 while the
English soldiers numbered only 45,322. But there was as wide gulf between the scale of pay of
the British soldiers and the Indian soldiers. Indian soldiers were designated as sepoys. In
military they could not rise above the rank of a Subedar.They were prohibited from wearing the
turban and denied of batta. The sepoys were asked to serve in foreign countries like Afghanistan
and Burma. The Hindu sepoys feared that by serving outside India they would lose their caste.
The Muslim Sepoys were not happy when they were asked to fight against Muslim powers like
Afghanistan. In 1856 Lord Canning passed the General Enlistment Act which required that the
new recruits should take an oath expressing their willingness to serve wherever required. The
Crimean war in Europe had undermined the morale of the English soldiers. Tara Chand writes,
The pride of the Indians was wounded. The proselytizing activities of the Christian
missionaries had caused resentment among the Sepoys too.
The discontent among the soldiers had found its expression in a number of mutinies that
occurred prior to 1857. The Bengal Mutiny of 1764, the Sepoy Mutiny at Vellore in 1800 and the
Barrackpur in 1824 were some of them. But they were suppressed and the sepoys had been
waiting for another occasion. This was provided by the greased cartridge of the Enfield rifle
introduced in 1856. The cartridge of the new Enfield rifle had a greased paper cover. The end of
the cover had to be bitten off before use. In 1857, a rumor spread that the cartridges were greased
by the fat of the pig and the cow, objectionable to the Muslims and Hindus respectively. The
biting order was withdrawn in the face of mounting protest, but it did not retrieve the situation.
The sepoys had lost their confidence in the masters. R.C. Majumdar has writes, The story of
the greased cartridge supplied the spark to the revolt. The aged Bahadurshah, the Mughal
emperor served as the rallying point for the rebel forces. Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi, Nana
Sahib, the adapted son of ex- Peshwa Baji Rao and Tantia Tope, his lieutenant also provided
leadership to the rebels. The revolt of 1857 began at Meerut on 10 May 1857 when the sepoys
killed their officers and cut telegraph wires. In spite of the numerical strength of the sepoys and
the support of the civilians, the British suppressed the revolt with an iron hand.
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