The Revolt of

1857

THE FIRST WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

Political

Causes
Social Causes
Religious Causes
Economic Causes
Administrative Causes
Military Causes

Lord Dalhousies policy of annexation and the Doctrine

of lapse had made the Indian rulers angry and insecure.
The Rani of Jhansi Laxmibai was not allowed to adopt a
son.
In case of disputed interpretation, the decision of the
East India Company was binding & that of the court of
the Directors was final.
Regal titles of the Nawab of Carnatic & Tanjore were
abolished. The imperial title of the Moghul Emperor was
discontinued after Bahadur Shah II.
The pension of Nana Saheb (Peshwa Baji Rao IIs
adopted son) was stopped.

Sentiments of racial superiority led to the

discrimination of Indians as inferiors.
The practice of sati was abolished. Child
marriage, infanticide and polygamy were not
allowed. People felt their social customs were
being interfered with.
Thousands became unemployed after the
annexation of Oudh.
The European juries were biased towards
European criminals.

Hindus and Muslims were forced into

Christianity
British Officers abused the name of Ram
and Muhammad.
Idolatry was denounced. Hindu deities
were ridiculed.
The workings of the Christian missionaries
was seen as a threat to other religions.

The British had gained control over natural resources by unjust

economic policies.
Unrest spread among the landlords of Bengal when William
Bentinck took away rent free estates from them.
Lord Dalhousie confiscated thousands of jagirs in the Deccan.
After Oudh was annexed, the estates of Zamindars and Taluqdars
were confiscated.
High posts and handsome salaries were given to the British. This
caused frustration amongst Indians.

Immense discrimination between the Indians and

the British.
The Indian sepoys were deprived of high salaries
and promotions. The highest post for an Indian
was that of the Subedar.
New recruits had to travel across the sea. It was
forbidden as per Hindu belief.
The Indian sepoys were required to work far off
without extra Bhatta or payment.

MEERUT
DELHI
OUDH
KANPUR
JHANSI

& GWALIOR

On 26 February 1857 the 19th

Bengal Native Infantry(BNI) regiment became
concerned about the new cartridges affecting
their religious sensibilities. Their Colonel
confronted them supported by artillery and
cavalry on the parade ground, but after some
negotiation withdrew the artillery, and
cancelled the next morning's parade.

On 29 March 1857 at the Barrackpore parade ground,

nearCalcutta, Mangal Pandeyof the 34th BNI, declared
that he would rebel against his commanders. General
John Hearsey came out to the parade ground to
investigate, and claimed later that Mangal Pandey was in
some kind of "religious frenzy". He ordered commanders
to arrest Pandey but everyone except one soldier
refused.
After failing to incite his comrades into an open and
active rebellion, Mangal Pandey tried to take his own life,
by placing his musket to his chest and pulling the trigger
with his toe. He managed only to wound himself, and he
was court-martialled on 6 April and hanged on 8 April.

During April, there was unrest and fires at Agra,

AllahabadandAmbala. At Ambala in particular, which
was a large military cantonment where several units
had been collected for their annual musketry practice,
it was clear to General Anson, Commander-in-Chief of
the Bengal Army, that some sort of rebellion over the
cartridges was imminent. he agreed to postpone the
musketry practice and allow a new drill by which the
soldiers tore the cartridges with their fingers rather
than their teeth, thus avoiding the possibility of
hurting the religious sentiments of the sepoys.
Although there was no open revolt at Ambala, there
was widespread arson during late April. Barrack
buildings (especially those belonging to soldiers who
had used the Enfield cartridges) and European
officers' bungalows were set on fire.

9 May 1857, 85 Sepoys were court martialled.

They had refused to use new cartridges.
Next day their companions attacked the jail.
Sepoys were freed.
Officers & Europeans were killed.
Revolters headed towards Delhi.

On 12th May 1857, Delhi was seized by rebels.

Some Europeans were shot dead.
Bhahadur Shah II was persuaded to support.
Loss of Delhi was a prestige loss for British.
On 14th September 1857, British attacked.
On 20th September 1857, British regained Delhi.
Bahadur Shah & Zeenat Mahal fled to Humayuns tomb.
But were followed & captured by General Hudson.
3 sons killed & the king & queen exiled to Rangoon.
The king died in 1862.

Commanders and leaders:

British
Archdale Wilson
John Nicholson
Indian Bahadur Shah II
Mirza Mughal
Bakht Khan
Strength British :
8,000 infantry
2,000 cavalry
2,200Kashmiriirregulars
Rebels
12,000 sepoys,
approx. 30,000 irregulars,

Delhi was the capital of theMughal Empire, which had been reduced
to insignificance over the preceding century. The Emperor,
Bahadur Shah II, who was eighty-two, had been informed by the
East India Company that the title would die with him. At the time,
Delhi was not a major centre of Company administration although
Company officials controlled the city's finances and courts. They and
their families lived in the "Civil Lines" to the north of the city.
There were no units of theBritish Armyor "European" units of the
East India Company forces at Delhi. ThreeBengal Native Infantry
regiments (the 38th, 54th and 74th) were stationed in barracks 2
miles (3.2km) north-west of the city. When the regiments paraded
early in the morning of 11 May, their officers read out to them the
General Orderannouncing the execution of sepoyMangal Pandey,
who had attempted to start a rebellion nearBarrackpurearlier in the
year, and the disbandment of his regiment (the 34th Bengal Native
Infantry). This produced much muttering in the ranks

Later in the morning, the rebels from Meerut arrived quite unexpectedly,
crossing thebridge of boatsover theJumna River. The leading sowars
(troopers) of the 3rd Light Cavalry halted under the windows of the Palace
and called on the Emperor to lead them. Bahadur Shah called for them to
go to another palace outside the city, where their case would be heard
later. Company officials then tried to close all the city gates but were too
late to prevent the sowars gaining entry through the Rajghat Gate to the
south. Once inside, the sowars were quickly joined by mobs which began
attacking Company officials and looting bazaars. [
About half the European civilians in Delhi and in the cantonments and Civil
Lines were able to escape and fled as best they could, first to the Flagstaff
Tower on the ridge to the north-west of Delhi where telegraph operators
were trying to warn other British stations of the uprising. After it became
clear that no help could arrive from Meerut or elsewhere, and the cart
carrying the bodies of the officers killed at the Main Guard in the morning
arrived at the tower by mistake, [9]most of the Europeans fled toKarnal,
several miles west. Some were helped by villagers on the way, others fell
prey to plunderers.

Barnard ordered a dawn assault on 13 June, but the orders were

confused and failed to reach most of his subordinates in time. The
attack had to be called off, amidst much recrimination. After this,
it was accepted that the odds were too great for any assault to be
successful until the besiegers were reinforced.
As each new contingent of rebels arrived,the rebels made attacks
on Hindu Rao's house and other outposts on several successive
days. A major attack was mounted from three directions on 19
June, and nearly forced the exhausted besiegers to retreat, but the
rebels did not know how close they came to success.[15]Another
major attack was made on 23 June, the centenary of the
Battle of Plassey.
Meanwhile, in Delhi, there had been some loss of morale due to
the failures of Mirza Moghul and Bahadur Shah's equally
unmilitary grandson, Mirza Abu Bakr. A large party of
reinforcements arrived fromBareillyunderBakht Khan, a veteran
artillery officer of the Company's army. Pleased with the loot they
brought with them, Bahadur Shah made Bakht Khan the new
commander in chief. Bakht Khan was able to replenish the city's
finances and inspire the rebel soldiers to renewed efforts. Bahadur
Shah however, was growing discouraged, and turned away offers
of assistance from other rebel leader

In one vital area of India, thePunjab(which had been annexed by

the East India Company only eight years before), the Bengal
Native units were quickly disarmed to prevent them rebelling, or
were defeated when they did rebel. Most of the available
Company units were stationed there, along with units of the
Punjab Irregular Forcewhich were formed fromSikhsandPakhtuns
who had little in common with thehigh caste Hindusof the
Bengal Native Infantry units.
The major force dispatched from the Punjab to Delhi were a
"Flying Column" of 4,200 men under BrigadierJohn Nicholsonand
asiege train. The Flying Column arrived on 14 August. The rebels
had heard of the imminent arrival of the siege train, and sent a
force out of the city to intercept it. On 25 August, Nicholson led a
force against their position at theBattle of Najafgarh. Although
the monsoon had broken, and the roads and fields were flooded,
Nicholson drove his force to make a rapid march and gained an
easy victory, raising European morale and lowering that of the
rebels.
The siege train arrived at the beginning of September.

Wilson eventually ordered all liquor to be destroyed,

and discipline was restored. Slowly, the attackers
began to clear the rebels from the city. They
captured the magazine on 16 September
Bahadur Shah and his entourage abandoned the
palace on 18 September, and a British force
captured the great mosque, the Jama Masjid, and
the abandoned palace the next day. They also
captured the Selimgarh Fort, attached to the palace
and dominating thebridge of boatsover the River
Yamuna. Most rebels who had not already left the
city now did so before the Company forces captured
all the gates and trapped them.
The city was finally declared to be captured on 21
September. John Nicholson died the next day.

The cost to the British, Company, and loyal Indian armies in

besieging Delhi from the start of the siege to the capture of
the city was 1,254 killed, and 4,493 wounded, It is almost
impossible to say how many rebels and their supporters
were killed during the siege, but the number was far greater.
Unofficial sources place the rebel casualties at over 5,000.
Several hundred rebel prisoners as well as suspected rebels
and sympathisers were subsequently hanged without a trial
or much legal process
By recapturing the Indian capital city, the British and
Company forces dealt the Indian Army mutineers a major
military and psychological blow, while releasing troops to
assist in the relief of Lucknow, thus contributing to another
British victory.

The Siege of Lucknow lasted from May 30 to November 27, 1857, during
the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
Oudh annexed by Lord Dalhousie.
The Nawab of Oudh exiled to Calcutta.
But his wife Begum Hazrat Mahal and 11 year old son continued to live in
Oudh but in very poor condition.
So people of Oudh were angry.
The revolt broke out on 4th June 1857.
Henry Lawrence, the British Resident, with some Europeans with some
hundred sepoys took refuge in a Residency.
Begum seized Residency and killed Henry & some others.
In November, Sir Colin Campbell (Commander-in-Chief) attacked with
Gorkha regiment.
In March 1858, the city was finally recaptured.
The rebels driven to Nepal border to die or captured by Gorkhas.

Armies & Commanders:

British
Sir Henry Lawrence
Major General Sir Henry Havelock
Brigadier John Inglis
Major General Sir James Outram
Lieutenant General Sir Colin Campbell
1,729 rising to approx. 8,000 men
Rebels
Various commanders
5,000 rising to approx. 30,000 men

The state ofOudh/Awadhhad been annexed by theBritish East

India Companyand theNawabWajid Ali Shah was exiled
toCalcuttain 1856. This high-handed action by the East India
Company was greatly resented within the state and elsewhere in
India. Sir Henry Lawrence took up the appointment as British
Commissioner only six weeks before the rebellion broke out.
Lawrence was well aware of the rebellious mood of the Indian
troops under his command (which included several units of Oudh
Irregulars, recruited from the former army of the state of Oudh).
On 18 April, he warned theGovernor General,Lord Canning, of
some of the manifestations of discontent, and asked permission to
transfer certain rebellious corps to another province.
On 10 May, the Indian soldiers atMeerutbroke into open rebellion,
and marched onDelhi. When news of this reached Lucknow,
Lawrence recognized the gravity of the crisis and started
defending the Residency.

Full-scale rebellion reached Lucknow on May 30 and Lawrence was

compelled to use the British 32nd Regiment of Foot to drive the rebels
from the city.
Improving his defenses, Lawrence conducted a reconnaissance in force
to the north on June 30, but was forced back to Lucknow after
encountering a well-organized sepoy force at Chinat. Falling back to
the Residency, Lawrence's force of 855 British soldiers, 712 loyal
sepoys, 153 civilian volunteers, and 1,280 non-combatants was
besieged by the rebels. Comprising around sixty acres, the Residency
defenses were centered on six buildings and four entrenched
batteries.
In preparing the defenses, British engineers had wanted to demolish
the large number of palaces, mosques, and administrative buildings
that surrounded the Residency, but Lawrence, not wishing to further
anger the local populace, ordered them saved.
As a result, they provided covered positions for rebel troops and
artillery when attacks began on July 1. The next day Lawrence was
mortally wounded by a shell fragment and died on July 4. Command
devolved to Colonel Sir John Inglis of the 32nd Foot. Though the rebels
possessed around 8,000 men, a lack of unified command prevented
them from overwhelming Inglis' troops.

While Inglis kept the rebels at bay with frequent sorties and
counterattacks, Major General Henry Havelock was making
plans to relieve Lucknow. Having retaken Cawnpore 48 miles to
the south, he intended to press on to Lucknow but lacked the
men. Reinforced by Major General Sir James Outram, the two
men began advancing on September 18. Reaching the
Alambagh, a large, walled park four miles south of the
Residency, five days later, Outram and Havelock ordered their
baggage train to remain in its defenses and pressed on.
Due to monsoon rains which had softened the ground, the two
commanders were unable to flank the city and were forced to
fight through its narrow streets. Advancing on September 25,
they took heavy losses in storming a bridge over the Charbagh
Canal. Pushing through the city, Outram wished to pause for
the night after reaching the Machchhi Bhawan. Desiring to
reach the Residency, Havelock lobbied for continuing the
attack. This request was granted and the British stormed the
final distance to the Residency, taking heavy losses in the
process.

Making contact with Inglis, the garrison was relieved after 87 days.
Though Outram had originally wished to evacuate Lucknow, the large
numbers of casualties and non-combatants made this impossible.
Expanding the defensive perimeter to include the palaces of Farhat
Baksh and Chuttur Munzil, Outram elected to remain after a large
stash of supplies was located. Rather than retreat in the face of the
British success, rebel numbers grew and soon Outram and Havelock
were under siege. Despite this, messengers, most notably Thomas H.
Kavanagh, were able to reach the Alambagh and a semaphore system
soon was established.
While the siege continued, British forces were working to re-establish
their control between Delhi and Cawnpore. At Cawnpore, Major
General James Hope Grant received orders from the new Commanderin-Chief, Lieutenant General Sir Colin Campbell, to await his arrival
before attempting to relieve Lucknow. Reaching Cawnpore on
November 3, Campbell moved towards the Alambagh with 3,500
infantry, 600 cavalry, and 42 guns. Outside Lucknow, rebel forces had
swelled to between 30,000 and 60,000 men, but still lacked a unified
leadership to direct their activities. To tighten their lines, the rebels
flooded the Charbagh Canal from the Dilkuska Bridge to the Charbagh
Bridge.

Using information provided by Kavanagh, Campbell planned to

attack the city from the east with the goal of crossing the canal
near the Gomti River. Moving out on November 15, his men
drove rebels from Dilkuska Park and advanced on a school
known as La Martiniere. Taking the school by noon, the British
repelled rebel counterattacks and paused to allow their supply
train to catch up to the advance. The next morning, Campbell
found that the canal was dry due to the flooding between the
bridges. Crossing, his men fought a bitter battle for the
Secundra Bagh and then the Shah Najaf. Moving forward,
Campbell made his headquarters in the Shah Najaf around
nightfall. With Campbell's approach, Outram and Havelock
opened a gap in their defenses to meet their relief. After
Campbell's men stormed the Moti Mahal, contact was made
with Residency and the siege ended. The rebels continued to
resist from several nearby positions, but were cleared out by
British troops.

The sieges and reliefs of Lucknow cost the British

around 2,500 killed, wounded, and missing while
rebel losses are not known. Though Outram and
Havelock wished to clear the city, Campbell elected
to evacuate as other rebel forces were threatening
Cawnpore. While British artillery bombarded the
nearby Kaisarbagh, the non-combatants were
removed to Dilkuska Park and then on to Cawnpore.
To hold the area, Outram was left at the easily held
Alambagh with 4,000 men. The fighting at Lucknow
was seen as a test of British resolve and the final day
of the second relief produced more Victoria Cross
winners (24) than any other single day. Lucknow was
retaken by Campbell the following March.

The

revolt was
completely
suppressed and
crushed by July
1858.

 The

revolt was localized and was

poorly organized.
The British had better resources
than the rebels.
The revolt was feudal in character.
The leaders lacked military skills.
The native princes did not join the
revolt.

 the revolt was considered to be an

awakener and the first effort towards the
freedom and independence.

the British just considered it to be a mere military

revolt.

The control of Indian administration was transferred form the company to the crown
by the GOI Act 1858
The Queen promised to respect Rights & dignity. General amnesty to all offenders
except murders.
The Indian army was reorganised. Included Sikhs, Gurkhas & Pathans.
The Mughal dynasty ended with the extinction of Bahadur Shah II & was replaced by
British Crown.
Freedom of religion granted.

As per Queens Proclamation, more

Indians joined the administration.
Racial animosity increased.

Thank You
Presentation made by Divya
Kaul and Somya Agnihotri.