The Revolt of 1857
Study handouts by
Dipen Thapa
Introduction
The Revolt of 1857, also known as the "First War of Independence," was the first significant attempt by
Indians to end British imperialism. It started on 10 May 1857, first in the form of sepoy mutiny and later
as a concerted effort by Indian rulers under the de jure supervision of the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur
Shah Zafar. As the Revolt of 1857 posed a considerable threat to British power, it was proved as a
watershed movement for the British perspective towards India. They became more cautious in their
approach towards administration, the nature of the army, differential treatment of the vast Indian
communities, etc.
The Revolt of 1857 was mainly concentrated across the vast portions of northern India, engulfing the
peasantry and other civilian populations that stood side-by-side with their leaders. Many prominent
leaders of the Revolt and common mass fought bravely with the British forces.
Causes of the Revolt of 1857
There were several factors for the 1857 Revolt, although the British's ruthless exploitation of the Indians
was common in all. These factors were already in the process of pressure build-up since the consolidation
of Bengal in 1764, first leading to the numerous minor rebellions and ultimately in the Revolt of 1857.
These factors are described below:
Political Cause
The political causes of the revolt were the British policy of expansion through the Doctrine of Lapse and
direct annexation. A large number of Indian rulers and chiefs were dislodged, thus arousing fear in the
minds of other ruling families who apprehended a similar fate. They also introduced aggressive policies
such as Subsidiary alliance and effective control and gradually they began to intervene in the internal
affairs of state which caused discontent in minds of the rulers.
Doctrine of lapse: The notable British policy called the Doctrine of Lapse was first perpetrated by Lord
Dalhousie in the late 1840s. Under the Doctrine of Lapse policy introduced by the British East India
Company, the adopted children of the rulers were refused to be accepted as legal heirs and their right to
succession were decided by them. This aroused rulers such as Nana Sahib, Rani Lakshmibai against the
unjust policies of the British. Accordingly Dalhousie annexed Satara(1848), Jaitapur and
Sambalpur(1849), Bagat(1850), Udaipur(1852), Jhansi(1853), Nagpur (1854) under the Doctrine of
Lapse.
The Subsidiary Alliance: The Subsidiary Alliance policy was introduced by the French East India
Company Governor Joseph Francois Dupliex with the Nizam of Hyderabad in India. Lord Wellesley, the
Governor – General of British East India Company used this alliance with several States. Under this
Alliance, the ruler of the concerned state was required to:
➢ Acknowledge British East India Company as paramount of power
➢ Permanently station a British army within his territory
➢ Pay subsidy for maintaining this army.
➢ Post a British resident in his court.
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➢ Not negotiate with any other rulers without prior consent from the Governor-General.
➢ Not employ any European in their service without getting approval from the British.
➢ If the ruler fails to make payment as per the Alliance, then the state would be confiscated by the
British East India Company.
In return to this, the British would do the following:
➢ The state and the ruler would be protected from the enemies.
➢ Policy of non interference in the internal matters of the allied States.
Socio-Religious causes
The Socio-religious policies undertaken by the British Indian Govt. gave birth to serious resentment in the
minds of Indians. The following are mentioned below-
1. Abolition of social practices like Sati, Infanticides, Widow remarriage was seen as an interference
in customs & social practices.
2. Hindu Gods and Goddesses were ridiculed. This was seen as an attack on the religion.
3. Spread of western education, introduction of Railways, female education, etc hampered the
feelings of traditional Indian society.
4. Charter Act 1813 – Legalized the conversion activities of Christian missionaries.
5. Religious Disability Act(also known as Lex Loci Act) of 1850 – This provided the right to inherit
ancestral property from Hindu converts to Christianity.
6. Taxes imposed upon Mosque and Temple lands.
Economic causes
The policies of the British East India Company ravaged the economic fabric of Indian Society.
1. Agriculture – Under the land revenue policies introduced by the British East India Company, heavy
taxes were collected from the peasants, for which they obtained loans from the money lenders and traders
at higher interests. In case of non-payment, their lands were confiscated by the money lenders thereby
depriving them of the source of livelihood.
2. Indian Industry – The company adopted the policy of unilateral free trade under which the government
used to purchase the raw materials at their own set of price and export to Britain without levying any
tariffs. Later, goods manufactured from that raw material was exported to India without charging any
import cost. Hence traditional Indian industries equipped with handmade skills could not withstand
British goods in terms of price .This led to closure of Indian industries which were not supplemented by
modern industries.
3. Artisans – Since several Indian states were annexed by the Britishers, the rulers were no longer able to
be the patrons of the artisans and craftworkers which in turn led them to misery.
4. Zamindars– The government fortified the lands of Zamindars and Taluqdars by frequent use of
Quo-warranto.
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Military Causes
● Indian sepoys formed more than 87% of the British troops in India but were considered inferior to
British soldiers. The Indian military was largely discriminated against in terms of salaries,
pensions, promotions. Indians were subjugated in the military while their European counterparts
faced no such discrimination.
● The Indian sepoys were also restricted from wearing any religious, caste or sectarian marks.
● During the time of Lord Canning, two important laws were passed: Both these acts were passed in
1856, i.e. on the eve of revolt. These were:
➢ General Service Enlistment Act: This act meant that if Indian military personnel were
posted abroad, they wouldn’t be entitled to get extra allowances. Thus this act was a jolt
to the prospects of the Indian military personnel serving under the East India Company.
➢ Religious Disabilities Act: For Indian soldiers, the belief was that if they crossed the
ocean, they would lose their religion. They would thus be socially ostracized. Thus,
Hindu soldiers skipped appointments that involved serving in a foreign land. But, after
the passing of the “Religious Disabilities Act”, they would have to take the appointment
compulsorily. Otherwise, they would lose their job. At the same time, the use of religious
symbols in the military were also restricted.
Immediate Cause
● The Revolt of 1857 eventually broke out over the incident of greased cartridges. A rumour
spread that the cartridges of the new enfield rifles were greased with the fat of cows and pigs.
Before loading these rifles the sepoys had to bite off the paper on the cartridges. Both Hindu and
Muslim sepoys refused to use them.
● Another news about mixing cow and pig bone dust in Atta(flour) sold in the market sparked a fire
to the resentment of Indian soldiers. Hence, it equally affected Hindus and Muslims. The sepoys
thought that such activities were to destroy their religion and convert them into Christianity.
● In March 1857, Mangal Pandey, a sepoy in Barrackpore, had refused to use the cartridge and
attacked his senior officers. As a result he was hanged to death on 8 April. On 9 May, 85 soldiers
in Meerut refused to use the new rifle and were also sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment.
Eventually all these factors led to a start of a popular revolt on 10th May 1857 from Meerut and spread to
different regions of Northern India which lasted for over a year.
Course of the Revolt of 1857
● Barrackpore: On 29th March 1857, Mangal Pandey, stationed at Barrackpore, revolted against
his British officers. He was hanged, which created anger and resentment amongst the sepoys.
● Meerut: On 24th April, ninety men of the Third Native Cavalry stationed at Meerut refused to
use the greased cartridges. Eighty-five of them were dismissed and sentenced to ten years
imprisonment on 9th May.
○ The rest of the Indian sepoys reacted strongly to this, and the next day, on 10th May, the
entire Indian garrison revolted.
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○ March to Delhi: After freeing their comrades and killing the British officers, they
decided to march on to Delhi.
○ It was clear that it was not merely an army mutiny, as people from surrounding areas
began to loot the military bazaars and attacked and burnt the bungalows of the British as
soon as they heard the shots fired by the sepoys on their officers.
● Hindu-Muslim unity: In Meerut and Delhi, the Hindu sepoys overwhelmingly declared Bahadur
Shah to be their Emperor. As a sign of respect for the Hindus' religious beliefs, cow slaughter
was banned wherever the sepoys arrived.
● Spread of Revolt: In the next month, the entire Bengal Army rose in revolt. The Whole of North
and North West India was up in arms against the British.
○ Central India: Thousands of Indore's soldiers joined the sepoy rebels in Indore.
Gwalior's troops went over to Tantya Tope and Rani of Jhansi.
○ In East Punjab, Mainpuri, Bulandshahr, Danapur, Mathura. Agra. Lucknow, Allahabad,
Banaras, Shahabad, Etwah, and Aligarh, wherever there were Indian troops, they
revolted.
○ With the revolt in the army, the police and local administration also collapsed.
● Effects of 1857 revolt: Wherever a revolt erupted, the government's treasury was taken away, the
magazine was ransacked, barracks and courthouses were set on fire, and prison gates were thrown
open.
○ Telegraph lines were severed, and horsemen carrying alerts to Delhi were stopped.
○ Peasants and dispossessed zamindars attacked the moneylenders and new zamindars who
had displaced them from the land.
○ Destroyed the government files and the accounting records of the moneylenders.
○ Attacked the British-established law courts, revenue offices, revenue records and police
stations.
Causes of Failure of the 1857 Revolt
● Lack of a Unified Programme and Ideology: The rebellion swept off the British system of
government and administration in India, but they had no forward-looking plan in mind. This
made them rely on the outmoded feudal system with Bahadur Shah at its head.
○ This system had lost its vitality and was unable to withstand the onslaught of the British.
● Lack of Unity among Indians: While the sepoys of the Bengal army were revolting, some
soldiers in Punjab and south India fought on the side of the British to crush these rebellions.
● No accompanying rebellions in most of eastern and southern India.
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● The Sikhs did not support the rebels because of the possibility of the revival of Mughal
authority.
● Besides this, there were some elements of the peasantry that had profited from British rule and
supported the British during the revolt.
● Lack of Support from the Educated Indians: They did not support the revolt because, in their
view, the revolt was backwards-looking, and they mistakenly believed that the British would
lead the country towards modernisation.
● Military Superiority of the British: British imperialism, which was at the height of its influence
throughout the world and was backed by the majority of Indian princes and chiefs, proved to be
militarily superior to the rebels.
○ While the rebels lacked discipline and central command.
Consequences of Revolt of 1857
● Changes in Military Organisation: To prevent any further revolt by the Indian soldiers:
○ The number of European soldiers was increased, and they were kept in key
geographical and military positions.
○ The Indian section of the army was now organised in accordance with the "divide and
rule" policy.
○ To prevent soldiers from developing nationalistic feelings, regiments were formed based
on caste, community, and region.
● Transfer of Power: The power to govern India passed from the East India Company to the
British Crown through an Act of 1858.
○ A Secretary of State for India, aided by a Council, was now in charge of India's
Governance. Previously, the Company's Directors wielded this authority.
● Divide and Rule: This policy of "divide and rule" was also introduced in the civilian
population.
○ Muslims were severely punished, and discrimination was made against them in public
appointments and in other areas.
○ A policy of preferential treatment of Muslims was adopted towards the end of the 19th
century.
○ These policies created problems for the Indian freedom struggle and contributed to the
growth of communalism.
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● New Policy towards the Princely: The earlier policy of annexation was now abandoned, and
the rulers of these states were now authorised to adopt heirs.
