Index

S.no Topic pg no
1 Acknowledgement 1-1

2 Introduction 2-2

3 Causes of the revolt 3-6

4 Events 7-9

5 Aftermath 10-11

6 Consequences 12-16

7 Different leaders of both sides 17-19

8 Causes for failure of the revolt 20-21

9 Nomenclature 23-23

10 Conclusion 24-24

bibliography 25-25
Acknowledgement

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my teacher

Mrs Ripa Arora Ma’am as well as our principal Mrs Abha Anant
who gave me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful project
on the topic The Revolt of 1857, which also helped me in doing a
lot of Research and i came to know about so many new things I am
really thankful to them.
Secondly i would also like to thank my parents and friends who
helped me a lot in finalizing this project within the limited time
frame.
Introduction To the topic

The Revolt of 1857 (Also regarded as India's First War of

Independece) was an extremely important event in Indian history.
It was initiated by the sepoy of the company which arouses the
accumulated grievances of the people against the Company’s
administration and of their dislike for the foreign regime.The Revolt
of 1857 was a prolonged period of armed uprising as well as
rebellions in Northern and Central India against British occupation
of that part of the subcontinent. Small precursors of brewing
discontent involving incidences of arson in cantonment areas began
to manifest themselves in January. Later, a large-scale rebellion
broke out in May and turned into what may be called a full-fledged
war in the affected region. This war brought about the end of the
British East India Company’s rule in India, and led to the direct rule
by the British Government (British Raj) of much of the Indian
Subcontinent for the next 90 years.
Lord Dalhousie

Bahadur Shah Zafar

Causes for the revolt of 1857

Doctrine of Lapse
Doctrine of lapse was the pro-imperialist approach to expand the
realm of British Kingdom in India. It was introduced by Dalhousie.
The Doctrine equipped with an idea to annex those states which
have no heir, get lapsed the right of ruling and it will not reverted by
adoption The annexation of Satara, Nagpur, Jhansi, Sambhalpur,
Karauli, Udaipur, Baghat etc. by the Doctrine of Lapse caused the
general hateful sentiments among the Indian public. In Nagpur,
there was an open auction of the Royal belongings.

Ill-treatment with Bahadur Shah Zafar

The name of Bahadur Shah Zafar was removed from the coins
during the times of Lord Ellenborough. He was ordered by Lord
Dalhousie to vacate the Red Fort and shift to the Mahrauli area
outside Delhi. By this time the people of India had become nostalgic
about the Mughal rule and wanted to see Bahadur Shah Emperor of
India. Lord Canning announced that after Bahadur Shah, the
Mughal successors would not be called emperor and their status
would be reduced to Prince.

Annexation of Oudh
The annexation of the so far loyal state of Oudh created general
panic and disaffection contrary to the British belief that it was done
for removing the “misrule and administration irregularities”
The Ryotwari System
Biased Police and Judiciary
The Judiciary was biased. The British officers were hated and
considered aliens in the land of Hindus and Muslims. The people
were loathful of the oppressive loot of the officers, including British
appointed Indian Daroghas.

Christian Missionaries
The increased activities of the Christian missionaries were seen
with suspicion and mistrust. The tried their best to convert as many
people they could and indulged in the false propaganda against the
faiths and religions of Hindus and Muslims. The Padris were
appointed in the army to “teach” the sepoys about Christianity.

Education
The education policy was not taken positively in Indian public. They
thought that the new schools opened by the British and where the
“English” is taught will convert their sons to “Christians”.

Discrimination with Sepoys

The Indian sepoys were victims of discrimination. They were paid
low wages and faced constant verbal and physical abuses from
their bosses. The annexation of Oudh in 1856 created discontent in
the Bengal army. The Indian sepoys were chaffed of the new
customs which forbade them putting caste marks on their
foreheads, keeping beards and wearing turbans.

Problems of Land Revenue

The Ryotwari and Mahalwari system demanded the revenue which
was exorbitant and methods of collecting the revenue were cruel. In
1852, the Inam commission was established which recommended
the takeover of the Jagirs on which the revenue was not paid. The
result was that twenty thousand Jagirs had been confiscated.
Destruction of Economy
The Economic drain also destroyed the Indian Industry,
disintegrating the traditional fabric of the country. The Industrial
revolution of England made the machines devourers of Indian Raw
material and destroyed the Foreign Trade of the country. India was
reduced to a mere exporter of the raw materials.

Low position of Indians in Administration

Indians were debarred from the important and high posts in their
own country. The notorious signboards ‘Dogs and Indians not
allowed’ were common in the British places of activities in India.

Pathetic Socioeconomic Condition

Not a shilling was spent from the British treasury on the defense of
the India. The sever famines which devoured millions of people
remained issues, that were never addressed.
The tenure of Dalhousie was pathetic as far as concerns of the
Indian natives are concerned. The feelings of the unrest that was
growing among the Indians finally got manifested in the form of
revolt of 1857.
The Indian public which does not like sudden changes was applied
with the new laws and customs which were anathema to the Indian
society. Some of them were allowing the widows to remarry,
abolishing practice of Sati (which was considered revered at that time) , establishing
the land revenue systems which never existed before.
Widows Remarriage Act was introduced by Lord Dalhousie, but it
was approved by Lord Canning in 1856. The Hindus saw it as a
sequel to the Abolition of Sati (Regulation XVII) and took it as a
threat to Hinduism.

Note:
The General Service Enlistment Act passed in the year 1856 contained the
provision that mandated soldiers or recruits of the Bengal Army to serve within or
outside India when ordered. It meant that they were to sent overseas and sea
voyages to serve The Brahmin soldiers saw in it a slander to their caste. According
to an accepted belief, if was considered a taboo for a Brahmin to cross,the seas.
This Act disregarded the feelings of the Indian troops, which led to a feeling of
resentment among them.
Mangal Pandey
Immediate cause:
The Company administration introduced the new Enfield rifle
whose cartridge had a greased paper cover. It had to be bitten off
before it could be loaded into the rifle. A rumour that the cover
contained cow and pig fat started doing the rounds. Cow was
sacred to the Hindus, and pig was taboo for the Muslims. As a
result, both religious groups felt insulted and cheated. The cartridge
incident proved to be the final straw as the sepoys were already
seething with discontent because of a variety of other social,
economic and political policies of the British Government. Finally, on
29 March 1857, Mangal Pandey, a sepoy at the Barrackpore
cantonment, refused to use the cartridges. As a result, he was
hanged to death. The news spread like wildfire and on 9 May, 85
soldiers at Meerut too refused to use the new equipment. They
were court-martialled and sentenced to 10 years. To further buttress
the point, they were stripped in front of their colleagues and thrown
into jail. This resulted in the other sepoys rising in revolt. They
ransacked the jail and freed their comrades and even cut off the
telegraph lines to Delhi. Even the European officers were not
spared and their houses were set on fire. Thus began the revolt of
1857.
Meerut
Events of the War
This war was not spread throughout India but it was limited to few
areas mainly Meerut, Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow etc. The main event
which became the immediate cause of the war was the refusal of
the Sepoys to use the grease covered cartridges (greased with fat
of pig and cow) on January 23, 1857. At the same time, an Indian
sepoy killed two British officers at Barrackpore, when he was forced
to use greased cartridges. He was arrested and hanged to death on
April 8, 1857. This news spread as fast as jungle fire.

Meerut
On 6th May, 1857 A.D. 85 out of 90 Indian soldiers at Meerut
refused to bite the greased cartridges with their teeth. These 85
soldiers were court-martialled and imprisoned for 10 years. They
were stripped off their uniforms in the presence of the entire Indian
crowd. It was too much of a disgrace and this incident sent a wave
of indignation. On 10th May 1857, the Indian soldiers at Meerut
broke into open revolt. They released their companions and
murdered a few European officers. On the night of 10th May the
mutineers marched to Delhi and reached there on 11th May.

Delhi
The revolutionaries reached from Meerut to Delhi on 11th May,
1857 and the small British garrison at Delhi was not able to resist
and consequently fell into their hands within 2 days. The Mughal
Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was proclaimed Emperor of India. In
order to regain Delhi, Sir John Lawrence sent a strong British force
commanded by John Nicholson. After a long siege of four months,
the British recovered Delhi in September 1857 A.D. The Mughal
Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was captured, his two sons and a
grandson were shot dead before his eyes and he was sent to
Rangoon where he died in the year 1862 A. D.
Nana Sahib

Rani Lakshmi Bai

Kanpur
At Kanpur the struggle for Independence was led by Nana Sahib
Dondu Pant (The adopted son of Peshwa Baji Rao II). A number of
British fell into his hands and he showed great kindness to them.
But when he heard about inhuman attitude of Gen. O’Neil towards
Indians, he became very furious and killed all the British. General
Havelock captured Kanpur after defeating Nana Sahib in a hotly
contested battle on June 17, 1857. Later on Nana Sahib, with the
help of Tantya Topi, recaptured Kanpur in November, 1857 but not
for a long time and British defeated them once again in a fierce war
from December 1 to 6, 1857. Nana Sahib fled towards Nepal, where
he probably died, while Tantya Tope migrated to Kalpi.

Lucknow
The struggle for independence at Lucknow was led by Nawab,
Wajid Ali Shah. The Chief Commissioner, Sir Henry Lawrence,
sought refuge with 1000 English and 700 Indian soldiers inside the
Residency. The Indians did not make any concession and killed
most of the Englishmen, including Sir Henry Lawrence and the
notorious English General O’Neil. At last, the Commander-in-Chief
General Collin Campbell, marched towards Lucknow and captured
it after a fierce battle in March 1858

Jhansi and Gwalior

The leader of the revolutionaries in Central India was Rani Laxmi
Bai of Jhansi. General Sir Huge Rose attacked Jhansi in March
1858 but the brave Rani Laxmi Bai kept the British General
unnerved for quite some time. She with the help of Tantya Tope
created problems for the British troops. Both fought many
successful battles against the British. A fierce battle was fought
between the British and the revolutionaries under Rani Laxmi Bai
and Tantya Tope from June 11 to June 1 8, 1 858 A. D. But the
personal velour of Rani and Tantya Tope could not match the
resources at the command of the British. Tantya Tope was betrayed
by the Gwalior Chief Man Singh and fell into the hands of the
British. He was subsequently hanged on April 18, 1859.
Jhansi Fort, which was taken over by rebel
forces, and subsequently defended against
British recapture by the Rani of Jhansi
 Bihar
In Bihar, the Revolt was led by Kunwar Singh, a zamindar of
Jagdishpur. Though he was eighty years old, he played a prominent
part in the revolt. He fought the British in Bihar and then joined
Nana Sahib’s forces and took part in various encounters with the
English in Oudh and Central India. He died on April 27, 1858,
leaving behind a glorious record of valour and bravery.

Note:

6,000 Europeans killed As many as 800,000 Indians and possibly

more, both in the rebellion and in famines and epidemics of disease
in its wake, by comparison of 1857 population estimates with Indian
Census of 1871
Execution of mutineers by blowing from a gun by
the British, 8 September 1857.
 Aftermath

Death toll and atrocities

Both sides committed atrocities against civilians.
In Oudh alone, some estimates put the toll at 150,000 Indians were killed
during the war, with 100,000 of them being civilians. The capture of Delhi,
Allahabad, Kanpur and Lucknow by British forces were followed by general
massacres.
Another notable atrocity was carried out by General Neill who massacred
thousands of Indian mutineers and Indian civilians suspected of supporting
the rebellion.
The rebels' murder of British women, children and wounded soldiers
(including sepoys who sided with the British) at Cawnpore, and the
subsequent printing of the events in the British papers, left many British
soldiers outraged and seeking revenge. As well as hanging mutineers, the
British had some "blown from cannon," (an old Mughal punishment adopted
many years before in India), in which sentenced rebels were tied over the
mouths of cannons and blown to pieces when the cannons were fired. A
particular act of cruelty on behalf of the British troops at Cawnpore included
forcing many Muslim or Hindu rebels to eat pork or beef, as well as licking
buildings freshly stained with blood of the dead before subsequent public
hangings.
Practices of torture included "searing with hot irons...dipping in wells and
rivers till the victim is half suffocated...sequencing the testicles...putting
pepper and red chillies in the eyes or introducing them into the private parts
of men and women...prevention of sleep...nipping the flesh with
pinners...suspension from the branches of a tree...imprisonment in a room
used for storing lime..."
British soldiers also committed sexual violence against Indian women as a
form of retaliation against the rebellion.As towns and cities were captured
from the sepoys, the British soldiers took their revenge on Indian civilians by
committing atrocities and rapes against Indian women.

In terms of sheer numbers, the casualties were much higher on the Indian
side. A letter published after the fall of Delhi in the Bombay Telegraph and
reproduced in the British press testified to the scale of the Indian casualties.
From the end of 1857, the British had begun to gain ground again. Lucknow
was retaken in March 1858. On 8 July 1858, a peace treaty was signed and
the rebellion ended. The last rebels were defeated in Gwalior on 20 June
1858. By 1859, rebel leaders Bakht Khan and Nana Sahib had either been
slain or had fled.

The aftermath of the rebellion has been the focus of new work using Indian
sources and population studies. In The Last Mughal, historian William
Dalrymple examines the effects on the Muslim population of Delhi after the
city was retaken by the British and finds that intellectual and economic control
of the city shifted from Muslim to Hindu hands because the British, at that
time, saw an Islamic hand behind the mutiny.
Approximately 6,000 of the 40,000 Europeans living in India were killed.
 Lord Canning
Queen Victoria

Ilbert bill
 Consequences

Bahadur Shah was arrested at Humanyun's tomb and tried for treason by a
military commission assembled at Delhi, and exiled to Rangoon where he
died in 1862, bringing the Mughal dynasty to an end. In 1877 Queen
Victoria took the title of Empress of India on the advice of Prime
Minister, Benjamin Disraeli.
The rebellion saw the end of the East India Company's rule in India. In
August, by the Government of India Act 1858, the company was formally
dissolved and its ruling powers over India were transferred to the British
Crown.A new British government department, the India Office, was created to
handle the governance of India, and its head, the Secretary of State for India,
was entrusted with formulating Indian policy. The Governor-General of India
gained a new title, Viceroy of India, and implemented the policies devised by
the India Office. Some former East India Company territories, such as
the Straits Settlements, became colonies in their own right. The British
colonial administration embarked on a program of reform, trying to integrate
Indian higher castes and rulers into the government and abolishing attempts
at Westernization. The Viceroy stopped land grabs, decreed religious
tolerance and admitted Indians into civil service, albeit mainly as
subordinates.
Essentially the old East India Company bureaucracy remained, though there
was a major shift in attitudes. In looking for the causes of the Rebellion the
authorities alighted on two things: religion and the economy. On religion it
was felt that there had been too much interference with indigenous traditions,
both Hindu and Muslim. On the economy it was now believed that the
previous attempts by the Company to introduce free market competition had
undermined traditional power structures and bonds of loyalty placing the
peasantry at the mercy of merchants and money-lenders. In consequence the
new British Raj was constructed in part around a conservative agenda, based
on a preservation of tradition and hierarchy.
On a political level it was also felt that the previous lack of consultation
between rulers and ruled had been another significant factor in contributing to
the uprising. In consequence, Indians were drawn into government at a local
level. Though this was on a limited scale a crucial precedent had been set,
with the creation of a new 'white collar' Indian elite, further stimulated by the
opening of universities at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, a result of the Indian
Universities Act. So, alongside the values of traditional and ancient India, a
new professional middle class was starting to arise, in no way bound by the
values of the past. Their ambition can only have been stimulated by Queen
Victoria's Proclamation of November 1858, in which it is expressly stated,
"We hold ourselves bound to the natives of our Indian territories by the same
obligations of duty which bind us to our other subjects...it is our further will
that... our subjects of whatever race or creed, be freely and impartially
admitted to offices in our service, the duties of which they may be qualified by
their education, ability and integrity, duly to discharge."
Acting on these sentiments, Lord Ripon, viceroy from 1880 to 1885, extended
the powers of local self-government and sought to remove racial practices in
the law courts by the Ilbert Bill. But a policy at once liberal and progressive at
one turn was reactionary and backward at the next, creating new elites and
confirming old attitudes. The Ilbert Bill had the effect only of causing a white
mutiny and the end of the prospect of perfect equality before the law. In 1886
measures were adopted to restrict Indian entry into the civil service.
Increase in Racial Animosity between the British and the
Indians
British considered themselves as an occupying power garrisoning a
hostile land. On the other hand Indians tried to seek self-respect
and honor within the bounds of their traditional culture. The British
had formed a separate community in India. During the Revolt of
1857, stunned and shocked the British saw the obedient sepoys
suddenly transformed into a disobedient Hence, the British felt that
safety could be found only among their own countrymen. On the
other hand, the manner in which the Revolt of 1857 was crushed by
the British and the ruthlessness in which the sepoys were treated
left a deep sense of hatred among the Indians against the British.
The British also massacred thousands of civilian population every
where in the country

The Policy of Divide and Rule Begins

After the Revolt of 1857, the British had patronaged and applied the
most unscrupulous policy to divide the Indians in different castes
and classes. The British used one class or caste against the other.
The Muslims were made to fight with the Hindus and the high caste
Hindus were excited against the low caste Hindus. Thus, There was
a deterioration in the whole country.

The Policy of Annexation was Given Up

The British authorities realized the importance of The Princely
States and wanted their support to the British rule in the country.
Besides, even after the end of the Crimean War the British
government remained apprehensive of a Russian invasion of India
Under these circumstances, it was felt that the princely states would
be of great help in case of any danger from abroad. Hence, the
policy of the British dominion annexing the princely state was given
up
Setback to Reforms
The Revolt of 1857 convinced the British the futility of interfering in
the traditional socio-religious customs of India. The strong
opposition to the social legislation especially coming from the
orthodox elements in both the Hindu and the Muslim community put
the British on the defensive. The self-confidence of the British and
their plans for the rapid westernization of India through social
reforms were shattered. The British, after the Revolt of 1857,
decided to concentrate in providing a sound and efficient
administration rather than introducing western ideas and reform in a
traditional Asian society.

Economic Loot Accelerated

With the failure of the Great rebellion, the era of British territorial
conquest came to an end and a new era of systematic economic
loot and plunder by the British was inaugurated. The English people
ruthlessly exploited Indian economy without any fear

Captain C Scott of the Gen. Sir. Hope Grant's

Column, Madras Regiment, who fell on the
attack of Fort of Kohlee, 1858. Memorial at
the St. Mary's Church, Madras
Military reorganisation

The Bengal army dominated the Indian army before 1857 and a direct result
after the rebellion was the scaling back of the size of the Bengali contingent in
the army.The Brahmin presence in the Bengal Army was reduced because of
their perceived primary role as mutineers. The British looked for increased
recruitment in the Punjab for the Bengal army as a result of the apparent
discontent that resulted in the Sepoy conflict.
The rebellion transformed both the native and European armies of British
India. Of the 74 regular Bengal Native Infantry regiments in existence at the
beginning of 1857, only twelve escaped mutiny or disbandment. All ten of the
Bengal Light Cavalry regiments were lost. The old Bengal Army had
accordingly almost completely vanished from the order of battle. These troops
were replaced by new units recruited from castes hitherto under-utilised by
the British and from the minority so-called "Martial Races", such as
the Sikhs and the Gurkhas.
The inefficiencies of the old organisation, which had estranged sepoys from
their British officers, were addressed, and the post-1857 units were mainly
organised on the "irregular" system. From 1797 until the rebellion of 1857,
each regular Bengal Native Infantry regiment had had 22 or 23 British
officers,[194] who held every position of authority down to the second-in-
command of each company. In irregular units there were fewer European
officers, but they associated themselves far more closely with their soldiers,
while more responsibility was given to the Indian officers.
The British increased the ratio of British to Indian soldiers within India. From
1861 Indian artillery was replaced by British units, except for a few mountain
batteries.The post-rebellion changes formed the basis of the military
organisation of British India until the early 20th century.
Different leaders Associated with the Revolt
of 1857
Barrackpore Mangal Pandey

Delhi Bahadur Shah II, General Bakht Khan

Delhi Hakim Ahsanullah (Chief advisor to Bahadur Shah

II)

Lucknow Begum Hazrat Mahal, Birjis Qadir, Ahmadullah

(advisor of the ex-Nawab of Awadh)

Kanpur Nana Sahib, Rao Sahib (nephew of Nana), Tantia

Tope, Azimullah Khan (advisor of Nana Sahib)

Jhansi Rani Laxmibai

Bihar (Jagdishpur) Kunwar Singh, Amar Singh

Allahabad and Maulvi Liyakat Ali

Banaras

Faizabad Maulvi Ahmadullah (He declared the Revolt as

Jihad against English)

Farrukhabad Tufzal Hasan Khan

Bijnaur Mohammad Khan

Muradabad Abdul Ali Khan

Bareilly Khan Bahadur Khan

Mandsor Firoz Shah

Gwalior/Kanpur Tantia Tope

Assam Kandapareshwar Singh, Manirama Datta

Orissa Surendra Shahi, Ujjwal Shahi

Kullu Raja Pratap Singh

Rajasthan Jaidayal Singh and Hardayal Singh

Gorakhpur Gajadhar Singh

Mathura Sevi Singh, Kadam Singh

British Officials Associated with Revolt
General John Captured Delhi on 20th September, 1857
Nicholson (Nicholson died soon due to a mortal wound
received during the fighting).

Major Hudson Killed Bahadur Shah's sons and grandsons in Delhi.

Sir Hugh Wheeler Defence against Nana Sahib's forces till 26th June,
1857. British forces surrendered on 27th on the
promised of safe conduct to Allahabad.

General Neil Recaptured Banaras and Allahabad in June 1857.

At Kanpur, he killed Indians as revenge against the
killing of English by Nana Sahib's forces. Died at
Lucknow while fighting against the rebels.

Sir Colin Campbell Final recovery of Kanpur on 6th December, 1857.

Final reoccupation of Lucknow on 21 st March,
1858. Recapture of Bareilly on 5th May, 1858.

Henry Lawrence Chief Commissioner of Awadh. Who died during the

seizure of British residency by rebels at Lucknow
on 2nd July, 1857!

Major General Defeated the rebels (Nana Sahib's force) on 17th

Havelock July, 1857. Died at Lucknow in December 1857.

William Taylor and Suppressed the revolt at Arrah in August 1857.

Eye

Hugh Rose Suppressed the revolt at Jhansi and recaptured

Gwalior on 20th June, 1858. The whole of Central
India and Bundelkhand was brought under British
control by him.

Colonel Oncell Captured Banaras.

Causes for failure of the Revolt

Localized and Poorly Organized Revolt

The Revolt of 1857 was localized and poorly organized. Due to lack
of communication facilities, the sepoys of the widely dispersed
cantonments could not act simultaneously in a concerted manner.
The revolt did not spread to wider regions of the country. The
armies of the Bombay and Madras presidencies remained loyal to
the British. There was hardly any disturbance to the south of the
Narmada, Sindh, the Punjab, the Northwestern Frontier province
and Nepal remained unaffected.

The revolt without a clear Leader

The need of the time was a leader with military capability and
political skill who could fuse the scattered elements into a
consolidated force of great momentum with a definite policy and
plan of action. Such a leader was hard to emerge. Bahadur Shah II
was an old and exhausted man lacked organizing ability. Nana
Sahib, through possessed some ability, 10 lacked military
leadership. Other leaders such as Rani Lakshimi Bai, Kunwar
Singh, and the Begum of Oudh were local leaders and lacked all-
India standing. This led to the failure of the Revolt of 1857.

No mass support
The sepoys could not get the support of the population. The revolt
did not attract common people who remained passive and
indifferent to the Revolt. In many places the revolt was confined to
the sepoys only. There was lack of intimate link between the sepoys
and common people. Even among the sepoys, many remained
loyal to the British.

Lack of Common Ideal among Sepoys

The sepoys lacked common ideal before them. The sepoys at Delhi
decided to recovery the glory of the Mughal. At Gwalior and Kanpur,
Nana Sahib was proclaimed a Peshwa. Rani Lakhmi Bai fought for
her Jhansi. The orthodox section among the Hindus and the
Muslims were concerned with their religions. There was no unity
among the Hindus and the Muslims.

No support of ruling princes

The ruling princes did not support the sepoys. On the other hand
they actively assisted the British in suppressing the revolt. Sir
Dinkar Rae, the minister of Gwalior, Sir Salar Jang, the minister of
Hydrabad, Sang Bahadur of Nepal, and Dost Muhammad, the ruler
of Afghanistan were indifferent to the Revolt and actively helped the
British against the sepoys. 6.6. Luckily for the British by 1856 the
Crimean and the Chinese wars had come to an end This enabled
the British to send additional troops to India to put down the revolt.
The sepoys had few guns and muskets. They fought chiefly with
swords and spears. On the other hand the British soldiers were
equipped with latest weapons and used the telegraph and railways
to their advantages. They could send message about the revolt
much in advance so that precautionary measures could be taken at
the other end.

Note:
THE ACTUAL DATE ON WHICH REVOLT BROKE OUT.It is
often said and considered that revolt of 1857 broke out in the
month of February 1857 or May 1857. But the fact is it was the
10th of May 1857 the revolt officially started. It was on Meerut on
24 April 1857, 90 sepoys didn’t obey the order and were dismissed
on 9th May 1857 and sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment. The
other sepoys released them the next day and marched towards
Delhi after killing the British officials. Blowing the trumpet of
revolt.
Nomenclature

While British historians called it the Sepoy Mutiny,

Indian historians named it the Revolt of 1857 or the
First War of Indian Independence. The Revolt of 1857
had been preceded by a series of disturbances in
different parts of the country from the late eighteenth
century onwards.Revolt of 1857 was known as the first
war of independence because it was for the first time
that our entire nation irrespective of the caste, creed,
race, and religion had come together and staged an
armed protest against the Britishers to
gain independence from their colonial rule.
Conclusion
Most of the European historians have pointed out that it was a
revolt of Indian soldiers who were offended at the use of greased
cartridges. In their opinion, the discontented sepoys were incited by
the landlords and the deposed native princes and the people of
India were not directly involved in this rebellion. They further assert
that it was not a national war of independence, in as much as the
revolt was confined to a particular region and not to the whole of
India; large areas like the Punjab, Sind and Rajputana remained
unaffected. It was admittedly a great and courageous effort by
patriotic Indians to get rid of the foreign domination. It was a
glorious landmark in our history in as much as Hindus and Muslims
fought shoulder to shoulder to win back their lost independence.
One cannot but admire the patriotic spirit of boatmen of Lucknow
who refused to carry British soldiers across the river. The sepoys
and the people fought gallantly up to the very end. Though the
revolt was unsuccessful, the spirit of the people remained
unshaken. The revolt left an impression on the minds of the Indian
people and thus paved the way for the rise of a strong national
movement.
Bibliography

-Wikipedia
-ICSE Help
-total history & civics ICSE class 10
-GK.com

Thank you………