When People Rebel: 1857 and After Class 8 History Notes - Ch. 5

Chapter 5: When People Revolt: 1857 and After

Causes of the Revolt

By the mid-19th century, the East India Company faced a massive rebellion that started in May 1857. The causes were multi-faceted:

• Nawabs lose their power: Rulers like Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi and Nana Saheb (the adopted son of Peshwa Baji Rao II) had their kingdoms annexed or their pensions stopped.
• The peasants and the sepoys: Peasants were unhappy with the high taxes and the rigid methods of revenue collection. The Indian sepoys were discontent with their pay, allowances, and conditions of service. Some new rules violated their religious sensibilities and beliefs.
• The immediate cause: In 1857, new Enfield rifles were introduced. The cartridges for these rifles were greased with the fat of cows and pigs. This was offensive to both Hindus and Muslims. On 29 March 1857, a young soldier, Mangal Pandey, was hanged to death for attacking his officers in Barrackpore. This sparked the revolt.

From Meerut to Delhi

On 10 May 1857, the soldiers at Meerut marched to the jail and released the imprisoned sepoys. They captured guns and ammunition and declared war on the firangis (foreigners). The soldiers rode all night of 10 May to reach Delhi in the early hours next morning. They proclaimed the aged Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar as their leader. The rebellion spread, and other rulers and chiefs joined the cause.

Key Leaders of the Rebellion

• At Kanpur, Nana Saheb gathered armed forces and expelled the British garrison from the city.
• In Lucknow, Birjis Qadr, the son of the deposed Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, was proclaimed the new Nawab. His mother Begum Hazrat Mahal took an active part in organising the uprising against the British.
• In Jhansi, Rani Lakshmibai joined the rebel sepoys and fought the British along with Tantia Tope, the general of Nana Saheb.
• In the Mandla region of Madhya Pradesh, Rani Avantibai Lodhi of Ramgarh raised and led an army against the British.
• In Bihar, an old zamindar, Kunwar Singh, joined the rebel sepoys and battled with the British for many months.

The Company Fights Back

The Company brought reinforcements from England, passed new laws so that the rebels could be convicted with ease, and then moved into the storm centres of the revolt. Delhi was recaptured from the rebel forces in September 1857. Bahadur Shah Zafar was tried in court and sentenced to life imprisonment. He and his wife Begum Zinat Mahal were sent to prison in Rangoon in October 1858. Lucknow was taken in March 1858. Rani Lakshmibai was defeated and killed in June 1858. Tantia Tope was captured and killed in April 1859.

The Aftermath

The British had regained control of the country by the end of 1859. The key changes that followed were:

• The British Parliament passed a new Act in 1858 and transferred the powers of the East India Company to the British Crown.
• The Governor-General of India was given the title of Viceroy.
• All ruling chiefs of the country were assured that their territory would never be annexed in future.
• The proportion of Indian soldiers in the army was reduced and the number of European soldiers was increased.
• The British decided to respect the customary religious and social practices of the people in India.

Exercise Questions and Answers

1. What was the demand of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi that was refused by the British?

Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi demanded that the Company recognize her adopted son as the heir to the kingdom after the death of her husband. The British refused this demand based on their policy of the Doctrine of Lapse.

2. What did the British do to protect the interests of those who converted to Christianity?

In 1850, the British passed a new law that made conversion to Christianity easier. This law allowed an Indian who had converted to Christianity to inherit the property of his ancestors. This was done to protect the interests of converts and encourage more conversions.

3. What objections did the sepoys have to the new cartridges that they were asked to use?

The sepoys objected to the new cartridges because a rumour spread that the grease on them was made from the fat of cows and pigs. To load the rifle, the sepoys had to bite the paper of the cartridge. This was deeply offensive to both Hindu and Muslim sepoys, as cows are sacred to Hindus and pigs are considered unclean by Muslims. They saw it as an attack on their religion.

4. How did the last Mughal emperor live the last years of his life?

After the revolt was suppressed, the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was captured. He was tried in court and sentenced to life imprisonment. He, along with his wife Begum Zinat Mahal, was sent to a prison in Rangoon (now Yangon, Myanmar) in October 1858. He died in the Rangoon jail in November 1862, living his last years in exile, far away from his homeland.

5. What could be the reasons for the confidence of the British rulers about their position in India before May 1857?

The British were confident about their position in India before May 1857 for several reasons:
1. Military Superiority: They had a powerful, well-trained, and disciplined army with superior weaponry compared to the fragmented armies of Indian rulers.
2. Political Dominance: Through policies like Subsidiary Alliance and the Doctrine of Lapse, they had successfully annexed or controlled vast territories and weakened most major Indian powers.
3. Lack of Unity among Indians: They believed that Indian rulers and people were too divided by region, religion, and caste to ever unite against them.
4. Past Successes: They had consistently defeated much larger Indian armies in battles like Plassey and Buxar, which bolstered their confidence.

6. What impact did Bahadur Shah Zafar’s support to the rebellion have on the people and the ruling families?

Bahadur Shah Zafar’s decision to support the rebellion had a dramatic impact. His acceptance gave the rebellion a symbol of legitimacy and transformed it from a mere sepoy mutiny into a wider popular uprising. It encouraged people and ruling families across the country. Petty chiefs and rulers of smaller principalities, who ruled on behalf of the Mughal emperor, believed that if the Mughal emperor could rule again, they too would be able to rule their own territories once more under Mughal authority. It gave the rebels a unifying figurehead and galvanized many to join the cause.