One hundred years after the Battle of Plassey, anger against the unjust and oppressive British Government took the form of a revolt that shook the very foundations of British rule in India. First War of Indian Independence is a term predominantly used in India to describe this Rebellion of 1857. The event challenged the power and control of British East Indian Company in India which was then replaced by nine decades of British colonial rule, known as the British Raj.
’Many historians called the First War of Independence as a ‘Sepoy Mutiny’ of 1857. For them it was majorily the Indian sepoys who were mutinied . However ,they failed to recognize the involvement of a vast section of Indian society that took part in this struggle. From peasants to nobles all sections of society were involved.
The political causes of the revolt may be traced to 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. Rani Lakshmi Bai’s adopted son was not permitted to sit on the throne of Jhansi. Satara, Nagpur and Jhansi were annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse. A large section of the population was alarmed by the rapid spread of Western civilization in India. The abolition of practices like sati and female infanticide, and the legislation legalizing widow remarriage, were threats to the established social structure. In rural areas, peasants and zamindars resented the heavy taxes on land and the stringent methods of revenue collection followed by the Company.All these actions undertaken by the British aroused resentment among the people of the country. However, the immediate cause of the Revolt was over the incident of greased cartridges.A rumour had 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 as it was against their religious sentiments. In March 1857, Mangal Pandey, a sepoy in Barrackpore, had refused to use the cartridge and attacked his senior officers. Soon there was a rebellion in the Meerut Cantonment. The Meerut Mutiny (May 9, 1857) marked the beginning of the Revolt of 1857. The Indian sepoys in Meerut murdered their British officers and broke open the jail. On May 10, they marched to Delhi. Although the revolt was fairly widespread, a large part of the country remained unaffected by it. The revolt was mainly confined to the Doab region. Sind, Rajputana, Kashmir, most parts of Punjab. The southern provinces did not take part in it.
The Revolt of 1857 lasted for more than a year. It was suppressed by the middle of 1858. On July 8, 1858, fourteen months after the outbreak at Meerut, peace was finally proclaimed by Canning. The great uprising of 1857 was an important landmark in the history of modern India. The revolt marked the end of the East India Company’s rule in India. India now came under the direct rule of the British Crown. This was announced by Lord Canning at a Durbar in Allahabad in aproclamation issued on 1 November 1858 in the name of the Queen. Thus, Indian administration was taken over by Queen Victoria, which, in effect, meant the British Parliament. The Governor General’s office was replaced by that of the Viceroy.
References:
www.gatewayforindia.com/history/british_history2.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_the_Indian_Rebellion_of_1857
Together With History and Civics for Class 10
