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Final Countdown for IAS Prelims 2014 Day: 7
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1. The revolt of 1857
The Revolt of 1857 is an important landmark in the history of India. As per the British historians it was the
Sepoy Mutiny, however according to Indian scholars it was the First war of independence.
1.1 Causes of the Revolt
The revolt of 1857 was a combination of political, economic, socio-religious and military causes.
Political
The old aristocracy was alienated by British Raj on various pretexts. This alienation reached at its apex level
during the reign of Lord Dalhausie. He annexed various states and Doctrine of Lapse became the most powerful
instrument in annexation of Indian states. According to Doctrine of Lapse, an Indian state was annexed by British
if the ruler had no natural heir. As a result the aristocracy was in the favor of uprooting the British Raj.
The leaders of the revolt were mainly from the aristocracy and had multiple grievances against the British rule.
For example, Nana Sahib was refused pension, as he was the adopted son of Peshwa Baji Rao II. Avadh was
annexed in 1856, on charges of mal-administration. Satara, Jhansi, Nagpur and Sambhalpur were annexed
owing to Doctrine of lapse.
Economic
The economic policy of the British Raj destroyed the Indian economy on all fronts.
The exorbitant tax rates from the cultivators, introduction of new land revenue arrangements in India without
proper understanding of the ground realities, forcibly evictions and cruel methods to extract the land revenue
resulted in breakdown of traditional agrarian economy.
Discriminatory tariff policy against Indian products and destruction of traditional handicrafts resulted into
deindustrialization and thousands of artisans suffered.
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The drain of wealth from India to Britain without any quid-pro-quo and distorted pattern of foreign trade,
wherein the raw material were exported from India while finished goods were imported had serious implications.
Socio-religious
The racial discrimination by British against Indians, forceful conversion to Christianity and social reforms like
abolition of sati, 1829; legalization of widow remarriage, 1856 etc. offended the orthodox elements of Indian
society.
Military
British discriminated against the Indian soldiers and adopted the policy of exclusion in the service conditions and
promotion by which the high and key posts were reserved only for the Europeans.
Immediate cause:
The introduction of Enfield greased rifles whose cartridges were said to have a greased cover made of beef and
pork sparked off the revolt. It antagonized both Hindu and Muslim soldiers
1.2 The course of events
On March 29, 1857, an Indian sepoy of 34 Native Infantry, Mangal Pandey, killed two British officers-
Hugeson and Baugh-on parade at Barrackpore (near Calcutta).
The 7th Avadh regiment was disbanded as it defied its officers.
The mutiny really started at Merrut on 10th May 1857. The 3rd Native Infantry revolted. The occasion was the
punishment of some sepoys for their refusal to use the greased cartridges. The soldiers along-with other groups
of civilians, went on a rampage shouting Maro Firangi ko. They broke open jails, murdered Europeans, burnt
their houses and marched to Delhi after sunset.
The appearance of the marching soldiers next morning (i.e. 11th May) in Delhi was a signal to the local
soldiers, who in turn revolted, seized the city and proclaimed the 82-year old Bahadur Shah Zafar , as
Shahenshah-i-Hindustan (i.e. Emperor of India).
Within a month of the capture of Delhi, the revolt spread to the different parts of India.
South India remained quiet and Punjab and Bengal were only marginally affected.
The British allies during the revolt were Sindhia, the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Begum of Bhopal.
1.3 The nature of revolt
As per the British historians the revolt was merely a Sepoy mutiny, on the other hand as per the Indian scholars
it was the first war of independence. However, the exact nature of the revolt was somewhat between these
extreme views.
It was not just the Sepoy mutiny because it was a popular revolt against the British imperialism. The revolt
was not just confined to the sepoys or soldiers, but was much broader in base. The civilian population,
aristocracy, peasants, religious leaders etc played active role in the revolt.
The revolt was also not the first war of independence because of the following reasons:
I. India was merely a geographical term at that time; it was only during the early 20th century that a pan Indian
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consciousness generated in India.
II. It was also not the first revolt as there were series of civil, tribal and military revolts that took place before
1857.
III. The leaders of revolt like Rani Luxmi Bai, Nana Sahib, Tantya Tope, Begam Hazrat Mahal etc had personal
grievances against the British Raj. Also the leaders like Nana Sahib, Rani Luxmibai and Bahadur Shah Zafar
were initially reluctant to join the revolt.
IV. The aim of the leaders was not the independence of India, but to get back their kingdoms which were
annexed British on one pretext or the other.
It has been said that dead Julius Caesar was more powerful than Julius Caesar alive. The same may be said
about the Revolt of 1857. Whatever might have been its original character; it soon became a symbol of challenge
to the mighty British Empire in India and remained a shining star for the rise and growth of the Indian national
movement.
1.4 Causes of failure
The following were the causes of failure:
1. British Raj was better equipped with the technology and equipments as compared to the revolutionaries. It
had some brilliant officers which played key role in suppressing the revolt.
2. The revolt didnt spread to entire country. South India remained quiet and Punjab and Bengal were only
marginally affected.
3. Disunity of Indians and poor planning.
4. There was no vision for the post mutiny institutions and the leaders didnt have the forward looking program.
5. Lack of complete nationalism-Scindias, Holkars, Nizam and others actively helped the British.
6. Lack of coordination between sepoys, peasants, zamindars and other classes.
1.5 Impact of the Revolt of 1857
1. The major impact of the revolt was the end of East India Companys rule in India. By the Government of India
Act 1858, the British government took over the rule of India in its own hand. A minister of the British
government, called the Secretary of state for India was made responsible for the governance of India.
2. The British Governor-General of India was now also given the title of Viceroy.
3. The revolt marked the end of British Imperialism and Princely States were assured against annexation. The
policy towards the native states changed from subordinate isolation to that of subordinate union.
4. Far-reaching changes were made in the administration and increase of white soldiers in the army.
5. India army was thoroughly reorganized and an ideology of martial race was developed to recruit Sikhs and
Gorkhas.
6. After the revolt, the British pursued the policy of divine and rule.
7. The British government decided not to interfere in the matter of religion of Indians. This derailed the socio-
religious reforms by government.
1.6 The civil revolts
Sanyasi (Bengal, 1780): lt was led by religious monks against British restrictions and ruin of peasantry.
Kattabomman Revolt (1792-98): By Vira Pandya Kattabomman against imposition of British Suzeraiity.
Paik Revolt (Orissa, 1804-06): Led by Bakshi Jagabandhu against British occupation and revenue policy.
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Velu Thampi (Travancore, 1805): Led by Velu Thampi against British extortions.
Kittur Revolt (Karnataka, 1824): Led by Chinnama and Ryappa against British interference in Kittur.
Pagal Panthis (Maimansinh, 1825-33): Led by Karam Shah and Tipu. Religious nature.
Raju (Vizag, 1827): Led by Birabhadra Raju.
Faraizi (1838): Led by Haji Saraitullah and Dadu Mian for cause of tenants.
Satavandi (Maharashtra, 1839): Led by Phond Savant and Anna Sahib against British rule.
Kuka (1840): Led by Bhagat Jawahar Mal or Sian Saheb in Punjab.
Gadakari (1844): It was against revenue policy in Kolhapur.
Poligar (Karnool, 1846): It was led by Narasimha Reddy.
2. Socio Cultural Awakening
2.1 Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833) and Bhramo Samaj
Raja Ram Mohan Roy was born in 1772 at Radhanagar in Burdwan district (West Bengal) founded Atmiya
Sabha in Calcutta in 1815 to propagate monotheism and reforms in the Hindu society. He is considered as the
first great leader of modern India.
In 1820 he published the Percepts of Jesus in which he tried to separate the moral and philosophic message of
the New Testaments.
The Atmiya Sabha was named Brahmo Sabha and finally Brahmo Samaj in 1828. He launched a movement for
the abolition of Sati through his journal Sbad Kaumudi (1819).
He was one of the earliest propagators of the modern education. He established a Vedanta college.
2.2 Debendranath Tagore (1817-1905)
He took over the leadership of the Brahmo Samaj after Raja Ram Mohan Roy. He founded Tattvabodhini
Sabha in 1839 and published Tattvabodhini Patrika, a Bengali monthly to propagate the ideas of Raja
Rammohan Roy. He got the support of the thinkers like Ishwar Chandra Vidya Sagar and Ashwin Kumar Dutta.
In 1859, the Tattvabodhini Sabha was amalgamated with the Brahmo Samaj. He actively worked for widow
remarriage, abolition of polygamy, women education etc.
He compiled selected passages from the Upanishads, which came to be known as Brahma Dharma.
2.3 Keshav Chandra Sen (1838-1884)
Keshav Chandra Sen was leader of the Brahmo Samaj during the absence of Debendranath Tagore. He joined
Bhramo Samaj in 1857. He spread the branches of Bhramo Samaj outside Bengal as well.
He started Bamabodhini Patrika, a journal for women. He launched radical reforms, such as giving up of caste
names, inter-caste and widow remarriages and launched movement against child marriages.
These radical reforms led to the first schism in the Brahmo Samaj-the original Brahmo Samaj came to be known
as Adi Brahmo Samaj and the other, the Brahmo Samaj of India was established by Keshav Chandra Sen in
1866. Sen formed the Indian Reform Association in 1870, which persuaded the British Government to enact the
Native Marriage Act of 1972 (popularly known as Civil Marriage Act) legalizing the Brahmo marriages and
fixing the minimum marriageable age for boys and girls.
2.4 Atmaram Pandurang (1823-1898)
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Atmaram Pandurang founded Prarthana Samaj in 1867 in Bombay. M.G. Ranade joined it in 1870. Along with
the reformist attitudes the Prarthna Samaj was also very much attached with the Maharashtrian Bhakti Cult. The
other leaders were R.G Bhandarkar and N.G. Chandavarkar.
2.5 Swami Dayanand Saraswati (1824-1883)
Swami Dayanand Saraswati, originally known as Mula Shankar founded the Arya Samaj in 1875 in Bombay,
wrote Satyartha Prakash (in Hindi) and Veda-Bhashya Bhumika (partly in Hindi and partly in Sanskrit).
Dayanand looked at Vedas as eternal. He condemned idol worship and casteism. The most phenomenal
achievement of Arya Samaj has been in the field of education. The Dayanand Anglo Vedic institutions are the
proof of this.
Lala Hardyal another Arya Samajist started Gurukul near Haridwar to propagate the traditional teachings.
2.6 Blavatsky (1831-91) and Olcott (1832-1907)
Madam H.P. Blavatsky, a Russian woman and Col. H.S. Olcott, an American, founded the Theosophical
Society in New York in 1875, but shifted the headquarter of the Society to Adyar near Madras in 1882. After
the death of Olcott Annie Besant became its president.
2.7 Swami Vivekanand (1863-1902)
Swami Vivekanand (originally Narendranath Dutta), founded the Ramakrishna Mission in 1887 as a social
service league which was registered as a Trust in 1897. He was the disciple of Ramakrishna.
He attended the Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893 and made a phenomenal impression by his
speech. He published two papers, Prabudha Bharat and Udbodhini.
It accepted the importance of image worship. It decried untouchability and casteism.
2.8 Henry Vivin Derezio
He founded the Young Bengal Movement. He followed the most radical views of the time, drawing the
inspiration from the French revolution.
He died of cholera at a young age.
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