War of Independence 1857-58

Table of Contents
War of 1857; an Introduction
Causes of the war
Events in the war
Causes behind the failure of war
Conclusion
 Introduction
In 1852, Lord Dalhousie extended British
control even further by applying the Doctrine
of Lapse. This meant that when a ruler died
without a natural heir the British would
occupy his lands. So soon Satara, Oudh,
Nagpur and Jhansi fell into the hands of
British.
In 1857, the British faced a serious challenge
to their control of India. In that year, there
were series of uprisings of states against the
British rule which are known as the War of
Independence. It is also given names as
Indian Rebellion, Indian Mutiny as well as
Indian Revolt.
 Causes of the war

Political

Economic
War Social and
religious

Military
Political:
As the British extended their control, the local leaders saw their
authority decline. The use of Doctrine of Lapse was unpopular. The seizure
of Oudh in 1856, convinced many Local rulers that British were simply land
grabbers. The mistreatment of the Mughal emperor was another cause of
unrest. Dalhousie’s decision to move royal family from Red Fort of Delhi
was seen as s sign of disrespect.
Religious and Social:
As the British political control grew, the British
considered it their duty to spread their ‘superior culture’. They treated
Indians as an inferior race and British societies regarded themselves as small
oases of civilization in an uncivilized world. Many Indians feared that Islam,
Hinduism and Sikhism were under threat from British rule. The British
always denied this but in fact Christian missionaries came to convert local
population and set up schools.
Red Fort, Delhi India.
Economic:
The British made substantial profits from their trading in
goods such as textiles. The British imposed high taxation, peasants and
small landowners found it very difficult to pay these taxes and resentment
grew. Some tax collectors were corrupt and kept some of the tax money for
themselves. The British also kept the salaries of sepoys which caused more
resentment.
Military:
Most of the soldiers in the East India Company’s army were
Indian. The Sepoys and Sowars were exclusively Indian, but the officer
class was almost British which caused extreme resentment. Muslim and
Hindu sepoys were forced to use the greased cartridges but they refused.
This caused much disturbance and the war broke out.
Greased cartridges and the rifle
 Events
In January 1857, the British introduced a new rifle
with a paper cartridge which was covered in
grease. Before it could be loaded the end had to be
bitten off. The grease was made from the fat of
pigs and cows due to which both Hindus and
Muslims refused to use them.
In March, a sepoy named Mangal Pandey
disobeyed his British officers and was executed.
On 6th May, 1857, 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. 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.
The war spread quickly and the British lost their control of Mathura, Kanpur, Jhansi, Allahabad,
Delhi and Lucknow. The British rule now only existed to what is now called Uttar Pradesh.
At Kanpur the struggle for Independence was led by Nana Sahib. A number of British fell into
his hands and he showed great kindness to them. But when he heard about inhuman attitude of
British 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 Tatya Topee, 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.
 After Lucknow, the main centre of opposition was Jhansi where the command was in the hands
of Lakshmi Bai, Rani of Jhansi. She fought bravely (she was assisted by Tatya Topee, a general
with great ability) and stopped British for a long time but was killed in a battle(dressed as a
man).
British proved themselves to be too powerful to be defeated. In September 1857, Delhi and
Lucknow was regained, Bahadur Shah II surrendered peacefully, but his sons were brutally
murdered.
Mangal Pandey Lakshmi Bai
 Causes behind the failure of war
Lack of Unity:
There was no general plan and no attempt to work together. In
different places, different groups fought for different reasons. Some of the Indian
princes were interested only in restoring their own feudal powers. The only real
uniting force in the war was Islam.
British Strengths:
The major reasons for the failure of Indians was that the
British were too strong. Britain was one of the most powerful nation in the world
at that time and its troops were experienced in warfare and highly trained in
modern methods of fighting. They also had a good reputation for discipline in the
battlefield.
 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 encouraged by the landlords and the overthrown native princes and the people of India
who were not directly involved in this rebellion. They further declared 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, Sindh and Rajputana remained
unaffected. It was admittedly a great and courageous effort by nationalistic 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.
Thank you