TN History Textbook: The Great Revolt of 1857 | Old & New NCERTs for IAS Preparation (Must Read) - UPSC PDF Download

 Page 1


103 102
differ in their opinion.  S.N. Sen believes that the 1857 Revolt was
part of the struggle for Indian independence. R.C. Majumdar
maintains that the outbreaks before 1857, whether civil or military,
were “a series of isolated incidents” ultimately culminated in the Great
Revolt of 1857.
Causes of the Revolt
Political Causes
The discontent and disaffection manifested in the form of revolts
against the British Government were not confined to the ruling chiefs
and royal families alone.  On the contrary, the British rule was disliked
by the people at large in any region when it was newly introduced.
Anti-British feelings were particularly strong in those regions like
Burma, Assam, Coorg, Sind, and the Punjab which were unjustly
annexed to the British Empire. The Doctrine of Lapse, particularly
its practical application by Lord Dalhousie, produced grave discontent
and alarm among the native princes, who were directly affected.
Economic Causes
The huge drain of wealth, the destruction of its industry and
increasing land revenue had become the common features of the
latter half of the eighteenth century.  The East India Company, after
attaining political power, used it to fund the growth of British trade
and commerce at the cost of Indians.  The British damaged the Indian
trade and manufacture by imposing a high tariff in Britain against
Indian goods, and by encouraging all means the import of British
goods to India. In England the ruin of the old handloom weavers was
accompanied by the growth of the machine industry.  But in India the
ruin of the millions of artisans and craftsmen was not accompanied
by any alternative growth of new industrial forms.
A new plantation system introduced in the year 1833 resulted
in incalculable misery for the Indian peasants.  This was the result of
The 1857 Revolt sowed the seeds of Indian nationalism, which
lay dormant in the subconscious of the Indian people. It started the
movement which was a continuous struggle against the British rule
till 1947.  Hence, the nature, character and causes of this Great Revolt
of 1857 should be studied in order to understand the subsequent
events.
Nature of the Revolt
The historical writings of the British scholars underplayed the
character of the Revolt of 1857.  Sir John Lawrence was of the
opinion that the Revolt was purely a military outbreak, and not a
conspiracy to overthrow British rule. On the other hand the Revolt
of 1857 is hailed by the Indian scholars, especially by Vir Savarkar
as the First War of Indian Independence.
Two distinguished Indian historians, R.C. Majumdar and  S.N.
Sen, have analysed the Revolt of 1857 in depth.  The two scholars
LESSON 11
THE GREAT REVOLT OF 1857
Learning Objectives
Students will come to understand
1. The nature of the Great Revolt of 1857.
2. The underlying causes of the Revolt.
3. The immediate cause of the outbreak of Revolt..
4. The course of the Revolt.
5. Causes for the failure of the Revolt.
6. Effects of the Revolt.
Page 2


103 102
differ in their opinion.  S.N. Sen believes that the 1857 Revolt was
part of the struggle for Indian independence. R.C. Majumdar
maintains that the outbreaks before 1857, whether civil or military,
were “a series of isolated incidents” ultimately culminated in the Great
Revolt of 1857.
Causes of the Revolt
Political Causes
The discontent and disaffection manifested in the form of revolts
against the British Government were not confined to the ruling chiefs
and royal families alone.  On the contrary, the British rule was disliked
by the people at large in any region when it was newly introduced.
Anti-British feelings were particularly strong in those regions like
Burma, Assam, Coorg, Sind, and the Punjab which were unjustly
annexed to the British Empire. The Doctrine of Lapse, particularly
its practical application by Lord Dalhousie, produced grave discontent
and alarm among the native princes, who were directly affected.
Economic Causes
The huge drain of wealth, the destruction of its industry and
increasing land revenue had become the common features of the
latter half of the eighteenth century.  The East India Company, after
attaining political power, used it to fund the growth of British trade
and commerce at the cost of Indians.  The British damaged the Indian
trade and manufacture by imposing a high tariff in Britain against
Indian goods, and by encouraging all means the import of British
goods to India. In England the ruin of the old handloom weavers was
accompanied by the growth of the machine industry.  But in India the
ruin of the millions of artisans and craftsmen was not accompanied
by any alternative growth of new industrial forms.
A new plantation system introduced in the year 1833 resulted
in incalculable misery for the Indian peasants.  This was the result of
The 1857 Revolt sowed the seeds of Indian nationalism, which
lay dormant in the subconscious of the Indian people. It started the
movement which was a continuous struggle against the British rule
till 1947.  Hence, the nature, character and causes of this Great Revolt
of 1857 should be studied in order to understand the subsequent
events.
Nature of the Revolt
The historical writings of the British scholars underplayed the
character of the Revolt of 1857.  Sir John Lawrence was of the
opinion that the Revolt was purely a military outbreak, and not a
conspiracy to overthrow British rule. On the other hand the Revolt
of 1857 is hailed by the Indian scholars, especially by Vir Savarkar
as the First War of Indian Independence.
Two distinguished Indian historians, R.C. Majumdar and  S.N.
Sen, have analysed the Revolt of 1857 in depth.  The two scholars
LESSON 11
THE GREAT REVOLT OF 1857
Learning Objectives
Students will come to understand
1. The nature of the Great Revolt of 1857.
2. The underlying causes of the Revolt.
3. The immediate cause of the outbreak of Revolt..
4. The course of the Revolt.
5. Causes for the failure of the Revolt.
6. Effects of the Revolt.
105 104
whose end had to be bitten off before the cartridge was loaded into
the rifle.  The grease was composed of fat taken from beef and pig.
The religious feelings of the Hindu and Muslim sepoys were terribly
wounded. The sepoys believed that the government was deliberately
trying to destroy their religious and cultural identity.  Hence they
raised the banner of revolt.
The events that led to the Revolt began on 29 March 1857 at
Barrackpore.   Mangal Pandey (a sepoy) refused to use the greased
cartridges and single-handedly attacked and killed his officer. Mangal
Pandey was hanged.  The regiment to which he belonged was
disbanded and sepoys guilty of rebellion punished.
The British instead of diffusing the explosive situation, paved
the way for a mighty crisis by the above act.  A chain reaction was
set in motion.  At Meerut in May 1857, 85 sepoys of the 3rd Cavalry
regiment were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment for refusing
to use the greased catridges. Therefore, on 10 May the sepoys broke
out in open rebellion, shot their officers, released their fellow sepoys
and headed towards Delhi.  General Hewitt, the officer commanding
at Meerut was helpless to prevent the army’s march.
Next morning the rebellious army reached Delhi.  The city of
Delhi fell into the hands of the rebellious
soldiers on 12 May 1857.  Lieutenant
Willtashby, the officer in charge of Delhi could
not prevent the mutineers. Soon, the
mutineers proclaimed the aged nominal king,
Bahadur Shah II of the Mughal dynasty as
the Emperor of India.  Very soon the rebellion
spread throughout northern and central India
at Lucknow, Allahabad, Kanpur, Banares, in
parts of Bihar, Jhansi and other places.
permitting Englishmen to acquire land plantations in India.  The hard
hit were the peasants on the indigo plantations in Bengal and Bihar.
Social Causes
The Englishmen showed an arrogant attitude towards the
Indians.  Indiscriminate assaults on Indians by Englishmen became
quite common.  Also, a general alarm was raised among the Hindus
and Muslims by the activities of the Christian missionaries. The
educational institutions established by the missionaries inculcated
western education and culture in the place of oriental learning. The
native population felt that were losing their social identity.
Military causes
Discontent against the British Raj was widely prevalent among
the Indian soldiers in the British army. The Indian sepoys in the British
Indian army nursed a sense of strong resentment at their low salary
and poor prospects of promotion. The British military officers at times
showed least respect to the social values and religious sentiments of
Indian sepoys in the army.  Thus, although generally faithful to their
masters, the sepoys were provoked to revolt.  The Vellore mutiny of
1806, a precursor to the 1857 Great Revolt, was the outcome of such
tendencies on the part of the military authorities.
Another important cause of the sepoys’ dissatisfaction was
the order that abolished the foreign allowance or batta when they
served in foreign territories. Thus the discontent was widespread
and there was an undercurrent before the volcanic situation of 1857.
All that needed was only a spark to set it a fire.
The Beginning of the Revolt
The 1857 Revolt was sparked off by the episode of the greased
cartridges.  The new Enfield rifle had been introduced for the first
time in the Indian army.  Its cartridges had a greased paper cover
BAHADUR SHAH II
Page 3


103 102
differ in their opinion.  S.N. Sen believes that the 1857 Revolt was
part of the struggle for Indian independence. R.C. Majumdar
maintains that the outbreaks before 1857, whether civil or military,
were “a series of isolated incidents” ultimately culminated in the Great
Revolt of 1857.
Causes of the Revolt
Political Causes
The discontent and disaffection manifested in the form of revolts
against the British Government were not confined to the ruling chiefs
and royal families alone.  On the contrary, the British rule was disliked
by the people at large in any region when it was newly introduced.
Anti-British feelings were particularly strong in those regions like
Burma, Assam, Coorg, Sind, and the Punjab which were unjustly
annexed to the British Empire. The Doctrine of Lapse, particularly
its practical application by Lord Dalhousie, produced grave discontent
and alarm among the native princes, who were directly affected.
Economic Causes
The huge drain of wealth, the destruction of its industry and
increasing land revenue had become the common features of the
latter half of the eighteenth century.  The East India Company, after
attaining political power, used it to fund the growth of British trade
and commerce at the cost of Indians.  The British damaged the Indian
trade and manufacture by imposing a high tariff in Britain against
Indian goods, and by encouraging all means the import of British
goods to India. In England the ruin of the old handloom weavers was
accompanied by the growth of the machine industry.  But in India the
ruin of the millions of artisans and craftsmen was not accompanied
by any alternative growth of new industrial forms.
A new plantation system introduced in the year 1833 resulted
in incalculable misery for the Indian peasants.  This was the result of
The 1857 Revolt sowed the seeds of Indian nationalism, which
lay dormant in the subconscious of the Indian people. It started the
movement which was a continuous struggle against the British rule
till 1947.  Hence, the nature, character and causes of this Great Revolt
of 1857 should be studied in order to understand the subsequent
events.
Nature of the Revolt
The historical writings of the British scholars underplayed the
character of the Revolt of 1857.  Sir John Lawrence was of the
opinion that the Revolt was purely a military outbreak, and not a
conspiracy to overthrow British rule. On the other hand the Revolt
of 1857 is hailed by the Indian scholars, especially by Vir Savarkar
as the First War of Indian Independence.
Two distinguished Indian historians, R.C. Majumdar and  S.N.
Sen, have analysed the Revolt of 1857 in depth.  The two scholars
LESSON 11
THE GREAT REVOLT OF 1857
Learning Objectives
Students will come to understand
1. The nature of the Great Revolt of 1857.
2. The underlying causes of the Revolt.
3. The immediate cause of the outbreak of Revolt..
4. The course of the Revolt.
5. Causes for the failure of the Revolt.
6. Effects of the Revolt.
105 104
whose end had to be bitten off before the cartridge was loaded into
the rifle.  The grease was composed of fat taken from beef and pig.
The religious feelings of the Hindu and Muslim sepoys were terribly
wounded. The sepoys believed that the government was deliberately
trying to destroy their religious and cultural identity.  Hence they
raised the banner of revolt.
The events that led to the Revolt began on 29 March 1857 at
Barrackpore.   Mangal Pandey (a sepoy) refused to use the greased
cartridges and single-handedly attacked and killed his officer. Mangal
Pandey was hanged.  The regiment to which he belonged was
disbanded and sepoys guilty of rebellion punished.
The British instead of diffusing the explosive situation, paved
the way for a mighty crisis by the above act.  A chain reaction was
set in motion.  At Meerut in May 1857, 85 sepoys of the 3rd Cavalry
regiment were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment for refusing
to use the greased catridges. Therefore, on 10 May the sepoys broke
out in open rebellion, shot their officers, released their fellow sepoys
and headed towards Delhi.  General Hewitt, the officer commanding
at Meerut was helpless to prevent the army’s march.
Next morning the rebellious army reached Delhi.  The city of
Delhi fell into the hands of the rebellious
soldiers on 12 May 1857.  Lieutenant
Willtashby, the officer in charge of Delhi could
not prevent the mutineers. Soon, the
mutineers proclaimed the aged nominal king,
Bahadur Shah II of the Mughal dynasty as
the Emperor of India.  Very soon the rebellion
spread throughout northern and central India
at Lucknow, Allahabad, Kanpur, Banares, in
parts of Bihar, Jhansi and other places.
permitting Englishmen to acquire land plantations in India.  The hard
hit were the peasants on the indigo plantations in Bengal and Bihar.
Social Causes
The Englishmen showed an arrogant attitude towards the
Indians.  Indiscriminate assaults on Indians by Englishmen became
quite common.  Also, a general alarm was raised among the Hindus
and Muslims by the activities of the Christian missionaries. The
educational institutions established by the missionaries inculcated
western education and culture in the place of oriental learning. The
native population felt that were losing their social identity.
Military causes
Discontent against the British Raj was widely prevalent among
the Indian soldiers in the British army. The Indian sepoys in the British
Indian army nursed a sense of strong resentment at their low salary
and poor prospects of promotion. The British military officers at times
showed least respect to the social values and religious sentiments of
Indian sepoys in the army.  Thus, although generally faithful to their
masters, the sepoys were provoked to revolt.  The Vellore mutiny of
1806, a precursor to the 1857 Great Revolt, was the outcome of such
tendencies on the part of the military authorities.
Another important cause of the sepoys’ dissatisfaction was
the order that abolished the foreign allowance or batta when they
served in foreign territories. Thus the discontent was widespread
and there was an undercurrent before the volcanic situation of 1857.
All that needed was only a spark to set it a fire.
The Beginning of the Revolt
The 1857 Revolt was sparked off by the episode of the greased
cartridges.  The new Enfield rifle had been introduced for the first
time in the Indian army.  Its cartridges had a greased paper cover
BAHADUR SHAH II
107 106
an all out attack on the British.  Henry Lawrence, the chief
commissioner tried to defend the British. Lawrence was killed in a
bomb blast during the fight.  The final relief for the British forces in
Lucknow came in the form of Sir Colin Campbell, who suppressed
the revolt.
Jhansi
Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi, the widowed queen of Gangadhar
Rao played a heroic role in this revolt.  Rani
Lakshmi Bai was affected by Dalhousie’s
Doctrine of Lapse, was joined by Tantia Tope.
The combined efforts of Rani and Tantia Tope
saw the capture of Gwalior.  Meanwhile, Sir
Hugh Rose defeated Tantia Tope and stormed
Jhansi on 3 April 1858.  He then captured
Gwalior.  The Rani of Jhansi died a soldier’s
death on 17 June 1858.  Tantia Tope was
captured and hanged on charges of rebellion and
murder in the massacre of Kanpur.
Bihar
Kunwar Singh, a ruined and discontented zamindar of
Jagdishpur near Oudh, was  the chief organiser of the revolt in Bihar.
He fought the British in Bihar. Kunwar Singh sustained a fatal wound
in the battle and died on 27 April 1858 at Jagdishpur.
Ultimately the 1857 Revolt came to an end with the victory of
the British.  Viceroy Canning proclaimed peace throughout India.
Causes for the Failure of the Revolt
The first and foremost cause was that the Revolt failed to
embrace the whole of India. Different sections of society such as
moneylenders, merchants and modern educated Indians were actually
against the Revolt. The lack of interest shown by the intellectuals in
RANI LAKSHMI BAI 
Delhi
The leadership at Delhi was nominally in the hands of Bahadur
Shah, but the real  control was exercised by General Bakht Khan.
On the side of the British the combined effort of Nicholson, Wilson,
Baird Smith and Neville Chamberlain enabled the recapture Delhi by
September 1857.  In Delhi, Emperor Bahadur Shah II was arrested
and deported to Rangoon, where he remained in exile till he died in
1862.
Kanpur
At Kanpur the revolt was led by Nana
Saheb, the adopted son of Baji Rao II, the last
Peshwa.  Nana Saheb expelled the English from
Kanpur with the help of the
sepoys and proclaimed
himself the Peshwa.  Nana
Saheb in his efforts against
the British was  ably
supported by two of his
lieutenants.  One was Tantia
Tope, the other was
Azimullah. Sir Hugh Wheeler the commander of
the British garrison at Kanpur surrendered on
the 27 June 1857.  But, soon Kanpur was
recaptured by the British commander Sir Colin
Campbell.
Lucknow
The principal person responsible for the
revolt in Lucknow was the Begum of Oudh.
With the assistance of the sepoys, the
zamindars and peasants, the Begum organised
NANA SAHEB 
BEGUM OF OUDH 
Tantia T ope
Page 4


103 102
differ in their opinion.  S.N. Sen believes that the 1857 Revolt was
part of the struggle for Indian independence. R.C. Majumdar
maintains that the outbreaks before 1857, whether civil or military,
were “a series of isolated incidents” ultimately culminated in the Great
Revolt of 1857.
Causes of the Revolt
Political Causes
The discontent and disaffection manifested in the form of revolts
against the British Government were not confined to the ruling chiefs
and royal families alone.  On the contrary, the British rule was disliked
by the people at large in any region when it was newly introduced.
Anti-British feelings were particularly strong in those regions like
Burma, Assam, Coorg, Sind, and the Punjab which were unjustly
annexed to the British Empire. The Doctrine of Lapse, particularly
its practical application by Lord Dalhousie, produced grave discontent
and alarm among the native princes, who were directly affected.
Economic Causes
The huge drain of wealth, the destruction of its industry and
increasing land revenue had become the common features of the
latter half of the eighteenth century.  The East India Company, after
attaining political power, used it to fund the growth of British trade
and commerce at the cost of Indians.  The British damaged the Indian
trade and manufacture by imposing a high tariff in Britain against
Indian goods, and by encouraging all means the import of British
goods to India. In England the ruin of the old handloom weavers was
accompanied by the growth of the machine industry.  But in India the
ruin of the millions of artisans and craftsmen was not accompanied
by any alternative growth of new industrial forms.
A new plantation system introduced in the year 1833 resulted
in incalculable misery for the Indian peasants.  This was the result of
The 1857 Revolt sowed the seeds of Indian nationalism, which
lay dormant in the subconscious of the Indian people. It started the
movement which was a continuous struggle against the British rule
till 1947.  Hence, the nature, character and causes of this Great Revolt
of 1857 should be studied in order to understand the subsequent
events.
Nature of the Revolt
The historical writings of the British scholars underplayed the
character of the Revolt of 1857.  Sir John Lawrence was of the
opinion that the Revolt was purely a military outbreak, and not a
conspiracy to overthrow British rule. On the other hand the Revolt
of 1857 is hailed by the Indian scholars, especially by Vir Savarkar
as the First War of Indian Independence.
Two distinguished Indian historians, R.C. Majumdar and  S.N.
Sen, have analysed the Revolt of 1857 in depth.  The two scholars
LESSON 11
THE GREAT REVOLT OF 1857
Learning Objectives
Students will come to understand
1. The nature of the Great Revolt of 1857.
2. The underlying causes of the Revolt.
3. The immediate cause of the outbreak of Revolt..
4. The course of the Revolt.
5. Causes for the failure of the Revolt.
6. Effects of the Revolt.
105 104
whose end had to be bitten off before the cartridge was loaded into
the rifle.  The grease was composed of fat taken from beef and pig.
The religious feelings of the Hindu and Muslim sepoys were terribly
wounded. The sepoys believed that the government was deliberately
trying to destroy their religious and cultural identity.  Hence they
raised the banner of revolt.
The events that led to the Revolt began on 29 March 1857 at
Barrackpore.   Mangal Pandey (a sepoy) refused to use the greased
cartridges and single-handedly attacked and killed his officer. Mangal
Pandey was hanged.  The regiment to which he belonged was
disbanded and sepoys guilty of rebellion punished.
The British instead of diffusing the explosive situation, paved
the way for a mighty crisis by the above act.  A chain reaction was
set in motion.  At Meerut in May 1857, 85 sepoys of the 3rd Cavalry
regiment were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment for refusing
to use the greased catridges. Therefore, on 10 May the sepoys broke
out in open rebellion, shot their officers, released their fellow sepoys
and headed towards Delhi.  General Hewitt, the officer commanding
at Meerut was helpless to prevent the army’s march.
Next morning the rebellious army reached Delhi.  The city of
Delhi fell into the hands of the rebellious
soldiers on 12 May 1857.  Lieutenant
Willtashby, the officer in charge of Delhi could
not prevent the mutineers. Soon, the
mutineers proclaimed the aged nominal king,
Bahadur Shah II of the Mughal dynasty as
the Emperor of India.  Very soon the rebellion
spread throughout northern and central India
at Lucknow, Allahabad, Kanpur, Banares, in
parts of Bihar, Jhansi and other places.
permitting Englishmen to acquire land plantations in India.  The hard
hit were the peasants on the indigo plantations in Bengal and Bihar.
Social Causes
The Englishmen showed an arrogant attitude towards the
Indians.  Indiscriminate assaults on Indians by Englishmen became
quite common.  Also, a general alarm was raised among the Hindus
and Muslims by the activities of the Christian missionaries. The
educational institutions established by the missionaries inculcated
western education and culture in the place of oriental learning. The
native population felt that were losing their social identity.
Military causes
Discontent against the British Raj was widely prevalent among
the Indian soldiers in the British army. The Indian sepoys in the British
Indian army nursed a sense of strong resentment at their low salary
and poor prospects of promotion. The British military officers at times
showed least respect to the social values and religious sentiments of
Indian sepoys in the army.  Thus, although generally faithful to their
masters, the sepoys were provoked to revolt.  The Vellore mutiny of
1806, a precursor to the 1857 Great Revolt, was the outcome of such
tendencies on the part of the military authorities.
Another important cause of the sepoys’ dissatisfaction was
the order that abolished the foreign allowance or batta when they
served in foreign territories. Thus the discontent was widespread
and there was an undercurrent before the volcanic situation of 1857.
All that needed was only a spark to set it a fire.
The Beginning of the Revolt
The 1857 Revolt was sparked off by the episode of the greased
cartridges.  The new Enfield rifle had been introduced for the first
time in the Indian army.  Its cartridges had a greased paper cover
BAHADUR SHAH II
107 106
an all out attack on the British.  Henry Lawrence, the chief
commissioner tried to defend the British. Lawrence was killed in a
bomb blast during the fight.  The final relief for the British forces in
Lucknow came in the form of Sir Colin Campbell, who suppressed
the revolt.
Jhansi
Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi, the widowed queen of Gangadhar
Rao played a heroic role in this revolt.  Rani
Lakshmi Bai was affected by Dalhousie’s
Doctrine of Lapse, was joined by Tantia Tope.
The combined efforts of Rani and Tantia Tope
saw the capture of Gwalior.  Meanwhile, Sir
Hugh Rose defeated Tantia Tope and stormed
Jhansi on 3 April 1858.  He then captured
Gwalior.  The Rani of Jhansi died a soldier’s
death on 17 June 1858.  Tantia Tope was
captured and hanged on charges of rebellion and
murder in the massacre of Kanpur.
Bihar
Kunwar Singh, a ruined and discontented zamindar of
Jagdishpur near Oudh, was  the chief organiser of the revolt in Bihar.
He fought the British in Bihar. Kunwar Singh sustained a fatal wound
in the battle and died on 27 April 1858 at Jagdishpur.
Ultimately the 1857 Revolt came to an end with the victory of
the British.  Viceroy Canning proclaimed peace throughout India.
Causes for the Failure of the Revolt
The first and foremost cause was that the Revolt failed to
embrace the whole of India. Different sections of society such as
moneylenders, merchants and modern educated Indians were actually
against the Revolt. The lack of interest shown by the intellectuals in
RANI LAKSHMI BAI 
Delhi
The leadership at Delhi was nominally in the hands of Bahadur
Shah, but the real  control was exercised by General Bakht Khan.
On the side of the British the combined effort of Nicholson, Wilson,
Baird Smith and Neville Chamberlain enabled the recapture Delhi by
September 1857.  In Delhi, Emperor Bahadur Shah II was arrested
and deported to Rangoon, where he remained in exile till he died in
1862.
Kanpur
At Kanpur the revolt was led by Nana
Saheb, the adopted son of Baji Rao II, the last
Peshwa.  Nana Saheb expelled the English from
Kanpur with the help of the
sepoys and proclaimed
himself the Peshwa.  Nana
Saheb in his efforts against
the British was  ably
supported by two of his
lieutenants.  One was Tantia
Tope, the other was
Azimullah. Sir Hugh Wheeler the commander of
the British garrison at Kanpur surrendered on
the 27 June 1857.  But, soon Kanpur was
recaptured by the British commander Sir Colin
Campbell.
Lucknow
The principal person responsible for the
revolt in Lucknow was the Begum of Oudh.
With the assistance of the sepoys, the
zamindars and peasants, the Begum organised
NANA SAHEB 
BEGUM OF OUDH 
Tantia T ope
109 108
Lord Canning proclaimed the new Government at Allahabad
on 1 November 1858 in accordance with the Queen’s Proclamation.
The latter has been called the Magna Carta of the Indian people; it
disclaimed any extension of territory, promised religious toleration,
guaranteed the rights of Indian princes and pledged equal treatment
to her subjects, Indians and Europeans.
The Revolt of 1857 ended an era and sowed the seeds of a
new one.  The year 1857 is a great divide between the two landmarks
in Indian history.  One was that of British paramountcy in the first
half, and the other is that of the growth of Indian nationalism in the
second half of the nineteenth century.
the movement was a serious setback. The resources of the British
Empire were far superior to those of the rebels. Similarly, the
insurgents lacked a carefully concerted general plan or a strong
central organisation to plan the movements of the army and oversee
their strategy.
On the other hand, the British possessed better equipment.  In
addition, the British were aided by new scientific inventions such as
the telegraph system and postal communications.  This enabled the
British to keep in touch with all parts of the country and to manoeuvre
their troops according to their needs.
All the said factors combined to cause the defeat of the rebels
of the 1857 Revolt and ended in the victory for the British.
Significance and Effects of the Mutiny
The Revolt of 1857 though completely suppressed had shaken
the very foundations of British rule in India, for the simple reason
that the Revolt exhibited the popular character.  It brought together
the disgruntled sections of society to rise against the British rule.
The common people rose up in arms often fighting with spears and
axes,  bows and arrows, lathis and scythes, and crude mulkets.
However, this civilian revolt was not universal but sporadic and
inconsistent.  Nevertheless, it added a new dimension to the character
of the 1857 Revolt. Another significant aspect of the 1857 Revolt
was the Hindu-Muslim unity.
As far as the effects of the Revolt are concerned, it brought
about fundamental changes in the character of Indian administration
which was transferred from the East India Company to the Crown
by the Queen’s Proclamation of 1 November, 1858. At the same
time the Governor-General received the new title of Viceroy.  Lord
Canning had the unique opportunity to become the Governor-General
as well as the first Viceroy according to the Act of 1858.
Page 5


103 102
differ in their opinion.  S.N. Sen believes that the 1857 Revolt was
part of the struggle for Indian independence. R.C. Majumdar
maintains that the outbreaks before 1857, whether civil or military,
were “a series of isolated incidents” ultimately culminated in the Great
Revolt of 1857.
Causes of the Revolt
Political Causes
The discontent and disaffection manifested in the form of revolts
against the British Government were not confined to the ruling chiefs
and royal families alone.  On the contrary, the British rule was disliked
by the people at large in any region when it was newly introduced.
Anti-British feelings were particularly strong in those regions like
Burma, Assam, Coorg, Sind, and the Punjab which were unjustly
annexed to the British Empire. The Doctrine of Lapse, particularly
its practical application by Lord Dalhousie, produced grave discontent
and alarm among the native princes, who were directly affected.
Economic Causes
The huge drain of wealth, the destruction of its industry and
increasing land revenue had become the common features of the
latter half of the eighteenth century.  The East India Company, after
attaining political power, used it to fund the growth of British trade
and commerce at the cost of Indians.  The British damaged the Indian
trade and manufacture by imposing a high tariff in Britain against
Indian goods, and by encouraging all means the import of British
goods to India. In England the ruin of the old handloom weavers was
accompanied by the growth of the machine industry.  But in India the
ruin of the millions of artisans and craftsmen was not accompanied
by any alternative growth of new industrial forms.
A new plantation system introduced in the year 1833 resulted
in incalculable misery for the Indian peasants.  This was the result of
The 1857 Revolt sowed the seeds of Indian nationalism, which
lay dormant in the subconscious of the Indian people. It started the
movement which was a continuous struggle against the British rule
till 1947.  Hence, the nature, character and causes of this Great Revolt
of 1857 should be studied in order to understand the subsequent
events.
Nature of the Revolt
The historical writings of the British scholars underplayed the
character of the Revolt of 1857.  Sir John Lawrence was of the
opinion that the Revolt was purely a military outbreak, and not a
conspiracy to overthrow British rule. On the other hand the Revolt
of 1857 is hailed by the Indian scholars, especially by Vir Savarkar
as the First War of Indian Independence.
Two distinguished Indian historians, R.C. Majumdar and  S.N.
Sen, have analysed the Revolt of 1857 in depth.  The two scholars
LESSON 11
THE GREAT REVOLT OF 1857
Learning Objectives
Students will come to understand
1. The nature of the Great Revolt of 1857.
2. The underlying causes of the Revolt.
3. The immediate cause of the outbreak of Revolt..
4. The course of the Revolt.
5. Causes for the failure of the Revolt.
6. Effects of the Revolt.
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whose end had to be bitten off before the cartridge was loaded into
the rifle.  The grease was composed of fat taken from beef and pig.
The religious feelings of the Hindu and Muslim sepoys were terribly
wounded. The sepoys believed that the government was deliberately
trying to destroy their religious and cultural identity.  Hence they
raised the banner of revolt.
The events that led to the Revolt began on 29 March 1857 at
Barrackpore.   Mangal Pandey (a sepoy) refused to use the greased
cartridges and single-handedly attacked and killed his officer. Mangal
Pandey was hanged.  The regiment to which he belonged was
disbanded and sepoys guilty of rebellion punished.
The British instead of diffusing the explosive situation, paved
the way for a mighty crisis by the above act.  A chain reaction was
set in motion.  At Meerut in May 1857, 85 sepoys of the 3rd Cavalry
regiment were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment for refusing
to use the greased catridges. Therefore, on 10 May the sepoys broke
out in open rebellion, shot their officers, released their fellow sepoys
and headed towards Delhi.  General Hewitt, the officer commanding
at Meerut was helpless to prevent the army’s march.
Next morning the rebellious army reached Delhi.  The city of
Delhi fell into the hands of the rebellious
soldiers on 12 May 1857.  Lieutenant
Willtashby, the officer in charge of Delhi could
not prevent the mutineers. Soon, the
mutineers proclaimed the aged nominal king,
Bahadur Shah II of the Mughal dynasty as
the Emperor of India.  Very soon the rebellion
spread throughout northern and central India
at Lucknow, Allahabad, Kanpur, Banares, in
parts of Bihar, Jhansi and other places.
permitting Englishmen to acquire land plantations in India.  The hard
hit were the peasants on the indigo plantations in Bengal and Bihar.
Social Causes
The Englishmen showed an arrogant attitude towards the
Indians.  Indiscriminate assaults on Indians by Englishmen became
quite common.  Also, a general alarm was raised among the Hindus
and Muslims by the activities of the Christian missionaries. The
educational institutions established by the missionaries inculcated
western education and culture in the place of oriental learning. The
native population felt that were losing their social identity.
Military causes
Discontent against the British Raj was widely prevalent among
the Indian soldiers in the British army. The Indian sepoys in the British
Indian army nursed a sense of strong resentment at their low salary
and poor prospects of promotion. The British military officers at times
showed least respect to the social values and religious sentiments of
Indian sepoys in the army.  Thus, although generally faithful to their
masters, the sepoys were provoked to revolt.  The Vellore mutiny of
1806, a precursor to the 1857 Great Revolt, was the outcome of such
tendencies on the part of the military authorities.
Another important cause of the sepoys’ dissatisfaction was
the order that abolished the foreign allowance or batta when they
served in foreign territories. Thus the discontent was widespread
and there was an undercurrent before the volcanic situation of 1857.
All that needed was only a spark to set it a fire.
The Beginning of the Revolt
The 1857 Revolt was sparked off by the episode of the greased
cartridges.  The new Enfield rifle had been introduced for the first
time in the Indian army.  Its cartridges had a greased paper cover
BAHADUR SHAH II
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an all out attack on the British.  Henry Lawrence, the chief
commissioner tried to defend the British. Lawrence was killed in a
bomb blast during the fight.  The final relief for the British forces in
Lucknow came in the form of Sir Colin Campbell, who suppressed
the revolt.
Jhansi
Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi, the widowed queen of Gangadhar
Rao played a heroic role in this revolt.  Rani
Lakshmi Bai was affected by Dalhousie’s
Doctrine of Lapse, was joined by Tantia Tope.
The combined efforts of Rani and Tantia Tope
saw the capture of Gwalior.  Meanwhile, Sir
Hugh Rose defeated Tantia Tope and stormed
Jhansi on 3 April 1858.  He then captured
Gwalior.  The Rani of Jhansi died a soldier’s
death on 17 June 1858.  Tantia Tope was
captured and hanged on charges of rebellion and
murder in the massacre of Kanpur.
Bihar
Kunwar Singh, a ruined and discontented zamindar of
Jagdishpur near Oudh, was  the chief organiser of the revolt in Bihar.
He fought the British in Bihar. Kunwar Singh sustained a fatal wound
in the battle and died on 27 April 1858 at Jagdishpur.
Ultimately the 1857 Revolt came to an end with the victory of
the British.  Viceroy Canning proclaimed peace throughout India.
Causes for the Failure of the Revolt
The first and foremost cause was that the Revolt failed to
embrace the whole of India. Different sections of society such as
moneylenders, merchants and modern educated Indians were actually
against the Revolt. The lack of interest shown by the intellectuals in
RANI LAKSHMI BAI 
Delhi
The leadership at Delhi was nominally in the hands of Bahadur
Shah, but the real  control was exercised by General Bakht Khan.
On the side of the British the combined effort of Nicholson, Wilson,
Baird Smith and Neville Chamberlain enabled the recapture Delhi by
September 1857.  In Delhi, Emperor Bahadur Shah II was arrested
and deported to Rangoon, where he remained in exile till he died in
1862.
Kanpur
At Kanpur the revolt was led by Nana
Saheb, the adopted son of Baji Rao II, the last
Peshwa.  Nana Saheb expelled the English from
Kanpur with the help of the
sepoys and proclaimed
himself the Peshwa.  Nana
Saheb in his efforts against
the British was  ably
supported by two of his
lieutenants.  One was Tantia
Tope, the other was
Azimullah. Sir Hugh Wheeler the commander of
the British garrison at Kanpur surrendered on
the 27 June 1857.  But, soon Kanpur was
recaptured by the British commander Sir Colin
Campbell.
Lucknow
The principal person responsible for the
revolt in Lucknow was the Begum of Oudh.
With the assistance of the sepoys, the
zamindars and peasants, the Begum organised
NANA SAHEB 
BEGUM OF OUDH 
Tantia T ope
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Lord Canning proclaimed the new Government at Allahabad
on 1 November 1858 in accordance with the Queen’s Proclamation.
The latter has been called the Magna Carta of the Indian people; it
disclaimed any extension of territory, promised religious toleration,
guaranteed the rights of Indian princes and pledged equal treatment
to her subjects, Indians and Europeans.
The Revolt of 1857 ended an era and sowed the seeds of a
new one.  The year 1857 is a great divide between the two landmarks
in Indian history.  One was that of British paramountcy in the first
half, and the other is that of the growth of Indian nationalism in the
second half of the nineteenth century.
the movement was a serious setback. The resources of the British
Empire were far superior to those of the rebels. Similarly, the
insurgents lacked a carefully concerted general plan or a strong
central organisation to plan the movements of the army and oversee
their strategy.
On the other hand, the British possessed better equipment.  In
addition, the British were aided by new scientific inventions such as
the telegraph system and postal communications.  This enabled the
British to keep in touch with all parts of the country and to manoeuvre
their troops according to their needs.
All the said factors combined to cause the defeat of the rebels
of the 1857 Revolt and ended in the victory for the British.
Significance and Effects of the Mutiny
The Revolt of 1857 though completely suppressed had shaken
the very foundations of British rule in India, for the simple reason
that the Revolt exhibited the popular character.  It brought together
the disgruntled sections of society to rise against the British rule.
The common people rose up in arms often fighting with spears and
axes,  bows and arrows, lathis and scythes, and crude mulkets.
However, this civilian revolt was not universal but sporadic and
inconsistent.  Nevertheless, it added a new dimension to the character
of the 1857 Revolt. Another significant aspect of the 1857 Revolt
was the Hindu-Muslim unity.
As far as the effects of the Revolt are concerned, it brought
about fundamental changes in the character of Indian administration
which was transferred from the East India Company to the Crown
by the Queen’s Proclamation of 1 November, 1858. At the same
time the Governor-General received the new title of Viceroy.  Lord
Canning had the unique opportunity to become the Governor-General
as well as the first Viceroy according to the Act of 1858.
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Learning Outcome
After studying this lesson the student has understood that
1. There are two views on the nature of the Great Revolt of
1857.
2. The fundamental causes are varied such as political,
economic, social and military.
3. The immediate cause was the personal grievance of the
sepoys.
4. The course of Revolt – not universal but sporadic with
scattered civilian participation.
5. The British with their superior strength suppressed the
Revolt.
6. The suppression of the Revolt has revealed the weaknesses
of the Indian sepoys and leaders of the Revolt.
7. The Results and the importance of the Revolt of 1857.