The Revolt of 1857- 1 - UPSC History Free MCQ Test with solutions

The Sepoy's of Meerut reached Delhi and killed the European officers and entered the red fort. They urged the Mughal Emperor Bahadur shah [a pensioner for the east India Company] to become their leader and give legitimacy to their cause. The Mughal emperor was initially reluctant but gave in and was declared Shahenshah of Hindustan. Capture of Delhi provided a rallying point to the movement.The revolt of the sepoys was accompanied by a rebellion of the civil population, particularly in the north-western provinces and Awadh. Their accumulated grievances found immediate expression and they rose en masse to give vent to their opposition to British rule.Emperor Bahadur Shah was perhaps the weakest link in the chain of leadership of the revolt. His weak personality, old age and lack of leadership qualities created political weakness at the nerve centre of the revolt and did incalculable damage to it.

When the British arrived India,  they saw rivalry among Indian kings because of land so they use this rivalry against Indian kings as tool of success and they simply help one king to defend or defeat another king and in return British ask for money to maintain army and weapons, if king give them money they help him otherwise they attack him because he/she broke the treaty this is how British empire setup in India.

The main reasons behind the failure of the Revolt of 1857 were : 

• Lack of Planning and Co-ordination.

• Weak Leadership of the 1857 Mutiny.

• Superior British Army.

• Limited Supplies and Lack of Modern Communication.

• Lack of Societal Alternative.

• The Princes and Educated Classes did not participate.

• Limited Spread of the Revolt.

D is the correct option.The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major, but ultimately unsuccessful, uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown.The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form of a mutiny of sepoys of the Company's army in the garrison town of Meerut, 40 mi (64 km) northeast of Delhi (now Old Delhi). 
The Crimean War and the trouble in Persia were over.
The British could delay the war in China.
The Indian Army sent for service abroad was called back quickly by the British.
 

Benjamin Disraelie had warned the British Government in 1857 that if it did not suppress the Revolt in time, it would “find other characters on the state, with whom to contend, besides the princes of India”.

The correct answer is B as The selfishness and the tendency on the part of the leaders to form cliques made the Revolt loss its vitality.  Azimullah asked his leader not to visit Delhi lest he be overshadowed by the Emperor Bahadur Shah II. Azimullah was the political advisor of NANA SAHIB.

The correct answer is A as zeenat mahal  has been  only accused by some historians of carrying on intrigues with the British during the Revolt of 1857

Answer: A: Lord Canning

Explanation:
- The remark that these rulers and chiefs “acted as the breakwaters to the storm which would have otherwise swept us in one great wave” was made by Lord Canning, who was the Governor-General of India during the 1857 Revolt.
- The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising against the rule of the British East India Company in India.
- The Scindia of Gwalior, the Raja of Jodhpur, and the Nizam of Hyderabad played significant roles in supporting the British during the Revolt.
- Their support was crucial for the British in suppressing the rebellion and maintaining their control over India.
- Lord Canning's statement highlights the importance of these rulers and chiefs in preventing the rebellion from becoming a more significant threat to British rule in India.

D is the correct option.Mangal Pandey was arrested and sentenced to death after he attacked British officers in Barrackpore on March 29, 1857. Anticipating a revolt, British authorities moved up his initial execution date from April 18 to April 8, when he was hanged.

The correct answer is Patrick Lawrence.
Key Points: Patrick Lawrence was the 'Agent to Governor-General' (AGG) in 'Rajputana Residency' at the time of the demise of 1857 AD.

The correct option is Option B.

When soldiers of the Bengal army mutinied in Meerut on May 10, 1857, tension had been growing for some time. The immediate cause of military disaffection was the deployment of the new breech-loading Enfield rifle, the cartridge of which was purportedly greased with pork and beef fat. When Muslim and Hindu troops learned that the tip of the Enfield cartridge had to be bitten off to prepare it for firing, a number of troops refused, for religious reasons, to accept the ammunition. These recalcitrant troops were placed in irons, but their comrades soon came to their rescue. They shot the British officers and made for Delhi, 40 miles (65 km) distant, where there were no British troops. The Indian garrison at Delhi joined them, and by the next nightfall they had secured the city and Mughal fort, proclaiming the aged titular Mughal emperor, Bahādur Shah II, as their leader. There at a stroke was an army, a cause, and a national leader—the only Muslim who appealed to both Hindus and Muslims.

Jhansi was a Maratha-ruled princely state in Bundelkhand. When the Raja of Jhansi died without a biological male heir in 1853, it was annexed to the British Raj by the Governor-General of India under the doctrine of lapse. His widow, Rani Lakshmi Bai, the Rani of Jhansi protested against the denial of rights of their adopted son. When war broke out, Jhansi quickly became a center of the rebellion.
On 12th May Delhi was seized and Bahadur Shah II was proclaimed the emperor of India. The real command was in the hands of Bakht Khan who had led the revolt at Bareilly and brought the troops to Delhi.
Nana Saheb led the struggle for Independence at Kanpur. The British surrendered in June 1857. A large number of Englishmen, women and children were captured by an infuriated mob. The British defeated Nana Saheb in December, 1857. Nana Saheb fled towards Nepal, where he probably died. His general, Tantia Tope, escaped to Kalpi.
The Revolt of 1857 was a prolonged period of armed uprising as well as rebellions in Northern and Central India against British. It began in Meerut by Indian troops (sepoys) in the service of the British East India Company and later spread to Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, and Lucknow. In Awadh and Lucknow, the mutiny was led by Begum Hazrat Mahal. After a long siege, Lucknow was again re-captured by the British, forcing Hazrat Mahal to retreat in 1858.

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 occurred as the result of an accumulation of factors over time, rather than any single event. The sepoys were Indian soldiers who were recruited into the Company's army. Just before the rebellion, there were over 300,000 sepoys in the army, compared to about 50,000 British.

Bahadur Shah II's Leadership and the Court of Soldiers:

• Bahadur Shah II held nominal and symbolic leadership at Delhi during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
• His authority was mainly limited to the city of Delhi and its surrounding areas.
• The real command of the rebel forces lay with a Court of Soldiers, which was responsible for the strategic planning and administration of the rebellion.

The General of the Court of Soldiers:

• The Court of Soldiers was headed by a General who had led the revolt of the Bareilly troops and brought them to Delhi.
• This General's name was Bakht Khan, making option A the correct answer.
• Bakht Khan was a skilled military commander and played a significant role in organizing the rebel forces during the uprising.

Other Figures in the Indian Rebellion of 1857:

• Ashfaquallah Khan (option B) was a freedom fighter and revolutionary involved in the Kakori Conspiracy of 1925, which was a different event in Indian history.
• Rahim Ahmed (option C) and Shujauddin Beg (option D) are not known to have any significant roles during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

Nana Sahib, a prominent leader of the 1857 revolt, is known for having an unconfirmed or mysterious death. Unlike others, his fate remains unclear, with no definitive historical record detailing how or when he died. This uncertainty surrounds his legacy, making it difficult to ascertain the true circumstances of his demise.

The correct answer is A a kanpur  was an entire garrison wiped out after being assured of safe conduct

Kunwar Singh, a ruined and discontented zamindar of Jagdishpur near Arrah, was the chief organiser of the revolt in Bihar. Though nearly 80 year old, he was perhaps the most outstanding military leader and strategist of the Revolt.

Ahmadullah Shah, born in 1787, more famously known as Maulavi of Faizabad, was one of the leading figures of the great Indian revolt of 1857. In the Awadh region, Maulavi Ahmadullah Shah was known as the 'Lighthouse of Rebellion'.Jun 5, 2018

After the Revolt, the British Government passed the Government of India Act, 1858, ending Company rule and placing India directly under the British Crown.

On 1 June 1858 Jayajirao led his forces to Morar to fight a rebel army led by Tatya Tope, Rani Lakshmibai and Rao Sahib. This army had 7,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry and 12 guns while he had only 1,500 cavalry, his bodyguard of 600 men and 8 guns. He waited for their attack which came at 7 o'clock in the morning; in this attack the rebel cavalry took the guns and most of the Gwalior forces except the bodyguard went over to the rebels. The Maharaja and the remainder fled without stopping until they reached Agra.

After 1857, the British reorganised the Indian Army and appointed Sir Colin Campbell as Commander-in-Chief to prevent future uprisings through military restructuring.

Maulavi Ahmadullah of Faizabad was an outstanding leader of the Revolt of 1857. He was a native of Madras where he had started preaching armed rebellion. In January 1857 he moved towards the North to Faizabad where he fought a large scale battle against a company of British troops sent to stop him from preaching sedition. When the general revolt broke out in May, he emerged as one of its acknowledged leaders in Avadh. After the defeat at Lucknow, he led the rebellion in Rohilkhand where he was treacherously killed by the Raja of Puwain who was paid Rs. 50,000 as a reward by the British.

Gwalior was captured by the British in June 1858 and marked the effective end of organised resistance. Rani Lakshmibai was killed here and Tantia Tope fled after this defeat.