D.R.Bhagat
It was on 10th May 1857 when some Indian soldiers at Meerut revolted and killed some European officers of their regiment.This was in repercussion to the imprisonment imposed on85 soldiers of 3rd cavalry regiment who had refused to use the catridges greased with the animal fat. They then marched towards Delhi and entered the Red Fort in the morning of 11th May. They met with the dethroned Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zaffar who was putting up there. He was requested and persuaded by the soldiers to become their leader. He was also proclaimed as the Shenshah-e-Hindustan by the rebels. After that they took out from the Fort and after killing some Britishers they were able to take control of Delhi. The Britisers were taken aback by this surprise situation. Before this a soldier of the 34th native infantry Mangal Pandey had shot a sergeant major James Hewson of his regiment at Barackpur on 29th March. He was caught and hanged to death by the imperialists on 8th April. His regiment was also disbanded. After the siege of Delhi the movement spread in many parts of India and about one lac soldiers of the total strength of 2.32 lac joined the revolt. The most affected areas of the revolt were Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Allahbad, Jhansi and Jagdish Pur in Bihar. Begum Hazrat Mahal took over the reigns of Lucknow where her husband was deposed as Nawab. Her son Birjis Qadir was proclaimed the Nawab and regular administration started functioning. In Bareilly Khan Bahadur who was descendent of the former ruler assumed the command. He organised an army of 40000 men, offered a stiff resistance to the imperialistic forces. At Jagdish pur in Bihar the revolt was commanded by Kunwar Singh who had been deprived of his estate by the East India Company rulers. At Jhansi Rani Lakshmibai assumed the command. The governor general Lord Dalhousie had refused to allow her adopted son to succeed to the throne after her husband Gangadhar died and annexed the state by application of the Doctrine Of Lapse. The revolt spread in all major cantonments of the country excepting the Presidency of Madras. The civil society which had developed anti British feelings also backed the revolted soldiers and the movement became a popular upsurge.
The reasons behind this revolt were the continuance of suppressive attitude of the East India Company rulers towards the Indians and the Indian soldiers. They were discriminated on the basis of caste and religion. They had planned to destroy the religion of Indian soldiers and their conversion to Christianity. The newly introduced Enfield rifle carried cartridges which were said to be greased with the cow and pig fats. These cartridges were required to be bitten with mouth before loading which went against the religion of both Hindus and Muslims. The Christian missionaries were liberally allowed entries in the barracks who preached their religion while speaking against other religions. They were paid less salary than their British counterparts and also made to feel inferior to them at every stage. They were also discriminated racially and in the matters of promotions. The Awadh area now Utter Pradesh had good number of peasant families. There were about 75000 men in the army from Awadh. As per an order of the imperial government the land of charitable institutions was confiscated and new revenue system was introduced after annexing Awadh on grounds of misgorernance although the Nawabs of Awadh were loyal to Britishers.
This naturally infuriated the soldiers of this area who revolted to express their anger against the colonial rule. The government had also levied high taxes on the peasantry and the taxes were recovered forcibly. The government was keen in collecting revenue in all circumstances. A collector reported that there was no crop and only grass has grown in his command area and hence he is unable to realise revenue. He was told that the grass is a good produce and it should be sold for collecting revenue. The taxes were also collected from temples and mosques. In addition to this the estates of about 20000 Taluqdars were confiscated suddenly and their powers and privileges were also withdrawn and hence they were also having a grudge against the colonial rulers. The British policy also discouraged Indian handicrafts and promoted British goods. Hence the Indian skilled craftsmen were snatched of their source of livelihood. Some princely states were also unhappy with the Britishers for their Doctrine of Lapse which entitled the colonial government to take control of the princely state on the death of the king if he had no immediate descendent. Hence the causes were a mix of exploitation on economic, political, social, religious and military fronts.
Although this movement had become a popular one and the rebels fought forcefully with the strong British forces for more than one year, it could not achieve the ultimate goal of independence. There were certain reasons behind it. The Indian rebels were fighting against heavy odds. They had no source of arms and ammunition and often used swords and out dated rifles against the enemy who had most modern weapons. Moreover about half of the Indian soldiers did not revolt. The recapture of Delhi on 20th September 1857 could be made possible only with deployment of more than 3000 Indian soldiers and about half of the British soldiers for the battle. Bahadur Shah Zaffar who had taken refuge at Humayun Tomb was captured and deported to Burma. There were only a few strong leaders like Rani Jhansi and Kunwar Singh while many rebels were devoid of efficient leaders.
Many of the kings of the princely states did not support the rebels and remained loyal to Britishers. The Rani of Jhansi died on 17th June 1858 in Gwalior while bravely fighting with the British troops. With this the movement came to the verge of end. However the movement had many effects on the political and social life of the Indians. The administration of India came under the direct control of the British crown. The army was reorganised and the number of European soldiers was increased. The princely states were assured that their territory would not be annexed and the Doctrine of Lapse was abolished. The Britishers stopped interference in religious affairs and social customs of Indians. The biggest effect of this movement which was also known as First War of Independence was that it raised the patriotic fervour among the Indians and this inspiration gave the rise to a national movement for independence which was ultimately achieved on 15th August 1947.
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