Class 8 Ch 5When People Notes Revolt 1857 And After

Policies and the People

Policies of the East India Company and the effect they had on different people. Kings, queens, peasants, landlords, tribals, soldiers were all affected in different ways. You have also seen how people resist policies and actions that harm their interests or go against their sentiments.

Nawabs lose their power

v  Nawabs and rajas had seen their power erode. They had gradually lost their authority and honour.

 

v  Residents had been stationed in many courts, the freedom of the rulers reduced, their armed forces disbanded, and their revenues and territories taken away by stages.

 

v  Many ruling families tried to negotiate with the Company to protect their interests.

 

v   Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi wanted the Company to recognise her adopted son as the heir to the kingdom after the death of her husband.

 

v  Nana Saheb, the adopted son of Peshwa Baji Rao II, pleaded that he be given his father’s pension when the latter died.

 

*      The Company, confident of its superiority and military powers, turned down these pleasures.

 

*      Company even began to plan how to bring the Mughal dynasty to an end. The name of the Mughal king was removed from the coins minted by the Company.

 

*      1849, Governor-General Dalhousie announced that after the death of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the family of the king would be shifted out of the Red Fort and given another place in Delhi to reside in.

 

*      1856, Governor-General Canning decided that Bahadur Shah Zafar would be the last Mughal king and after his death none of his descendants would be recognised as kings – they would just be called princes.

 

The peasants and the sepoys

v  Peasants and zamindars resented the high taxes and the rigid methods of revenue collection.

 

v  Indian sepoys in the employ of the Company also had reasons for discontent. They were unhappy about their pay, allowances and conditions of service. Some of the new rules, violated their religious sensibilities and beliefs.

 

v  Sepoys also reacted to what was happening in the countryside. Many of them were peasants and had families living in the villages.

 

v  The anger of the peasants quickly spread among the sepoys.

 

Responses to reforms

 

v  Laws were passed to stop the practice of sati and to encourage the remarriage of widows.

 

v  English-language education was actively promoted.

 

v  After 1830, the Company allowed Christian missionaries to function freely in its domain and even own land and property.

 

v  1850, a new law was passed to make conversion to Christianity easier. This law allowed an Indian who had converted to Christianity to inherit the property of his ancestors.

 

v  Indians began to feel that the British were destroying their religion.

 

 Book Majha Pravaas, written by Vishnu Bhatt Godse, a Brahman from a village in Maharashtra

A Mutiny Becomes a Popular Uprising

Very large number of people begin to believe that they have a common enemy and rise up against the enemy at the same time.

 

FROM MEERUT TO DELHI

·         On 8 April 1857, a young soldier, Mangal Pandey, was hanged to death for attacking his officers in Barrackpore.

·         Some days later, some sepoys of the regiment at Meerut refused to do the army drill using the new cartridges, which were suspected of being coated with the fat of cows and pigs.

 

·         Eighty-five sepoys were dismissed from service and sentenced to ten years in jail for disobeying their officers. This happened on 9 May 1857.

 

·         On 10 May, the soldiers marched to the jail in Meerut and released the imprisoned sepoys. They attacked and killed British officers. They captured guns and ammunition and set fire to the buildings and properties of the British and declared war on the firangis.

·         Soldiers gathered around the walls of the Red Fort.

·          Forced proclaimed as their leader.

·         Emperor had to accept this demand. He wrote letters to all the chiefs and rulers of the country to come forward and organise a confederacy of Indian states to fight the British.

·          

·          Many of them felt that if the Mughal emperor could rule again, they too would be able to rule their own territories

·          

·          British had not expected this to happen. They thought the disturbance caused by the issue of the cartridges would die down.

 

THE UPRISING SPREAD

v  Regiment after regiment mutinied and took off to join other troops at nodal points like Delhi, Kanpur and Lucknow.

v  The people of the towns and villages also rose up in rebellion and rallied around local leaders, zamindars and chiefs

v  Nana Saheb, the adopted son of the late Peshwa Baji Rao who lived near Kanpur, gathered armed forces and expelled the British garrison from the city. He proclaimed himself Peshwa.

v  Birjis Qadr, the son of the deposed Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, was proclaimed the new Nawab.

v  His mother Begum Hazrat Mahal took an active part in organising the uprising against the British.

v   

v  Jhansi, Rani Lakshmibai joined the rebel sepoys and fought the British along with Tantia Tope.

v   

v  Nana Saheb. In the Mandla region of Madhya Pradesh, Rani Avantibai Lodhi of Ramgarh raised and led an army of four thousand against the British.

v  British were greatly outnumbered by the rebel forces. They were defeated in a number of battles.

 

 

The Company Fights Back

 

the Company decided to repress the revolt with all its might. It brought reinforcements from England, passed new laws so that the rebels could be convicted with ease, and then moved into the storm centres of the revolt.

Delhi was recaptured from the rebel forces in September 1857.

last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar was tried in court and sentenced to life imprisonment. He and his wife Begum Zinat Mahal were sent to prison in Rangoon in October 1858. Bahadur Shah Zafar died in the Rangoon jail in November 1862.

People continued to resist and battle the British. The British had to fight for two years to suppress the massive forces of popular uprising.

Lucknow was taken in March 1858. Rani Lakshmibai was defeated and killed in June 1858.

Tantia Tope escaped to the jungles of central India and continued to fight a guerrilla war He was captured, tried and killed in April 1859 .

 

AFTERMATH

British had regained control of the country by the end of 1859, they could not carry on ruling the land with the same policies any more.

1. The British Parliament passed a new Act in 1858 and transferred the powers of the East India Company to the British Crown

·         member of the British Cabinet was appointed Secretary of State for India and made responsible for all matters related to the governance of India.

·         Governor-General of India was given the title of Viceroy,

 

2. All ruling chiefs of the country were assured that their territory would never be annexed in future. They were allowed to pass on their kingdoms to their heirs, including adopted sons.

 

3. It was decided that the proportion of Indian soldiers in the army would be reduced and the number of European soldiers would be increased. It was also decided that instead of recruiting soldiers from Awadh, Bihar, central India and south India, more soldiers would be recruited from among the Gurkhas, Sikhs and Pathans.

 

4. The land and property of Muslims was confiscated on a large scale and they were treated with suspicion and hostility.

 

5. The British decided to respect the customary religious and social practices of the people in India.

 

 6. Policies were made to protect landlords and zamindars and give them security of rights over their lands.

 

6. Policies were made to protect landlords and zamindars and give them security of rights over their lands.

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