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.