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The Rebellion of 1857

Dawn of New Imperial Era

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Origins of the Rebellion

• Military Causes:

• Grievances over pay and Promotion among Sepoys

• Special Allowance and Overseas Duties

•

Enfield Rifle and Concern over the Cartridge

• Concerns of Civilian Population

• Theory of Doctrine of Lapse

• Unemployed Artisans and Court Employees

•

Occupation of Avadh: Local Patriotism• Land Tax Policies

• Progressive Imperialism and Concern over Religious Identities

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Time Line of 1857 Rebellion

• On February 26, 1857 Disconent among the 19thBengal Native Infantry (BNI) regiment.

•  At Barrackpur near Calcutta, on March 29, 1857,Mangal Pandey of the 34th BNI attacked andinjured his British sergeant on the parade ground.

• On 9 May, 85 troopers of the 3rd Light Cavalry atMeerut refused to use their cartridges. They wereimprisoned, sentenced to ten years of hard labour,and stripped of their uniforms in public.

• On 11 May the rebels reached Delhi, where theywere joined by other Indians from the local bazaar,and attacked and captured the Red Fort (Lal Qila),killing five British, including a British officer and twowomen. Lal Qila was the residence of the MughalEmperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II and the sepoysdemanded that he reclaim his throne. At first hewas reluctant, but eventually he agreed to thedemands and became the leader of the rebellion.

•Rebellion erupted in the state of   Awadh (alsoknown as Oudh, in modern-day Uttar Pradesh) verysoon after the events in Meerut. The Britishcommander of Lucknow, Henry Lawrence, hadenough time to fortify his position inside theResidency compound. British forces numberedsome 1700 men, including loyal sepoys.

• Rebellion in Kanpur in June 1857

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Suppression of Rebellion

•  Absence of Military Leadership

• Lack of Co-ordination

• Limited Area of the Rebellion

• Conflicting Aims and ConfusingMobilization

• Sikhs, Gurkhas and Loyal PunjabiTroops

• Bengali Elites, BombayBusinessmen and Tamil EducatedElites supported British Rule

• Failure to Dismantle British Line of Information

• Massive Repression

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Interpretations of Rebellion

• Sepoy Mutiny

• War of National

Independence• Restorative

Rebellion

• Subaltern Rebellion• Rebels without

Causes

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Restorative Rebellion: Leadershipof Rebellion

• Bahadur Shah Jafar((1775-1862)

•Nana Saheb (1824-)

• Tantia Tope

• Rani Lachmibai(1830-1858)

• Kunwar Singh

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Rebellion of Subaltern: Sepoys,Peasants and Artisans

•Bakth Khan

•MoulaviImdiadullah

•Nature of 

PeasantRebellion

•Rebellion of 

 Artisans

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 Administrative Changes

• The Transfer of Power

• Declaration of Queen Victoria

• No rise in Land Revenue

• Decline of Muslim Aristocracy in

Indo-Gangetic Plains• Military Changes and the Idea of 

Martial Race

• Indian Army for Imperial Cause

•  Arms Act and Vernacular Press Actof 1878

• Criminal Tribes Act of 1871

• Technocratic State

•  Alliance with conservative forces

• Racial Tensions

• New Empire