7.revolt of 1857

Question 1

Themes

Answer 1

• Changes in british approach after revolt
  ex. Queen’s Proclamation, 1858
• Important british Officials @1857
  ex. Governor-General of India
• what happened to revolutionaries
  ex. who was captured & killed due to friends info

-affected & not affected territories

• Places & leader
  ex. kunwar singh
• Important remarks
  ex. could not play off the Mohammmedons against the Hindus
• which class supported ; which class opposed
  ex. Middle class opposed?

Question 2

• Places & leader

ex. kunwar singh

Answer 2

1.Delhi General Bhakt Khan
2.Lucknow Begum Hazrat Mahal
3.Kanpur Nana sahib ->adopted son of the last peshwa, Baji Rao II. He
4.Jhansi Rani Lakshmibai ; was joined by Tantia Tope
5.Bareilly Khan Bahadur
6.Arrah, Bihar Kunwar Singh ->zamindar of Jagdishpur
7.Faizabad MaulviAhmadullah
8.Baghpat, UP Shah Mal ->He organised the headmen and peasants of 84
villages ; attacked government building ; sent supplies for mutineers(delhi) ;started giving justice ; had intelligence network

Question 3

• which class supported ; which class opposed

ex. Middle class opposed?

Answer 3

Support :
-the peasantry, the artisans, shopkeepers, day labourers, zamindars, religious mendicants, priests and civil servants.

AGAINST
1)Big Zamindars 2)Money-lenders and merchants 3)Educated indians found it backward 4)Most indian rulers : sindhia,holkar,patiala,sindh,sikh,kashmir

Question 4

• Important remarks

ex. could not play off the Mohammmedons against the Hindus

Answer 4

1.On laxmibai
Here lay the woman who was the only man among the rebels.
—Hugh Rose

2. “planned war of national independence”, by V.D. Savarkar
3. R.C. Majumdar and S.N. Sen— “Not an organised ‘national’ revolt”
4. R.C. Majumdar— “Neither first, nor National War of Independence”

5.Marxist : “the struggle of the soldier-peasant democratic combine
against foreign as well as feudal bondage”

6.Nehru : essentially a feudal uprising though there were some nationalistic elements in it

7.Spectrum Conclusion
Not quite the first war of independence but sowed the seeds of nationalism and quest for freedom from alien rule.

Question 5

-affected & not affected territories

Answer 5

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Question 6

• Important british Officials @1857

ex. Governor-General of India

Answer 6

-John Nicholson, the leader of the siege @ delhi
-the Lawrence brothers, John
Nicholson, James Outram, Henry Havelock, etc -> imp officers

Question 7

• Changes in british approach after revolt

ex. Queen’s Proclamation, 1858

Answer 7

-british parliament passed an Act for the
Better Government of India
-Crown took over; Company rule abolished.

-Queen’s Proclamation altered administration : 1.promised to respect
the dignity and rights of the native princes
2.promised freedom of religion without interference
3.equal protection under law ; equal opportunities in government service

-Army reorganised.
1.Indian soldiers were drastically reduced
2.more recruits from Punjab, Nepal,
and north-western frontier who had proved loyal to company in revolt
3.All higher posts in the army and the artillery -> for british

-began to deny the aspirations of the educated Indians for sharing power

• Racial hatred deepened.
  1. The newspapers and journals in Britain picturised the Indians as subhuman creatures
• White Mutiny.
  1. EIC Defunct -> armies of EIC were made to transfer their allegiance to queen -> reason of white mutiny
• Indian Civil Service Act of 1861
  1. created impression that all will be treated equal -> in reality kept higher services for britishers

Question 8

Why revolt failed ? Positive features?

Answer 8

-All-India participation was absent -> eastern, southern,western india aloof

• All classes did not join
  1) Big Zamindars 2)Money-lenders and merchants 3)Educated indians found it backward 4)Most indian rulers : sindhia,holkar,patiala,sindh,sikh,kashmir -> only 1/4th of area & 1/10th of population affected
• Poor Arms and Equipment
  1) indians has swords & spears
  2) britishers even had The electric telegraph to know about situation elsewhere

-Uncoordinated and Poorly Organised

–No Unified Ideology

2. Positive features
   - Complete hindu-muslim unity on all levels
   - loyalty for mughals also felt

Question 9

Significance of revolt

Answer 9

• shortcomings of british administration & army were exposed
• brought out in the open grievances of people and the sepoys
• Violence from both sides -> indian intellectuals understood that violence isn’t answer