Chapter 3 - The War of Independence 1857

Question 0

Religious and Social causes of the war

Answer 0

• Treatment of Indians as an inferior race; arrogant attitude
• Distance maintained from Indians
• Introduction of railways, roads and telegraph
• Threat to religion (Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism)
• Christian missionaries arrived to convert the locals and set up schools
• Banned suttee and pardah

Question 1

Political causes of the war

Answer 1

• Doctrine of Lapse
• Siezure of Oudh 1856
• Moving the royal family from the Red Fort to the obscure Qutub Sahib (British protection to the emperor)
• Lack of opportunities in civil service
• English replacing Persian as the official, administrative and educational language
• Annexation of Sindh and Punjab

Question 2

Economic causes of the war

Answer 2

• High taxation to exploit India’s wealth
• The poor found it difficult to pay taxes
• Tax collectors were corrupt
• Salaries of the sepoys (infantry) were kept low

Question 3

Military causes of the war

Answer 3

• Sepoys (infantry) and sowars (cavalry) mostly Indian but officer class almost entirely British
• Rumours that the soldiers (Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus) would be forcefully converted and sent to fight abroad
• Indian troops were used in Afghanistan; they did not want to leave Mother India
• Greased cartridges

Question 4

What was the controversy over the greased cartridges?

Answer 4

• In January 1857 the new Enfield rifle was announced
• It was to be loaded with a paper cartridge covered in grease to keep the powder dry
• The end of the cartridge had to be bitten off before it could be loaded
• The grease was rumoured to be cow or pig fat
• Indians refused to use them

Question 5

How did the war start?

Answer 5

• (March) Mangal Pandey executed as he defied his British officers
• (May) Sepoys in Meerut refuse to touch the new cartridges. They were court martial led and put in prison but their fellow soldiers broke in and freed them. Meerut was sacked and the British officers and Europeans were put to death
• Soldiers marched to Delhi and captured it

Question 6

What was the Kanpur Massacre?

Answer 6

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Question 7

How did the war progress?

Answer 7

• War spread quickly and the British lost control of Kanpur, Mathura, Allahabad, Jhansi, Lucknow and Delhi. They lost control of modern day Uttar Pradesh.
• Kanpur Massacre
• Additional: 1. Raja of Kashmir sent 2000 troops to help British win
  2. The troops which had conquered Punjab and Sindh were from Bengal and Central India under British command. They were not supported by Punjab when they rebelled.

Question 8

How did the war end?

Answer 8

• (September) Delhi regained. Lucknow regained. Bahadur Shah Zafar II surrenders peacefully. His three sons beheaded; their heads presented to him as a lesson.
• (June 1858) Rani of Jhansi defeated and killed
• Pockets of opposition eliminated till August.

Question 9

Why was lack of unity a reason for failure?

Answer 9

• not coordinated nor united
• no proper leader
• no general plan
• lack of loyalty to the Mughal empire
• divisions within India
• lack of support by Indian princes
• great enthusiasm shown by Muslims only which was unnerving to the Sikhs and Hindus

Question 10

Why were British strengths a reason for failure?

Answer 10

• one of the world’s most powerful nations
• disciplined and trained troops
• experienced in warfare with modern methods and arms
• skilled diplomats
• highly efficient
• understood the divisions in India

Question 11

What were the results of the war? (governmental)

Answer 11

• Queen Victoria made Empress (1877) and Bahadur Shah put on trial, sentenced to life imprisonment and exiled to Burma.
• E.I.C. abolished.
• (see ex book)