Indian Rebellion And Its Impact Flashcards
Describe the sepoys of the Bengal army?
Mainly peasant-soldiers from North India who were proud of their military status
What caused discontent for the Bengal army in 1857?
Changes in pay and conditions of service in the army
What was the real trigger for the Indian rebellion?
Anger from landlords and nobles who had been deprived of lands by governor-general Dalhousie. There had also been social and cultural grievances over British rule for a long time.
What happened in February 1857?
sepoys in Bengal refused to obey British orders and other battalions followed
What were the events of the rebellion at Meerut?
Sepoys turned against their British officers here and a mob was set upon local Europeans. Began at the headquarters of the Bengal army in Meerut. Many of the troops were high-caste Hindus with strict beliefs, many of the British officers were elderly so were an easy target
What was significant about the rebellion starting from Meerut?
Discipline was notoriously slack here among the Bengal army
What were the concerns of the Bengalese sepoys that caused rebellion?
. There were rumours that the regiments were going to be sent by sea to Burma which offended Hindu laws surrounding crossing waters
How did Britain respond to the concerns of the sepoys?
Didn’t attempt to understand the feeling and announced any disobedience would be severely punished, worsening the situation
How did the sepoys continue on the rebellion after Meerut?
Seized control of most northern cities (Agra, Lucknow and Cawnpore). These seizings were an attempt to resurrect the old Mughal emperor as a figurehead
How had Britain historically set themselves up for cultural and religious attack?
Since the 1830s, Britain had attempted to ‘westernise’ India
Who joined sepoy rebels?
. Not just sections of urban population but rural too:
- some were angry landowners who lost out under British rule
- some were peasants who resented taxation
How were the hopes of restoring Mughal dynasty short-lived?
The Emperor’s sons were executed
Which regiments didn’t join the rebellion?
Gurkhas, Sikhas and Pathan regiments remained loyal to Britain
What happened in Cawnpore and how did Britain respond?
Massacre of 200 British women and children caused outrage where British public swore to revenge. 70k fresh troops were sent to India with latest Colt revolvers which delivered a swift and brutal revenge
Where were the main battles in the rebellion fought?
Lucknow, Cawnpore and Delhi
What happened in Delhi and Lucknow?
Villages were burnt, rebels were tortured and British officers, including their wives and children were murdered
What was the Indian Rebellion a symbol of?
India finally acting on wanting independence
When was British rule finally reasserted after the Rebellion?
June 1858 after a final battle at Gwalior
What were the reasons for the outbreak of the Rebellion?
. Sepoys refused to bite cartridges on new Enfield rifle as cow is sacred to Hindus
. Underlying economic grievances - India progressively swamped by cheap British goods and high rents imposed by landlords
. Territorial expansion resented after new annexations such as Punjab
. Westernisation caused concern
. British failed to recognise the complexity of religion in India
. Dalhousie reforms
When did the revolt properly start?
May 1857 as the entire sepoy army mutinied
What were the Dalhousie reforms?
Lord Dalhousie’s attempt to modernise India. Tea plantations were set up which damaged the traditional economies of India and ‘Christian missions’ were encouraged
When was peace declared after the Indian Rebellion?
8th July 1858
How did post-rebellion India cause more British interference in India?
Britain tried to relieve themselves after the costs of suppressing the Indian mutiny
Why was British reaction to the rebellion so brutal?
To make sure it didn’t happen again
What were the main reason why the rebellion was defeated?
. Britain had superior resources
. Not all regiments joined the rebellion
. 70k fresh reinforcements from Britain
. Indians had less military experience
. Wasn’t much of a goal for Indians (Mughal empire + independence)
What were the results of the mutiny?
. East India Company control ended
. Indian army was reformed - sepoy units more closely supervised and sepoys treated with greater respect
. Total British rule from now on (establishment of British Raj)
. British adapt policy of appeasement with powers of Old India, meaning Indian rulers got their prestige restored
What happened in 1858 in India?
India became under direct rule of the British crown and internal wars that were part of life in many part of the subcontinent during the rule of the EIC ended. India now had one, centralised government
Why was missionary activity discouraged in India following the Rebellion?
There was growing recognition that imposing Western Christian values in Indians was counter-productive
How was relationship between ruler and ruled further aggravated?
. Rebellion
. British reprisals after the rebellion
. Reports of the Rebellion in Britain emphasised Indian rebels’ violence and largely ignored British brutality
What fuelled arrogance in some British people over India?
Belief that the East could be ‘westernised’ was questioned so people who believed in social Darwinist views of superiority became arrogant
How did Britain change religious policies in India?
Tried to be more religiously sensitive after the rebellion but also detached from the curiosity and admiration of the ‘exotic’ Indian culture. After 1858, there was a greater degree of separation from this admiration
How were the British Raj administrating more unfairly than they believed?
. Imposed complex and expensive legal systems which favoured themselves more than the poor
. Supposed equality and opportunity from British rule may have helped wealthier Indians get into professions through better education, but did little for the many peasants
- even those who got education found it hard to get promoted beyond lower ranks of the colonial bureaucracy
How was the British Raj generally viewed by Indians?
With resentment, but some Indian princes and landlords supported it (rich)
What did Viceroy Canning (first Viceroy) do between 1859-61?
Toured India to win back those who had been dispossessed/alienated by British rule
What came about from Viceroy Canning’s tour of India?
. Some land and titles were returned to Indians
. Star of India medals introduced (award of chivalry)
. Positions in Imperial assembly/statutory civil service shared among Indian nobility
. More educational establishments and teaching in English were opened
How were schools were extended under the British Raj?
1857 - Unis established in Bombay, Madras and Calcutta
Elite schools such as Rajkunar college were set up to produce ‘westernised oriental gentlemen’ (wogs)
30 years after the rebellion, 60,000 Indians had joined the new universities
What was the state of Calcutta university by 1882?
1712 students had graduated.
- 1/3 of them went into government service
- slightly more went into legal professions
What did Mary Carpenter (social and educational reformer) do?
Visited India 4 times between 1866-75:
- helped establish a corporation of British teachers for India
- Girls schools in Bombay and Ahmedabad established
- college to train female Indian teachers established
Set up National Indian Association in 1870 to promote reforms in India, primarily for girls’ education and women’s prisons
What were the economic changes in India under the British Raj?
Growth in investment in India after 1858, especially in railways:
. Railways built more for strategy than economy but helped stimulate trade and develop previously inaccessible areas
. Subsistence farming was very common, although number of tea plantations went from 1-295 between 1851-1871
. Increase in domestic production of raw cotton for export to Britain in 1880s and 90s.
. Some European-style factories built but no heavy industry as the bulk of manufactured goods were coming from Britain
How were railways developed by the British Raj?
. Developed across India at 2 miles per day after the Rebellion
. Trains were used to consolidate British control as personnel and soldiers could be moved more quickly
. British relied on Indians to run them but most were Anglo-Indians or Christian Indians as they were viewed as more loyal to the Raj
. Workers for railways were accommodated in their own separate communities (‘railway colonies’)
What were overall initial attitudes to India by the British Raj?
. Many Brits believed the ‘benign rule’ of India was liberating/freeing for Indians
. T.B Macauley (Whig reformist) believed in educating Indians to ensure they became ‘English in taste, in opinions, in morals.’
How did the Morant Bay Rebellion (armed uprising in Jamaica) come about?
After the abolition of slavery in Jamaica in 1884, widespread poverty came about among black residents of Jamaica as they had different laws to white residents
Who was the leader of the Morant Bay Rebellion?
Preacher Paul Bogle
What were the events of the Morant Bay Rebellion?
October 1865: hundreds protested against the colonial administration in Morant Bay. Edward Eyre (British governor of the Bay) ordered the rebellion to be crushed
. Hundreds of Jamaicans killed
. Bogle executed along with hundreds of others
