The British in India - Topic 6.3.2 Flashcards
The reasons why Britain retained control and long-term lessons
Describe the initial events of the Rebellion in Delhi
The mutiny spread quickly throughout the Bengal army and the British could not deal with the muniteers quickly as they only had one European regiment inbetween Agra and Koltaka. The mutiny became a more general revolt across the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the British temporarily lost control of Awadh, Dehli and areas in Punjab. The discontent talukdars joined the opposition and with them more sepoys rebelled.
The last Mughal emperor was restored, Bahadur Shah II, reluctantly in Dehli. Had he been younger and more ambitious, he could have posed a serious threat to the British as he could rally the anient Mughal heartlands in his support. He nor his sons took the opportunity however.
Desrcibe what happened in Kanpur when fighting broke out
5th June 1857 - 25th June 1857
- Hugh Wheeler had not been careful enough in his perparations and the British held out for only 18 days before surrendering
- He had been promised safe passage to Allahabad down the river, but during transfer, fighting broke out and 400 were killed on the riverbanks and boats. The remaining, mostly women and children, numbered around 200 and were held until they were massacred, the day before relief arrived
Describe the events at the siege of Lucknow
30th May 1857 - 27th November 1857
- The siege of Lucknow, led by Henry Lawrence - who died a month after the siege began, had lasted for just under three months until a successful relief force broke through the siege to get to the fortified residency the British were held in.
- It was not possible to evacuate Lucknow immediately due to the casualties that the relief efoort had sustained, but the defended area was extended and their decision to remain in residency rather than fight out was influenced by the discovery of buried stores of which Lawrence’s second-in-command was unaware of. These stores were able to provide for those who had entered the residency at the start of the siege and the new arrivals.
- The second relief was led by new commander-in-chief Colin Campbell and fought their way into the residency in mid-November. Twenty-four Victoria Crosses were awarded for actions which took place during this relief, the highest awarded in any day in British history. Campbell deemed the area so volatile that Lucknow was evactuated and abandoned and the area was not retaken by Britain until March of the next year.
Why was the siege of Lucknow important for British morale?
Lucknow emerged as an enduring symbol of British resistance. The British flag flew over the Lucknow residency when it was retaken in March 1858 and the flag continued to fly until Indian independence. Lucknow was used as a symbol of British superiority and determinance. The residency itself was never rebuilt as well.
For what reasons did the British retain control of India?
The rebels were not a cohesive force:
- There were mutineers, aggrieved landowners, peasants expressing their resentment and local leaders unwilling to cooperate all together to forge a national fighting force. The centres of the revolt in Delhi, Kanpur and Lucknow had their own centres of power converged around rebel leaders - two Muslim rulers and one Hindu Maratha. Awadh came the closest to a unified revolt
The other presidency armies remained loyal
- Madras and Bombay, and the area around Kolkata remained unaffected by the unrest. The Punjabi sepoys still resented the Bengali sepoys and so were crucial in suppressing the rebellion. About half of the 7000 soldiers who sought refuge in the Residency in Lucknow were Indian sldiers and camp followers. When Delhi was retaken, 82% of the soldiers killed in action were native sepoys
Exploiting cultural and religious difference between local groups - Divide and Conquer - proved effective as no formidable and united fighting force was created, as to why the Rebellion is referred as a Mutiny to Britain. British rule remained acceptable to many Indian because of their record and this local support ensured their continuing presence in the subcontinent.
What punishments were used on the mutineers?
Kanpur, Peshwar and Delhi
Kanpur:
- Mutineers were forced to try to lick clean blood-stained buildings, before being forced to eat pork or beef and then publicly hanged
Peshwar:
- Forty men were strapped to the barrels of cannon and blow apart, the old Mughal punishment for mutiny
Delhi:
- Terrible slaughter was used to retake the city and the Bahadur Shah’s three sons were arrested, stripped and shot by William Hodson (he himself was killed when the British took by Lucknow)
How did Company and British rule change as a result of the Rebellion?
The Government of India of 1858 passed on 2nd August and ended Company rule in India and the British Raj was established - India was to be controlled by Britain directly until its independece 89 years later. The viceroy would be the medium, who was accountable to Parliament and there was a secretary of state for India and an Indian council. A royal proclamation was issued and published in India setting out the future rights of Her Majesty’s new subjects in the subcontinent. The tone of the proclamation was conciliatory and benevolent; Indians were promised religious toleration, equal protection under the law and the rights of native princes to their land was protected.
What happened to the princely states after the Rebellion?
The princely states were brought under indirect control by a series of treaties which left the indigenous rulers in no doubt that their privileged existence was preserved by British dominance and should not be challenged. Bahadur Shah II, who survived the retaking of Delhi was sent into exile in Burma, ending Mughal rule for good. Annexation of territory ceased and, instead of seeking to take control of the princely sates, the British now assiduoulsy cultivated the princes as bastions of conservatism and collaborators. All 560 autonomous princely states remained loyal to the Raj until the end. In Awadh, accomodation was made with the rebellious talukdars and from then on, the British steered clear of land reform which challenged fuedal ties. This resulted in the stagnation of much of rural India in feudal poverty.
What changes were made to the Indian army?
The proportion of Indian sepoys in the army was reduced to become 3:1 instead of 9:1. Recruitment switched from Brahmin and Rajput Hindus castes to areas where British loyalty was deemed stronger, principally in Sikh Punjab and the Muslim north-west. Army policy and planning ensured that from then on, adjacent regiments had different ethnic and religious backgrounds to prevent the spread of mutiny from regiment to regiment, and within regiments, speoys were to come from a mix of geographical areas and ethnicities. Troops were allowed to use any grease they preferred, but the breech-loading rifle made this cartridge obsolete anyway.
What were some of the longer-term lessons of the rebellion?
The modernising agenda of Bentinck and Macaulay and Dalhousie had been misjudged. Modernisation had stemmed from a sense of cultural superiority. Following the Rebellion, attitudes of British imperialists were no longer imbued with the self-confidence and optimism which characterised the modernising agenda of the pre-rebellion British in India. Policy had become far more pragmatic and cautious.
Determined to retain onto wealth and value, the drive to educated and develop India was gone. Alliances with conservative forces were upheld and the British turned to infrastructure to modernise India. Railways proved a far less controversial field of endeavour. Irrigation projects, the telegraph and postal network, sanitation and lighting projects all made steady progress.
Avoiding famine was the key to understand whether the native population were content. Late 19th century British imperialists believed that the removal of British rule would result in famine and chaos in the subcontinent and they applied themselves to the task of ruling Inida for the benefit of the poorest of Indian by improving their material state. With the telegraph and the Suez Canal, in the case of future emergency, backup could be moved swiftly into position and never again did an official of the Indian Civil Service discount rumbling of discontent from the native population.
