Khoj Day 1 Asynchronous Task

Grade 8

Learning Expedition
Knowing My Past: Revolt Of 1857

Let’s revise
● Why did other nations want to establish trading links with India?
● What kind of goods did India import 4000 years ago? What did India export 2000 years ago?
● What does Balance of Trade mean?

The Revolt of 1857

By the first half of the 19th century, the East India Company had brought major portions of India under its
control, but still, it had two purposes or aims: (i) To sustain its conquests and (ii) To exploit the trade. The
East India 2 Company's rule from 1757 to 1857 generated a lot of discontent among the different sections
of the Indian people against the British. The end of the Mughal rule gave a psychological blow to the
Muslims many of whom had enjoyed positions and patronage under the Mughal and other provincial
Muslim rulers. The commercial policy of the company brought ruin to the artisans and craftsman, while
the divergent land revenue policy adopted by the Company in different regions, especially the permanent
settlement in the North and the Ryotwari settlement in the south put the peasants on the road of
impoverishment and misery.

Causes of the Revolt:

a. Political Causes:

Lord Dalhousie was the Governor-General of India till 1848-1856. Under him the British followed an
expansionist policy in India.
Dalhousie through his policies had added considerable territories to the British Empire in India.

The policy of annexation reached its climax when he implemented the policy of Doctrine of Lapse and
annexed the Indian states on charges of mis-governance and absence of an heir. In the course of eight
years Dalhousie annexed Satara (1848), Sambhalpur (1850), Jhansi (1853), Nagpur (1853), Jaipur (1849)
and Bhagat (1850).
This policy enraged the Indian rulers against the British government. As part of the Doctrine of Lapse
policy, the titles and pensions of some Indian princes were confiscated. The pension of Baji Rao ll’s son
Nana Sahib was discontinued after his father’s death and Rani of Jhansi had been deprived of her right to
rule in violation of the recognized Hindu law. Dalhousie further proposed to abolish the title of the Mughal
emperor after the death of Bahadur Shah II.

b. Economic Causes:

The economic policy of the British adversely affected every section of the Indian society. The British
exploited the economic resources of India to their advantage and drained her wealth by crippling the
Indian trade and industry. Under the British, India turned into a colonial economy to serve the British
capitalist interests.

Indian resources were unabashedly exported to London to promote British industries. Consequently, the
country was reduced to poverty as traditional handicrafts and industries were ruined. Many people were
rendered jobless and there was overcrowding in the agrarian sector.

Further the high revenue demand crippled the agrarian sector. Both the peasants and the zamindars were
pushed by the British to produce more to appropriate the maximum revenue. The various revenue
settlements were designed to benefit the government and displayed total disregard for the cultivators.

In case of failure to pay the stipulated amount the lands of the zamindar were taken away by the
government. A large number of zamindars were thus dispossessed of their lands and estates as part of this
policy. These grievances left the Indian people dissatisfied of the British eventually turned out to be bitter
enemies of the British.

c. Social and Religious Causes:

The British looked down upon the Indians as an inferior race and discriminated against them racially at
every step. Indians were not allowed at many places such as railway compartments and public places such
as parks and hotels as these were specially reserved for the Englishmen. This racial arrogance of the British
hurt the Indian masses most and they began to regard the Englishmen as their worst enemies.

The attempt to bring about social reforms in India by the British was not liked by the general public. The
social legislations on the evils such as ‘Sati’, infanticide, re-marriage of widows, etc. were considered as
interference in the religious matters of Indians about which the Englishmen knew nothing.

The introduction of English education, the propagation of the work of the Christian missionaries and the
changing of the Hindu law of property with a view to facilitate the conversion of Hindus to Christianity
alarmed many orthodox Indians. They feared that these practices would upset the social and religious
order of traditional Indian society.
 c. Military Causes:
Dissatisfaction was widespread among the military rank and file under the British. There was great
inequality in treatment between the Indian and the British counterparts in terms of salary and other
benefits. There was also a disparity in numbers between the Indian and European troops as the latter
numbered far less than the Indians. The majority of the Indian soldiers were sent to Crimea, China and Iran
to fight wars of the English.

The Indian soldiers were considered inferior and were ill-treated by high officers. The high ranks in the
army were exclusively reserved for the Englishmen and the Indians were deliberately excluded from
responsible positions.

What hurt the Indian soldiers most was the prohibition to wear caste and religious marks while serving
which amounted to interference in their personal affairs by the British. The immediate cause of the revolt
was the introduction of the new Enfield rifle and the greased cartridge. In loading the rifle the sepoy
before inserting the cartridge had to bite off its top. It was believed that the grease was made out of the
fats of cows and pigs. This was objectionable to the Hindus and Muslims alike.

This rumour sparked off the fire of discontent against the British in the form of a revolt. The first sign of
unrest appeared in 1857 at Barrack-pore in Bengal. A sepoy, Mangal Pandey on 29 th March 1857, killed
senior officers on parade and started the revolt.

Long-Term and Short-Term Causes

Things very seldom happen in a vacuum. Historically, events or changes occur due to a combination of
short-term and long-term causes.

Long-term causes are also known as underlying causes. Long-term causes can stem back many years.

Short-term causes are also known as immediate causes. Short-term causes occur close to the most when
change or action takes place.
Do the following tasks in your notebook:
Task 1: (Formative Assessment)
Make a mind map on the causes of the revolution.

The tasks given below are suggestive in nature. It is not mandatory to do them but they will help you in
understanding the concepts better.

Task A:
Explain which causes were long-term and which were the short-term causes of the Revolt of 1857. Give
reasons for your answer.

Task B:
Watch the video and answer the following question in your notebook.

Revolt of 1857 | Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 | UPSC | Class 8 | War of Independence | 1857 Ki Kranti

(Watch for the first 17 minutes.)

Imagine yourself as Mangal Pandey. Write a diary entry showing how you felt when you discovered that
the cartridges were greased with cow and pig fat.

Task C
On a map of the Indian subcontinent, mark these cities where revolt-related activities were witnessed.
- Delhi
- Meerut
- Kanpur
- Jhansi
- Lucknow

The map given below can be referred to.