Chapter - 10

Rebels and the Raj

The 1857 revolt is considered an important period in Indian history which was the first joint effort of Indians against the British administration. This revolt shook the foundations of the British administration. This revolt started with a soldier's revolt and gradually spread to many parts of India.

The beginning of the uprising

On the afternoon of 10 May 1857 , the sepoys of Meerut cantonment revolted , initially by Indian infantry but soon cavalry also joined in. The people of the city and surrounding areas joined the sepoys and they took over the armoury (stored arms and ammunition).

The rebels targeted the British and destroyed and burnt their bungalows and equipment ; they looted and destroyed government buildings like record offices , courts , prisons , post offices and treasuries.

As soon as it got dark, a group of soldiers rode their horses and headed towards Delhi . This group reached the Red Fort in the early hours of 11 May . These soldiers demanded from the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar that the Emperor should give them his blessings and that their rebellion should be legitimized. Bahadur Shah Zafar had no choice, so he supported the soldiers. Now this rebellion could be carried out in the name of the Mughal Emperor.

size of the revolt

If we look carefully at the date of the rebellion, it is found that as the news of the rebellion spread from one city to another, the soldiers started taking up arms.

1. How did the military rebellion start ?

The soldiers began their operations with special signals, such as at some places a cannonball was fired in the evening and at other places the signal was given by blowing the bugle.

First they captured the armoury and then looted the government treasury.

After that, the jail , government treasury , telegraph office , record room , bungalows and government buildings were attacked and all the records were burnt.

The British and everything related to the British were the target of attack.

Appeals started being issued in Hindi , Urdu and Persian to unite Hindus, Muslims and all people .

Common people also started joining the rebellion and the scope of attacks increased.

The rebels also targeted moneylenders and rich people in cities like Lucknow , Kanpur and Bareilly. The farmers considered these people as oppressors and stooges of the British.

In the months of May and June, the British had no answer to the rebels; the British were stuck in saving their lives and their homes.

A British officer wrote that British rule collapsed like a house of cards.

2. Notifications and plans

1. How was the information given ?

The pattern of revolt was similar at different places. This proves that the revolt was planned. There was good communication between the soldiers of different cantonments.

When the 7th Oudh Irregular Cavalry refused to use the cartridges in early May, they wrote to the 48th Native Infantry, saying , "We have taken this decision in the defense of our religion and are awaiting orders from the 48th Native Infantry."

2. How were the plans made ?

During the rebellion, the security of Captain Hearsey of the Oudh Military Police was entrusted to Indian soldiers. The 41st Native Infantry was also deployed where Captain Hearsey was posted.

The Infantry argued that since they had already eliminated all their white officers, it was the duty of the Oudh Military to either kill Captain Hearsey or arrest him and hand him over to the Infantry. The Military Police rejected both arguments.

Now it was decided that a panchayat of the native officers of the regiment should be called to resolve this matter.

Charles Bolle, one of the historians of the beginning of this rebellion, has written that this Panchayat used to meet at night in the Kanpur Sepoy Lines, which means that some decisions were definitely being taken collectively because the Sepoys had to live in the lines and everyone's lifestyle was the same.

Since most of them belonged to the same caste, it is not difficult to assume that they might have sat together and taken decisions about the future. These soldiers were the architects of their own protest.

3. Leaders and followers

Leadership and organization were necessary to take on the British. To achieve these goals, the rebels often took shelter of people who used to play the role of leaders before the British .

1. In Delhi - Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah

2. In Kanpur - Nana Saheb, successor of Peshwa Bajirao II

3. Bihar - Kunwar Singh, local zamindar of Ara

4. Awadh - Nawab Wajid Ali Shah. Lucknow - Bij Ris Qad

Often the message of rebellion was spread through common men and women, and in some places through religious people as well.

There was some news from Meerut that a fakir was seen there riding an elephant, whom the soldiers visited repeatedly.

After the occupation of Awadh in Lucknow, many religious leaders and self-proclaimed prophet preachers were calling for the destruction of the British rule.

In other places , many local leaders were emerging, inciting peasants , landlords and tribals to revolt .

Shahmal organised the villagers of Bardot area in Uttar Pradesh.

Gonu, a tribal farmer from Singhbhum in Chhota Nagpur, held leadership of the Kol tribals of the area.

4. Rumors and predictions

At this time people were being provoked through various rumours and predictions. The soldiers protested against the cartridges of the Enfield rifle which they had to suck through their mouth before using them.
The British tried hard to explain to the soldiers that this was not the case but this rumour had spread like wildfire in the cantonments of North India.

1. Sources of rumors

A Captain of the Rifle Inspection Depot wrote in his report that in January 1857 , a sailor from a lower caste working in the armory at Dum Dum had asked a Brahmin soldier for water to give him. The Brahmin soldier refused to give him water from his pot saying that his pot would become impure by the touch of a lower caste person .

According to the report, the sailor replied that soon your caste will also be corrupted because now you will have to pull the cartridges coated with cow and pig fat with your mouth .

2. Other rumours

1. The British government has hatched a conspiracy to destroy the caste and religion of Hindus and Muslims. The British have mixed the powdered bones of cows and pigs in the flour available in the market. After this rumour, soldiers and common people in cities and cantonments refused to even touch the flour. There was fear and suspicion everywhere that the British wanted to convert Indians to Christianity. The British tried very hard to convince the people but failed.

2. There was also a rumour that the country would become independent 100 years after the Battle of Plassey and the British rule would end on 23 June 1857 .

3. There were also reports of distribution of chapatis from various villages of North India. It is said that a man used to come at night and instruct the village watchman to make one chapati and five more chapatis and take them to the next village. The meaning and purpose of distributing chapatis was not clear at that time and is not clear even today, but there is no doubt that people were considering it a sign of some impending upheaval.

5. Why were people believing the rumours ?

The British government, under the leadership of Governor General Lord William Bentinck, implemented specific policies to reform Indian society through the introduction of Western education , Western ideas and Western institutions .

With the help of some sections of Indian society, English medium schools , colleges and universities were established in which Western sciences and liberal arts were taught .

The British enacted laws to abolish the practice of Sati and legalise Hindu widow remarriage .

On the pretext of administrative weakness and declaring adoption illegal, the British removed the rulers of many regions and took over their kingdoms. As soon as the British took over, they started running the administration in their own way. They implemented new laws , settled land disputes and implemented a system of land revenue collection .

All these actions had a deep impact on the people of North India. People felt that the British were implementing an oppressive policy by abolishing all the things that they had respected till now, which they considered sacred, whether it be kings and princes or religious customs .

Revolt in Awadh

In 1851, Governor General Lord Dalhousie said about the state of Awadh that this "glass of fruit will one day fall into our mouths".
Five years later, in 1856, this state was declared a part of the British rule. The occupation of Awadh state continued for a long time.

1. Subsidiary Treaty in Awadh in 1801

The Subsidiary Treaty was started in 1798 by Lord Wellesley. It was a system under which those who entered into a treaty with the British had to agree to certain conditions .

terms

1. The British would protect their ally from external and internal challenges .

2. A British military contingent will be stationed in the territory of the allied side . The allied side will have to make arrangements for the maintenance of this contingent .

3. The Allied party would neither be able to enter into a treaty with any other ruler nor participate in any war without the permission of the British .

4. The Nawab became dependent on the British to maintain law and order in the state .

5. Now the Nawab had no control even over the rebel chief and Talukdar .

2. Why were the British interested in Awadh ?

The land of Awadh was good for the cultivation of indigo and cotton. This area could be developed as a big market of North India .

By the beginning of the 1850s , the British had conquered most of the major parts of the country; the Maratha lands, Doab , Karnataka , Punjab and Bengal were all in the hands of the British . With the acquisition of Awadh, the policy of expansion was about to be completed .

3. The life has left the body

There was deep discontent in various regions and princely states due to the acquisition of Awadh by Lord Dalhousie. The most anger was seen in Awadh .

Awadh was called the pride of North India. The British removed the Nawab Wajid Ali Shah from the throne and sent him to Calcutta saying that he was not ruling well .

The British also said that Wajid Ali Shah was not popular but the truth was that people loved him deeply . When he left his beloved Lucknow, many people followed him weeping to Kanpur. The grief and humiliation caused by the expulsion of the Nawab of Awadh was recorded by many observers of the time .

One person even wrote that "the life had left the body" , the city was lifeless, there was no street , no market and no house from where the sound of lamentation was not echoing after separation from the beloved .

With the removal of the Nawab, the court and its culture came to an end; musicians , poets , artisans , clerks , government employees and many others lost their livelihood .

4. The advent of foreign rule and the end of a world

1. End of the power of Talukdars

The acquisition of Awadh not only snatched the throne of the Nawab but also rendered the Talukdars of the area helpless .

Before the arrival of the British, the Talukdars had armed soldiers and their own forts. If the Talukdar accepted the sovereignty of the Nawab, he got considerable autonomy by paying some revenue .

The British were not prepared to tolerate the power of these Talukdars. Immediately after the takeover, the armies of the Talukdars were disbanded and their forts were demolished .

2. Lump sum settlement and the condition of farmers

British land revenue officers believed that by removing the Talukdars, they would hand over the land to the real owners; this would reduce exploitation of farmers and also increase revenue collection, for which the lump sum settlement was implemented .

But in reality this did not happen. There was an increase in the land revenue collection but there was no reduction in the burden on the farmers . The valuation of many areas of Awadh has been done at a very high rate. In some places, the revenue demand has increased by 30 to 70 % .

The result of taking away the power of the Talukdar was that the entire social system was destroyed. Before the British, the Talukdars used to exploit the farmers but when needed, the Talukdars used to help the farmers by giving them money and used to help them in bad times .

Now under the British rule, arbitrary revenue was being collected from the farmers due to which the farmers were being crushed badly. Now there was no guarantee that in bad times or in case of crop failure, the British government would show any concession or they would get any kind of help or they would get any loan or help on festivals which earlier the Talukdar used to get .

The anger against British rule among the peasants and talukdars in Awadh was seen in the revolt of 1857 .

The talukdars of Awadh took charge of the 1857 war and joined the camp of the Nawab's wife, Begum Hazrat Mahal .

3. Changing attitude towards soldiers

For decades, soldiers in the army were getting low salaries and no leaves, which caused great dissatisfaction among them .

In the years preceding the popular uprising of 1857 the sepoys' relationship with their white officers had changed considerably .

In the 1820s , British officers placed great emphasis on maintaining friendly relations with the soldiers. They joined in their fun and frolic, played fetch with them, played swordsmanship with them and went hunting with them. Many of them knew how to speak Hindustani and were familiar with the local customs and culture .

This situation began to change in the 1840s . A sense of superiority began to develop among the British and they began to consider the soldiers as inferior. They did not care about their feelings at all. Abuse and physical violence became common .

The gap between soldiers and officers had widened; trust was replaced by suspicion. In north India, there were deep ties between soldiers and the rural world. Many of the soldiers of the Bengal Army were recruited from the villages of Awadh and eastern Uttar Pradesh .

Many of these were upper caste Brahmins. Avadh was called the nursery of the Bengal Army. The effect of the mistreatment of the soldiers was visible in the villages as well. Now the soldiers started disobeying their officers and started taking up arms against them. In such a situation, the villagers also supported them .

What did the rebels want ?

The British considered the rebels to be a bunch of ungrateful and barbaric people

Most of the rebels were soldiers and common people who were not very educated , thus apart from some proclamations and pamphlets issued to spread their ideas and to involve people in the rebellion , we do not have much to understand the views of the rebels .

Therefore, to get information about whatever happened in the rebellion of 1857 , we have to depend on the documents of the British .

These documents reveal the thinking of the British officers but they do not reveal what the rebels wanted .

1. The idea of unity

The proclamation issued by the rebels during the 1857 rebellion called for all sections of the society to come together, ending discrimination on the basis of caste and religion.
Many proclamations were issued on behalf of or in the name of Muslim princes or nawabs and took into consideration the sentiments of both Hindus and Muslims.
This rebellion was being presented as a war in which both Hindus and Muslims had equal advantage and disadvantage. The pamphlets pointed to the Hindu-Muslim past before the British.
In December 1857, the British government spent ₹50,000 to incite Hindus of Bareilly in western Uttar Pradesh against Muslims but their efforts were unsuccessful.

2. Against symbols of oppression

The rebels completely rejected everything related to British rule and denounced the annexation of native princely states .

People were also angry that by implementing the land revenue system, the British had usurped the land by evicting small and big landowners from their lands. Foreign trade had ruined the artisans and weavers .

The foreigners destroyed the way of life of the Indians and the rebels wanted to restore their same world again .

The rebellious declarations reflected the fear that the British were bent on destroying the caste and religion of the Hindus and Muslims. The British wanted to convert Indians to Christianity. Due to this fear, people started believing rumours. People were being inspired to come together and fight for their jobs , religion , honour and identity .

Many times the rebels deliberately insulted the elite of the city, burnt the account books of the moneylenders in the villages and vandalised their houses. This shows that the rebels were also against oppression .

3. Search for alternative power

After the collapse of British rule, rebels in places like Lucknow , Kanpur , Delhi tried to establish some kind of power and governance structure .

These rebels wanted to restore the world before the British. These leaders resorted to the old court culture. Appointments were made to various posts. Arrangements were made for land revenue collection and salaries of soldiers .

An order was issued to stop looting and plans were made to continue the war against the British .

In all these efforts, the rebels were taking inspiration from the 18th century Mughal world. The primary objective of the governance structure established by the rebels was to meet the needs of war .

This administrative structure could not withstand the onslaught of the British for long .

Suppression of 1857 revolt

The British attempted to suppress the rebellion but it did not prove easy. Before sending troops to reconquer North India, the British passed a number of laws to make it easier for the troops to suppress the disturbance .

Martial Law was imposed throughout North India by a law passed in May and June 1857. Under Martial Law, military officers, as well as ordinary British citizens, were given the right to prosecute and punish Indians who were suspected of being involved in the rebellion .

After the imposition of “ Martial Law ” , the normal legal process was abolished. The British made it clear that there can be only one punishment for rebellion – death penalty.

The British government began to suppress the rebellion through new laws and new troops called in from Britain .

The British launched a two-pronged attack, on one side the attack was from Calcutta and on the other side from Punjab towards Delhi. Attempts to capture Delhi began on a large scale in June 1857. But the British were able to capture Delhi only at the end of September .

There were attacks from both sides. Both sides suffered heavy losses. The rebels had come to save Delhi. The British had to win back all the villages but this time their fight was not only with the soldiers but the common people of the village were also with the rebels .

A British officer in Awadh estimated that at least three-quarters of the adult male population had joined the rebellion. The British were able to regain control of the area after a long battle in March 1858 .

The British used military power on a terrifying scale. The farmers and big landowners of Uttar Pradesh united to oppose the British. In order to break their unity, the British lured the landlords by promising them that their estates would be returned to them. The landlords who adopted the path of rebellion were evicted from their lands and those who were loyal were rewarded .

Images of the uprising

Very few documents have been found to understand the thinking of the rebels. There are some declarations , notifications , letters of the leaders of the rebels but most historians discuss the actions of the rebels keeping in mind the documents written by the British .

The British documents reveal the thinking of the British. There is no dearth of official records. The colonial administrators and soldiers have recorded their details in their letters , diaries , autobiographies and official histories . We can understand the government thinking and the changing attitude of the British through innumerable reports , notes , assessments of situations and various reports.

Many of these documents have been compiled in the central volume on records of mutiny . The documents reveal the fear and anxiety among the officers and their thoughts about the rebels.

The incidents of the rebellion were published in British newspapers and magazines in such a way that a feeling of revenge and teaching a lesson grew among the citizens there. Many photographs made by the British and Indians have been an important record of the military rebellion.

1. Salutation to the defenders

During the rebellion, the British were being selectively killed, so when we see the pictures made by the British, we can see different kinds of emotions and reactions. The British heroes who saved the British and crushed the rebels were praised.

Example - Release of Lucknow, a painting by Thomas Johns Barker in 1859

When the rebel forces laid siege to Lucknow, at that time the Commissioner of Lucknow, Henry Lawrence gathered the Christians and took shelter in the safe Residency, but later Henry Lawrence was killed , but the Residency remained safe under the leadership of Colonel English .

On 25 September James Outram and Henry Havelock arrived there and dispersed the rebels and the British troops were strengthened .

20 days later, the new British commander Calling Campbell arrived there with a large army and freed the British defence force from the siege .

2. British women and the prestige of Britain

1. These Memorial Pictures

After reading the news of violence against women and children in India, people in Britain started demanding revenge and a lesson .

The British began to demand from their government to save the honour of innocent women and provide protection to children. Painters also gave shape to these feelings through their pictorial expressions of shock and grief. Joseph Nottal Patton painted (In Memorial) two years after the military revolt .

In this picture, English women and children are seen huddled together in a circle. They look absolutely helpless and innocent, as if they are anticipating some terrible moment.

He is awaiting his humiliation, violence and death. (In Memorial) There is no visible violence but only a hint towards it .

2. Portrait of Miss Wheeler

In some other paintings, women are seen in different postures, in which they are seen defending themselves from the attack of the rebels, they are depicted as the epitome of bravery .

In these pictures the rebels are depicted as demons where four huge men with swords and guns in their hands are attacking a lone woman .

In this picture, a deep religious thought has been presented under the guise of women's struggle to protect their honor and life. This is the struggle to protect Christianity. The book lying on the ground in this picture is the Bible .

3. Retribution and lessons

An allegorical female image of Justice was seen, holding a sword in one hand and a shield in the other, her posture was aggressive .

Terrible anger and a desire for revenge is visible on her face. She is crushing the soldiers under her feet .

While the crowd of Indian women and children are trembling with fear .

4. Display of panic

The desire to take revenge and teach a lesson is also evident from the way and how brutally the rebels were killed .

They were tied to the mouth of cannons and blown up or hanged; pictures of these punishments were reaching far and wide through newspapers and magazines .

5. No room for mercy

At this time there was a clamour for revenge and if someone gave a soft suggestion then it was bound to be ridiculed .

The British were very angry with the rebels. At this time, Governor General Canning declared that the loyalty of the soldiers could be achieved through leniency and kindness .

Satirising him, a cartoon appeared in the pages of the British magazine Punch, depicting Canning as a grand, noble old man with his hand on the head of a soldier still holding a drawn sword and dagger, both dripping blood .

6. Nationalistic visual imagery

The nationalist movement in the 20th century was inspired by the events of 1857 and the Revolt of 1857 was remembered as the First War of Independence.
In which people from every section of the country fought together against the imperialist rule. Like history writing, art and literature also contributed in keeping the memories of 1857 alive.
The leaders of the rebellion were presented as heroes who fought for the country and agitated the people against the oppressive rule of the British.
Rani Lakshmibai, poems were written glorifying her valour as she fought for the liberation of the motherland with a sword in one hand and a horse's reins in the other. Rani Jhansi was portrayed as a masculine figure, marching ahead, putting the enemies to death.

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REBELS AND THE RAJ Notes in English Class 12 History Chapter-10 Book-Themes in Indian History-III