Events Of 1857 Analysis

Reasons and causes of War of Independence 1857

The Events Of 1857

● In January 1857, the British announced that they would introduce a new rifle with a paper cartridge covered with grease to keep the powder dry and before the cartridge would be loaded the end had to be bitten off. However a rumor spread that the grease was made up of Cow and pigs fat. The Sepoys were so angry that they refused to use the new rifle.

● In March, a Sepoy named Mangal Pandey defied his British officer and was executed.

● In May, Sepoys of Meerut refused to touch the new cartridge so they were put to prison but their fellow Sepoys freed them and killed all the British then the soldiers marched to Delhi and captured it. The Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar

Political and Administrative Reasons:

The economic policies of the British power in India made all the Indian rulers, big and small, Hindu and Muslim look with suspicion and develop hatred towards the British power in India. Naturally, this type of reaction is justified as the Indians are the losers and the British gainers. Tara Chand observes, “Each region became, after annexation, a scene of resistance and revolt, in which land holders and peasants were involved and in which the disbanded soldiers of the landlords, the ministers of religion and the dismissed dependents participated”, as a result of the British occupation by annexation.

The native rulers were forced to disband their army who failed to obtain gainful employment elsewhere. Further, the open disrespect exhibited by the British towards the last of the Mughal ruler Bahadur Shah Zafar made the Muslims rise in revolt. The unjustified and unethical Doctrine of Lapse was the last straw on the camel’s back which made the native rulers take up arms and start revolt. There is a view that resentment was brewing since 1832 which took a shape in 1857. It is difficult to accept the conspiracy theory of the native rulers against the

She is a manufacturing country; her manufacturers of various descriptions have existed for ages, and have never been able to be completed by any nation wherever fair play has been given to them.

To reduce her now to an agricultural country would be an injustice to India.” While the above was the opinion of a British, Mr. Martin, another British, Mr. Cope made the following statement before the Parliamentary Committee in 1840: “I certainly pity the East Indian laborer, but at the same time I have a great feeling for my family than for the East Indian laborer’s family. I think it is wrong to sacrifice the comforts of my family for the sake of the East Indian laborer because his condition happens to be worse than mine”.

As a result of the British economic exploitation all classes of people, peasants, landlords, traders, industrialists, laborers and middle class of India were badly affected and it is no exaggeration to state that unlimited poverty enveloped the entire society and made India an underdeveloped country.

3. Social and Religious