󾓪

The First War of Independence

The Political Causes:

Expansion of British Dominions:

Battle of Plassey had established British power in Bengal

Since then there was a rapid expansion of territories in India by

means of conquests and methods completely suspicious and
questionable

Lord Wellesleys Subsidiary Alliance implied the subordination of

Indian Princes to the British Company in their External Relation:

The Indian Rulers who entered into a Subsidiary Alliance .

Were required to keep the British army at the Capitals of their

states.

There were to give some money or some part of their territory

to the company for the maintenance of the British Troops.

They were to turnout all the Non English Europeans employees.

They had to keep a British officials called Resident at Capitals at

their respective Capital

They were to deal with the other states through the Resident
only.

The First War of Independence 1

 The Subsidiary Alliance reduced the rulers to a puppet.

The States which were bought under British Controls

 Hyderabad

 Mysore

 Lucknow

 Poona now Pune

Doctrine Of Lapse

Established by Lord Dalhousie who was the the Governor

General from 1846 to 1856.

It meant that when a ruler of a dependent State died with no

natural heir the state passed to the English Company

He also claimed that heirs adopted without the consent of the

English Company could only inherit the private property of the
deceased ruler.

States who fell victims of the Doctrine of Lapse:

 Nagpur

 Jhansi

 Satara

Annexation Of Awadh

On the 7th of February 1856 , Nawab Wazid Ali Shah was

deposed on the grounds of that Awadh was not managed well.

It was annexed by the Company Dominions on the 13th

February 1856.

The decision was made by the Court of Directors

This caused resentment among the brith Indian Army who came
from Awadh

Taluqdars or Zamindars of Awadh there was widespread

dissatisfaction because their estates were confiscated.

Awadh played a major role in War of 1857

The First War of Independence 2

 Discourtesy to the Mughal Emperor

Bahadur Shah had in those a name or title only.

He was not powerful at all

Lord Dalhousie announced that on the death of the King his

successor would have to leave to the Imperial Palace-Red Fort

In 1856 that Bahadur Shahs successors would be allowed to use

the imperial title that is the title the King.

This discourtesy to the Mughal Emperor hurt peoples sentiments

considerably

Treatment meted out to Nana Saheb

Hindus resented when Dalhousie refused the pension to Nan Saheb

The adopted ex-Peshwa)

Nana saheb had inherited enormous wealth from ex-Peshwa

He spent all that money in sending emissaries to different parts of

the countries and instigating the revolt everywhere.

Unpopular Administration

People found themselves out of place with the English Laws and
the English language.

The British officials had no knowledge of the manners customs and

habits of people.

Indians were excluded from every high offices in the army as well as
administration.

The Britishers had great contempt for the Indians .

Their Arrogance let them to consider the natives of Indian as

undeserving the name of humans

The Vague and Floating Rumours:

There were rumours that the Companies rule in India were

numbered

The First War of Independence 3

 People believed that British came to power in 1757 and their rule
would come to an end in 1857.

The First War of Independence 4

 Religious and Social Causes:

Fears regarding Mass Conversion to Christianity

 The activities of Christian missionaries created an alarming situation

among both the Hindus and Muslims

 The teaching of Christian doctrines were made compulsory in the

schools set up by the Christian Missionaries

 The bible was introduces in Government Schools

 The prisoners began to to be instructed in Christianity

 Officials openly preached Christian doctrines in Mosques and

Temples

 The Missionary Society of America established a press in Agra

 The press printed inaccurate information about Hinduism

Laws that interfered with the religion and customs of the people:

Religious act of 1850

 Changed the Hindu law of property

 It enabled to convert from Hinduism to inherit the property of his

father

 Taxes were imposed on Temples, Mosques which earlier were free

of taxes

Widows Remarriage Act:

 Was passed in 1856

 Sati and Infanticide had been prohibited

Introduction of the Railways and Telegraphs:

The Railways and Telegraphs were looked down upon as means to

break social order and caste rules

In the railway all people of different castes had to sit together

People regarded it as a interference with caste rules

The First War of Independence 5

 There was a rumour that the Telegraph poles were used to hang
people who were against the companies rules.

Racial Discrimination and Indignities hurled at Indians:

The Englishmen in India could Insult , humiliate and even kills

Indians at will

The English Magistrate issued a notification that every native were

compelled to salute whenever they saw a Englishmen in the streets

If an Indian was on horseback he had dismount and stand in a

respectful manner until the European had passed him.

Fears Regarding English Education:

Christian missionaries and established a number of schools in

British India

English Classes were introduced in Benaras Sanskrit College

Shifting Emphasis to the Western Education was not well received

by the Maulvis and Pandits

They saw it as an attempt to discourage Islamic and Hindu studies

Economic Causes:

The Ruin of Trade and Handicrafts:

Popularity of Indian Textiles alarmed the policy makers in England

The British rulers deliberately crippled Indian arts and crafts

Heavy duties on Indian silk and cotton textiles in Britain 70% and
80% respectively destroyed those industries.

On the other hand British goods were imported into India int
nominal duty

Export of cotton and silk goods from India were practically ceased

The art of spinning and weaving which had provided employment to

thousand of artisans became extinct

Dhaka , Murshidabad and Surat now looked hopeless and desolate.

The First War of Independence 6

 Impoverishment of Cultivators:

Zamindars or Landlords had so far been only Revenue Collectors

They could only keep a certain percentage of what they received

from the peasentry

The Permanent Settlement of 1793 made Zamindars the absolute

owners of their estates

They had the power to eject the cultivators for non payment of the
dues.

The Mahalwari system was prevalent in parts of Central India

The peasants continued to pay revenue tot he government

The British Revenue officers were very strict on revenue collection.

Almost half of the net produce was claimed as land revenue

If a farmer wasn’t able to pay the land revenue the farmers were
made to borrow more and more money from the Money Lenders.

India reduced to an Agricultural Colony of the British:

Bihar, Bengal and Awadh emerged as major producers of export

crops such as Jute, opium and indigo

The manufactures in England needed raw materials such cotton and

oilseeds for their Industry

The British did all they could to keep India mainly an agricultural
country

This made India an agricultural colony of British Capitalism

Inhuman Treatment meted out the Indigo Cultivators:

In 1833 the peasants were forced to cultivate only Indigo and

nothing else in the fields chosen by the English planters

Their crops were on purpose destroyed by the planters

Their houses were burnt

Their Cattle carried of as Plunder

Annexation of Rent-free Lands and Estates:

The First War of Independence 7

 In 1852 an Indian Commission was appointed to inquire into title
deeds of owners of large estates.

Many Landowners pleaded that they could not produce their title
deeds on account of passage of time

The government did not accept the plea and confiscated 20,000
estates

This amounted in a lot of discontent

Taluqdars of Awadh faced seriously hardships after the Annexation

of Awadh

The Proud Aristocracies were reduced to beggary and servitude

Loss of Livelihood:

Millions of artisans and craftsmen who lost their jobs had no

alternative source of incomes

Imparting Western Knowledge meant that the Pandits and Maulvis

had become jobless

Annexations of Indian States meant a loss of livelihoods for many

Native Troops

Big Famines:

When the famines came the people had to dispose of their land,
cattle and the household goods

There were instances of mothers selling their children for few days
of food

The big famines of 183738 made people desert their villages and
wander in search of food

Military Causes:

Resentment of the Sepoys or the Indian Soldiers

The First War of Independence 8

 Poor Prospects of Promotion:

All the high ranks were reserved for the British only

Low Salary:

The maximum pay that of a subedar of the infantry could be

expect was lesser than the minimum pay of the raw English
recruit

The sepoys were required to serve in areas far away from their
homes without an allowance

Social Distance between British Officers and Indian Soldiers:

The officers treated their soldiers like menial servants

Faulty distribution of troops:

The troops were not distributed properly

Key places like Delhi and Allahabad had no armies

England was engaged in many hostilities outside India , like the:

 Persian War

 Chinese War

They were determined to strike because it was a suitable

opportunity for the sepoys.

Disproportion between Indian and British Troops:

The First War of Independence 9