The national movement in India started in the second half of the nineteenth century.
As we already
know that the English had come to India to trade and make profits. So the East India Company came to enhance the profit of Indian possessions as well as to maintain and strengthen its powers.
However, sporadic uprisings with a motive of driving British out of India had started a century earlier.
The cumulative effect of British expansionist policies, economic exploitation and administrative innovations over the years had adversely affected the position of all rulers of Indian
states, sepoys, zamindars, peasants, traders, etc. excepting of course, the western educated class who owned their ‘position’ to the company’s government. The Indian rulers were not united.
They were selfish and guided by self-interest. There was no feeling of nationalism. The British had superior weapons and military tactics. Thus the British were successful in subjugating the whole of India.
Such a feeling of growing discontent, got its manifestation in several civil rebellions, tribal uprisings and sepoy mutinies during the colonical rule.
There were also violent religio-political uprisings and disturbances, which were anti-British.
Of all uprisings in the 19th century, the Revolt of 1857 was the
most important as it was the first major challenge to the British domination.
It was a watershed in the history of British rule in India, shook the very foundation of the British empire in India.
It also changed the character of British rule, marking the end of the rule of the East India Company and bringing British India directly under the British Crown.
REVOLTS
Indigo Revolt or Blue Rebellion
• Thousands of ryots refused to grow Indigo in Bengal in 1859 AD.
• The English had established the monopoly production of Indigo by capturing land in Bengal
and Bihar.
• In 1860, the peasants of Patna and Nadia districts refused to pay rents to the planters and
attacked factories.
• The rebels here supported by local zamindars and village headmen.
• Ashley Eden, the lieutenant governor of Bengal tried to appease the ryots and issued an order by which no ryots would be forced to accept the contract.
After the rebel, the plantation of Indigo was shifted from Bengal to Bihar.
• In Champaran, the workers revolted in 1867-68 and later in 1917 in the leadership of
Mahatma Gandhi.
There was a strong demonstration against the cultivation of indigo in Champaran (Bihar) in 1866-68.
The indigo crisis continued till the beginning of the 20th century when M. K. Gandhi had intervened in favour of the indigo cultivators.
And finally, after his intervention the long pending
problem got some solution.
Adivasis Movement
• In 1772, the Paharia Revolt broke out followed by five years uprising led by Tilka Manjhi.
• The Tomar and Munda revolts occurred. In the next twenty years, various revolts occurred in Singhbhumi, Gumla, Birbhumi, Bankura, Manbhoomi and Palamu followed by the Kol
uprising in 1832 and the Khewar and Bhunji revolts in 1832 to 1834.
Khasi Uprising
• ‘Khasi’ is a tribal community which lives in the region between Garo and Jaintia Hills.
• Khasi uprising of 1783 was in protest of East India Company’s effort to built a road link between Brahmaputra Valley and Sylhet.
• The leaders of this revolution were Tirath Singh and Ganga Singh.
• This uprising developed into a popular revolt during British rule.
By 1833, the revolt was suppressed by English military action.
Pagal Panthi Uprising
• Pagal Panth was a semi-religious sect which had influence in the northern districts of Bengal.
• Karan Singh was its founder and Tipu Shah was successor of this movement.
• Tipu Shah took up the cause of the peasants against atrocities and oppression by Zamindars.
• Tipu captured Sherpur in 1825 and assumed royal power. This uprising crushed with the help of army in 1833.
Ahom Revolt
• Gomadhar Konwar leaded this revolt.
• This revolt broke out in Assam.
• The British had promised to withdraw from Assam after First Burma War (1824-26), but instead of withdrawing the British attempted to annex Ahom’s territory in the Company’s
dominion.
• As a result of the rebellion the company was forced to hand over Upper Assam to Maharaja Purandar Singh Narendra and part of kingdom was restored to the Assamese King.
Santhal Revolt
• The Santhal hul or santhal revolt of 1855-56 was held against the permanent settlement of Lord Cornwallis.
• Sindhu and Kanhu Murmu were the leaders of the revolt in which thousands of Santhals took part.
• A forest regulation was passed in 1878 which imposed restrictions upon adivasis.
• The act divided the forest lands in India into three categories - reserved, protected and unclassified.
• The act changed the traditional rights of adivasis on the forest and forest became state property.
• In 1914, Jatra Oraon started Tana Bhagat Movement and 25,000 adivasis joined the movement.
• The Khasis living in Assam and Meghalaya revolted against the British.
Pabna Uprising
• “Pabna Uprising” was a movement by the peasants against landlords in the Pabna districts of Yusufzahi Paragana of East Bengal in 1872.
• In 1873, an Agrarian League was formed by Ishan Chandra Roy, Shabhu Pal and Khoodi Mallah.
• Peasants refused to pay enhanced rents of land and fought against zamindars in the court.
• The discontent of peasants continued till 1885 when the Government enhanced occupancy rights by the “Bengal Act of 1885”.
Munda Rebellion
• Birsa Munda started revolt against the British policies. Zamindars and moneylenders were exploiting the Adivasis.
• Munda rebellion resulted in the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act of 1908.
• It banned forced labour and assured local customary land rights to the tribals.
• For more than three decades the Munda Sardars had been fighting against destruction of their system of common land holdings by the jagirdars, thikadars and money lenders.
• The revolt of the Munda took place during 1899 - 1900 under the leadership of Birsa Munda who mobilized his followers on religious and political grounds.
• In 1899, Birsa declared a revolt to establish Munda rule in the land by billing thikadars, jagirdars, Rajas, Hakims and Christians. For this he congregated force of 6,000 Mundas.
He was, however, captured in February 1900 and died in jail in June.
Civil and Tribal uprisings
Sanyasi Revolt:
• The British rule in Bengal after 1757 brought a new economic order which spelt ruin on Zamindars, peasants and artisans alike.
• The famine of 1770 and the insensibility on the part of the company was regarded to be the main cause of alien rule.
• The restriction imposed on visits to holy places alienated the sanyasis.
• The Sanyasis in retaliation started attacking on the company’s factories and state treasuries.
• Warren Hastings could contain these sanyasi raids only after massive millitary actions.
Khonds rising :
• Khonds the tribal people of Orissa first revolted in 1846 and then in 1855.
• They were led by Chakra Bisoi.
• They were suppressed with great difficulty by the British.
Movement of Frontier Tribes: The other region to have witnessed tribal movements of considerable proportion was the north-eastern frontier.
The region differed substantially from the rest of tribal
India in two basic aspects.
Here the tribals formed an overwhelming majority and thus were
relatively economically and socially secure.
The factors that led to a different typology being suggested for the tribal movements along the frontier from that of the nonfrontier tribes were:
a) Religous and social reform movements.
b) Movements for separate statehood within the Indian union or more autonomy for tribal areas
c) Insurgency and
d) Assertion of cultural rights.
Tribal Movements, 1935-47 : Factors contributing to the development of a sense of larger tribal identity were
(a) The Government of India Act 1935
(b) The rise of modern education and
(c) Gradual emergence of a small educated middle class
among the tribes of the hills and plains.
World War II, during which these hills had become ‘important’ theatres of war, had penetrated their isolation due to world events.
Many tribals feared that their cherished ancient laws, customs
and village organisations would be destroyed by non-tribal rulers after independence.
At the time of independence there were two major political trends among the frontier tribes.
The first was in favour of asserting more tribal autonomy within the Indian Union.
The second trend was towards complete independence for tribal areas.
Its protagonists were the Naga Nationalist Council, the United Mizo Freedom Organisation and the Mizo National Front.
Mopla Revolt
• In 1921, the Mopla rebelled in Malabar region.
• The Mopla peasants were Muslims but the landlords were Hindus.
• Excessive land revenue demands, extra cesses and insecurity of land tenures were reason of rebel.
Trade Union Movement
The trade union movement in India originated due to different reasons –
1. The poor working conditions in Indian factories.
2. The condition of industries and mines was poor.
3. Wages of workers were very low.
4. Realisation among leaders to protect the interest of workers.
5. Economic distress
6. Set up of International labour organization.
▪ The first factory commission was set up in Bombay in 1875 followed by the First Factory Act of 1881 which aimed at prohibiting child labour.
▪ The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) was established by N.M. Joshi in 1920.
▪ The Trade Union Act of 1926 established trade unions as legal bodies to protect the right of registration and privileges of the workers.
▪ The British appointed a royal commission, the Whitely Commission in 1928.
It consisted 11 members out of which 6 were Indians. They visited India in 1929.
It included –
1. Adoption of policy of standard wages in Bombay cotton mills and jute mills of Bengal.
2. Development of trade unions.
3. To settle disputes, officers were appointed.
4. Time and piece workers were included.
Wahabi Movement
▪ It was named after Abdul Wahab.
▪ It was a religious movement and aimed at the restoration of Muslim powers and fighting
against the British and the Sikhs.
▪ The Wahabi movement was suppressed by the British government in 1870.
Sepoy Mutinies
▪ There were several mutinies took place before the 1857 revolt.
▪ The 47th Native Infantry revolted in 1824.
▪ There were mutinies in 1825 in Assam, in 1838 in Sholapur, in 1844 in Sindh and in 1849 to
59 in Punjab.
1857 REVOLT
▪ According to P.E. Roberts, “The Revolt of 1857 was just a sepoy mutiny and it arose due to
cartridges with fats.”
▪ According to V.D. Savarkar, “The Revolt of 1857 was the first war of India’s independence,
the great rebellion, the Indian mutiny.
These sections of the country were responsible for the revolt in 1857
1. Rulers
2. Peasants
3. Soldiers
4. Common people
▪ Through the Doctrine of Lapse, the British brought a number of kingdoms under its control.
▪ Queen of Jhansi Lakshmibai, Nana Saheb, the son of the Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao II and
Begum Hazrat Mahal, the queen of Awadh opposed this policy.
▪ Due to commercialization of the agriculture peasants were compelled to grow cash crops.
They had to pay very high taxes.
▪ There was no hope for improvement of the fertility of land.
▪ The Indian soldiers were unhappy with the Britishers as they were not given high position in
the army. Apart from this reason, they were also not content with the policy of British
government regarding the overseas jobs and the remuneration.
▪ Common people were forced to accept the religion of Christian Missionaries.
Causes of the Revolt
Political Causes:
1. Growing suspicion among native rulers over Lord Dalhousie’s policies of Doctrine of Lapse’
and annexation of the territories of native rulers;
2. Annexation of Avadh on the ground of ‘misgovernance’;
3. Disposing of Nawab Wazid Ali Shah, the reigning ruler of Avadh;
4. Absentee ‘soverigntyship’ of the British in India.
5. Lord Canning’s announcement that Mughals would lose the titles of Kings and be mere
princes; and
6. Disbanding of the Pindaris and irregular soldiers who constituted a large section among the
army ranks.
Administrative and Economic Causes:
a) Inefficient and prejudiced administrative machinery of the company;
b) Rampant corruption;
c) Racialism in civil and military administration;
d) Deprivation of the traditional ruling classes of their luxury due to the establishment of the
company’s suzerainty over the Indian states;
e) Introduction of new land revenue system which snatched the land from the cultivator and
gave it to moneylender or traders or new aristocrats, and
f) De-industrialisation of the country.
Military Causes:
a) Displeasure of Indian sepoys with alien rule;
b) Compulsion of the sepoys to serve at the cantonments;
c) Withdrawal of free postage facility to sepoys following the enactment of Post-Office Act of
1856 which necessitated them to serve beyond the seas;
d) Debarring the foreign service allowance or batta for Sepoys serving in Sindh and Punjab, and
e) Racial discrimination.
Social and Religious Causes:
a) Social discrimination of the British against Indians;
b) Spread of Christainity through missionaries;
c) Missionaries’ attempt to conversion to Christainity;
d) Enactment of the Religious Disabilities Act 1850, which enabled a convert to inherit his
ancestral property; and
e) Antagonism of the traditional Indian society due to the law prohibiting sati, child marriage
and female infanticide.
The Immediate Cause: The Government introduced a new Enfield rifle in the Army. Its cartridges
had greased paper cover which had to be bitten off before the cartridge was loaded into the rifle. It
was believed that the grease was composed of beef and pig fat. The Hindu as well as Muslim sepoys
were enraged because the use of greased cartridges was against their religion and they feared that
the government was deliberately trying to destroy their religion and convert them to Christainity.
This issue is said to have agitated both Hindu and Muslim soldiers.
Spread of the Revolt
▪ The Revolt was sparked off on March 29, 1857 when a section of Indian Soldiers of the 19th
and 34th Native Infantry posted at Barrackpur near Calcutta mutinied and a Brahmin soldier,
Mangal Pandey, killed the British army oficers, the regiment was disbanded and Pandey
executed.
▪ At Meerut, in May 1857, 85 sepoys of the 3rd Cavalry regiment on their refusal to use the
greased cartridges were court martialled and were sentenced to long term imprisonment.
▪ On 10th May, 1857, the sepoys broke out in open rebellion, shot their officers, released their
fellow sepoys and headed towards Delhi with the cry ‘Delhi Chalo’.
▪ Delhi was seized by the rebels on 12 May, 1857. Bahadur Shah II was proclaimed the
Emperor of India.
▪ Delhi became the centre of revolt and Bahadur Shah was its symbol.
▪ Very soon the rebellion spread to Lucknow, Allahabad, Kanpur, Bareilly, Benaras, in parts of
Bihar, Jhansi and other places.
▪ In many Indian states, the rulers remained loyal to British Government but their soldiers
revolted. South India remained practically undisturbed.
▪ Kanpur was captured by the rebels on 5th June, 1857.
▪ Nana Sahib was proclaimed the Peshwa, General Sir Hugh Wheeler commanding the station
surrendered on 27 June.
▪ At Kanpur Nana Sahib was joined by his able Lieutenant Tantia Tope and Azimullah. Later
on, Kanpur was captured by Campbell on December 6, 1857.
The revolt of Lucknow was led by the Begum Hazrat Mahal, who declared her son Birjis Kadir as
the Nawab of Awadh. Helped by the sepoys at Lucknow and the Zamindars and peasants of
Awadh, Begum organised in all out attack on the British. Sir Henry Lawrance was killed during
the course of the residency. Later on, General Outram and Hemelockforce their way into the
residency. They were also besieged but later on were relieved.
▪ Laxmibai of Jhansi joined the rebels when the British refused to acknowledge her right to
adopt a heir to the gaddi of Jhansi.
▪ On June 4, 1858, Rani Laxmibai was proclaimed the head of the state and she provided
spirited lead to the rebels and fought heroically against the British forces. She and her
companion Tantia Tope made the most imaginative and heroic resolve to capture Gwalior.
▪ Maharaja Scindia tried to fight against Rani of Jhansi, but most of his troops deserted to her
and he took refuge at Agra. ;
▪ Rani of Jhansi died fighting on 17th June, 1858.
▪ At Bareilly, Khan Bahadur Khan had proclaimed himself the Nawab Nizam.
▪ In Bihar a local Zamindar Kunwar Singh raised the banner of revolt.
Timeline-Sepoy Mutiny
▪ 29th March 1857: Revolt of Barrackpore Calcutta. Mangal Pandey killed two British army
officers
▪ May 1857: 85 Sepoys of 3rd Cavalry regiment at Meerut were court martialled. Sepoys
revolted at Meerut, shot their officers, released fellow sepoys and marched towards Delhi.
Delhi seized by mutineers and Bahadur Shah Zafars II proclaimed “Shahenshahe- Hindustan
by rebels. Mutiny reached to Ferozpur, Aligarh, Etawah, Bulandshahar, Nasirabad, Bareilly,
Moradabad, Shahjahanpur.
▪ June 1857: On 4th June, 2nd cavalry and 1st Native Infantry revolted, revolts at Gwalior,
Bharatpur, Allahabad, Jhansi, Faizabad, Sultanpur, Lucknow.
▪ July 1857: Mutinies at Indore, Mhow, Sagar, Jhelum, Sialkot.
▪ September 1857: Delhi recaptured by the British October 1857: Revolt reached Koltab
▪ December 1857: The British won the ‘Battle of Kanpur’ in the leadership of ‘Sir Colin
Campbell’
▪ March 1858: British recaptured Lucknow.
▪ April 1858 British recaptured Jhansi. Fresh revolt in Bihar led by Kunwar Singh.
▪ May 1858: Bareilly, Jagdishpur and Kalpi were recaptured by the British.
▪ December 1858: British re-established their authority over India.
The leaders and the centres of the revolt
The British Governor general mobilized all his forces and hanged thousands of people. The revolt
was suppressed by the British.
Effects of the Revolt
1. A new Act was passed in 1858 by which the power of EEIC was shifted to British crown. A
secretary of State for India was appointed. The title of viceroy was given to governor
general. The British army was reorganized in India.
2. Hindus and Muslims became united against the British government.
3. Policies were made to protect zamindars and landlords.
4. Religious and social practices of India were decided to be respected by the British.
5. They gave assurance to the rulers of different provinces that their provinces won’t be
annexed further. But British crown would be their original sovereign.
Failure of the Revolt
▪ Lack of coordination and central leadership.
▪ Revolt lacked a forward-looking programme, coherent ideology, a political perspective or a
vision of the future society and economy.
▪ Rebel leaders lacked resources and experiences as compared to British.
▪ Revolt lacked the support of martial races of the north.
▪ British power had remained intact in the Eastern, western and southern parts of India from
where the forces were sent to suppress the revolt.
▪ Limited territorial and social base.
Impact of the Revolt
Even though the revolt of 1857 ended in failure yet it had shuddered the British rule in India from its
very foundation. It was the first great and direct threat to British rule in India. That was why,
aftermath of the revolt, the British troops did inhuman atrocities upon the Indian people. Thousands
of rebels were executed publicly after a mock trial.
The revolt of 1857 brought about fundamental changes in the character of British administration.
Some of these were:
(a) The Queen’s Proclamation
(b) Pursuing the policy of divide and rule
(c) Reorganisation of British army
(d) The Act for the better government of India 1858 was passed etc.
Features of the Revolt of 1857
▪ The Revolt has been called the first war of independence and opened a glorious chapter in
the history of people in India.
▪ The Revolt inspired the people of India to imbibe the spirit of selfless services and
patriotism.
▪ It produced many heroes like Rani Lakshmibai and Tantia Tope.
▪ It gave patriotism to future generations people.
▪ It made Indians aware of the true nature of the British.
▪ The participation of common people, rulers, soldiers, students and others gave the revolt its
popular character.
▪ Many people and rulers whose survival threatened were drawn into the revolt.
Social