Introduction of Timeline of Revolt 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 or timeline of Revolt 1857. Sometimes referred to as the Sepoy Mutiny. The First War of Independence was a momentous insurrection against the British colonial regime in India. The beginning of this historic uprising was influenced by several interrelated factors:
Background Timeline of Revolt 1857
The kings’ and nawabs’ authority began to decline in the middle of the eighteenth century. Both their power and wealth were waning. Residents were posted in many courts. The independence of local rulers was decreasing. Their armies were disbanded.
Their revenue collection rights and territories were being taken away gradually. To safeguard their interests, other local leaders also bargained with the Company. For example, Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi wanted from the Company. After the death of her husband, her adopted son was considered as the king.
Nana Saheb, son of Peshwa Bajirao II, also requested the company to start getting the pension that his father had received after his death. The company intoxicated with its superiority and military power, rejected these requests.
The princely state of Awadh was one of the last princely states to come under the control of the British. In 1801, a subsidiary monopoly was imposed on Awadh and in 1856 the British took it under their control.
Governor General Dalhousie announced that the administration of the princely state was not being run properly. Hence, British enlightenment was necessary to improve the administration. That means, the Britishers wanted to take over all the princely states.
Additionally, the Company had created a comprehensive plot to overthrow the Mughals. The Company has now stopped naming the Mughal monarch Badshah on its coins.
In 1849, Governor General Dalhousie announced that after the death of Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. The emperor’s family would be removed from the Red Fort and resettled elsewhere in Delhi.
In 1856 Governor General Canning decided that Bahadur Shah Zafar would be the last Mughal emperor after his death. None of his descendants would be recognized as Badshah.
They would only be recognized as princes. And in this way the British ended the princely states and empires one by one. And established their dominance over the whole of India.
Read About: Jhansi Ki Rani Lakshmi Bai
Peasants and Sepoys
Farmers and landlords in the village were troubled by the heavy taxes and strict methods of collection in the Timeline of Revolt 1857. Many people were not able to repay the loans taken from the moneylenders. Due to which their Ancestral lands were being lost.
The Indian soldiers working under the Company, and they had their own reasons for dissatisfaction. They were upset with their salaries, allowances, and service conditions, many new rules hurt their religious sentiments and beliefs.
Surprised to know that at that time many people did not want to cross the sea. They believed that going by sea would pervert their caste and religion. When in 1824 the soldiers were ordered to go to Burma by sea to fight on behalf of the Company. They refused to obey this order. Although they had no objection to traveling by land. They were given strict punishment for disobeying the government’s orders because this issue was not over yet.
Therefore, in 1856, the company had to make a new law. It was clearly stated in this law that if a person works in the company’s army. He may have to go across the sea if necessary.
Apart from this, the soldiers were also troubled by the condition of the villages. Many of the soldiers themselves were farmers. They had left their families in the village, hence the anger of the farmers soon spread among the soldiers too. This will become the drastic changes in the timeline of Revolt of 1857
Read About: Causes of Revolt 1857
Response to the Reforms in order to Timeline of Revolt 1857
The British felt that it was necessary to reform the Indian society. Laws were made to stop the practice of Sati and promote widow remarriage. English language education was strongly encouraged.
After 1830, the Company gave Christian missionaries the freedom to work freely and even to acquire land and property. In the year 1850, a new law was made which made it easier to adopt Christianity. In this law, a provision was made that if an Indian person adopts Christianity. His right on his ancestral property will remain the same as before.
Due to the policies of the British. Many Indians realized that the British were destroying their religion, their social customs and traditional lifestyle.
Military rebellion became public rebellion.
However, conflict between rulers and subjects is not a new thing. But sometimes this conflict spreads so much that the power of the state gets disintegrated. A similar situation arose in the northern parts of India in 1857. And after 100 years of rule, the East India Company was facing a major rebellion.
This rebellion, which started on May 10, 1857, threatened the very existence of the British in India. The rebellion that started from Meerut later spread to different cities of India.
Many people from different sections of the society stood up with a rebellious attitude. Some people believe that this was the largest armed conflict in the world against colonialism in the 19th century.
Meerut to Delhi
On March 29, 1857, young soldier Mangal Pandey was hanged in Barrackpore for attacking his officers. A few days later, some soldiers posted in Meerut, refused to practice with the new cartridge.
The soldiers believed that their cartridges were coated with cow and pig fat. Due to this, 85 constables were fired from their jobs. And they were also sentenced to ten years in prison for disobeying the orders of their officers.
This incident happened on 9th May 1857, where the response of other Indian soldiers posted in Meerut was very strong. On May 10, soldiers raided Meerut jail and freed the soldiers imprisoned there. They attacked and killed British officers and captured guns and weapons and the buildings and properties of the British were set on fire, they declared war against the foreigners.
The soldiers were determined to end the British occupation in the entire country, but the question was, after the departure of the British, who would rule the country?
The soldiers had found the answer to this also. He wanted to hand over the power of the country again to the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. A group of some soldiers from Meerut reached Delhi in the dark riding on horses on the night of 10 May.
As soon as the news of his arrival spread, the troops deployed in Delhi also revolted, here too many British officers were killed. The native soldiers took arms and ammunition in their possession and set the buildings on fire. As soon as the news of his arrival spread, the troops stationed in Delhi also rebelled. Here too many British officers were killed. The native soldiers took arms and ammunition in their possession and set the buildings on fire.
After this the Vijay soldiers gathered around the walls of the Red Fort and wanted to meet the king. The king was not ready to accept the might of the British. But the soldiers also remained adamant, finally they forcibly entered the palace and declared Bahadur Shah Zafar as their leader. The old Badshah had to accept this demand of the soldiers.
He wrote letters to the rulers and chiefs across the country and called for forming a federation of Indian states to fight the Britishers. Later, this single step of Bahadur Shah Zafar had deep consequences.
Before the British, a large part of the country was ruled by the Mughal Empire, most of the rulers and princely states governed their areas in the name of the Mughal Emperor. Many such rulers, who were afraid of the expansion of British rule, felt that if the Mughal emperors re-established their rule, they would again be able to rule their areas without any worries under the Mughal rule.
On the other hand, the British did not expect these incidents, they thought that the turmoil created over the issue of cartridges would calm down within some time. But when Bahadur Shah Zafar gave his support to the rebellion, the situation changed overnight.
It happens that when people start seeing a new ray of hope in the timeline of revolt 1857, their enthusiasm and courage increases. This gives them courage, hope and confidence to move forward.
Rebellion began to Spread.
When the British were uprooted from Delhi, there was no rebellion anywhere else for about a week, obviously, it had to take some time for the news to spread, but after this a series of rebellions started one after the other.
The soldiers in the regiment rebelled and set out to support other troops at key points like Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow. As they watched, the people of the towns and villages also started following the path of rebellion, they came among the local leaders, landlords and chiefs.
Organization of these people were ready to establish their power and take on the British. Nana Saheb, the adopted son of the late Peshwa Bajirao, lived near Kanpur. He organized the army and drove the British from the city. He declared himself Peshwa And announced that he was the governor under Badshah Bahadur Shah Zafar.
Birjis Qadr son of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, who was deposed from the throne of Lucknow, was declared the new Nawab. Birjis Qadr also accepted Bahadur Shah Safar as his king, his mother Begum Hazrat Mahal took an active part in promoting the rebellion against the British.
In Jhansi, Rani Lakshmi Bai also joined the rebel soldiers against the British, Along with Nana Saheb’s commander Tatya tope, she gave a huge challenge to the British. In the Mandla region of Madhya Pradesh, Rani Avantibai Lodhi of Rajgarh raised an army of 4000 soldiers and led it against the British, because the British had taken control of the administration of her kingdom.
The British were outnumbered by the rebel troops. They suffered massive defeats on many fronts, which convinced people that British rule was now over. Now people had gained deep confidence to join the rebellion themselves, especially in the areas of Awadh, there was a situation of all-round rebellion.
On 6 August 1857, Lieutenant Colonel Tytler sent a telegram to the Commander in Chief in which he expressed the fear of the British, saying that our people are tired of the number of rebels and constant fighting. Every village is against us, even the landlords have turned against us. Many important leaders emerged during this period, for example, Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah of Faiza Baad had predicted that the British rule would soon end. He had understood what the people wanted, based on this he gathered a huge number of his supporters.
Along with his supporters, he went to Lucknow to fight the British, many Ghazis i.e., religious warriors gathered in Delhi to wipe out the British. Bakht Khan, a soldier of Bareilly, marched towards Delhi with a large contingent of fighters. He proved to be a key figure in this rebellion.
Kunwar Singh, the old landlord of Bihar, also supported the rebel soldiers and fought with the British for months, leaders and fighters from all areas were taking part in this war.
The British Counterattack.
Despite this turmoil, the British did not lose courage, the Company decided to crush the rebellion with all its might, they asked for more soldiers from England, new laws were made to punish the rebels quickly, and raided the main canters of the rebellion, Delhi again came under the control of the British in September 1857.
The last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was tried and sentenced to life imprisonment; his sons were shot before his eyes.
Bahadur Shah Zafar and His wife Begum Zeenat Mahal was sent to Rangoon jail in October 1858, it was in this jail that Bahadur Shah Zafar breathed his last in 1862. The British occupation of Delhi did not mean that the rebellion was over, even after this people continued to fight the British.
The British had to fight for the next two years to crush the huge force of the widespread rebellion. In March 1858, Lucknow came under the control of the British, in June 1858, Rani Laxmibai was defeated and killed.
Unfortunately, the same happened with Rani Avantibai Lodhi, after the initial victory of Khedi, she found herself surrounded by the English army and she was martyred. While living in the forests of Central India, Tatya tope continued to wage a guerilla war with the help of tribals and farmers.
Just as the rebels were encouraged by their earlier successes against the British, in the same way the defeat of the rebel forces started demoralizing the people. Many people deserted the rebels, the British also made every effort to win the confidence of the people, they announced rewards for loyal landowners and assured them that their traditional rights over their land would remain intact.
Those who had rebelled were told that if they surrendered to the British and if they did not kill any Englishman then they would be safe and their rights and claims on the land would remain intact. Despite this, hundreds of soldiers, rebels, nawabs and kings were tried and hanged.
What happened after the rebellion?
The British had regained control of the country by the end of 1859, but they could no longer rule based on their earlier policies. The British brought about the following significant changes: –
- In the Timeline of Revolt 1857. The British manage Indian affairs by the British Parliament established a new statute in 1858 and gave the British Empire full control over the East India Company’s powers.
- A member of the British Cabinet was appointed as the Minister of India. He was entrusted with the responsibility of handling matters related to the governance of India. To advise him, a council was formed which was called India Council.
- Viceroy was the title bestowed upon the Governor General of India. He was proclaimed the King and Queen of England’s personal representative as a result. Therefore, the British government directly assumed control of India’s governance.
- All the kings of the country were assured that their land would never be captured in future. They were allowed to hand over their kingdoms to their descendants and even adopted grandchildren. But they were also encouraged to accept the Queen of Britain as their patrimony. In this way, the Indian rulers were given the freedom to rule under the British Empire.
- It was decided to increase the proportion of European soldiers in the army and decrease the number of Indian soldiers. Additionally, more Gorkha, Sikh, and Pathan constables would now be recruited rather than soldiers from Awadh, Bihar, Central India, and South India.
- The Indian people’s religion and social norms had to be respected, the British decided. New policies were made to protect landowners and landlords and to stabilize their rights on land. Thus began a new phase of the history of the timeline of revolt 1857.
Conclusion
An important turning point in the fight for Indian independence from British colonial control was the Timeline of Revolt 1857, which was a watershed in the country’s history. The sequence of events that transpired throughout this insurrection demonstrates the underlying dissatisfaction, the spirit of resistance, and the wide variety of participants in this momentous undertaking.
Many concerns, including social, economic, and political ones that had been simmering for decades, culminated in the Timeline of Revolt 1857, also known as the First War of Indian Independence. The display exemplified the bravery and tenacity of many people from diverse backgrounds, including as warriors, peasants, and kings, who collaborated in a shared pursuit of liberty.
The rebellion’s timeline shows how the first uprisings in 1857, which began in Delhi and Meerut, swiftly expanded to other regions of the subcontinent. The rebels’ perseverance and fortitude in the face of overwhelming British military might demonstrate the extent of their dedication to the cause. Even though the uprising was eventually put down by the British, it had a profound impact on Indian society and served as a springboard for more freedom movements.
There were major political, social, and economic changes in India following the uprising. To address some of the issues that had spurred the insurrection, the British administration started enacting measures after realizing the need for reforms and a more accommodative stance. The Indian independence movement, which would gain strength in the 20th century, had its foundations planted.
Ultimately, the 1857 Revolt (Timeline of Revolt 1857) represents India’s protracted and difficult path to independence. It serves as a reminder of the many sacrifices made by those who battled for a better future and motivated succeeding generations to carry on the fight for independence. The timing of this uprising is evidence of the resistance’s tenacity and its unshakable adherence to the principles of justice and liberty.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: What were the main causes behind the Revolt of 1857?
A1: Economic exploitation, cultural insensitivity, and religious intolerance were the main causes of the Timeline of Revolt 1857, which resulted in a great deal of unhappiness among Indian soldiers and citizens.
Q2: Who was Mangal Pandey, and how did he contribute to the revolt?
A2: Mangal Pandey served as a sepoy in the army of the British East India Company. The first insurrection broke out in March 1857 due to his refusal to utilize the new Enfield rifle cartridges, which were allegedly lubricated with pig and cow fat.
Q3: What role did Rani Lakshmi bai play in the Timeline of Revolt 1857?
A3: One of the main leaders of the uprising was Jhansi’s Rani Lakshmi bai. She courageously engaged in combat with British forces, turning into a symbol of bravery and resistance during the rebellion.
Q4: How did the British eventually suppress the revolt (Timeline of Revolt of 1857)?
A4: By using greater military might and taking advantage of internal conflicts among the Indian revolutionaries, the British put an end to the uprising. The rebellion was put down by June 1858.
Q5: What legacy did the Revolt of 1857 (Timeline of Revolt 1857) leave for India’s struggle for independence?
A5: Future Indian liberation movements were influenced by the Timeline of Revolt 1857, which left a long-lasting legacy. It laid the groundwork for the eventual independence of the nation in 1947 by demonstrating the spirit of resistance and unity among the Indian people.