first war of independence 1857 - Knowledge Hub

first war of independence 1857

 

 The first war of independence is also known as Indian rebellion of 1857. It began on 10 may 1857 at Merut as sepoy mutiny. The first martyr of this revolt was Mangal pandey. Some other important leaders of this independence war was Kunwar Singh, Rani Lakshmi Bai, Nana Saheb, Tatia Tope, Bahadur shah and Begum Hazrat Mahal.

There were many reasons that were responsible for first war of independence. There was discrimination among the British and Indian soldiers.  It has been believed that the behavior of British soldiers towards Indian soldiers was quite rude.The first war of independence was named by nationalist Indian historians.

The immediate reason of first independence war was the introduction of the ‘Enfield’ rifle.In 1856 enfield rifles were issued by British government. A rumour spread among the soldiers that the cartridges of these rifles were prepared from animal fats that were cow's or pig's fat.And a soldier was trained to tear off the cartridge with his teeth and load the bullet in the rifle. This was against the Hindu and Muslim sentiments and religious ideologies.

The other reasons of the first Indian independence war are given below.

1. Political reasons - A number of British steps concerning political and administrative matters offended the indigenous people. Common people became extremely indignant when they saw that their rulers were treated with disrespect by the foreign power. Therefore many battles were fought between Indian rulers and British. Some of these battles are Battle of Plassey, Battle of Buxar, Treaty of Allahabad, Battle of Seringpatam. 

Battle of Plassey - This battle was fought between British army and nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daulah in 1757. In this battle Siraj-ud-Daulah was defeated and killed.

Battle of Buxar - This battle was fought between British army and the combined army of an alliance of Indian states including Bengal, Awadh, and Mughal Empire in 1764. In this battle alliance of Indian states was defeated and Treaty of Allahabad was signed.

Treaty of Allahabad - Treaty of Allahabad was signed in 1765 after the battle of Buxar. By this treaty, The East India Company procured the right to collect land revenue from Bengal, Bihar and Odisha.

Battle of Seringpatam- This battle was fought between British army and Tipu Sultan in 1799. In this battle Tipu Sultan was killed

British also occupied the  provinces of Sindh in 1843 and provinces of Punjab in 1848 - 49 and established British rule.    

2- Subsidiary alliance - Subsidiary alliance was introduced by Lord Wellesley to strengthen British rule in India. According to Subsidiary alliance, The ruler of princely state in India was compelled to keep a British officer and a part of the British army. They couldn't have their own army.A sum of money was extorted from these princes by the East India Company to maintain the army stationed in the state.

3- Doctrine of lapse - Doctrine of lapse was introduced by Lord Dalhousie. By this policy British annexed those kingdoms whose kings died without a male heir. many states like Satara, Sambal pur, Udai Pur, Jhansi were annexed by British by this policy.

4- Economic causes - The primary motive of British in India was to extort this immense wealth for themselves. British applied many strategies like Land revenue system, collapse of Indian industry, export of raw materials at cheap rate to drain Indian wealth. by these policies British impoverished (कंगाल कर देना ) the country.

5- Military causes - Military causes  were also an important reason behind the growing discontent among the Indians. The high-ranking posts of British army were reserved for English officers. The soldiers of Sikh communities were compelled to shave their hair and beards, which was prohibited under their religious custom.The Indian soldiers got very little payment instead of their work. 

6- Socio-religious causes - The interference of British in social and religious beliefs of Indians affected the Indians. The British did not show respect towards the Indian people. The British believed themselves tobe superior and treated the Indians with disrespect.The British imposed land revenue on place of worship like temples and mosques.

In this war many British and Indians lost their lives. The British government passed the government of India act in 1858. By this act, the power and control of India was transferred from the east India company to the British crown. Thus the era of the East India Company was concluded.