Chapter 3 - War of Independence 1857-58

Causes:

• %%Economic exploitation%% of India by the British was a major reason of the War of Independence.

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  • In the beginning the British traders conducted trade in a way that benefited Indians, too.

  • However, as they got control of several Indian states, they introduced new %%trading laws%% and %%revenue reforms%% that were aimed at exploiting Indian resources and wealth.

  • They imposed %%heavy taxes%% on Indian peasants and small landowners to fill their treasury.

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  • %%Lord Warren Hastings%% introduced the concept of putting the %%tax collectors%% up for auction. This tempted many locals to acquire the post by paying heavy money to the Company.

  • Once the ambitious candidates got the desired position of tax collector, they would use all tactics to extort taxes from the Indians.

  • This resulted in %%poverty%% and %%starvation%% among Indians that whipped up anger and resentment against the British with the passage of time.

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  • Moreover, %%exploitation of local raw materials%% and wealth for the British factories in England was also noticed with great concern by the Indians.

  • As factory made better cotton began to replace the local hand processed cotton, millions of hand weavers of cotton were rendered jobless and suffered from starvation and died.

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• %%Social reforms%% were resented %%by the Indians%%.

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  • When the Hindu custom of %%Suttee%% was banned and remarriage of the widow was encouraged the Hindus reacted strongly.

  • In Suttee the widow was burned alive in the cremation ceremony of her dead husband.

  • Most of the widowed women in Hindu community were supposed not to remarry.

  • Therefore, when British changed these traditions, Hindus took this step as interference in their religious traditions.

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  • Similarly the introduction of the %%co-education system%% and a discouraging attitude of the observance of %%Hijab/Purda%% was resisted by the Muslims for whom these steps were against their socio-religious traditions.

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  • British started a number of %%social development schemes%% such as roads, railways and telecommunications.

  • Though they benefitted India in general, many in the north- western parts of India thought that British had introduced the %%railway system%% only to ensure quick movement of troops in case of Russian attack through Afghanistan.

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  • %%Westernization of Indian educational system%% was also not welcomed by a majority of Indians.

  • Because of %%Lord Macaulay%%’s contemptuous remarks about the Indian educational standard, when %%English began to replace Urdu and Hindi as the official language%%, in %%1834%%, both Hindus and Muslims opposed this as they took such measures as an onslaught on local cultural traditions.

  • Generally, the British were derogatory towards Indians.

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  • Growth of the activities of the %%Christian missionaries%% during the second half of 19th century also promoted a sense of insecurity among Indians specially when there were reports of %%forcible conversion of Indians into Christianity.%%

  • They were active at all public places like, schools, parks, markets and they believed it was their duty to impose a superior culture and religion on all Indians.

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• In %%military affairs%% too, the British officers treated Indian subordinates in an arrogant way and they were denied any promotion regardless of their services for the British.

  • %%Indian sepoys were given lesser salaries%% as compared to the British soldiers. This inculcated hatred and frustration among Indians.
  • When an ordinance was issued about the services of Indians anywhere in the world, both Hindus and the Muslims felt offended.
  • According to Hindu belief, a caste Hindu would become %%Sudra%% if he travelled overseas.
  • Muslim troops were reluctant to fight the fellow Afghan Muslim troops in the Company’s army.

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• British policy of annexation was also very alarming for Indians, specially the way the %%Doctrine of lapse%% was enforced in %%1852%% by %%Lord Dalhousie.%%

  • Under this, any state whose ruler didn’t have a son was annexed by the EIC. States of %%Nana Sahib Peshwa%% (Kanpur) and %%Rani of Jhansi%% were unjustly annexed as both had sons.
  • Many states were annexed by force or on weak pretexts such as Sindh and Bengal.

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• After entering Delhi in %%1803%%, the EIC shifted the Mughal royal family from the %%Red Fort to Qutub Sahib%%.

  • This too promoted anger among Indians.

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• Finally, by the start of %%1857%%, %%new cartridges%% for the Enfield rifles were introduced.

  • It was rumored that they were %%wrapped in the fat of cow and pig%% and %%they had to be chewed out before use%%.

  • Hindus accorded %%motherly status to cows%% whereas %%for Muslims pig was Haram (forbidden)%%. So, both Hindu and Muslim troops refused to use these cartridges.

  • %%Mangal Panday%% was the first soldier to have refused them in March 1857 and with this the revolt spread to other parts of India.

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Reasons for the failure of War of Independence:

• Indians were not united in the War.

  • Right from the beginning the %%Hindu-Muslim divide%% was evident.

  • Hindus had no reason to fight for the restoration of the Mughal rule in India.

  • So, on many fronts both communities did not support each other.

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  • At many places different groups fought for different reasons.

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  • The only real uniting force was Islam as the Mughal rule had been established by the Muslim community.

  • Being a minority in India and ruling it for centuries, the Muslims were more prepared than other communities to oppose the British.

  • Therefore, any degree of unity among Muslims greatly alarmed the Hindus and Sikhs.

  • That is one major reason why the %%British viewed the War of Independence as predominantly a ‘Muslim revolt%%’.

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• Moreover, some of the rulers were ready to withdraw from the War if the British promised to fulfill their demands.

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  • Some of the state princes were interested only in restoring their own %%feudal powers%%.

  • In some cases their powers actually depended on the support of the British.

  • That is why the ruler of %%Kashmir%% sent 2000 troops to help the British.

  • This greatly weakened the spirit of the uprising on the whole.

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  • The rebel forces were generally not well-organised, and did not have a concrete common goal ahead of them.

  • Such rebels, in fact, gave vent to their frustration and anger due to their growing poverty.

  • This is why many of them began to plunder their fellow countrymen after taking control of many cities.

  • Thus the affected people preferred to leak information to the British about the rebels instead of supporting them.

  • This disunity was a blessing for the British who fully exploited it, and began to regain control over the lost territories.

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  • The uprising was a hasty and unplanned desperate attempt by the troops after Mangal Pandey’s refusal to use the %%grease cartridges%%.

  • This encouraged sepoys in some other provinces to defy their British officers, too.

  • Consequently most of the Indian troops from selected provinces stood up against the British without any proper planning.

  • As the uprising spread to other provinces, there was %%no coordination among troops%% about the future line of action.

  • This became a major reason for the failure of the War of Independence.

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• British, on the other hand, had many strengths.

  • They were one of the powerful nations of the world with sophisticated and destructive weapons.
  • They had a regular, highly disciplined and professionally trained army.
  • Their skilled military commanders carried a strong sense of success due to their professional training.
  • British army had been trained in dealing with such emergencies.
  • The rebels, on the other hand, did not have any such leaders to counter the British.
  • Therefore, they retained control of about 3/4th of their possessions and restricted the uprising to a smaller belt of northern and central Indian provinces.
  • They also had a strong sense of success due to their victories in other parts of the world.
  • They skillfully followed their policy of “%%divide and rule%%” when they saw the Indian inherent disunity.
  • They applied both military and non- military tactics in a diplomatic way in exploiting the weakness of several Indian rulers who were fighting to regain their own rule.
  • As a result, the British kept control in more than three quarters of their possessions.

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• As far as its immediate results are concerned they brought miseries to Indians in general and to Muslims in particular.

  • Muslims were exclusively targetted because British had taken political control from them and they wanted to erase any sense of “%%imperial pride%%” from their minds.
  • At many places mass executions were carried out publicly and the dead were stitched in the pigskin.
  • Muslims were denied all respectable posts.
  • Raids were conducted at the houses of several notable people on the ground of suspicion and harsh treatment was meted out in general.
  • Sepoys were blown away by tying their bodies at the mouths of the cannons.
  • The purpose was to create awe and horror in the minds of the Indians.
  • Mughal rule was officially abolished and the %%last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar%% was exiled to %%Rangoon (Myanmar/Burma)%% where his sons were beheaded and he himself was given death sentence that was commuted to life imprisonment due to his advanced age.
  • %%India became a British colon%%y.
  • British also became cautious and selective in military matters.
  • They began to recruit troops from the relatively loyal provinces such as Punjab KP and Kashmir, and followed the policy of encouraging the “%%martial race%%” of %%Pathans%% and %%Punjabis%%.

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Effects Of War:

• However, gradually it became apparent that the War gave Indians something positive, too.

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  • Indians had learned the hard lesson that militarily they were no match to the British.
  • Therefore, now they would resist British rule politically.
  • As a result Indians began to develop political awareness and founded political parties %%INC in 188%%5 and %%ML in 1906.%%

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  • Indians got leaders and reformers like %%Sir Syed%%, %%Bal Ganga Dhar Tilak%%, %%Gandhi%% and %%Jinnah%%.

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  • British government abolished the EIC under %%Allahabad Declaration of 1858%%.

  • Under this, all annexation policies were abandoned e.g. %%the doctrine of lapse%%.

  • British government promised respect of local religious faiths and practices.

  • They also decided to train Indians in politics by introducing political reforms periodically.

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• Queen of England adopted the additional title of “%%Empress of India%%” in %%1877%% in order to win the Indian confidence.

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• British government introduced a “%%chain of command%%” to govern India.

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• British parliament would make laws for India with the assistance of a %%Secretary of State for India%% and a %%Viceroy%%.

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• Secretary of State would visit India when needed while the Viceroy was stationed in India.

  • He was assisted by a team of governors (always British) and the %%Viceroy’s Executive Council.%%

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