The Rebellion of 1857
Dawn of New Imperial Era
Origins of the Rebellion
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Military Causes:
Grievances over pay and Promotion among Sepoys
Special Allowance and Overseas Duties
Enfield Rifle and Concern over the Cartridge
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Concerns of Civilian Population
Theory of Doctrine of Lapse
Unemployed Artisans and Court Employees
Occupation of Avadh: Local Patriotism
Land Tax Policies
Progressive Imperialism and Concern over Religious Identities
Time Line of 1857 Rebellion
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On February 26, 1857 Disconent among the 19th
Bengal Native Infantry (BNI) regiment.
At Barrackpur near Calcutta, on March 29, 1857,
Mangal Pandey of the 34th BNI attacked and
injured his British sergeant on the parade ground.
On 9 May, 85 troopers of the 3rd Light Cavalry at
Meerut refused to use their cartridges. They were
imprisoned, sentenced to ten years of hard labour,
and stripped of their uniforms in public.
On 11 May the rebels reached Delhi, where they
were joined by other Indians from the local bazaar,
and attacked and captured the Red Fort (Lal Qila),
killing five British, including a British officer and two
women. Lal Qila was the residence of the Mughal
Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II and the sepoys
demanded that he reclaim his throne. At first he
was reluctant, but eventually he agreed to the
demands and became the leader of the rebellion.
Rebellion erupted in the state of Awadh (also
known as Oudh, in modern-day Uttar Pradesh) very
soon after the events in Meerut. The British
commander of Lucknow, Henry Lawrence, had
enough time to fortify his position inside the
Residency compound. British forces numbered
some 1700 men, including loyal sepoys.
Rebellion in Kanpur in June 1857
Suppression of Rebellion
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Absence of Military Leadership
Lack of Co-ordination
Limited Area of the Rebellion
Conflicting Aims and Confusing
Mobilization
Sikhs, Gurkhas and Loyal Punjabi
Troops
Bengali Elites, Bombay
Businessmen and Tamil Educated
Elites supported British Rule
Failure to Dismantle British Line of
Information
Massive Repression
Interpretations of Rebellion
• Sepoy Mutiny
• War of National
Independence
• Restorative
Rebellion
• Subaltern Rebellion
• Rebels without
Causes
Restorative Rebellion: Leadership
of Rebellion
• Bahadur Shah Jafar
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((1775-1862)
Nana Saheb (1824-)
Tantia Tope
Rani Lachmibai
(1830-1858)
Kunwar Singh
Rebellion of Subaltern: Sepoys,
Peasants and Artisans
• Bakth Khan
• Moulavi
Imdiadullah
• Nature of
Peasant
Rebellion
• Rebellion of
Artisans
Administrative Changes
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The Transfer of Power
Declaration of Queen Victoria
No rise in Land Revenue
Decline of Muslim Aristocracy in
Indo-Gangetic Plains
Military Changes and the Idea of
Martial Race
Indian Army for Imperial Cause
Arms Act and Vernacular Press Act
of 1878
Criminal Tribes Act of 1871
Technocratic State
Alliance with conservative forces
Racial Tensions
New Empire