CHAPTER-I
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
The Uprising of 1857 was one of the largest and strongest anti
colonial movement in the East of Suez faced by British Imperialism in
the 19 t h century. The Uprising of 1857 forms one of the most important
chapter in the history of the struggle of the Indian people for liberation
from the British rule. It shook the foundations of the British Empire in
Indian and at some points its seemed at that time that the British rule
would end for all time to come. The Uprising started merely as a sepoy
mutiny soon engulfed the peasantry and other civilian population across
the wide areas of India.
The British rule which was formally established after the battle of
Plassey in 1757 in Bengal, aimed to fill the coffers of the East India
Company at the expenses of the Indians. East India Trading Company
established in 1600 by a group of merchants as 'The Company of
Merchants of London' trading in to the East Indi es, and later come to
be known as the Honourable East India Company (HEI C). After
obtaining trading rights by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, the Company
set up its first trading post in Surat in the early years of the 17 t h
century. A second factory and Fort St . George was opened in Madras in
1640 with the consent of the Vijayanagar ruler. 1
In 1651 Sultan Shuja issued a firman granting the Company the
privilege of trading in return for a fixed annual payment of duties worth
Rs. 3000. Another firman, granted in 1656, laid down that “the factory
of the English Company be no more troubled wi th demands of customs
for goods imported or exported either by land or by water, nor that their
goods be opened and forced from them at under rates in any places of
government by which they shall pass and repass up and down the
1
Paven K. Verma, The Illustrated History of the Freedom Struggle, p.20.
1
country, but that they buy and sell freely and without impediment.” But
the successors of Sultan Shuja did not consider the above said firman to
be binding on them and demanded that the English, in view of their
increasing trade, should pay duties similar to the other merchants. 2
Emperor Aurangzeb issued a firman in 1680 ordering that none
should molest the company and its people for customs or obstruct their
trade, and that “of the English nation, besides usual custom of 2 percent
for their goods, more 1½ jezia of poll money, shall b e taken.” 3 Bombay,
was given to king Charles II by the Portugueses as part of the dowry of
his bride Catherine of Braganza, and later on it was leased out to the
company in 1688. It was the site of Bombay Castle. A settlement, Fort
William, came into being in Calcutta in 1690. The British seeking to
expand their hold over the region began to intervene into the military
and political affairs of this region . 4
The most important event in the history of the Company during
the early 18 t h century was its embassy to the Mughul court in 1715, sent
with a view to securing privileges throughout Mughul India and some
villages round Calcutta. It was conducted from Calcutta by John
Surman,
assisted
by
Edward
Stephenson.
William
Hamilton
accompanied it as a surgeon and an Armenian named Khwaja Serhud as
an interpreter. Hamilton succeeded in curing the emperor Furrukhsiyar
of a painful disease, and he, being thus pleased with the English, issued
firmans complying with their request and directed the governors of the
provinces to observe them. 5 The privilege enjoyed by them that to the
payment of Rs. 3,000 per annum, was confirmed; they were permitted
to rent additional territory round Calcutta; their old privilege of
2
R.C. Majumdar, H.C. Ray Choudhuri, Kalikinkar Datta, An Advanced History of India,
p. 553.
3
Ibid, p. 554.
4
Pavan K. Verma, op.cit., p.20.
5
Sir George Dunbar, History of India, p. 220.
2
exemption from dues throughout the province of Hyderabad wa s
retained, they being required to pay only the existing rent for Madras;
they were exempted from the payment of all customs and dues at Surat
hitherto paid by them, in return for an annual sum of Rs. 10,000; and
the coins of the company minted at Bombay were allowed to have
currency throughout the Mughul dominions. 6
The English company from 1717 had been exporting goods from
Bengal free of duty. After 1756 its servants illegally extended the
exemption to their private trade within the province. The Indian
merchant were at a terrible disadvantage because they had to pay duty
and sell their wares at comparatively high prices. 7
Newab Siraj-ud-Daula of Bengal challenged the company‟s non
payment of customs duties which led to the battle of Plassey in 1757
and the defeat of the Nawab by Lor d Clive. Though little more then a
skirmish, this battle paved the way for the conquest of Bengal, and
subsequently, the whole of India. The combined challenge of the puppet
Nawab of Bengal Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Awadh and the disgruntled
Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II led to their complete collapse of power
in the Battle of Buxar in 1764. Clive procured the D iwani of Bengal,
enabling him to collect the revenues from Bengal, Bihar and Orissa,
and the Mughal Emperor was reduced to being a titular head. 8
The India's people opposed British exploitation and the harmful
policies at different levels during the 19 t h century in the form of
peasant and tribal uprisings. The early uprisings were not consciously
nationalist uprisings but in due course this contributed to the
emergence of nationalist consciences. To begin with, these peasant and
tribal revolts were organised against the British oppressive policies.
6
R.C. Majumdar, op.cit., p. 553.
K.A. Nilakenta Srstri, G. Srinivasachri, Advanced History of India, p. 593.
8
Pavan K. Verma, op.cit., p. 21.
7
3
However, later on these tribes were not only fighting the colonial rules,
the enemy outside, but they also tried to settle scores with the enemies
within, the exploiters the moneylenders, the rivals in regional power
structure and so on. 9
Starting with the Chuar rebellion in 1796 in Bihar and Bengal,
between 1836 and 1854, peasant revolts broke out in various parts of
the country. The tribals explended their fury by burning police stations,
government records and accounts books. The Kols of Bengal, the
Khasis of Meghalaya and the Gonds and Thonds of Orissa joined the
fray of tribal revolt. 10
There had been rural „rebellions‟ by peasants, tribals and others
before 1857: The Moplas in Malabar in 1849, 1851 and 1852, the Bhils
in 1819, 1829, 1844-46 and the Santhals in 1855-56. Apart from the
tribal rebellions, the Wahabis used the issue of faith effectively to
rouse dissent, arguing that the British would destroy the people‟s
faith. 11
The tribal movement from the late 18 t h century to the first half of
the 19 t h century culminated in the form of the Uprising of 1857. No
other event in the history of India has attract so much attention as the
Uprising of 1857. The uprising involved millions upon millions of
people scattered over a wide region. Though it originated with sepoys
but very soon it turned into the uprising of people. The rebels fou ght
bravely and posed a serious challenge to the British government. 12
9
K.S. Singh, The tribals and the 1857 uprising, social scientist, vol. 26, Nos. 1-4, Jan-April
1998, p. 76.
10
Pavan K. Verma, op.cit., p. 28.
11
Pramod K. Nayar (ed), The Penguin 1857 Reader, p. 5-6.
12
Syed Najmul Raza Rizvi, Some little known or unknown freedom fighters of the war of
Independence, 1857-58, Indian History Congress, Proceedings, 69 th session, 2008 New Delhi,
p.493.
4
The revolts of 1857 originated with the mutiny of the sepoys.
These sepoys were drawn mainly from the peasant population of North
and West India. Essentially the oppressive policies followed by the East
India Company were impoverishing and ruining the peasantry. This
must have affected the sepoys also. Infect most of them had joined the
military service in order to supplement their fast decling agricultural
income. 13 The Armies of Hindoostan have fought faithfully on behalf of
the king of London, and the Hon‟ble Company and conquered for them
the countries extending from Calcu tta to Peshawar. 14
That a spirit of disaffection was lurking in many of the sepoy
regiments had long been known to a number of officers who
communicated their impression to others. Si r Charles Napier, G.C.B.,
prior to leaving India, warned the government that a great portion of
the Bengal Army was disaffected. 15 He offered several suggestions
intended to check the discontent then prevailing, but Dalhousie paid no
need to these suggestions and no officer even dared to speak out his
real impression to the Governor–General if he had any about this
problem. 16
The history of the early mutinies shows that the discontent of the
sepoys may be attributed either to an unjust cutting of pay or an
interference with the religious prejudices of the soldiers. It is from the
time of the Afghan war that Indian officers expressed their disaffection
against the British. The Mahomedans were displeased because they
were employed against another Mahomedan power and the Hindus for
living in the foreign country and under conditions which offended the
rules of caste. One Zalim Singh of the 71 st regiment was even tried by
13
Home Department Proceeding, Pub., 26 Nov. 1858.
Foreign Secret Consolations, No.14, 30 April, 1858.
15
For the Mutiny predicted by Sir Charles Napier, see Keith young, Delhi 1857, p. 324.
16
Foreign Department Proceeding, Secret Consultations, No.14, 30 April, 1858.
14
5
courtmartial and dismissed from service for having criticised the
government for violating his caste. The sepoys silently nursed their
discontent and only waited for a suitable opportunity. 17
A devout Muslim would honour a devout Hindu, but both wo uld
look at those who deviated them from the way of their ancestors. If the
cockade led to loss of caste and consequently to tacit conversion to
Christianity, no power in the world could force them to wear it. 18
The adequacy of this religions thesis was one of the contributory
factors of the Uprising of 1857 cannot be doubted. This spirit of
disaffection in the army was reinforced by similar feelings of the civil
population in respect of religion, arising from the even increasing
pressure
of
western
civilization
including
the
whole
series
of
progressive measures from the established of the railways to the
legalisation of widow‟s marriages and the discrimination of female
education all being calculated, so the conservatives argued, to serve the
same purpose of converting Hindus and Mahomedans al ike. 19 The
missionary activities against early marriage and the purdah system, 20
the compulsory system of shaving, and the enlistment order of 1856,
compelling the sepoy to go wherever ordered – all these ruffled the
feelings of caste and strengthened the su spicion that the government
intended to force them all to embrace Christianity. 21
East India Company adopted an inhuman land-revenue policy, 22
permanent, Rayatwari and Mahalwari each more oppressive than the
17
S.B. Chaudhuri, Civil Rebellion in the Indian Mutinies (1857-59), p. 1.
S.N. Sen, Eighty Fifty Seven, p. 3.
19
Syed Ahmed Khan, The Causes of the Indian Revolt. p. 20.
20
G.B. Nortan, the Rebellion in India: How to Prevent Another, p. 176.
21
S.B. Chowdhry, op.cit., p. 4
22
S.C. Raychowdhry, Social Cultural and Economic History of India, pp. 7-8, 141-142. Karl
Marx had noted that the Indian Peasant had to bear an extremely heavy tax burden, extortion
violence and cruel torture applied The first war of independence 1857-59, p. 9.
18
6
other and which too account as a cause of the res entment among the
Indians. 23
The Governor – General, Dalhousie, propounded the „Doctrine of
lapse.‟ According to this Dalhousie refused to recognize the adoption in
the matter of succession to the states and annexed them. He
distinguished between the protected States and allies like Hyderabad
and Baroda which had been in existence before the advent of the British
and dependent states, which had been created by the British power. In
the case of the dependent Sates, those who were without heirs could not
exercise the right of adoption without the previous sanction of the
British Government. If sanction was sought, it was rarely granted. On
this principle Dalhousie claimed a number of States by Lapse. A typical
instance of Lapse was Satara (1848). In one sense it was a creation of
Lord Hastings in 1819 but as a matter of fact the ruling family traced
its descent to Sivaji. Even Elphinstone was shocked at th is annexation.
This destroyed the confidence of the people in the company‟s straight
forwardness. Nagpur, a state of 80,000 square miles with a revenue of
forty lacs, with the finest cotton lands in India and a straight road
between Calcutta and Bombay was annexed, on the principle of Lapse.
No successor for Arcot was recognized on the ground that the dignity
was personal and not hereditary (1855). A Similar line was taken with
regard to a large pension of eight lacs per annum granted to Bajirao
Peshwa. Dalhousie declined to pay it to Bajirao‟s adopted son, the Nana
Sahib. Dalhousie would have abolished the title of the Emperor of
Delhi but the court of Directors would not permit him to do so. Tanjore
shared the fate of Arcot. 24 There was misgovernment in Oudh as
asserted by the company government under the power of Dalhousie. By
23
24
S.B. Choudhary, op.cit., p. 8.
K.A. Nelkanta Sastri, G. Srinivasachari, op.cit., pp. 656-57.
7
order of Dalhousie, Nawab of Oudh was deposed on 7 February 1856
and
the
deposed
ruler
received
handsome
pension. 25
This
highhandedness of Dalhousie government caused a great amount of
resentment not only among the people at large but also among the
Indian Princes and Nawabs.
Religious interference of the Christianity and Missionaries also
played an important role in the outbreak of the Uprising of 1857. 26
Superstitions and rumours, 27 famines of 1803-04, 1813-14, 1816-17,
1825-26, 1832-34, 1837-38, 1851-52, 28 treasonable behaviour of the
East India Company towards the Mughal Emperor 29 and greased
cartridges 30 are some other major causes of the Uprising of 1857.
Greased cartridges containing the lubricating agent (tallow and
fat) were sent to India in 1853. Colonel Henry Tucker, then Staff
Officer in charge of equipment, Bengal army warned of a potential
danger. Sepoys at Kanpur were issued with the new ammunition who
did not use it. 31
The cartridges were later returned to England. Later in 1856, the
cartridges greased with an obnoxious fat manuf actured at Fort William,
Calcutta were supplied to different assenals at Kanpur, Meerut, Ambala
and Sialkot in Oct. 1856. 32
25
K.A. Nilakenta Sastri, op.cit., pp.657-658.
T.R.E. Holmes, History of the Mutiny, pp.75-76.
27
Shyam Narain Sinha, The Revolt of 1857 in Bundelkand, pp. 38-53.
28
Ibid. pp.45-60.
29
S.M. Edwards, A few Refelection on Buckler‟s Political Theory of the Indian family,
Indian Antiquity (ed.) by. R.C. Temple Bart, S.M. Edwards, S.S.K. Aiyanger, Vol. III,
p. 198.
30
R.C. Majumdar, The Sepoy, pp. 439-35.
J.A.B. Palmer raised aquestion that when in England no grease was required for the proper
loading of cartridges, then why a cartridge in those times had to be greased and bitter in
India. It seems that it was managed to hurt the feeling of Indian people. For this see, J.A.B.
Palmer, op.cit., p. 14.
31
Alexander Lewellyn, The Siege of Delhi, p. 9.
32
S.P. Verma, 1857 Revolt and contemporary visuals, p. 11
Military Department Proceeding, 2 Oct. 1857,
26
8
At the beginning of 1857, the East India Company had a
composite force of European and Indian troops to guard its interests in
India. By a coincidence the European troops were abnormally below
establishment, and amounted to some 4 regiments of cavalry, 31
regiments of Infantry and 64 batteries or companies of Artillery . There
were 6,170 officer and 39,352 man in these units. They were armed
with the Enfield rifle, and the artillery had 6pdr and 9pdr field guns,
and 24 pdr siege guns with 8 inch howitzers and mortars. The Indian
troops, who were armed with the old „Brown Bess‟ musket, were
divided into three armies based in Madras, Bomba y and Bengal. The
Bengal Army alone consisted of some 34 regiments of cavalry (regular
and irregular), 119 regiments of Infantry, 32 companies of Artillery and
6 companies of Engineers, with a total strength of some 135,767 troops
of all ranks. It is difficult to compute, with any accuracy, the exact
number of those troops that actually mutinied, but the figure probably
approaches 100,000 trained soldiers. The preponderance of Brahmins in
the Bengal Army was very great and a high proportion of th ese had
been recruited from Oudh, Chiefly the Byswara and Bonoda Divisions
of that Province. 33
On 22 nd January, 1857, Lieutenant Wright brought the report of
Colonel Henary Tucker to the notice of Major Bontein, Commanding
the Dum-Dum Musketry Depot. The next day Majo r Bontein wrote to
his superior official. “I last evening, paraded all the native portion of
the depot, and called for any complaints that the m en might wish to
prefer; at least two thirds of the detachment immediately stepped to the
front, including all the native commissioned officers. In a manner
perfectly respectful, they distinctly stated their objection to the present
33
P.J.O. Taylor, What really happened during the Mutiny; A day by day Account of the
Major Events of 1857-59 in India, p. 31.
9
method of preparing cartridges for the new rifle musket: the mixture
employed for greasing cartridges was opposed to their religious fe eling,
and as a remedy they begged to suggest the employment of wax and oil
in such proportion as in their opinion would answer the purpose
required. 34 It is clear that the first reaction among the sepoys was one
of fear and not of anger. They respectfully represented to Bontein why
they could not use the grease and suggested an alternative. Apart from
the rumours then prevalent, the sepoy had good grounds to suspect that
there was something wrong with the cartridge for it seeked with
grease. 35
On 24 t h January 1857, Major General Hearsey, too, warned of the
unpleasant feeling existing among the native soldiers at Barrackpore
regarding the grease used in preparing the cartridge. 36
It was in January 1857 that a sepoy from one of the regiments
stationed at Dum-Dum was walking to his Chowki, to prepare his food,
with his lota full of water. He was met by a low caste classis/ Khalasi
(arsenal man), The Classis/Khalasi asked him to let him drink from the
lota. The Sepoy (a Brahmin) refused, saying :
“I have scoured my lota, you will
Defile it by your touch.”
The classic/Khalasi rejoined:
“you think much of your cast, but
wait a little, the Sahib lough/log
will make you bite Catridges soaked in
court and port fat and then where
your caste be?”
34
Parliamentary papers, vol. 30, 1857, p. 3 Encl. 6 in letter to court, Feb. 7, 1857
S.N. Sen op.cit., pp. 41-42.
36
S.P. Verma, op.cit., p. 11.
35
10
The sepoy spread the word amongst his comrades at Dum-Dum. 37
On 29 March 1857, Mangal Pandey, a soldier of the 34 t h Bengal
Native Infantry, attacked his British sergeant at the Barrackpore parade
ground with a sword after after shooting at him, General Hearsey, who
said later that Pandey was in some kind of religious frenzy, ordered a
jemadar Ishwari Prasad to arrest him but the latter refused. In fact,
Mangel Pangey later tried to kill himself but was caught, court
martialled and hanged, along with Ishwari Prasad on 7 Ap ril 1857. The
entire regiment, later was dismissed. Other regiments of the Bengal
army were also disbanded. 38
There has been speculation that the chapattis were circulated
throughout the Northern Provinces during the early 1857 and these
chapattis bore coded messages that were passed between rebels to
establish contact and enlist support. But not much is known of this
phenomenon and it was stopped as mysteriously as it had begun. 39
By the first week of June, the revolt spread to almost all the
Gangetic Provinces and to parts of Central India. There were six main
centres: Kanpur, Lucknow, Jhansi, Bareilly, Gwalior and Ar rah in
Bihar. The dates of the risings at Meerut, Cawnpore and Jhansi were
separated by week, their circumstances and characters were divers e and
show no evidence of a general plan, merely of widespread, shared and
deeply-felt grievances. 40
In Meerut, on 10 t h May, 1857, eighty-five sepoys refused to
accept the fat coated cartridges. They were court martialled and handed
over to the civil police. This blunder by the British excited the other
sepoys but no precautions were taken by the British, the sepoys
37
R.C., Majumdar, op. cit., p. 69.
V.D. Savarkar, The Indian War of Independence, p. 63.
38
Pavan K. Verma, op.cit., 30.
39
Ibid, 33.
40
S.P. Verma, op.cit., p. 28.
11
swarmed into the prison, releasing their comrades, murdered some
British officers and set fire to the cantonment. The next morning, they
marched to Delhi, about forty miles away there was only a small British
garrison and the sepoys overpowered it. On 11 May, the Rebels rallied
round, Bahadur Shah Zafar the Mughal Emperor, and proclaimed him
emperor of Hindustan. The sepoys now had the political s anctity of
fighting for their sovereign. 41
In Cawnpone, the revolt was led by Nana Saheb the adopted son
of Peshwa. Nana Saheb attacked the town, assisted by his commander
Tantia Tope 42 and in Lucknow and Cownpore the rebels had assumed a
posture of strength. The trained soldiers of the Gwalior conting ant,
numbering nearly five thousand, were also approaching towards
Cawnpore and Cawnpore was only fifty three miles from Lucknow „on
one side, and only forty miles from Kalpi on the other.‟ 43 To the South
of Narbada, the movement had gained great strength in the month of
November. The rebel chiefs were plundering in every direction. The
garrison at Sagar to the north of the Narbada was still without relief
and Damoh could not be retaken. Naturally the people thought that
British rule was fast passing away and that Delhi had been captured. 44
The flame of rebellion flared up in a virulent from in the division
of Allahabad. The ousted zamindars of the trans Jumna parganas
encouraged by the success of rebel forces a t Cawnpore rose in revolt
and threw the whole country into confusion. The leader of a village,
Hanuman by name, collected a following of two thousand men and
started a commotion. 45 In the parganas to the north of the Ganges, the
Nazim Fazal Azim was holding sway over the area, and all the villages
41
Pavan K. Verma, op.cit., p. 31.
Home Department Proceeding, Pub., No.40-41, 29 July 1858, p. 102.
43
S.B. Chaudhari, op.cit., p. 46.
44
Foreign Political Department IX, 378; Narrative of Events to 2 nd November.
45
Foreign Political Department IX 599: Narrative of events to 19 December.
42
12
of the Secundra pargana, north of Phulpur, were occupied by the rebels.
This portion of the Allahabad district lying between the Ganges and
Jaunpur had been for months past under the undisputed power of the
usurping government. 46
In the Central India, where the rulers remained loyal to the
British, the army also revolted and joined the rebels. Thousands of
Indore‟s troops joined in the rebellious sepoys. Similarly over 20,000
of Gwalior‟s troops went over to Tantya T ope and Rani of Jhansi. In
the whole of North and Central India the British power was limited
only to the towns of Agra and Lucknow. 47
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS 48
Date
January, 1857
Event
George Harvey, Commissioner, Agra Division
reported the circulation of the mysterious
chapattis. It spread across the northern and
central India during January- March 1857.
January 22, 1857
A lascar attached to Dum Dum musketry depot
to a high caste Hindu sepoy that the new
cartridge were smeared with the fat of cows
and pigs and that the British had done it
deliberately to destroy the religion of both
Hindus and Muslims.
January 28, 1857
Divisional
Division
Commander
of
46
the
army,
of
the
Barrackpur
General
Hearsey
Foerign Political Department VIII, 93-94: Report by R. Strachey.
K.A.N. Sastri, op.cit., p.671.
48
Parmod K. Nayar, op.cit., pp. XI-XII.
S.B. Chaudhri, English Historical writings on the Indian Mutinies 1857-59, pp. 365-368
Civil Rebellion in the Indian Mutiny 1857-59, pp. 365-367.
PJO Taylor, A Companion to the Indian Mutiny of 1857, pp. 355-365.
S.P. Verma, op.cit., pp. 103-109.
47
13
reported
to
the
Governor
General,
Lord
Canning, that there was ill-feeling among his
men on the issue of cartridges.
February 9, 1857
General Hearsey paraded the entire brigade
and tried to disabuse their minds by telling
them that the government had no intention of
interfering with their religion and that the
story they heard had no basis. His men
listened to him but did not believe him.
February 26, 1857
Scpoys of the 19th BNI at Behrampur in
Bengal
disobeyed
their
commander
Col
Mitchell by refusing to file the cartridges,
They resumed their duties obediently and
sincerely but there was a feeling that the
disobedient lot would be punished.
March 19, 1857
General Anson, the Commander-in-Chief in
India arrived at Ambala on inspection escorted
by a detachment the 36th BNI. Two non
commissioned native officers of the s ame
regiment under training at the musketry depot
rushed out to meet their comrades but were
denounced
for
handling
the
accursed
cartridges.
March 29, 1857
Scpoy Mangal Pande of the 34th BNI came out
of the lines with his loaded musket and
wounded
two
Europeans-his
adjutant
and
sergeant major. No one came to their rescue.
Order to arrest Mangal Pande was not obeyed.
In the melee that followed, Pande, turned the
14
musket on himself and fell down wounded. He
was arrested and taken off to the hospital.
This
day
marks
the
true
~outbreak
of
"mutiny".
March 31, 1857
The 19th BNI was, disbanded 'at Barrackpur .
The whole regiment had been marched from
Berhampur to Barrackpur for the purpose.
April 8, 1857
Mangal Pande was hanged at Barrackpur.
April 17, 1857
Fires broke out in Ambala cantonment in the
government bungalows and officer's quarters.
This was, in all probability, the result of the
government's
cussedness
characterized
by
their refusal to withdraw the hated cartridges.
April 24, 1857
Eighty five skirmishers or carabineers of the
2 nd Light Cavalry at Meerut in a parade
refused to receive the cartridges with whi ch
they were to practice the new method of
tearing the cartridges.
May 6, 1857
Seven companies of 34th BNI were disbanded
at Barrackpur for their “mutinous” conduct on
March 29.
May 8, 1857
All the eighty five skirmishers of 3 r d Light
Cavalry
who
had
refused
to
accept
the
cartridges were found guilty by a general
court martial and were sentenced to 10 years
of imprisonment- with hard labour.
May 9, 1857
In a parade of the entire brigade, the eighty
five were stripped of their uniforms and their
15
arms and legs were shackled and pinioned.
Then they were marched off to the civil jail at
Meerut.
May 10, 1857
The mutiny-began this evening at Meerut. The
3 r d Cavalry galloped to the jail and released
their comrades. The infantry regiments 11 t h
and 20 t h BNI also joined them. The houses of
Europeans were set on fire, some Europeans
were killed. The same night the "mutineers"
proceeded to Delhi 64 kilometres (40 miles)
away.
May 11, 1857
Meerut “mutineers” arrived Delhi and were
joined
by
the
Europeans
and
murdered.
A
local
native
native
telegram
troops,
All
Christians
were
was
from
sent
Delhi Telegraph office to Ambala and all
stations of Punjab, conveying the news of the
revolt and massacre which alerted the British
Government.
May 13, 1857
Bahadur Shah proclaimed the Emperor of
India. All the native regiments at Mian Mir
near Lahore ie 16 t h , 26 t h and 40 t h BNI and 8 t h
Cavalry comprising about 3800 soldiers were
disbanded.
Partial
mutiny
of
sepoys
at
Ferozepur in Punjab.
May 16, 1857
Mutiny of Roorkee Sappers and Miners at
Meerut. They were on their way to Delhi. 4 t h
BNI disarmed at Kangra and Hoshiarpur.
May 19, 1857
Incendiarism continues unabated at Amb ala.
16
May 20, 1857
The 9 t h BNI mutinied at Aligarh. 55 th BNI
mutinied at Hoti Mardan.
May 21, 1857
The 24 t h , 27 t h , 64 t h and 51 st BNI along with 5 t h
Cavalry were disarmed at Peshawar. General
Wheeler
commenced
his
entrenchment
at
Kanpur.
May 22, 1857
Three companies of 9th BNI mutinied at
Mainpuri. At Etawah another detachment of
9 t h BNI mutinied. A.O. Hume, the Collector of
Etawah escaped dressed as an Indian woman.
Mutiny at Bulandshahr.
May 24, 1857
Mutiny at Hathras.
May 27, 1857
General George Anson, the Commander-inChief died of cholera at Karnal.
May 28, 1857
Mutiny at Nasirabad near Ajmer.
May 29, 1857
Mutiny
spreads
in
the
North
Western
Provinces. The 5 th BNI and 4 t h Cavalry
disarmed at Ambala.
May 30, 1857
Battle
of
Hindon
Ghaziuddin
Brigadier
near
Ghaziabad
Nagar).
British
forces
Archdale
Wilson
defeated
( then
under
the
“rebels”. Mutiny of the troops at Lucknow
began with the firing of the 9 O Clock gun.
Mutiny of Bharatpur state troops at Mathura.
May 31, 1857
The second battle of Hindon. Mutiny of native
troops
at
Shahjahanpur;
and
Rohilkhand.
June 1, 1857
Mutiny at Moradabad and Badaun.
17
Bareilly
in
June 2, 1857
Mutiny at Saharanpur.
June 3, 1857
Mutiny at Azamgarh and Sitapur.
June 4, 1857
Mutiny at Nimach, Disarming of 37th BNI at
Varanasi. The disarming was mismanaged and
in the confusion that followed there was a
partial mutiny by the Ludhiana Sikhs, Mutiny
at Kanpur-2 nd light cavalry, 1 s t , 56 t h and 74 t h
BNI rises in revolt. Mutiny of 41 st BNI and 4 t h
Oudh Irregulars near Lucknow.
June 5, 1857
12 t h BNI at Jhansi occupy the Star Fort at
Jhansi. At Kanpur, the Europeans take shelter
in “Wheeler‟s Intrenchment”. 53 r d BNI also
joined
the
mutiny
at
Kanpur
Mutiny at
Jaunpur.
June 6, 1857
Full mutiny at Jhansi where all the infa ntry
and cavalry rose in revolt. Some soldiers of
6 t h BNI revolt at Allahabad. Communication
of Calcutta with Agra cut. Beginning of the
siege of Wheeler‟s intrenchment at Kanpur.
Nana Sahib proclaimed Peshwa at Kanpur.
June 7, 1857
6 t h Cavalry, 36 t h BNI and 61 st BNI mutinied at
Jalandhar. Mutiny of 22 nd BNI, 6 th Oudh
Irregular Infantry and 15 t h Irregular Cavalry at
Faizabad.
June 8, 1857
Massacre of Europeans at Jhansi, Battle of
Badli-ki-Serai near Delhi. The "rebels" were
driven back and retired within walls of the
city. The Ridge, north west of Delhi occupied
18
by British forces under General Barnard who
had succeeded Anson as C-in-C. The siege of
Delhi begins.
June 9, 1857
Mutiny at Sultanpur in Avadh. Mutiny at
Fatehpur Widespread mutiny-in Avadh.
June 10, 1857
Mutiny at Gonda in Avadh. Mutiny of 60 t h
BNI at Rohtak.
June 11, 1857
Colonel Neill arrived at Allahabad and gave
effect
to
his
policy
of
utmost
and
indiscriminate vengeance.
June 12, 1857
Massacre of 130 European fugitives from
Fatehgarh at Bithur.
June 13, 1857
Partial mutiny of 1 s t Irregular Cavalry of the
Nizam‟s Contingent at Aurangabad.
June 14, 1857
Mutiny
of
Gwalior
Contingent
at
Morar
Cantonment near Gwalior.
June 15, 1857
Mutiny of Hyderabad Contingent suppressed.
There was no further mutiny among the
Hyderabad contingent.
June I8, 1857
Mutiny of 10 t h BNI at Fatehgarh.
June 27, 1857
Evacuation
of
Wheeler‟s
Intrenchment
at
Kanpur. Massacre of Europeans, who were
given safe passage to Allahabad, at Satichaura
Ghat,
Kanpur.
Only
four
Europeans-two
officers and two men managed to escape.
June 30, 1857
Sir Henry Lawrence defeated at Chinhut and
retreats to Lucknow Residency. The siege of
the Residency begins.
19
July 1, 1857
Mutinies at Indore, Mhow and Sagar in
Central India. Bakht Khan, the Bareilly leader
arrived Delhi with the Bareilly Brigade.
July 2, 1857
Bakht Khan was declared Commander -inChief of the King's army.
July 4, 1857
Sir
Henry Lawrence
Lucknow
Residency.
died
of
Mutiny
wounds
of
at
Kotah
Contingent at Agra.
July 5, 1857
General Barnard, the C-in-C dies of cholera.
Battle of Sussiah near Agra.
July 6, 1857
Nana Sahib's Proclamation issued at Kanpur.
July 7, 1857
Mutiny of 14 t h BNI at Jhelum in Punjab.
Major
General
Havelock's
column
left
Allahabad for succour of Kanpur/ Lucknow.
July 9, 1857
Mutiny of 46th BNI and 9th Light Cavalry at
Sialkot.
July 12, 1857
The battle of Trimmu Ghat on the Ravi river
which the Sialkot “mutineers” were trying to
cross on their way to Delhi. Nicholson caught
up with them and defeated them.
July 15, 1857
Massacre of women and children at Bibigh ur
(Kanpur). Havelock won victories at Aong and
in the Battle of Pandu River.
July 16, 1857
Battle of Kanpur. Nana Sahib defeated by
Havelock.
July 17, 1857
British retake Kanpur. Nimach Brigade arrived
in Delhi thus strengthening King's forces.
20
July 25, 1857
July 27, 1857 Munity of 7 t h , 8 t h and 40 t h BNI
at Danapur Siege of Arrah House begins.
July 29, 1857
Havelock having crossed the Ganga from
Khanpur, defeated the Avadh “rebels‟ mainly
taluqdari troops, at Unnao and Bashiratganj.
July 30, 1857
Defeat of British forces under Captain Dunbar
near Arrah. Disarmed 26 t h BNI fled in panic
from Mian Mir, near Lahore.
July 31, 1857
Men of 26 t h BNI apprehended while crossing
the Ravi River. All were brutally massacred
by Cooper, Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar.
Mutiny at Kolhapur of 27 t h Bombay NI – the
only instance of mutiny in Bombay army. It
was suppressed by Lieutenant Kerr of South
Mahratta Horse from Satara.
August 1, 1857
Arrah House relieved by Major Vincent Eyre.
August 8, 1857
Nicholson arrived in Delhi ahead of the
Punjab Moveable Column.
August 11, 1857
Major Vincent Eyre burnt Kunwar Singh‟s
palace and temple, at Jagdishpur.
August 13, 1857
Havelock fell back to Kanpur as his forces
were inadequate for further march for relief of
Lucknow. The new Commander-in-Chief in
India, Sir Colin Campbell arrived at Calcutta.
August 16, 1857
Havelock defeated Nana Sahib's forces at
Bithur. Though the sepoys had fought most
valiantly.
21
August 17, 1857
Sir Colin Campbell, /the permanent C -in-C in
succession to Anson took over charge today.
On the eve of his taking charge, the situation
for the British was dismal--the rebellion had
spread all across north and central India.
August 19, 1857
10 t h Light Cavalry mutinied at Ferozepur and
went away to Delhi.
August 22, 1857
The
entire
Jodhpur
Region
mutinied
at
Erinpura (Now Sheoganj).
August 25, 1857
Battle of Najafgarh. Nicholson defeated sepoy
forces of Nimach Brigade.
August 28, 1857
The disarmed 51 st BNI at Peshawar rose in
open revolt when they were searched for
hidden arms and were taunted and insulted by
the Afreedi levies.
August 29, 1857
The
men
of
unarmed
51 st
BNI
were
mercilessly hunted down under the orders of
Brigadier Cotton. All of them were killed in
cold blood.
September 2, 1857
"General
James
Commissioner
of
Outram,
Avadh
the
designate
Chief
and
Commander of both Danapur and Kanpur
Divisions arrived Allahabad from Calcutta
Insurrection of Dhoondtribes at Murree ne ar
Rawalpindi.
September 8, 1857
Babu Kunwar Singh was in the vicinity of
Rewah. Gurkhas of Jung Bahadur reached
Jaunpur to assist the British for the relief of
22
Lucknow. Lord Canning had agreed to Jung
Bahadur‟s proposal to help British put down
the “rebellion”.
September 9, 1857
John Russell Colvin died at Agra. He was the
Lieutenant-Governor of the North Western
Provinces.
September 11, 1857
Massive cannonading on the city of Delhi by
the British.
September 14, 1857
The British assault on Delhi began. Nominal
command of Delhi Field Force was with
Archdale Wilson but it was John Nicholson
who called the shots. Kashmir Gate was the
main centre of attack. Nicholson w as mortally
wounded. The assault was followed by hand to
hand and street by street fighting which lasted
seven days.
September 15, 1857
Outram joined Havelock and Neill at Kanpur.
Outrarn gave command to Havelock so that
the latter could have the honour of relieving
Lucknow garrison.
September 16, 1857
The Gond Raja Shankar Shah and his son were
arrested at Jabalpur on charges of conspiracy
against the British. Rebellion of Punjabi
Muslims
(Khurrai
and
Kathia
tribes)
at
Gogaira near Multan in Punjab.
September 18, 1857
Shankar Shah, the Gond Raja and his son were
executed at Jabalpur by being blown from
guns. This gruesome act provoked 52 nd BNI
who were cantoned at Jabalpur and they rose
23
in revolt in the night.
September 19, 1857
Havelock and Outram set forth from Kanpur
for the relief of Lucknow.
September 20, 1857
After a fierce street to street fighting, Delhi
fell to British forces and then began one of the
worst atrocities the city had ever seen. Mass
murder, plundering and looting followed on an
unprecedented
scale
eclipsing
even
the
atrocities of Nadir Shah. The King Bahadur
Shah, took refuge in the tomb of Humayunone of his ancestors.
September 21, 1857
Captain Hodson of Hodson‟s House arrested
the King from Humayun‟s tomb.
September 22, 1857
Hodson shot down in cold blood three Mughal
princes including Mirza Mughal just outside
the Delhi Gate of the city.
September 25, 1857
“The First Relief of Lucknow” by Outram and
Havelock.
October 15, 1857
The Gwalior Contingent which had mutinied
on June 14 but were held in check by Scindia,
joined the mainstream “rebels”. At Kotah,
Maharao of Kota's troops mutinied and killed
the Political Agent, Major Burton and his two
young sons.
October 19, 1857
Babu Kunwar Singh of Jagdishpur reached
Kalpi on the river Yamuna in Bundelkhand.
October 28, 1857
Sir Colin Campbell departed from Calcutta for
the operational areas of north India.
24
November 7, 1857
Gwalior Contingent and Babu Kunwar Singh
with 40 t h BNI began their advance upon
Kanpur.
November 8, 1857
Malwa Contingent mutinied at Mehidpur.
November 9, 1857
Campbell crossed into Avadh.
November 12, 1857
Campbell reached Alambagh.
November 16, 1857
Campbell attacked Lucknow. Sikanderbagh, a
walled garden, was taken after a desperate
fight in which about 2000 sepoys defending
the position were killed. Shah Najaf was -also
taken by the British.
November 17, 1857
Sir Colin Campbell entered the Residency in
Lucknow in what is known as “The Second
Relief”.
November 23, 1857
Lucknow
Residency
evacuated.
Campbell
prepares to leave Lucknow keeping Outram
ensconced at Alambagh with a large force.
Battle of Mandsaur. Prince Feroze Shah's
forces defeated by Brigadier Stuart of the
Bombay Army.
November 24, 1857
Havelock died of dysentery and was buri ed at
Alambagh.
November 28, 1857
General Wyndham, who was left in charge of
Kanpur
during
Campbell's
absence
at
Lucknow was decisively defeated by the
troops of Gwalior Contingent led by Tatia
25
Tope.
November 30, 1857
Men,
women
and
children
of
Lucknow
garrison crossed the Ganga into Kanpur.
Campbell
remained
busy overseeing
their
evacuation to Allahabad. Devi Singh Guntia,
the revolutionary leader of Jabalpur today
burnt the police station of Shahpur.
December 6, 1857
Campbell defeated Tatia Tope in what is
known as the third battle of Kanpur.
December 7, 1857
General Hope Grant caught up with the
“rebel” army retreating after the battle of
Kanpur and defeated them at Sheorajpur Ghat
on the Ganga.
December 14, 1857
Brigadier
Stuart
reoccupied
Indore.
The
“rebel” leader of Jabalpur Devi Singh Guntia
captured and executed.
December 19, 1857
Mainpuri reoccupied by the British.
January 2, 1858
Battle
of
Khudaganj.
Campbell
defeated
Rohilkhand troops of Bakht Khan.
January 6, 1858
Major General Sir Hugh Rose, Commander of
the Central India Field Force began the
Central India campaign.
January 7, 1858
The trial of Bahadur Shah Zafar began in the
Red Fort today. The farcical trial would last
till March 9. The Chief British prosecutor was
Major
Harriott,
Deputy
Judge
Advocate-
General who had also presided over the
26
general court martial at Meerut which h ad
condemned the eighty five troopers of the 3 r d
Cavalry to 10 years of imprisonment with hard
labour.
January 29, 1858
Sir Hugh Rose captured the impregnable
fortress
of
Rahatgarh
-
the
key
to
the
erntrance to Sagar fromthe west. Muhanmad
Fazal Khan, who was holding the fort was
hanged.
February 3, 1858
Rose relieved Sagar after a siege of seven'
months.
February 9, 1858
Delhi Revenue Division which was under
North Western Provinces was placed under the
Punjab Government.
February 12, 1858
Rose
captured
Garhakotta,
a
fort
of
exceptional strength.
March 2, 1858
Campbell
began
operations
for
the
final
capture of Lucknow.
March 9, 1858
The court trying Bahadur Shah, as expected,
found him guilty. He was sentenced to be
transported beyond the seas to Rangoon as a
felon. Major Herriott, who had headed the
court
left
India
shortly
after
sentencing
Bahadur Shah, died suddenly at Southampton
on landing from the mail steamer. About
30,000 pounds were found in his baggage and
it was also found that- he had left property to
a nephew to the tune of 1,000,000 pounds!
27
March 11, 1858
Jung Bahadur and his Gurkhas met up with
Campbell outside Lucknow.
March 14, 1858
Lucknow fell to the British but Avadh was far
from being subdued.
March 16, 1858
Nana Sahib reported to be in Shahjahanpur in
Rohilkhand.
March 17, 1858
Babu Kunwai Singh at Atraulia twenty five
miles from Azamgarh.
March 21, 1858
Rose arrived before Jhansi.
March 23, 1858
Investment of Jhansi began.
March 26, 1858
Babu Kunwar Singh occupied the city of
Azamgarh.
March 30, 1858
Kotah captured by Rajputana Field Force
under H G Roberts.
April 1, 1858
Rose defeated Tatia Tape in the Battle of
Betwa River in one of the most crucial
engagements of the entire rebellion.
April 3, 1858
Jhansi
city
captured
by
Rose.
The
city
mercilessly sacked by the British troops. The
Rani escaped.
April 5, 1858
The Rani of Jhansi reached Konch.
April 6, 1858
Babu Kunwar Singh was defeated by British
forces under Lord Mark Kerr near Azamgarh .
April 21, 1858
Babu Kunwar Singh while crossing the Ganga
at Shivpur Ghat was hit by artillery fire and
his one arm was shattered. He cut off his own
shattered arm and consigned it into the Ganga.
28
April 23, 1858
Babu Kunwar Singh defeated Captain Le
Grand at Jagdishpur who was driven back to
Arrah. Le Grand had suffered heavy casualties
at the hands of the dying Kunwar Singh.
April 24, 1858
Babu Kunwar Singh died of his wounds at
Jagdishpur.
May 3, 1858
The Maulavi (of Faizabad) at Shahjahanpur
attacked the British forces under Colonel
Hale.
May 5, 1858
Battle
of
Bareilly.
Bareilly
occupied
by
Campbell.
May 7, 1858
Rose defeated Tatia Tope at Konch.
May 11, 1858
General
Henry
Jones,
who
had
relieved
Colonel Hale at Shahjahanpur continued to be
attacked by the Maulavi of Faizabad. The
Maulavi was being constantly reinforced by
Begum Hazrat Mahal, Prince Firoz Shah and
even Nana Sahib.
May 22, 1858
The Battle of Kalpi took place today. The
situation was tough and finally the Camel
Corps turned the tide in favour of the British.
This was a decisive victory for them as any
failure at this stage would have rekindled the
fire of rebellion throughout India.
May 27, 1858
Rani of Jhansi with the help of Rao Sahib and
Tatia Tope decided to move upon Gwalior. It
was thought that its strong fortress and the
popular support would make their position
29
invincible. Rose who had already demitted
command, assumed command once again when
this startling news reached him.
May 30, 1858
The Rani, Rao Sahib, Tatia Tope and the
Nawab of Banda at Gwalior at the head of
7000 infantry. 4000 Cavalry and twelve guns.
Morar Cantonment occupied by them.
May 31, 1858
Scindia‟s army joined the “rebel” forces.
Scindia fled to Agra.
June 1, 1858
Gwalior in the hands of the "rebels" who were
thus reinforced with the stores, arms and
ammunition of Maharaja Scindia.
June 15, 1858
Maulavi
Ahmadullah
Shah
killed
by
the
nephew of the Raja of Powayan where he had
gone with the Nawab of Najibabad to seek
monetary and material help in the fight against
the British.
June 16, 1858
Rose arriving from Kalpi defeated the “rebels”
in the Battle of Morar.
June 17, 1858
Battle of Kotah-Ki-Sarai, The Rani of Jhansi
who was dressed as a cavalry soldier was
killed by a Hussar who had no idea what he
had done.
June 19, 1858
Battle of Gwalior was fought today. Rose
defeated the “rebels”.
June 20, 1858
Rose captured Gwalior fort.
June 21, 1858
The Battle of Jaora-Alipur, Colonel Robert
Napier defeated the “rebel” army conclusively
30
and captured all their guns. End of Rose‟s
regular campaign.
June 29, 1858
Rose handed over command to Napier.
August 3, 1858
Man Singh. Raja of Narwar captured -Paori
near Shivpuri but was shortly driven out by
Napier.
November 1, 1858
Queen‟s Victoria‟s Proclamation-Announcement of the transfer of authority from the
Company to the Crown. The Proclamation
which was read out in the principal cities of
India offered unconditional pardon to all
“rebels” not guilty of “murdering British
subjects” or harbouring such murderers.
November 8, 1858
Lal Madho Singh, the Raja of Amethi and a
leading Taluqdar of Avadh submitted and
surrendered his fortress to Campbell, (now
Lord Clyde).
November 12, 1858
Another leading Taluqdar, Rana Beni Madho
of Shankarpur surrendered his fort and moved
away refusing to accept the liberal terms
offered to him by Clyde.
November 25, 1858
Raja of Gonda, Devi Baksh was defeated by
Hope Grant and Gonda occupied by the
British.
December 4, 1858
Bahadur Shah Zafar with his Queen Z eenat
Mahal along with a young son and some
women of jenana boarded a steamship. They
were not told of their destination (Rangoon)
31
until after the- steamer had departed.
December 23, 1858
Hope Grant defeated Bala Rao at Tulsipur who
then retreated towards Nepal with all his
forces.
January 4, 1859
The remaining forces of Bala Rao defeated by
Hope Grant Bala Rao was driven into the
Nepal terai' alongwith other principal leaders
of the rebellion ie Nana Sahib, Begum Hazrat
Mahal, her son Birjis Qadr, Jwala Prasad,
Beni Madho and Khan Bahadur Khan. With
this
action,
Hope
Grant
considered
the
“mutiny” finally extinguished in Avadh. Clyde
concurred with this opinion and ordered Grant
to keep the frontier with Nepal sealed.
January 21, 1859
Tatia Tope defeated at Sikar, Break up of
Tatia‟a army. Tatia went off to join Man
Singh of Narwar.
March 9, 1859
The British persuade Man Singh to surrender.
April 2, 1859
Man Singh surrendered to the British. The
British made him agree to betray Tatia Tope.
April 8, 1859
Tatia Tope betrayed and captured and taken to
Shivpuri when he was put on trial. The trial
was farcical from the
beginning
and
as
expected he was, ordered to be hanged.
April 18, 1859
Tatia Tope hanged by the British at Shivpuri.
With this, the rebellion in Central India was at
an end.
32
July 8, 1859
Canning
declared
“A
state
of
peace”
throughout India.
September 24, 1859
Reported death of Nana Sahib at Deokur
Valley in Nepal.
December, 1859
Capture of Amar Singh. Babu Kunwar Singh's
brother by Gurkhas in the Terai. He was
handed over to the British and lodged in
Gorakhpur jail.
December 9, 1859
Reported capture of Khan Bahadur Khan, the
Bareilly leader by the forces of Jung Bahadur
in Nepal.
February 5, 1860
Death of Amar Singh in Gorakhpur hospital
jail.
March 24, 1860
Khan Bahadur Khan brought to Bareilly and
hanged.
May 3, 1860
Jwala Prasad, one of Nana Sahib‟s advisors
and a military leader was hanged at Satichaura
Ghat.
April 9, 1862
Rao Saheb, nephew of Nana Sahib, who was
living in disguise at Chenani in Jammu was
betrayed by a fellow Maharashtrian to the
British.
August 20, 1862
Rao Saheb was hanged at Satichaura Ghat.
November 7, 1862
Bahadur Shah Zafar died in Rangoon (now
Yangon) in Burma (now Myanmar).
December 17, 1877
Prince Firoz Shah reportedly died in Mecca in
a state of penury. His wife was sanctioned a
paltry sum of Rs 5/- as pension which was
33
later increased to Rs 100/- with the condition
that the same would cease with her death.
The British captured Delhi on 20 September, 1857, 49 even before
this the rebels had suffered many r everses in Kanpur, Agra, Lucknow
and some other places. 50 These earlier reverses did not dampen the
rebel‟s spirits. But the fall of Delhi, on the other hand, struck a heavy
blow to them. It now became clear why the British concentrated with so
much attention to retain Delhi at all cost. And for this they suffered
heavily both in men and material. 51 In Delhi, Emperor Bahadur Shah
was taken a prisoner and the royal princes were captured, and
butchered. 52 One by one, all the great leaders of the revolt fell. Nan a
Sahib was defeated at Kanpur after which the escaped to Nepal early in
1859. 53
Tatya Tope escaped into the jungles of central India where he
carried on bitter guerrilla warfare until April 1859 when he was
betrayed by a Zamindar friend and captured while asleep. He was
hurriedly tried and put to death on 15 t h April, 1859. 54
The Rani of Jhansi died on the field of battle on 17 t h June, 1858. 55
By 1859, Kunwar Singh, Bakht Khan, Khan Bahadur Khan of Bareilly,
Maulavi Ahmadullah were all dead, while the Begum of Awadh escaped
to Nepal. 56 By the end of 1859, the British authority over India was reestablished, fully and firmly. 57
49
P.J.O. Taylor op.cit., pp.127-128.
Foreign Political Department, viii, 99-100: Narrative of Events to 18 February.
51
Shamsul Islam (Ed), Letters of Spies and Delhi was lost, pp. 25-26.
52
William Dalrymple, The last Mugnal; The fall of Dynasty, pp.422-423.
53
S.N. Sen, op.cit., p.369.
54
PJO Taylor, Chronicles of the Mutiny and other Historical Sketches, pp. 80-81.
55
Foreign Political Department VIII, 99-100; Nauative of Events to 18 Feb.
56
S.N. Sen, op.cit., pp.221, 370.
57
Sir Herney Lovett, A History of the Indian Nationalist Movement, pp. 15-16.
50
34
Apart from those acknowledged leaders who are remembered for
their
patriotism
and
courage,
there
were
many
unknown
and
unacknowledged but no less valiant leaders among the sepoys,
peasantry and petty Zamindars. They also fought the British with
exemplary courage to expel them from India. Peasants and sepoys laid
down their lives for the cause of their country, forgetting their religious
and caste differences and rising above their narrow personal interests.
There were many causes which led to the collapse of this mighty
rebellion.
The rebellion swept off the British system of government and
administration in India but the rebels did not know what to create in its
place. They had no forward looking plan in mind. 58
The prominent
leaders of rebellion like, Nana Saheb, Begum of Awadh, Rani of Jhansi,
etc., did not possessed any unified programme. It was because of the
failure of these leader, that the British had earlier been able to conquer
almost the whole of India. The rebel forces did not created a new sense
of unity among the Indian people which alone could have created a
rebel alternative to the British rule. 59
No broad based unity emerged among the Indian people during
the rebel. 60 While sepoys of the Bengal army were revolting, some
soldiers in Panjab fought on the side of the British to crush these
rebellions. 61 The Sikhs also did not support the rebels. They had their
reasons to do so. The possibility of the revival of Mughal authority
created a fear among the Sikhs who had faced so much oppression at the
hands of the Mughals. 62 The Zamindars of Bengal Presidency were the
creation of the British; and had all the reasons to support them. The
58
59
60
61
62
Ambala Division Records, Volume-2, Judicial-No.293.
R.C. Majumdar, op.cit., pp. 94-95.
Mutiny Records, Volume-8, Part-I, p-330.
Punjab to Government of India, Foreign consultation No.2, 17 Nov., 1957.
N.M. Kilhani, Punjab under the Lawrance, p.136.
35
same applied to the big merchants of Calcuta, Bombay and Madras who
did not go over to the rebels but supported the British. 63
The modern educated Indians also did not supported the revolt
because, in their view, the revolt was backward -looking. This educated
middle class was the product of the British system of education and
they believed mistakenly that the British would lead the country
towards modernisation. 64
The main problem however, was lack of unity in the ranks of
rebels themselves. Their leaders were suspicious and jealous of each
other and often indulged in petty quarrels. 65 The Begam of Awadh, for
example, quarrelled with Maulvi Ahmdullah, and the Mug hal princes
with the sepoy-generals. Azimullah, the political adviser of the Nana
Saheb. Thus, selfishness and narrow perspecive of the leaders
suppressed the strength of the revolt and prevented its consolidation. 66
Another major factor for the defeat of the rebels was the British
superiority in arms. The British imperialism, at the height of it s power
the world over and supported by most of the Indian princes and chiefs,
proved militarily too strong for the rebels. 67 The rebels were lacking in
discipline and a central commend and they could not win against a
powerful and determined enemy who plan ned its strategy skilfully. 68
Because of ill-discipline they lost more men and material than the
British in every encounter. 69
However, in consequence of the Uprising of 1857 the British
parliament decided to abolish the power of the Company and transfer
63
Ajay Kumar (ed.), Udbhawna,,Nature of 1857, by R.C. Majumdar, p.105.
Ibid, p.151.
65
R.C. Majumdar, op.cit., pp.348-349.
66
Ibid, p.483.
67
S.N. Sen, op.cit., p.198.
68
Ibid, p.229.
69
Ibid, p. 311.
64
36
the Government of India directly to the Crown. To this end, Act of
1858 was passed. A Secretary of State of India now took the place of
President of the Board of Control. He was to be advised by a Council of
fifteen appointed at first, 'during good behaviour' and work fourteen to
fifteen years. The first eight was appointed by Crown and seven by the
Council itself. The Governor-General could no longer consider himself
to be a bigger man than the Secretary of State and he could not repeat
his previous behaviour towards the President of the 'Board of Control'.
The dualism in Indian army and navy due to the distinction between the
Company's units and Royal units came to an end. 70
Canning proclaimed the new Government at Allahabad on 1
November 1858 as first Viceroy and Governor-General. The Queen's
Proclamation
disclaimed
all
desire
for
extension
of
territory,
guaranteed the rights of India princes, promised religious toleration and
declared that race would be no bar to office under the Crown. Amnesty
was referred to those who were still in arms if they had no British
blood on their hands. The 'doctrine of lapse' was openly renounced and
the Princes were granted sands enabling them to adopt heirs when
necessary; but their international status was definitely taken a way.
They were to have no relation with foreign powers or with one another
without the knowledge of the British; their military strength was
curtailed, and the suzerain power could interfere in their internal
government to correct serious abuses and even a ssume temporary
charge of the government should it seen desirable for any reason. 71
Big changes were made in the army and the Bengal army had
almost ceased to exist. The proportion of British to Indian troops was
fixed at one half in the Bengal while in the Madras and Bombay armies
70
71
Sir Courteney Ilbert, The Government of India, pp. 94-95.
Home Department Proceeding, General furnished to the Secretary of State on the 19 Jan
1858, pp. 123-130.
37
one third was felt to be enough. All the artillery was concentrated in
European hands. Great care was taken to avoid the preponderance of
any single race or caste in particular units. In the reconstituted Bengal
army, Sikhs and Gurkhas largely replaced the upper India Brahmin and
Rajput. The absorption of the local Europeans maintained by the
Company in the Queen's army with Indians to serve whenever ordered,
caused a 'White Mutiny' and as a consequence 10,000 men were
discharged. Recruitment of European in India was disallowed in 1860. 72
It may be quite relevant here to analyse the important Indian
historiography on the uprising of 1857 before coming up with the
assessment of the British historiography during the 19 t h and early 20 t h
century. To begin with the British had propagated that what took place
during the years 1857 to 1859 in India was only a sepoy mutiny and
that it did not have any support from the people of India. When the
national movement for independence gathered move ment, historians
came forward with facts claiming that it was a freedom struggle and
that it had widespread support of the people. 73
Although it is not correct to charactersise it as a mere "Sepoy
Mutiny" as the British administration had done earlier, it is not correct
either to maintain that the sepoys or the civilian took up arms and
fought against the government with the aim of liberating the country
from the Yoke of the British, their aim was selfish. 74
Some nationalist historians like S.B. Chaudhuri a rgues that 1857
had two distinct stands – the military rising and the mass rebellion. 75
The problem is that this position does not view historical processes
holistically. In fact, it would be difficult to sustain it, if the background
72
73
74
75
Sir Bampfylde Fuller, The Empire of India, pp. 301-303.
EMS Namboodiripad, Sepoy Mutiny or Popular Revolt, People's Democracy, Vol.XXXI,
No.19, p.7
EMS Namboodiripad, op.cit., p. 22.
S.B. Choudhuri, op.cit., pp. 258-259.
38
of 1857, that is, the popular movements against colonialism, be kept in
mind. Besides, it needs to be stressed that the sipahi provided the
crucial link between these two components, given his close proximily
both to the peasantry and the countryside. This can be resolved in a
serious manner in case more researches is directed towards local
studies that explore popular participation and protest. 76
Shanker Sen Gupta argues in his book 'War of Independence' that
it was not a sepoy mutiny, this Uprising was a national movement and
every people of India participated in this uprising. The preceding
revolution were not only local in character, we also find no expression
of unified national sentiment were in them. The sepoy war was not only
wider in its scope and dimension, it was also engineered with a blue
print of our state-hood that was to be at the expiry of the British Raj.
And to the nationalist India that was its most significant contribution. 77
This view of Shankar Sen Gupta earlier had also been upheld by
C.T. Metcalf who has stated that in a letter to the Rajas of Jaipur,
Jodhpur, Bikaner and Alwar etc. emperor Bahadur Shah wrote: “It is
my ardent wish to see that the Firinghi is driven out of Hindustan by
all means and at any cost. It is my ardent wish that the whole of
Hindustan should be free. But the revolutionary war that is being
waged for the purpose will not be crowned with success unless a man
capable of sustaining the whole burden of the different forces of the
nation and will unify the whole people in himself, comes f orward to
guide the rising. I have no desire left of ruling over India, after the
expulsion of the English for my own aggrandizement. If all of you
native Rajas are ready to unsheathe your sword to drive away the
enemy, then I am willing to regain my imperial powers and authority in
76
77
Biswomay pati, Historians and Historigraphy situating 1857,in Economic and Political
Weekly, May 12, 2007, p.689.
Sankar Sen Gupta, War of Independence : Centenary Sourvenir, p.95.
39
the hands of any confederacy of native princes who are chosen to
exercise it. 78
P.C. Joshi describes that 1857 Uprising was a national movement,
he discuses it in his paper that another great achievement of the leaders
of 1857-59 was to consciously attempt to build a joint front of the
Hindus and Muslim and all. The British rulers who were used to seeing
our disunity and differences began raving before the new spectacle of
unity. For example, Thomas Lowe shrieked, “The infanti cide Rajput,
the bigoted Brahmin, the Fanatic Musselman, had joined together in the
cause, cow-killer and the cow-worshiper, the pig hater revolted
together.” 79
The Company‟s sepoys were drawn from the peasantry and their
revolt epitomised the sufferings in their homes in the countryside.
Again as the banner of rebellion was unfurled in province after
province, the peasantry joined up on a mass scale. Thousand of them
became volunteers in the rebel forces. They everywhere displayed
towards the government records the same animosity as they did to the
account books of the Banias and for a similar reason. They regarded
them as machinery which enforced upon them several taxation and
maintained that disciplined order which had become so distasteful to
them. The rebellion had several features of a peasant partisan war
though it suffered from very serious limitations. 80
Earlier the great British, Benjamin Disraili, had also expressed
the same view while speaking on the Uprising of 1857 in the Parliament
of England. Disraili said that "now, I humbly think that the question
whether it is a mutiny, or is it a national revolt?" He said that Mutiny
78
79
80
C.T. Metcalfe, Two Nativ Narratives of the Mutiny in Delhi, p.226.
P.C. Joshi, Our Rebel Ancestors of 1857 in, People's Democracy, Vol. XXXII-no. May
13, 2007, p.13.
P.C. Joshi, op.cit., p. 13.
40
had gathered sufficient strength to become a national Revolt. I would
range under three heads the various causes which have led , in my
opinion, to a general discontent among all classes of that country with
our rule. I would describe them thus – first, our forcible destruction of
native authority, next, our disturbance of the settlement of property; I
believe that directly or indirectly, all the principle causes of popular
discontent or popular disturbance will range under those three heads. 81
In 1909, V.D. Savarkar, a young Indian writer, wrote a b ook on
the Uprising of 1857 which has played a remarkable role in the
development of modern Indian historiography. V.D. Savarkar grew up
in western India at a time when a new attitude was making itself in
India. He wrote his account of 1857, calling it 'The Indian War of
Independence.' Savarkar‟s book, which was printed in Holland, was
immediately proscribed by the British authorities, but nevertheless
copies of it were smuggled into India, and even those who never read it
began to think of the revolt of 1857 as a great national war of
liberation. This Interpretation, was widely accepted by the nationalist
movement, and all later writers on the history of India in the nineteenth
century have been forced to examine Savarkar‟s arguments. 82
Tapti Ray discuses about the Uprising of 1857, in her article
'Rereading The Texts: Rebel writings in 185 7-58' that it was not only a
sepoy Mutiny not only a religious movement against the British, but
was a national revolt against the British, every people of India
participated in this Uprising but not only a single religion. She says
that "Deen and dharm did not signify merely the religious beliefs of
Muslims and Hindus, but rather their entire existence based on
practised religious values, social conventions and cultural norms. Four
81
82
Benjamin Disraeli, Military Mutiny or National Revolt? in Ainsla Embre (ed.), 1857 in
India: Mutiny of War of Independence, p.6.
A.T. Embre, op.cit, p.39.
41
Junior Commissioned Officers in the Gwalior contingent wrote to their
fellow officers in the service of the raja of Chirkwani, who remained a
British ally. For the sake of our faith, we and our subordinate sepoys
have mutinied and have encountered various difficulties, our lives are
at stake. It was not becoming of your master to oppose us in our recent
outbreak being regardless of the next world. Considering you as our
brother, we write this to you … It is therefore incumbent on you to join
us with your sepoys and arms." 83
The political objective of the Uprising was to overthrow British
rule and replace it with an alternate order that would ensure the safety
of people‟s lives in this and the next world. In the sequence of actions
in 1857, the soldier as their first action attacked the seat and symbols
of British governance, such as the collectorate and the treasury, they
released prisoners as the ultimate act of subversion, and marched to
reinstall their own king. Proclamations were written and publicised to
let people know that what the soldiers were undertaking were acts no t
of
wanton
violence
but
of
desperation.
The fear
of
religious
contamination and loss of faith provided a compelling 'raisond etra' for
the soldiers acts of violence other serious concerns about economic
deprivation, loss of opportunities and invasion into private spaces were
also mentioned. 84
Irfan Habib says in his essays that as in every revolt or
revolution, the class configuration on the ground in 1857 was not exact.
There were bodies of Zamindars and taluqdars who remained aloof
from the Rebellion, and at the opportune moment even went over to the
English and many peasants defined the British as well as the rebel
authorities for, as Eric stokes puts it, the “basic peasant impulse
83
84
S. Bhattacharya, Rethinking 1857, p.225.
Ibid, pp. 225-226.
42
remained liberation from the tax gatherer of whatever hue.” But the
general situation was that over practically the entire Uttar Pradesh
plains, British rule collapsed in the village and authority passed over
the rebelling. Zamindars and peasants, whose mutual contraditions of
interest now took for them a second place. 85
Another
view
point
of
the
Indian
historiography on
the
background of the 1857 was that the disaffection against the English
was not purely rural. There was the total devastation to which urban
handicrafts, especially textiles, had been subject to the total collapse
because of English competition and the disappearance of its demand
created by the deposed local feudal and ruling classes. In his
proclamation of August 1857 the rebel prince Feroz Shah had stated
that the flow of the
English articles into India, have thrown the
weavers, the cotton dressers, the carpenters, the blacksmiths, and the
shoe-makers, etc., out of employment and have engrossed their
occupations, so much so that every description of native artisan has
been reduced to beggary. 86
K.S. Singh describes the participation of tribal people, he says
that the notion of tribes, as we understand it today had not crystallized
until the end of the 19 t h century. The official records referred to the
uprising of the communities of such names as the Kol, Bhumij, Santals,
Bhils or the Khonds. For students of tribal history participation of such
communities in the 1857 Uprising was the culmination of almost sixty
years of their resistance to colonial rule. The tribal movements in this
phase from the end of the 18 t h century to 1857 have been described as
primary forms of resistance, spontaneous, violent, led by tribal chiefs
or other chiefs, aimed at overthrowing the colonial authority that
85
86
Irfan Habib, The Coming of 1857, in Social Scientist, Vol. No.26, Jan. – April 1998,
p.10.
S.A.A. Rizvi (ed), Freedom Struggle in Uttar Prades, p.458.
43
destroyed the old system. Most of these characteristics were present in
the 1857 Uprising. 87
In his Discovery of India (1946) Jawaharlal Nehru wrote most
feelingly about the slaughter and suffering imposed on the people of
India by the British during and after, the Revolt and he compared the
action of the British to that of Hitler. Yet he simultaneously believed
that the Uprising was essentially “a feudal outburst, headed by the
feudal chiefs and their followers, and aided by the widespread
antiforeign sentiment. 88 Nehru repeats this characterization at the end
of his account of the rebellion as well “essentially a feudal uprising,
though there were some nationalistic elements in it.” 89 So it was not
only a sepoy Mutiny.
The debate over the nature of 1857 continues to rage mainly
because of its unique position in Indian history – It was not only the
first widespread resistance to British rule but it also brought about
fundamental changes in relations between the rulers and the ruled. R.K.
Ray points out, “The Mutiny constitutes the great disjuncture in the
development of the Indian nation : it is not a part of the national
movement, nor is it the dying throes of the old order.” 90 This has meant
that Indian historians have made constant attempts to read and study the
events of 1857 as a part of the story and growth of Indian natio nalism.
History of the Uprising of 1857 is largely understood through the
writings of British. Greater parts of the records out of which history
87
88
89
90
K.S. Singh, The tribals and the 1857 uprising, in Social Scientist, Vol, No.26, Jan-April
1998, pp.76-77.
Jawaharlal Nehru, Discovery of India, p.324.
Ibid p.328.
Rajat Kanta Ray, The Felt Community : Commonality and Mentality before the
Emergence of Indian Nationalism, p.358.
44
takes shape, come from British sources; and the large material of Indian
side suffered destruction during the uprising, 1857–1858. 91
Colonial historiography of the Great War of 1857 was governed
by the agenda of minimising the challenge that it constituted to the
omnipotent British power. As it had shaken its foundations, the British
began camouflaging the formidable war of 1857 by propagating it as a
mutiny. Consequently, the vision of the hundreds of millions who had
fought so courageously in this great war for the freedom of their native
Hindustan far from being given centrality, was instead, sought to be
portrayed in British silences on the issue. 92
91
92
S.P. Verma, op.cit., p. 3.
Smita Pandey, Vision of the Rebels during 1857, p. Intro-I.
45