War of Independence

• In 1857, there were a series of uprisings against the British. This was known as the War of Independence by the Indians and the Indian Mutiny by the British.
• The different names for the same event were because the British thought the uprisings were a revolt against their authority, while the Indians thought that this was a war to get rid of invaders and regain their freedom.
• The political reason for the war of Independence was that as the British expanded their control, local leaders saw their authority decline. Alongside this, Dalhousie's use of the Doctrine of lapse was resented. The incident with the doctrine of lapse at Oudh further convinced that Indians were just land grabbers.
• Another political reason for the War of Independence is the mistreatment of the Mughal emperor. Dalhousie's decision to move the Royal family from the Red Fort of Delhi to the more obscure Qutub Sahib was seen as a sign of disrespect.
• Yet another political reason for the war of Independence was because of lack of opportunities for native Indians at the civil service and the change of English as the official language instead of Persian.
• A religious and social reason for the war of Independence was that the British, considering their culture and religion superior, tried to impose it on the muslims. Indians believed all of their religions were at threat from the British as Christian missionaries came there tried to spread their religion. The schools that were set up taught Christianity and tried to convert locals.
• Another religious and social reason is that the Indians were not used to the new technologies that were being brought there by the British like the railways, roads and telegraphs. The Indians did not accept or like the British bringing their technologies which the Indians had never seen.
• The Britishers superiority complex angered the Indians and so they hated the Britishers. They acted like it was their duty to spread their superior culture. An English Administrator said that a single shelf of a good European library was worth the entire native literature of India and Arabia combined.
• Economic reasons were also responsible for sparking the war of Independence. This was because the British imposed very high taxes on the people. These taxes were just a way of exploiting the people and corrupt tax collectors used to keep the money for themselves. These high taxes were also imposed on peasants and small landowners and they found it very hard to these taxes. Along with this the British government was also keeping the salaries of the sepoys very low.
• A military cause for the war of Independence was that the sepoys and cavalry was almost all Indians while all the officer class of the military were British. This caused quite a lot of resentment. There were also rumors that Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus were forcibly being converted to Christianity. Indian soldiers were also against going foreign, yet there was a chance that they could be sent abroad like they were in Afghanistan. The main issue that started the war of independence was the 'Greased cartridge issue' which was related to the military.
• In January 1857, The British said that they were going to introduce a new rifle with paper cartridges covered in grease to keep the powder dry. Before the cartridge had to be loaded, the end had to be bitten off. However there was a rumor that the grease in which the cartridges were covered in were the fat of cows and pigs. The sepoys who were mostly Hindus and Muslims, were angered and refused to use these.
• In March 1857, a sepoy named Mangal Pandey defied his British officers and was executed, but the actual trouble came in May.
• In May 1857, Sepoys refused to touch the cartridges, so they were court martialed and put in Prison. However, fellow soldiers broke them out and then Meerut was sacked. British officers and other Europeans were put to death. Then the soldiers proceeded to march to Delhi and then captured it. The Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah 2 was main unifying symbol for the uprising and he won both Muslim and Hindu support.
• The war spread quickly and soon Jhansi, Kanpur, Mathura, Allahabad, Delhi and Lucknow was out of British rule. now British rule ceased to exist in what is modern day Uttar Pradesh.
• In Cawnpore, Indian troops lead by Nana Sahib rose against the British and trapped the British force. After the British were promised safe passage out of the city, they surrendered. However, as they were leaving the city, Nana Sahib turned on them and killed the British force and 300 women and children. Later when the British recaptured the city, the British carried out much worse atrocities in revenge.
• The British proved too powerful to be defeated by an uncoordinated uprising across many areas. In September 1857, Delhi was regained and Bahadur Shah surrendered peacefully, however, as a lesson the British killed all 3 of his sons and presented their heads to him. Lucknow was also regained by the British.
• After regaining Lucknow, the next center of opposition was Jhansi. The sepoys were lead by Lakshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi. Lakshmibai was assisted by Tatya Topee, a general of great ability. Later in June 1858, Lakshmibai was killed by the British in battle and she was dressed as a man. Tatya Topee escaped but was later captured and executed.
• After defeating Lakshmibai, the British eliminated pockets of opposition and the war was officially declared at an end in August 1858.
• Although everybody had the main motive of resenting the British, the Indians were not coordinated or united in the war and that is a reason for their failure.
• The Indians lost the war because there was no general plan or attempt to work together. Although the Mughal emperor was a uniting figure, most Indian princes didn't want to see imperial power restored. Some princes also just wanted their feudal powers restored and they sometimes relied on the British for that. For example, the ruler of Kashmir sent the British 2000 troops to help the British win the war.
• The only real uniting force in the War of Independence was Islam. Muslims were keen to see Bahadur Shah regain his power. Muslims were perhaps the most united force as they were the one who wanted their power back the most as it is mostly muslim rulers who lost their leadership. The Hindus and Sikhs however were not very keen to restore Mughal power, which why not too many of them fought. This is why the British the War of independence as a muslim revolt.
• The Indians lost the war because of how powerful the British were. The British were perhaps the most powerful country in the world, they were known for their military power and they had also experienced the industrial revolution.
• The only way indians could defeat the British is if the Indians rose against the British together all over India. Since the British knew that most of the rulers fighting were only fighting to restore their own power and thats how the British used this against them and played everybody.
• The failure of the War of Independence made the British the masters of India. The war was meant to get free of the grip of British power but this instead tightened it. The British issued a proclamation in Allahabad of the war ending. The Britishers reaction to the War was the brutal reprisals like the one in Cawnpore.
• After the War of Independence, the EIC was abolished. Now the British government would take full responsibility for all matters in India. A member of the British cabinet, the Secretary of State for India was given responsibility for the country.
• The direct responsibility of India was in hands of the governor-general, now known as the Viceroy. The Viceroy had over 1000 members of the Indian Civil service working with him to administer the country.
• Of the Indian princes, only the ones who had shown themselves to e loyal were allowed to remain on their thrones. These princes still had no real power and were only allowed to rule by the terms of the British.
• After the war, Bahadur Shah had been put on trail and sentenced to life in prison. He was sent out to live his years on Burma.
• In 1877, British Queen, Queen Victoria was made empress of India in a magnificent ceremony in Delhi.
• The British considered the Muslim community was largely to blame for the war of independence. It took the British many years before they started trusting the Muslims again. Now most of the army comprised of Sikhs, Pathans and Gurkhas, who the British thought were trustworthy.
• The Muslims objected British education and the use of English, which they considered to be un-Islamic. As a response, the British withdrew funding from Muslim schools and so Muslim education declined.
• The Hindus did not miss their chance and immediately adapted themselves to the new rule and readily accepted British education and started learning English. As a result, Hindus started getting employment in minor posts. The Muslims were the ones who suffered the most after the War of Independence.
• The Indians still resented the British as Indians were largely excluded from governing India.
• Instead of governing India, a member of the British Cabinet, the Secretary of State for India, worked with a council of 15 people to decide the policy for India.
• In India, the policy was administered by the Viceroy who was based in Calcutta.
• The Viceroy was advised by a group of executives.
• The everyday business of the British Raj was handled by the Indian Civil Service.
• Although Queen Victoria said that members of all races should be admitted in the ICS, by 1870, only 1 Indian officer was in the Indian Civil Service.
• In a lot of areas, the British made sure that India was run as to benefit themselves, instead of looking to the needs of people.
• After 1857, there were less opportunities in the army for the Indians as the ration of British to Indian soldiers was lowered from 1:5 to 1:2.