The revolt of 1857 was the result of the culmination of large scale discontent that has been accumulating for a long time against the policies of the British in India. It was the result of certain deep-rooted causes, though its immediate cause was provided by Indian soldiers.
In 1856, the Britishers introduced the Enfield rifle the army. The top of the cartridge of this rifle was to be removed by the mouth before loading it in the rifle. It was believed that the cartridges were greased by the fat of pig and cow. The soldiers believed that the British were deliberately attempting to spoil the religion of both Hindu and Muslim soldiers. The soldiers, therefore, became determined to refuse their service and ultimately revolted. Thus, the primary and the immediate cause of the revolt was the use of the greased cartridges.
On March 29, 1857, Mangal Pandey, of 34th native infantry, at Barrackpore fired at his British Adjutant Lt. Baugh and the Sergeant Major. The 34th native regiment was disbanded. Mangal Pandey, who was from Ballia, was hanged after this incident.
Spread of the Revolt of 1857
The revolt broke out on May 10, 1857 at Meerut.
Earlier on April 24, 1857, 85 soldiers of 3 cavalry regiment at Meerut – refused to use greased cartridges. They were punished with ten years of rigorous imprisonment.
On 10, May, the 3d cavalry regiment revolted, The soldiers released the prisoners, killed many English officers and marched to Delhi the same night. Bahadur Shah II was proclaimed the emperor of India.
Delhi, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow and Arrah were the major centres of the revolt.
| Revolt of 1857 | ||||
| Centre | Leaders | Occurance | British Commander | Surrender |
| Delhi | Bahadur Shah Zafar (General Bakth Khan led the army) | 11 May 1857 | Nicolson, Hudson | 20 September 1857 |
| Kanpur | Nana Saheb (Dhondu Pant ) and Tantia Tope (Ramchandra Pandurang ) | 5 June 1857 | Campbell, Neil | 6 December 1857 |
| Lucknow | Begam Hazrat Mahal, Brijis Qader | 4 June 1857 | Campbell | March 1858 |
| Jhansi / Gwalior | Rani Lakshmi Bai Tantia Tope | 5 June 1857 | General Hugh Rose | May 1858 |
| Jagdishpur | Kunwar Singh / Amar Singh | 12 June 1857 | William Taylor, Eyre | December 1858 |
| Faizabad | Maulvi Ahmadullah | June 1857 | Campbell | 1858 |
| Allahabad | Liaqat Ali | June 1857 | Colonel Niell | May 1858 |
| Bareilly | Khan Bahadur Khan | June 1857 | Eyre, Campbell | 1858 |
Fate of Leaders
1. Bahadur Shah II He was arrested and deported to Rangoon, where he died in 1862.
2. Rani Laxmi Bai She lost her life in the battlefield on June 17, 1858.
3. Kunwar Singh The leader of the revolt in Bihar died on April 26, 1859.
4. Nana Saheb After being defeated he refused to surrender and escaped to Nepal in early 1859, never to be heard of again.
5. Begam Hazrat Mahal She was compelled to hide in Nepal, after the capture of Lucknow by Campbell.
6. Tantia Tope He was betrayed by a zamindar friend and was captured while asleep and was hanged on April 18, 1859.
Facts Related to the Revolt
At the time of revolt of 1857, Viscount Palmerston was the Prime Minister of England, Lord Canning was the Viceroy of India and Queen Victoria was the Queen of England
There were some local leaders during the revolt such as
- Maniram Dutta in Assam,
- Jaidayal and Hardayal in Kota,
- Rajkumar Ujjawal Shahi and Surendra Shahi in Orissa,
- Wazir Khan in Punjab,
- Raja Pratap Singh and Veer Singh in Kullu.
Queens Proclamation
The proclamation was read out by Lord Canning at a Durbar held on November 1, 1858 at Allahabad. It announced the end of the rule of the East India Company and the assumption of the Government directly by the Crown.
Under the proclamation, Lord Canning became the first Viceroy and Governor – General of India.
After the 1858 proclamation, Peel commission recommended to decrease the ratio of Indian soldiers to British soldiers from 5:1 to 2:1.
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