The Revolt of 1857

Offered by
© Dr. M. Emdadul Haq (EdH)
Professor & Chair: DHP
North South University
Multiple Dimensions
 Colonial ‘Mutiny’ theory
 ‘War of Independence’ theory
 ‘Invasion of Oudh’ theory
 The Subaltern theory
 Religious Crusade theory
 Hindutva theory
 Opium War theory
 Suppression of the Revolt
 Critical Overview
The Bollywood movie Mangal
Pandey (2005) depicted the
uprising of soldiers & peasantry
in the Revolt of 1857.
 Key Questions & Concepts
 What were the nature of sufferings of the poppy
farmers under the British colonial rule?
 Why did the poppy farmers joined in a big
number in the Rebellion of 1857?
Concepts:
Karl Marx, Doctrine of Lapse, Faraiji Movement,
William Bentinck, Hindutva, Malwa Transit Duty,
Mangal Pandey, Bahadur Shah Zafar, Anglo-China
Opium Wars
 Colonial ‘Mutiny’ theory
 Colonialist writings often portray the Uprising of 1857 as ‘Sepoy
Mutiny’ led by the native soldiers protesting the use of newly
introduced ‘Enfield’ rifle.
 From religious point of views cow is sacred to the Hindus & pig is
haram for Muslims, ignited the Revolt.
 The Revolt initially started in Meerut led by Mangal Pandey in
March 1857, but he was hanged on 8 April for inciting soldiers
against their colonial masters.
 The poor salary & lack of job facilities to the native soldiers, who
brought victory to the BEIC in different war fronts, are also
thought to be responsible for the so-called ‘Mutiny’.
 Observing the zeal of the revolutionaries, one must not address
the event as “Mutiny”, the way colonialists had portrayed it.
 War of Independence theory
 Observing the ferocity of the Revolt from England, the eminent
thinker Karl Marx portrayed this event as the ‘First Indian War of
Independence’.
 The revolt spread over the entire area from the neighborhood of
Patna to the borders of Rajasthan.
 The main centers of revolt were Meerut, Barrackpur, Delhi,
Kanpur, Oudh, Doab, Meerut, Bihar, Gujarat, Bombay &
Allahabad Lucknow, Bareilly, Jhansi, Rohilakhand, Benares,
Gwalior, Bengal & Bihar along the northern Indian territories,
where the rural population extensively took part with urban
people in the uprising.
 The soldiers were at the frontline of the rebellion having the
widespread support of peasantry & Muslim ulemas.
 War of Independence theory
 The anti-colonial struggle initially started by native Infantry
platoon in Dum-dum city near Kolkata in January 1857, but
following the death of Mangal Pandey, the flames spread to
different parts of India by May.
 Over 125,000 soldiers of the Bengal Army, who were the ‘sword
arm’ of British Imperialism, also joined in the uprising & many of
them executed following the suppression of the rebellion.
 The war was deadly in Oudh, which was conquered by the
British a year back, where over 100,000 civilian-armed men
joined in the rebellion.
 Thousands of Bengali soldiers & civilians were publicly hanged
in the mango garden in present day Bahadur Shah Park in old
Dhaka city after the suppression of rebellion.
 Subaltern theory
 In Postcolonial India, the ‘Subaltern’ group of analysts addresses
the struggles of marginalized groups emphasizing on various
socio-economic & cultural reasons that aspired them to fight back
the Company Raj.
 The decades long sufferings of the Bengal peasantry under the
Permanent Settlement Policy to pay heavy taxes to the Zamindars
even during natural calamities & bad days agitated them.
 The suppression & oppression by Indigo planters over the farmers
influenced them to extend support to the revolutionary forces.
 Prolonged colonial exploitation & destruction of agriculture & local
industries led to massive unemployment, starvation & famine that
eventually triggered the Great Rebellion in 1857.
 Islamic Crusade theory
 The long-term impacts of the Islamic movements - Faraizi,
Wahabi, Tariqah-I-Muhammadiyah, Ahle Hadith, Tayuni, including
the Seerat Conference, etc.- in different parts of India are also
thought to be responsible for the Revolt of 1857.
 Restoration of the Muslim power & former influence, & unifying
them under the banner of Islamic identity were the prime
objectives of the ulemas since the advent of colonial rule.
 The Ahle Hadith movement in the 1750s, led by Shah Waliullah
in northern India & his declaration of Jihad against the ‘enemies
of Islam’ & then the Wahhabi Movement in northern India in
1818 by Syed Ahmad Barelvy worked for reviving Muslim power
in India by overthrowing Sikhs in the Punjab & British in Bengal.
 Islamic Crusade theory
 The Faraizi Movement led by Haji Shariatullah (1770-1839)
inspired Muslims to follow five basic faraz prescribed in Quran &
Hadiths for revitalizing Islamic faith, & freeing Islam from all
kinds of superstitions & bad practices.
 For ousting the colonial power, he called upon Muslims to
transform British India from Dar-ul-Harb (state of the infidels) into
Dar-ul-Islam (Islamic state) through reformation & Jihad.
 Thus, the long-term impact of the Jihadi approach pursued by
the Muslim ulemas & their followers, partly contributed in the
Rebellion of 1857 for evicting the British colonial power from
Indian soil permanently.
 Hindutva theory
 Following the occupation of Bengal, the Hindus generally
extended their support toward the British colonial authority,
perceiving that it would be profiteering for them.
 However, the reformist policies pursued by the East India
company government from the early nineteenth century agitated
the Sanatani Hindus towards the British.
 The reforms measures adopted by Lord William Bentink on
Sati Daho Protha in 1828 & Widow Remarriage Act of 1856,
of 1856, gradually alienated the traditionalist Hindus from the
colonial power for safeguarding their Hindu religious identity &
culture.
 This trend for the first time contributed in fueling the anti-British
agitation among the conservative Hindus by the mid-nineteenth
 Oudh Invasion theory
 Under the Doctrine of Lapse by Lord Dalhousie in the late
1840s, the colonial government annexed Oudh, a princely state
where the ruler died without having a male successor.
 It may be mentioned here that the Princely state of Oudh had
fought at the Battle of Buxar in favor of Nawab Mir Quashim in
1764, to resist the British occupation of Bengal.
 The invasion of Oudh in U.P. in 1856, termed by Ralf Moore as
‘a crime against humanity’, sparked the Rebellion in 1857.
 The British strategic invasion greatly angered Indians to launch
the largest Indian rebellion against British colonial rule.
 Lucknow, the region's most populous city, was the scene of
much fighting during the unsuccessful revolt.
 Opium War theory
 The Revolt of 1857 can largely be ascribed to the discontents of
the poppy cultivators who persistently opposed the colonial
opium monopoly system since its foundation.
 The primary conception of the current presenter about the
participation of the poppy farmers in the Uprising of 1857 came
from his reading of a book Reminiscences of the Great Mutiny
1857-59 by William Forbes-Mitchell, a British sergeant who
himself took part in the suppression of the rebellion in UP.
 Referring to a native lawyer, Mitchel in the appendix of his book
documented that the introduction & execution of forced poppy
cultivation sparked mass rebellion in the poppy growing areas of
northern India.
 Opium War theory
 Following the British occupation, the BEIC government adopted
mechanisms to forcibly engage farmers in poppy cultivation, &
prevent former Zamindars from intervening in the opium
cultivation.
 Gumastas /Contractors forced the poppy farmers to grow opium
beyond their ‘means & conveniences’ & forced the peasants to
‘refund threefold’ of the advance money if they failed to cultivate
opium poppies according to agreements.
 Forceful large scale conversion of rich paddy fields for poppy
cultivation, led to frequent famines taking place in Bengal.
 To maintain & promote the trade in opium, the colonial
government progressively increased the cultivation of poppy to
‘those districts where the quality was best’.
 Opium War theory
 Once any farmer started poppy cultivation, invariably he had to
continue production for generations together.
 Considering the crop unprofitable, the farmers were less than
enthusiastic about growing poppies & neglected to water them.
 During the growth & expansion of the opium monopoly from 1773
to 1856, the economic condition of the poppy farmers
deteriorated.
 Consequently, tension prevailed between the poppy ryots & the
colonial authorities that eventually apportioned the uprising of
1857.
 In 1777, a British official document entitled the Bengal Revenue
Consultations reported that: ‘Forcible destruction of grain crops in
Bihar to make room for poppy’ was taking place.
 Opium War theory
 Another British document Reports of Collectors in Bengal in 1788
observed:
‘The opium ryots are not at liberty to relinquish the cultivation of
the poppy. If any regulation was to take place declaring them at
liberty to cultivate the opium or not, I am confident they would all
quit the opium cultivation, on a supposition that the present mode
of contract is continued’.
 The leading economist Adam Smith (1904) in his classical book
The Wealth of Nations noted:
‘In certain cases Company officials forced unwilling farmers to
accept advance money to grow poppies in their paddy fields &
other crops’.
 Opium War theory
 Adam Smith also criticized the intimidation of the farmers by
official authorities as follows:
‘A rich field of rice or other grain has been ploughed up; in order
to make room for a plantation of poppies; when the chief
foresaw that extraordinary profit was likely to be made by
opium’.
 Assessment made by the Indian gumastas, while converting
agricultural land into poppy cultivation, often provoked tension &
disagreement between the parties, leaving the farmers in a
disadvantageous position.
 Every cultivator was bound to sell the whole of his produce to the
Opium Departments, at a rate fixed by the government.
 Opium War theory
 Rather, the colonial authority increased revenue earnings by
imposing Malwa Transit duty from the cultivation of opium
poppies in the central Indian Princely states.
 In 1856-’57, the government regulated 117,000 hectares
engaged in poppy cultivation in central India.
 Despite resentment & suffering of the poppy growers, the opium
monopoly in Bengal & private poppy cultivation in central India
flourished.
 With the growing number of colonial oppressive measures,
public opinion in India was demanding the abolition of opium
monopoly system.
 Opium War theory
 Reflecting the opinions of the poppy cultivators, the British Indian
Association, in a petition to the House of Commons, in 1853,
urged:
‘Justice requires that the interference of the Government with
the cultivation should cease, and that revenue derived from the
drug should be in the shape of fixed duties on manufacture and
exportation. ... By the adoption of this principle, the cultivators
will posses that freedom of action which all men possess under
Governments’.
 Once the appeal for the emancipation of poppy farmers from
forced poppy cultivation was unsuccessful, the events of the
Great Revolt gradually approached in the poppy growing areas.
 Opium War theory
 The arbitrary role of the middlemen & `extortion’ of the field
officers often caused frustration & suffering for the poppy
farmers.
 Under the oppressive measures of the opium monopoly, the
economic conditions of the poppy farmers deteriorated, while the
colonial hunt for revenue generation accelerated.
 To break the chain of exploitation, the farmers in the poppy
growing areas joined their hands with the revolutionary soldiers
to topple colonial power when an opportunity emerged to them
after one hundred years.
 Suppression of the Revolt
 With the help of the Rangoon Regiment & Gurkha Regiment
upon their returning from the Anglo-China Opium War II, the
colonial government suppressed the rebellion by 1860.
 The British captured Delhi on September 20, 1857 after
prolonged & bitter fighting.
 John Nicholson, the leader of the siege, was badly wounded &
later succumbed to his injuries.
 With the fall of Delhi the focal point of the rebellion decimated.
 The Uprising of 1857 was apparently a failed attempt, but it was
a death blow to the face of the largest European Empire in the
planet at that time.
Bahadur Shah Park in old Dhaka
Hanging people inside
Bahadur Shah Park
after the Rebellion

Following independence in 1947, the area has been named after

the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah under whose leadership
the rebellion broke out.
 Suppression of the Revolt
The Revolt was intense in the North but people in the south, on
the other hand, generally aided the colonial government in the
suppression of the rebellion.
After the fall of Delhi, Emperor Bahadur Shah along with his
family members were taken into custody & exiled to Rangoon,
where he died.
Upon suppression of the rebellion by 1860, the colonial authority
was shifted from the British East India Company to the Crown
Government of England.
Moreover, the Bengal Army & the Muslim soldiers were declared
as ‘non-martial race’ because of their enthusiastic participation
in the uprising.
Sikh Troops dividing the valuables
snatched from the defeated soldiers

Disarming soldiers of 11th

Cavalry at Bahrampur in 1858
 Suppression of the Revolt
 Referring to a recollection of a witness on Dhaka Revolt V.B.
Ganesan (2013) in his book 1857 War & the Unsung Heroes of
Bengal wrote:
Without delay the prisoners were tried the next day & were
hanged near Episcopalian Church, close to the maidan at
Antaghar … these sepoys were hanged in the open, in the
heart of the town, perhaps to create an impression on the mind
of the people of Dacca.
 Following the rebellion the East India Company rule was ended,
& the Indian colony came under the direct control of the British
Crown starting with Queen Victoria.
 Critical Overview
 The revolt of 1857 was one of the most deadliest rebellions in the
British colonial history after its defeat in the American War of
Independence during 1776-’83.
 The rebellion quickly spread in Bengal, parts of central & northern
India, but the local Zamindars & the people in southern India
generally extended support to the British.
 Besides allowing the Crown rule, the rebellion helped promoting
Western education & religious reformation to upgrade the quality
of lives of the middle class people & their nationalist aspirations.
 The Revolt influenced the British in developing a new attitude
towards the natives, especially the Muslim community people.
 For gradual power transfer, the colonial government adopted
some legislative measures & political reformations since 1905.