Question 1.
Why did the mutinous sepoys in many places turn to erstwhile rulers to provide leadership to the revolt?
Answer:
The mutinous sepoys in many places turn to erstwhile rulers to provide leadership to the revolt due to the following factors:
- To acquire a kind of legitimacy: On reaching Delhi the Sepoys of Meerut demanded that the Mughal emperor give them his blessing and to become their leader. Bahadur Shah had no other option but to become their nominal leader.
- The revolt thus acquired a kind of legitimacy because it could now be carried on in the name of the Mughal emperor. Similarly, Nana Sahib the successor to Peshwa Baji Rao II became the leader of the rebellion in Kanpur.
- In Jhansi, Rani Lakshmi Bai was forced by the popular pressure to assume the leadership of the uprising.
- There was also need for organization that could carry on the rebellious activities in a proper manner. That guidance could be provided by the erstwhile rulers like Nana Sahib, Jhansi ki Rani and others.
Question 2.
Discuss the evidence that indicates planning and coordination on the part of the rebels.
Answer:
The rebellion was not abrupt and sporadic but to a great extent done with planning and care. This is brought out by the following points:
- The rebels decided to strike when the large part of the British army was in Burma. The time chosen for the rebellion was summer that is very hostile weather condition for the British. Summer was also the season when the entire countryside would be easy to navigate.
- To spread the message of rebellion, the rebels used symbols bread and lotus from village to village. Efforts were made to maintain Hindu-Moslem unity. Whenever an area would fail under rebel control, cow slaughter was banned.
Question 3.
Discuss the extent to which religious beliefs shaped the events of 1857.
Answer:
The religious beliefs shaped the events of 1857 in a significant way as mentioned below:
- The immediate cause of the revolt by the sepoys at Meerut was the bullets that were coated with the fat of cows and pigs and biting those bullets would corrupt the caste and religion of both the Hindus and Muslims.
- There was also rumour that the British had mixed the bone dust of cows and pigs into the flour that was sold in the market. There was also fear and suspicion that the British wanted to convert Indians to Christianity
Question 4.
What were the measures taken to ensure unity among the rebels?
Answer:
- A very important element of the revolt of 1857 was the unity shown by Hindus and Moslems in the struggle against the foreign rule. First the immediate cause of the rebellion was the use of cartridge greased with fat of cow and pig, angering Hindus and Moslems alike.
- After the rebels marched to Delhi, they declared the Mughal emperor Bahadur shah their all-India leader. Thus, the Mughal emperor was the leader of Hindus and Muslims alike.
- Both Hindus and Muslims respected each other’s’ religious sentiments. Whenever a new area fell into the control of rebels, cow slaughter was made illegal to respect Hindu sentiments. Thus, Hindu Muslim unity was the hallmark of the mutiny.
Question 5.
What steps did the British take to quell the uprising?
Answer:
The British took the following steps to quell the uprising:
- The British passed a series of laws to quell the insurgency. By these Acts passed in May and June 1857, the whole of North India was put under martial law.
- The military officers and even ordinary Britons were given the power to try and punish Indians suspected of rebellion.
- The ordinary processes of law and trial were suspended and it was decided that rebellion would have only one punishment – death.
- The reinforcements were brought in from Britain. The British used military power on a gigantic scale.
- The British tried to break up the unity between big landholders and peasants in Uttar Pradesh by promising to give back to the big landholders their estates. Rebel landholders were dispossessed and the loyal rewarded
Question 6.
Why was the revolt particularly widespread in Awadh? What prompted the! peasants, Taluqdars and zamindars to join the revolt?
Answer:
- The revolt was widespread in Awadh due to the following reasons:
- Awadh was annexed by the British on the plea that the region was being misgoverned. The British thought that the Nawab was not popular but on the contrary, he was very popular. People considered it as “the life has gone out of the body”.
- The removal led to an emotional upheaval among the people of Awadh. The annexation of Awadh led to unemployment among the musicians, dancers, poets, artisans, cooks, retainers, administrative officials and soon those who were attached with the Nawab and his household. It also led to loss of court culture.
- The peasants, Taluqdars and zamindars joined the revolt due to the following grievances:
- Before the annexation, the Taluqdars were very powerful but immediately after the annexation, they were disarmed and their forts destroyed. Not only under the first British revenue settlement, known as the Summary Settlement of 1856, it was assumed that they had no permanent stakes in land.
- Wherever possible they were removed. This led to discontentment among the talukdars. The British had hoped that by removing the Taluqdars, the condition of the peasants would improve but this did not happen. Revenue flows for the state increased but the burden of demand on the peasants did not decline. So, the peasants were too not happy with the new situation.
Question 7.
What did the rebels want? To what extent did the vision of different social groups differ?
Answer:
- The Azamgarh Proclamation of 25 August, 1857 is the main source of information about what the rebels wanted. The objects mentioned in this Proclamation are as given below:
- Zamindars: lb reduce the Jumas, to protect their dignity and honour and to have absolute rule in their territories.
- Merchants: End of fraudulent practices, right to trade of every article without exception both by land and water to all the native merchants of India.
- Public servants: Better salaries and appointment to high posts.
- Artisans: Employment in the service of the Kings, rajahs and the rich.
- Pundits, Fakirs and other learned persons: To protect their religions.
- Besides the objects mentioned in the Azamgarh Proclamation, the other objects of the rebels were as follows:
- To restore the life of people as it existed before the British rule.
- To save their livelihood, their faith, their honour and dignity.
- To have an egalitarian society by overturning traditional hierarchies.
- To restore the pre-British world of the eighteenth century i.e., Mughal world.
- From above it is clear that the vision of different groups differed from each other according to their problems. But on the whole, they were against the British rule and wanted to get rid of it.
Question 8.
What do visual representations tell us about the revolt of 1857? How do historians analyse these representations?
Answer:
The visual representations give us the following information:
- Information about saviours: Paintings such as “Relief of Lucknow” depicts British heroes – Colin Campbell, Outram and Havelock who saved the British and repressed the rebels in Lucknow.
- Painting showing helpless and innocent women in fear of dishonour, violence and death. “In Memoriam’ is a painting that shows the condition of British women dming mutiny and what the mutineers were doing with them.
- Women’s struggle to save their honour and their life. The sketch showing Miss Wheeler as defending herself against sepoys in Kanpur shows that the women too tried to save themselves. It has, however, a deeper religious connotation. It was a battle to save the honour of Christianity.
- Vengeance and retribution: The visual representations such as Justice — an allegorical female figure in an aggressive posture depicts that there was great demand for a repressive policy and violent reprisal.
- The performance of terror: The “British Lion’s Vengeance on the Bengal Tiger” and “Execution of Mutineers in Peshawar” proves that the British followed a repressive policy to create terror among the Indians.
- No time for clemency: ‘The Clemency of Canning’ is a cartoon that shows that there was no time for leniency against the Indians.
- Nationalist imageries: The nationalist considered it a First War of Independence. Rani Lakshmi Bai and others were depicted as heroic figures. Usually, Rani was portrayed in battle armour that symbolized her determination to resist injustice and alient rule.
Thus, the paintings and other visual representation tell us about the feeling of the people in India and Britain.
- The historians consider these pictorial images produced by the British as well as by the Indians an important source of information about the feelings and reaction of the people at that time. These images respect the public opinion which influenced the policies of the British government. On the other hand, the national imageries depict the national feelings of the Indians.
Question 9.
Examine any two sources presented in the chapter, choosing one visual and one text, and discuss how these represent the point of view of the victor and the vanquished
Answer:
- Ordinary people join the mutiny of 1857. Lucknow was one of the main centres. The sepoys of Awadh were joined by peasants, zamindars, traders and talukdars. Source: Sisten and the tahsildar: In the context of the communication of the message of revolt and mutiny, the experience of Francois Sisten, a native Christian police inspector in Sitapur, is telling. He had gone to Saharanpur to pay his respects to the magistrate.
- Sisten was dressed in Indian clothes and sitting cross-legged. A Muslim tahsildar from Bijnor entered the room; upon learning that Sisten was from Awadh, he enquired, ’What news from Awadh? How does the work progress, brother?” Playing safe, Sisten replied, “If we have work in Awadh, your highness will know it.”
- The tahsildar said, “Depend upon it, we will succeed this time. The direction of the business is in able hands.” The tahsildar was later identified as the principal rebel leader of Bijnor. This source indicate that the effect of the rebellions had spread even among those officers who had earlier supported the British.
- The English men worried about their lives, property, owner of women and children. The geographical extent of the revolt was much greater. The magistrate used to get news and daily development day to day through their governmental representatives but they were suspicious as later on magistrate of Sitapur came to know that the Sisten who came to him was a great sympathizer of the rebellions.
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