Initially I thought this would be a relatively easy subject to write an article about and that I would be able to include most of the major details but that is not the case. While ultimately unsuccessful it proved to the British that India would require more attention and resources to rule than originally believed. This and a severe drought in the 1870s led to a terrible famine that spread throughout the country of India.Going by many names such as The Sepoy Rebellion, The Sepoy Mutiny, The Indian Mutiny and in India is known as the First War of Independence, the war that saw a dramatic shift in British rule in India has a long and storied history. They were forced to turn to tilling land for a living.ĭuring the American Civil War, Indian agriculture shifted from foodstuffs to cotton for supply to the English textile industry. Many were forced into poverty with the destruction of the Indian craft industry. Village artisans went broke as a result of competition from English machine-made goods. New roads were built, a new communications system came into existence and a harbour was built in Bombay.ĭuring this period the conditions of the poor worsened. Construction of the railroad and railway stations began and many new towns came into existence just to transport Indian resources to the markets. The first step was the building of a transport system to move imported British ready made goods and to export Indian raw materials. The British turned their attention to commerce and development. The army was reorganized to avoid further conspiracies. By implementing this, the British sought accommodations with Princes and landlords, in turn allowing them a degree of freedom. She introduced a policy of ‘Divide and Rule’ which prevented Indians from uniting to rebel against her. In the following year, the title of Viceroy was bestowed upon the Governor-General of India by Queen Victoria. A British cabinet member, the Secretary of State for India, and the Governor General looked after Indian affairs. India became a crown colony to be governed by the British Parliament directly. In response to the mutiny, the British Parliament passed an act, abolishing the East India Company. The British with their help managed to ward off the army of rebels near Delhi. After suffering major losses in Kanpur and Lucknow, the British sought the help of the loyal Sikh and Gurkha forces. Initially the British suffered heavy casualties as they were unable to respond to the uprising. Ninety thousand men from the Bengal Army joined the mutiny. Mangal Pandey is the most famous figure of this uprising who attacked the British regiment. This uprising came to be known as the Sepoy Mutiny or the Revolt of of 1857. Though he reluctantly agreed, the British defeated him and sent him into exile in Burma, where he died in 1862. These men marched on to Delhi and demanded that the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, take over as the ruler of India and the head of the rebels. The rest of the soldiers mutinied on May 19, 1857. Then later another 85 soldiers disobeyed orders to load their rifles. In 1857, three regiments of the army refused to use the ammunition for the Enfield rifles. It was made up of either pig or cow fat, which violated the religious sentiments of the Muslim and Hindu soldiers. While loading the rifles, soldiers had to bite off the end of the cartridges. The use of animal grease on the cartridges of the newly introduced Enfield rifles was the last straw. Economic policies of the British had an adverse effect on the soldiers’ families back home. One of them being that the Hindu soldiers protested against the addition of Gurkha, Sikh and lower caste soldiers to their ranks. There were several causes which led to this. Soon, many rebellions followed in various parts of the country. During the British Raj, there was unrest and discontent amongst the people of India.
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