REBELS AND THE RAJ
Chapter 2
ANSWER IN 100 -150 WORDS
1. Why did the mutinous sepoys in many places turn to erstwhile rulers to provide leadership to the revolt?
Answer:-
The following are the main reasons why the rebel soldiers described why they turned to the local rulers for leadership:
1. The East India Company defeated the local rulers and seized power in India. Many believed that the local Indian rulers had the legal and legitimate authority to regain power in the states concerned. Therefore, it was only natural that they became the leaders of the rebels and regained the lost status of the rulers.
2. Previous rulers had considerable resources at their command. They also had resources and private armies. The rebels waited for them to support them with resources, and this was a natural outcome by declaring them leaders.
3. Most of the earlier Indian rulers were popular at the local level. Their subjects often sympathized with them as they believed that the latter had been unlawfully ousted and even humiliated. Choosing these local rulers echoed people’s feelings and gained more support for this cause.
2. Discuss the evidence that indicates planning and coordination on the part of the rebels.
Answer:-
The evidence indicating the planning and coordination of the rebels is as follows:
1. Lines of Contact :
• There was communication between the sepoy lines of the various barracks. For example, after the 7th Awadh Irregular Cavalry refused to use the new cartridges, they wrote to the 48th Native Infantry that "they were acting out of faith and waiting for orders from the 48th."
• The sepoys or their messengers moved from one station to another.
2. The rebellion was organized from incidents relating to the protection given to Captain Hirchi by his Indian subordinates during the rebellion. In this case, it was decided that the matter would be decided by a Panchayat composed of local officers drawn from each regiment. This proves that the uprisings were well organized. Charles Ball also mentions that the panchayats in the sepoy ranks of Kanpur were night events.
3. Discuss the extent to which religious beliefs shaped the events of 1857.
Answer:-
4. What were the measures taken to ensure unity among the rebels?
Answer:-
The following measures were taken to ensure unity among the rebels :
1. The rebel proclamations in 1857 repeatedly appealed to all sections of the population, irrespective of their caste and creed. For example, the Azamgarh Proclamation of 25 August 1857 appealed to all “Hindoos and Mohammedans” to stake their lives and property for the well being of the public and take their share in the holy war against the British.
2. Proclamations made by the Muslim princes or in their names took care to address the sentiments of Hindus.
3. The rebellion was seen as a war in which both Hindus and Muslims had equally to lose or gain.
4. The ishtahars harked back to the pre-British Hindu-Muslim past and glorified the coexistence of different communities under the Mughal Empire.
5. The proclamation which was issued under the name of Bahadur Shah appealed to the people to join the fight under the standards of both Muhammad and Mahavir.
6. British made attempts to create divisions between Hindus and Muslims. For example, in Bareily in western Uttar Pradesh, in December 1857, the British spent? 50,000 to incite the Hindu population against the Muslims but they failed.
5. What steps did the British take to quell the uprising?
Answer:-
In 1857, a sepoy uprising broke out in Eastern India which turned into a mass uprising in many parts of the country. The company has faced rebellions in the past, but not of this magnitude and scale. The British rulers realized that unless the rebellion was suppressed, their empire was bound to survive.
They took quick steps to curb the flames of rebellion, some of a military nature and others of a political nature.
The important steps taken by the British to suppress the rebellion were as follows:
1. Imposition of Martial Law and Massive Executions: In northern India where the rebels were making ground, martial law was imposed. In addition to enforcing the law, military officers also had the power to administer justice and pronounce convictions and sentences. Hence, for all practical purposes, rebels and their sympathizers can be convicted without an impartial trial. The punishment was not only swift, cruel and biased but in most cases executed. The execution was carried out in a manner that fear grips the masses. The people were blown up by canons, still others were hanged by trees. The objective was to terrorize the people and make them subservient to the might of the British empire.
2. Diplomacy: British lords used diplomacy as a tool to weaken and destroy rebellions. They tried to enlist the support of local states that were not on the side of the rebels, by promising them rewards and securing their kingdoms. Communities not involved in the insurgency, e.g. Sikhs were recruited and sent to fight the rebels.
3. Use of Technology: The British used technology to gain the upper hand on the battlefield. In addition to having excellent weapons, excellent communications facilitated the rebels. The company used telegrams to communicate with others immediately, the rebels being completely unaware of such matters.
Finishing British tactics and strategies to defeat the rebels¬ was versatile and excellent compared to the men employed by the rebels. It was only natural that the rebels broke down over time.
Write a short essay (250-300 words) on the following:
6. Why was the revolt particularly widespread in Awadh? What prompted the peasants, taluqdars and zamindars to join the revolt?
Answer:-
(a) The rebellion was widespread in Awadh for the following reasons:
1. The British annexed Awadh in a plea that the region had been misruled. The British thought that the Nawab was not popular but on the contrary he was very popular. People found it "the life has left the body." The removal caused an emotional upsurge among the people of Awadh.
2. The annexation of Awadh left unemployment among musicians, dancers, poets, artists, cooks, retainers, administrative officers and soon those attached to the Nawab and his family.
3. This also led to a loss of court culture.
(b) The peasants, talankdars and zamindars joined the rebellion for the following grievances:
Before annexation, taluqdars were very powerful but right after annexation, they were disarmed and their forts destroyed. Not only under the first British Revenue Settlement, called the Summary Settlement of 1856, it was held that they had no permanent share in the land. they were removed where possible. This caused discontent among the talukdars.
The British hoped that the removal of the talukdars would improve the condition of the peasants but this did not happen. Revenue flows for the state increased but demand burden on farmers did not decrease. Therefore, the farmers were not very happy with the new situation.
7. What did the rebels want? To what extent did the vision of different social groups differ?
Answer:-
8. What do visual representations tell us about the revolt of 1857? How do historians analyse these representations?
Answer:-
(i) Pictorial images were produced by both British and Indians paintings, pencil drawings, posters, etc. They form an important record of the mutiny. British pictures in particular presented a variety of images that have provoked a range of different kinds of emotions and reactions.
(ii) Some of the British pictorial images commemorate the British heroes who served the English. They repressed the rebels hence represented as heroes for example, ‘Relief of Lucknow’ painted by Thomas Jones Barker, depicts the efforts of James Outrom, Henry Havelock and Colin Campbell in rescuing the besieged British garrison in Lucknow. This image was sketched in 1859.
(iii) Newspapers reported incidents of violence against women and children such kinds of news when broke out, they led to demands for revenge and retribution. The British government were asked to protect the women and children. Artists have tried to express these feelings through their visual representations of trauma and suffering.
(iv) Memories “In memoriam” painted by Joseph Noel Paton portrays helpless English women and children huddled in circle awaiting their fate at the hands of the rebels. Through it he ties to represent the rebels as violent.
(v) Portrait of heroes of rebellion the dead and injured potrait in the picture indicate the sufferings which occurred during the siege. While the triumphant figures of heroes in the middle ground emphasised the fact that British rule had been reestablished. The rebellion has been surprised.
(vi) Invincibility of British threatened by the rebellion, the British felt the need to demonstrate their invincibility. They frid to represent it through pictorial images for example, in one such image a female figure of justice with a sword in one hand a shield in the other is shown. Her posture is aggressive, her facial expression express her anger and a desire for revenge she is presented in a heroic image.
(vii) In certain sketches and paintings women are depicted as heroic. They are represented as defending themselves against the rebels. Women’s struggle to save her honour and life is shown to have a deeper religious connotation. It is a battle to save the honour of Christianity and a book lying on the floor is said to symbolize the Bible.
(viii) Source of deals with the report of a British officer from Oudh. The reports of the uprising of the people.
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 joined the 1857 uprising. Lucknow was one of the major centres. The sepoys of Awadh were joined by peasants, zamindars, merchants and talukdars.
Source Sisten and Tahsildar: In the wake of insurgency and the communication of insurgency messages, the experience of Francois Sisten, a local Christian police inspector in Sitapur, tells.
He went to Saharanpur to pay his respects to the magistrate. Cisten was dressed in Indian clothes and sat cross-legged. A Muslim tahsildar from Bijnor had entered the room; After learning that the cistern was Awadh, he asked, "What is the news from Awadh? Brother, how is the work progressing?" Playing safe, Sisten replied, "If we have work to do in Awadh, your Highness will know. The tahsildar had said, "Depend upon it, we shall succeed this time. The direction of the business is in capable hands." The tahsildar was later identified as the principal rebel leader of Bijnor. This source indicates that the effects of the rebellion spread even to those officers who had earlier supported the British. English men were concerned about their lives, property, 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 sympathiser of the rebellions.
Map work
10. On an outline map of India, mark Calcutta (Kolkata), Bombay (Mumbai) and Madras (Chennai), three major centres of British power in 1857. Refer to Maps 1 and 2 and plot the areas where the revolt was most widespread. How close or far were these areas from the colonial cities?
Answer:-
Projects (choose one)
11. Read a biography of any one of the leaders of the revolt of 1857. Check the sources used by the biographer. Do these include government reports, newspaper accounts, stories in regional languages, visual material, anything else? Do all the sources say the same thing, or are there differences? Prepare a report on your findings.
Answer:-
12. See a film made on the revolt of 1857 and write about the way it represents the revolt. How does it depict the British, the rebels, and those who remained loyal to the British? What does it say about peasants, city dwellers, tribals, zamindars and taluqdars? What kind of a response does the film seek to evoke?
Answer:-
