Final Module 2- Coming of the British to India and The Revolt of 1857 .pdf

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1. THE COMING OF THE BRITISH TO INDIA AND THE REVOLT
OF 1857
THE HISTORY OF THE COLONIAL ERA IN INDIA REVEALS THAT MANY
BRITISHERS APPROACHED INDIA WITH THE DESIRE FOR A
PROFITABLE TRADE, PLUNDER, ENRICHMENT AND ESTABLISHING AN
IMPERIAL STRUCTURE.

2. ARRIVAL OF EUROPEANS IN INDIA –1498
The Portuguese first arrived and were followed by the Dutch, the French, the Danish and the British. In 1608 CE,
the East India Company from Britain reached Surat for trading purposes. Spices and Cotton Textiles were the most
important goods traded. Apart from that they also traded in silk, indigo dye, saltpetre, tea, and opium.
India became the center of attraction for Europe's trade and also the realm of European ambition getting wider to
grab the Spice Islands trade monopoly which led to several naval battleswith the French and the Dutch.
These European Companies possessed extraordinary powers. Apart from
creating their own fleet of ships, they were granted the right to form armies,
and empowered to take over territory for the establishment of ports and
trading posts. Having gained a commercial foothold, they then had the right
to administer areas, levying taxes, administrating justice, making treaties and
waging wars, be it against the Indiansor those foreign companies who sought
to encroach upon their particular "patch". It was a European scramble for a
highly profitable two-way trade.
saltpetre
Indigo-dye

3. Interesting Facts:
•The popularity of Indian textiles is evidenced in the number
of words that have made their way into the English
dictionary: calico, pajama, dungaree, khaki etc.
•Indian textiles were exported directly to Europe, where they
became highly fashionable.
•The Indian luxury textiles coveted for centuries are now
collected in British Museums, where they are often grouped
and studied on the basis of their patterns of production.
•Spices were the primary way of preserving meat in Europe
prior to the refrigeration technique of the modern age.
Calico cloth
Indian Spices

4. DISCUSSION DESK
“At this point, when you start
discussing topics with friends, You
start uplifting your confidence and
knowledge”

5. FROM TRADE TO TERRITORY -BRITISHERS CAME AS TRADERS &
INTERVENED IN INDIAN POLITICS
The East India Company, in 1608 got a royal order (i.e. Farman) from the Mughal Emperor, Jahangir to establish a
factory at Surat under the leadership of Sir Thomas Roe (Ambassador of King James I). Following this, they also got
similar permission to set up their second factory at Masulipatnamaround the same time.
Numerous trading posts were established along the
east and west coasts of India. 20 years later, the
Company spread its presence inBengal by setting
up a factory in Hugli, Kolkata. Considerable
English communities developed around the three
Presidency towns of Calcutta, Bombay, and
Madras.
By the 1750s, the English East India Company
began intervening in Indian politics. The Company
saw the rise of its fortunes, and its transformation
from a trading venture to a ruling enterprise by
waging battles and bribery. They had already
started building forts along with factories.
Painting showing Thomas Roe at Jehangir’s court

6. BATTLE OF PLASSEY –1757
•In 1755, Siraj-ud-daulah, became the Nawab of Bengal and allied with the French East India company. (Yes, there
was a French East India Company too!) He then proceeded to overrun British trading posts as he felt the British
were overriding his power / position as Nawab. He captured Fort William in Calcutta, in 1756.
•Lieutenant Colonel Robert Clive was sent from Madras to retake Calcutta. One of Siraj –ud–Daulah’sdiscontented
followers, his commander-in-chief Mir Jafarwas instrumental in betraying him to the British. He was bribed!
•In 1757, the Battle started at Plassey with the French troops supporting the Nawab. Mir Jafar, the commander-in-
chief did not join in the fighting. The battle was heading for a stalemate, when it started to rain. The British troops
were prepared with tarpaulins to keep their gun powderdry.
•The British opened fire at the charging Bengali cavalry of the Nawab.
The soldiers who were without their commander (Mir Jafar),
panicked and started moving back, exposing their artillery.
•The British captured the Nawab’s artillery. The Nawab fled the
battlefield. Mir Jafarwas installed as a puppet ruler by the British.
•This was the beginning of the rise of the British Raj in India.
Painting showing Mir Jafarbowing before Robert Clive

7. BATTLE OF BUXAR-1764
•Mir Qasimfled to plan a confederacy with Shuja-Ud-Daula, Nawab of Awadh and Shah AlamII, Mughal Emperor.
•The Battle took place in 1764 at Buxarand was fought between the English and
Shujaudaulah, Mir Qasimand Shah Alam(Mughal, Awadh & Bengal).
•The combined forces lacked direction and were defeated by the British.
•Mir Qasimabsconded from the battle; the other two rulers surrendered.
•Shuja-ud-daulahpaid huge sums of money and became a friend of the British.
•The war ended with the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765.
•After Mir Jafarwas made the proxy king of Bengal, the Britishers wielded real power.
•The Britishers threw Mir Jafarout as he got involved with the Dutch East India Company (Yes again, Dutch East
India Company also existed then)!
•The Company supported Mir Qasim(Mir Jafar’sson-in-law) to become the new Nawab of Bengal. Mir Jafarwas
given a pension of Rs 1,500 per year.
•Soon Mir Qasimas the Nawab of Bengal desired freedom. He treated Indian merchants and English merchants
equally, with no special treatment for the latter. For these factors, the English planned to overthrow him.

8. DIWANI & NIZAMAT IN BENGAL
.
•The Company had absolute military power and the right to collect revenue in Bengal. On the other hand, the Nawab
(Mir Jafarwas brought back second time after the Battle of Buxar) had to shoulder all the responsibilities of NIZAMAT,
i.e. the administration with no real political power. He obviously did not have any economic resources.
•In 1765, according to the terms of the Treaty of Allahabad, the Mughal Emperor Shah Alamgranted the DIWANI
of Bengal –the right to collect the land revenue –to the East India Company. From then on, the diwani became
the main source of British revenue from India.
•The company now used revenue collected from India, to finance its trade, to purchase cotton and silk from India,
maintain Company troops, and meet the cost of building forts and offices.Thus it benefited the company but
resulted in huge drain of wealth for India. .
•Robert Clive (who had bribed Mir Jafarfor an English victory) became the first Governor of Bengal in 1764 and
started amassing huge personal wealth along with filling the treasury of the East India Company.
With a single act of treachery, Mir Jafarhelped set
the stage for nearly 200 years of British rule in India.

9. LET’S THINK, EXPLORE & WRITE!
1.Isn’t it strange that the combined forces at Buxarthat included the great Mughal, Awadh and Bengal Armies
were defeated by a single British force? List out the plausible reasons for the defeat of the combined forces.
What made the Britishers invincible? How could have History been different for India had the battle at Buxar
ended up in victory for the Indians? (120 words)
2.What made Siraj-ud-daulalose the battle of Plassey? What values did Mir Jafar, his commander-in-chief lack?
(80 words)
3.Define Treaty. What transpired at the Treaty of Allahabad? Do you think in modern times countries sign treaties?
If so, can you mention any one such treaty and the reason for which it was convened? (80 words)

10. Governor General -
The supreme head of
the administration was
the Governor-General in
British India. He was
the representative of
theMonarch of the
United Kingdom.
Presidencies -In British India, these were
the Provinces of India, which were under
direct control of the British East India
Company and eventually under the British
monarchy. Bombay, Madras
andBengalwere the three major
Presidencies in British India.
East India Company rule in India began in
1757 after the Battle of Plassey and lasted
until 1858 when, following the Revolt of
1857, the Government of India Act 1858
led to the British Crown assuming direct
control of India in the form of the new
British Raj.
Calcutta -From 1772 to 1911, Calcutta
was the capitalof British India.
New Delhi –The capitalwas shifted to
New Delhi in 1911.
Shimla –In 1864, Shimla was declared
as the summer capital of British India.
Governor -
Bengal,
Madras, and
Bombay;Each
of these
Precedencies
was ruled by a
Governor.
The Collector -His main job was to
collect revenue and taxes and
maintain law and order in his district
with the help of judges, police
officers, and darogas. His office was
known as the Collectorate.
Supreme Courts were established
in 1774 at Calcutta, in 1800 at
Madras and in 1823 atBombay. The
Supreme Courts functioned until
1862 when they werereplacedby
High Courts at all three places.

11. (CLEVER) BRITISH POLICIES OF EXPANSION
(I) Subsidiary Alliance system–
•Under this enforced system introduced by Lord Wellesley (Governor General of British India) in 1798, the ruler of
the allying Indian state was compelled to accept the permanent stationing of a British force within his territory and
to pay a subsidy for its maintenance.
•All this was done allegedly for the Indian kingdom’sprotection but was, in fact, a form through which the Indian
ruler paid tribute to the Company.
•In return, the British undertook to defend the kingfrom his enemies. They also promised non-
interference in the internal affairs of the allied state, but this was a promise they seldom kept. In reality,
by signing a Subsidiary Alliance, an Indian state virtually signed away its independence.
•Thus this policy was extremely advantageous to the British. They could now maintain a large army at the
cost of the Indian states or gain more territories as sometimes the rulers ceded parts of their territories instead
of paying annual subsidy.
•The first state to forcibly accept the Subsidiary Alliance was the Nizam of the State of Hyderabad in 1798.

12. (CLEVER) BRITISH POLICIES OF EXPANSION
(II) Paramountcy–
•The British East India Company pursued an aggressive policy of territorial expansion (Paramountcy) from 1813
onwards under LordHastings (the Governor General of British India).
•Under this policy, the company claimed that its authority was supreme; it steadily spread its domination over the
country by a series of wars.
•By 1823, the Britisherssubdued the Marathas and Gurkhas of Nepal. as well
as overpowered the Central States of Rajputana.
•By 1849, they took over Punjab and Sind.
•In 1856 the principality of Awadh was annexed.
(III) Doctrine of Lapse – Lord Dalhousie
•Lord Dalhousie (Governor General of India) introduced this doctrine in 1848. According to it, if an Indian ruler
died without a male heir, his kingdom would “lapse” and become part of Company territory.
•From 1848 -1857, manykingdoms including Udaipur, Nagpur and Jhansi were annexed by applying this doctrine.

13. ❑Plasseyis an anglicisedpronunciation of Palashiand the place derived its name from the palash tree known for its
beautiful red flowers that yield gulal, the powder used in the festival of Holi.
❑TipuSultan was the pioneer of rocket artillery . He used it against the British in the fourth Anglo-Mysore War.
❑Goa, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli remained as Portuguesepossessions and Pondicherry, Maheand
Karaikalas the Frenchpossessions in India.
❑Bombaypassed into the British hands as dowrygiven by the Portuguese.
❑In 1868, the Nicobar Islands were ‘sold’ to the Britishers by the Danishpeople.
❑The first governor-general in India (of Bengal) was Warren Hastings, the first official governor-general of British
IndiawasLord William Bentinck and the first governor-general or viceroyof independent India wasLord
Mountbatten.

14. VeluNachiyarof Sivaganga
The Brave Unsung Heroines of 18
th
Century India
AbbakkaChowtaof Ullal
Rani Chenammaof Kittur
Watch through the given three video links, the amazing grit and courage of the three queens of South India who gave
a befitting reply to the Europeans: Rani Chinamma’sfirst victory against the British forces is still honouredannually
in October during the ‘KitturUtsava’; VeluNachiareven raised a women’s army against the British in that era!
AbakkaChowtaII belonged to a family in which three generations of women fought the Portuguese valiantly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq7b2v4N
https://youtu.be/8KGnsJzccOA
https://youtu.be/ejDc1LFC0rI

15. THE MARATHAS
Known for their valour, the Marathas, at one point of time ruled one-third of the Indian sub-continent. Shivaji was the
founder of the great Maratha Empire. The Marathas fought three wars (Anglo-Maratha Wars) with the British between
1775 and 1818 which are very significant in the History of India. The Marathas won in the first battle, they lost
against the British in the second and the third wars which made India, a complete property of the British.
TIPU –THE TIGER OF MYSORE
TipuSultan was atrue patriot like his father, Haidar Ali. He
visualized the forthcoming danger of the expandingEast India
Companyand along with his fatherproved successful in
defeating the British in theFirst and the Second Mysore War
in 1766 and 1782 respectively. While the British became
aware ofTipu’sgrowing strength, they made alliances with the
neighboring Nizam of Hyderabad and the Marathas, leading to
theThird Mysore War in which Tipuwas defeated. Tipu, being
an able military strategist was prepared in the Fourth Anglo
Mysore War with his longstanding and successful military
tactic of rocket artillery in war and a better army to thwart his
adversaries. Fighting with all his valor,TipuSultaneventually
died defending his capital Srirangapattanain 1799.
World’s first war rockets used by Tipu’sArmy

16. THE LEGEND OF TIPU VIDEO LINKS TO TAKE YOU BACK IN TIPU’STIME
Kings are often surrounded by legend and their powers
glorified through folklore. Here is a legend about TipuSultan
who became the ruler of Mysore in 1782. It is said that once
he went hunting in the forest with a French friend. There he
came face to face with a tiger. His gun did not work and his
dagger fell to the ground. He battled with the tiger unarmed
until he managed to reach down and pick up the dagger.
Finally he was able to kill the tiger in the battle. After this he
came to be known as the “Tigerof Mysore”. He had the
image of the tiger on his flag.
This is the picture of a big mechanical toy that
Tipupossessed. You can see a tiger mauling a
European soldier. When its handle was turned
the toy tiger roared and the soldier shrieked.
This toy tiger is now kept in the Victoria and
Albert Museum in London. The British took it
away when TipuSultan died defending his
capital Seringapatam on 4 May 1799.
https://vimeo.com/8973957
https://youtu.be/jPdLOuHiyDg

17. EXPANSION OF BRITISH TERRITORIAL POWER IN INDIA
1797 1840 1857

18. LIVING IN COLONIAL TIMES
I am sure you agree that people in any era and in any area would resist policies and actions that harm their
interests or go against their sentiments.
oIndian kings, queens, peasants, landlords, tribals, soldiers were all affected in different ways by the selfish policies
of the East India Company.
oThe Nawabs and the Maharajas had lost their power and their territories.
oGovernor-General Canning had announced that Bahadur Shah Zafar would be the last Mughal king and after his
death, none of his descendants would be recognized as kings.
oIn the countryside, peasants and zamindars resented the high taxes and the rigid methods of revenue collection.
oThe Indian sepoys (soldiers) of the Company were unhappy about their pay, allowances and conditions of service.
As most soldiers came from peasant background, the anger of the peasants quickly spread among the sepoys.
oSome of the new rules, moreover, violated the religious sensibilities and beliefs of most of the Indians. Many
people began to feel that the British were destroying their religion, their social customs and their traditional way of
life through new laws or Acts. (However Indians who wanted to change odd and evil social practices, then, had
supported the Britishers only to this effect).

19. MID 19
TH
CENTURY INDIA
After a hundred years of conquest and administration, the East India Company faced a massive rebellion in Northern
and Central India that started in May 1857 and nearly swept away British rule.The Revolt began with a mutiny of
sepoysof the Company's army in Meerut and several other places and soon engulfed wide regions. Millions of
Indians fought heroically for over a year and by their courage and sacrifice wrote a glorious chapter in the history of
the Indian people. This was the biggest armed resistance to colonialism in the 19
th
century anywhere in the world.
IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF THE REVOLT OF 1857
•By1857,thematerialforamassupheavalwasready,onlyasparkwasneededtosetitafire.
•ThenewEnfieldriflehadbeenintroducedinthearmy.Itscartridgeshadagreasedpapercoverwhoseendhadtobe
bittenoffbeforethecartridgewasloadedintotherifle.
•Thegreasewasrumouredtobecomposedofbeefandpigfat.Thesepoys,HindusaswellasMuslims,were
enraged,astheuseofthegreasedcartridgeswouldendangertheirreligion.
•Manyofthesepoys,believedthattheGovernmentwasdeliberatelytryingtodestroytheirreligion.Thisaddedfuel
tofirewhichwasabouttoignite.

21. MANGAL PANDEY
Even before the outbreak of the Revolt in 1857 at Meerut,Mangal Pandehad
become a martyr atBarrackpore, Bengal.
Mangal Pande, a young soldier, was hanged on29 March 1857for revolting
single-handed and attacking his superior officers primarily due to the greased
cartridge issue.
This and many similar incidents were a sign that discontent and rebellion were
brewing among thesepoys;and then came the explosion at Meerut.
SPARK FROM MEERUT
IGNITEDTHE REVOLT
The Revolt began atMeerut, 58 km from Delhi, on10th May
1857. Thesepoysreleased their imprisoned comrades, killed
their British officers, and unfurled the banner of revolt. As if
drawn by a magnet they set off for Delhi after sunset.
Gathering force rapidly, the rebellion spread. It soon embraced
a vast area from Punjab in the north to Narmada in the south
and from Bihar in the east to Rajputana in the west.
Painting showing Meerut sepoys capturing a British officer.

22. Major Centresof the Revolt of 1857 (First War Of Indian Independence)
Symbol of The Revolt –
Lotus & Chapati
Symbolic Leader of The Revolt –
Bahadur Shah Zafar (Mughal Emperor)
Prominent Leaders / Centres of The Revolt–
Mangal Pandey –Barrackpore (Bengal)
Bakht Khan –Delhi
Nana Saheb –Kanpur
HazratMahal –Lucknow
Khan Bahadur –Baraeily
Kunwar Singh –Arrah(Bihar)
Maulvi Ahmadullah–Faizabad (Uttar Pradesh)
Rani Laxmibai–Jhansi
Rani Avantibai–Ramgarh (Madhya Pradesh)
Liaqat Ali Khan -Allahabad

23. WHENPEOPLEREBELLED
DELHI-
•WhentheMeerutsoldiersappearedinDelhithefollowing
morningof11
th
May,1857,thelocalinfantryjoinedthem,
killedtheirEuropeanofficers,andseizedthecity.
•Therebellioussoldiersproclaimedtheagedandpowerless
BahadurShahtheEmperorofIndia.
•DelhiwassoontobecomethecenteroftheGreatRevoltand
BahadurShahitsgreatsymbol.
•BahadurShah,inturn,undertheinstigationandperhapsthe
pressureofthesepoys,soonwroteletterstoallthechiefsand
rulersofIndiaurgingthemtoorganizeaconfederacyof
IndianstatestofightandreplacetheBritishregime.
•BakhtKhan,SubedarintheEastIndiaCompanyexercised
realauthorityinDelhi.
EntireBengalArmysoonroseinrevoltwhichspreadquickly.
Avadh,Rohlikhand,theBundelkhand,CentralIndia,largeparts
ofBiharandEastPunjab,allshookoffBritishauthority..
Bahadur Shah Zafar –the last of the Moghuls

24. Rani Avantibai
Ramgarh
•Rani Avantibailed her troops near Mandlaand to the
utter shock of the Britishers, defeated theirarmy.
•Later, the British retaliated and attacked Ramgarh
and set the region on fire.
•Rani Avantibaistill, did not give up. Utilizing
guerrilla warfare techniques, she infiltrated the
Britishcamp.
•Eventually, she found herself trapped by British
forces, who had surrounded Ramgarh.
•Knowing that her defeat was imminent, she did not
want to be taken at the hands of the enemy; she fell
upon her own sword and became a martyr on 20th
• March 1858.What
• an icon of courage
• she was!
LiyaqatAli Khan
Allahabad
•Liaqat Alijoined British army and started
indoctrinating anti-British ideas into the minds
ofIndian soldiers.
•East India company officers then expelled him.
•He created his own army anddrove away East India
Company force and took control of Allahabad town.
•The British attackedLiaquthAli’shead quarters on
11
th
June 1857. He fought the battle valiantly till the
• end butleft the battle field on
• 17
th
June underadverse
• circumstances Liaqat Ali was
• sentenced to life
• imprisonment later and was
extradited to Andaman, where
he breathed his last on 17
th
May, 1892.

25. KANPUR –
•At Kanpur, the Revolt was led by Nana Sahib, the
adopted son of BajiRao II, the last Maratha Peshwa.
•Nana Sahib expelled the English from Kanpur with the
help of thesepoysand proclaimed himself the Peshwa.
He acknowledged Bahadur Shah as the Emperor of India
and declared himself to be his Governor.
•Fighting on behalf of Nana Sahib was TantiaTope, his
most loyal servant who has won immortal fame by his
patriotism, determined fighting, and guerrilla operations.
N
NanaSahib TantiyaTope
Begum HazratMahal
LUCKNOW –
•Begum HazratMahal, wife of Nawab Wajid Ali
Shah, was one of the few women who challenged
the British during the revolt of 1857.
•She led the revolt at Lucknow along with her
young son, BirjisKadr.
•She was seen fighting with the Britishers with
indomitable courage atop an elephant.
•After getting defeated, she and her son fled to
Nepal.
•The Britishers did not allow her to return to India.
Begum died in Nepal. Her tomb is in Kathmandu.

26. JHANSI -THE INDOMITABLE RANI LAKSHMIBAI
The fearless Queen of Jhansi was asked to dethrone in early 1858 as her
adopted son was not acknowledged as an heir. Thereafter the Rani went
into a battle with the Britishers. She is a legend in Indian History. Let us
salute her through a poem (translated version) which describes her in
the battle.
From the folk singers and storytellers of Bandelkhand, we heard the tale
of courage of the Queen of Jhansi; how gallantly she fought like a man
against the British intruders: such was the Queen of Jhansi.
Her name was Laxmibaiand she was the only daughter of her parents;
She had learned by heart the valorous stories of Shivaji, the great king,
To ambush her prey, break their vanity were among her favorite sports,
The queen got widowed early, she had no child of her own; so she
adopted one to call her own.
Well, let us recall the battlefields of Jhansi,
Where Laxmibaistoodboldly like a man among the other brave men,
The British Lieutenant reached there and proceeded in the battle,
Rani drew her sword, and good heavens;
The British Lieutenant ran from the battlefield as Rani wounded him;
He was astonished at the agility of Rani.

27. The Rani proceeded further and reached Kalpiafter taking a hard journey of hundreds of miles.
In the field of Yamuna again Rani was seen defeating the British.
The victorious Rani wentfurther and took control of Gwalior.
The British thus left and their rule ended in Gwalior.
Although the freedom fighters had won for a while;
The British army was again getting organized, this time General Smith was in command,
Kaanaand Mandra(the associates of Rani) were also accompanying her in the war zone.
In the battlefield they both were fighting furiously along with the valiant Rani,
But a British commander, Hugh Rose came from the backside to help his soldiers –
Alas! The British soldiers surrounded the Rani from all sides.
Though Rani was deeply wounded, still she was fighting and had managed to get through the British army,
But she got stuck because a sewage canal was there at the other end,
Her horse got stuck there -the horse was untrained, to come out of the drain;
In the mean time, the British soldiers, riding on their horses reached there.
Rani was all alone while enemies were attacking her with their sword from all sides,
Rani, who was fighting like a lioness, succumbed to the wounds and fell down.
She then had to achieve a glorious death in war ( Martyrdom ).
She was only thirty years of age.
She showed us the path of freedom, and taught us the lesson of courage,-
Jhansi’s Rani Laxmibaitulyremindsus to achieve a respectable life of freedom and light!
The original poem
on the Queen of
Jhansi is in Hindi
written by
Subhadra Kumari
Chauhan.
Feel the patriotic fervourall the more by reciting the original poem in class.
Link to the original
poem:
झााँसी की रानी:
सुभद्रा कुमारीचौहान
की वीर रस कववता
-Kids Portal For
Parents (4to40.com)

28. Arrah, Bihar Bareilly, U.P.
Maulvi AhmadullahShah Veer KunvarSingh Khan Bahadur Khan
Faizabad, U.P.
Click on the links below to watch the stories of the gritty and courageous freedom fighters –A maulvi from
Faizabad, an 80 year old Guerilla warrior from Arrahand a patriot who ran a parallel government in Bareilly! Sadly
we found out that very few videos have been featured on them.
https://youtu.be/OL4TbAPaaMU
https://youtu.be/Rjrml04bWaQ
https://youtu.be/FaiaBqXRCzU
The Unsung Heroes of 1857

29. THE AFTERMATH –1858
oIn the end, the Britishers, the power-hungry imperialists, with a developing capitalist economy worldwide and at
the height of industrial and technological power the world over, and supported by many of the Indian princes and
chiefs, proved militarily too strong for the freedom fighters of 1857.
oThe British government poured immense supplies of men, money and arms into the country, though Indians had
later to repay the entire cost of their own suppression!
oThe rebels (freedom fighters) were dealt an early blow when the British captured Delhi after prolonged and bitter
fighting.
oThe aged Emperor Bahadur Shah was taken prisoner. His sons, the Royal Princes were captured and butchered on
the spot.
oThe emperor was tried and exiled to Rangoon where he died in 1862, bitterly lamenting the fate which would have
him buried far away from the city of his birth.
oThus the great House of the Mughals was finally and completely extinguished by the British.
oWatch the Video: https://youtu.be/lJiPLyyuvK8
The heroic and patriotic struggle of 1857, and the series of rebellions preceding it, left an unforgettable impression on
the minds of the Indian people, established valuable local traditions of resistance to British rule, and served as a
perennial source of inspiration in their later struggle for freedom.
The heroes of the Revolt soon became household names in the country.

30. REFLECTION TIME
POUR YOUR EMOTIONS OUT ON THE FOLLOWING TWO STATEMENTS –
W H. Russel, who toured India in 1858 and 1859 as the correspondent of the
London Times, wrote that:
In no instance is a friendly glance directed to the white man’s carriage…. Oh! that
language of the eye! Who can doubt? Who can misinterpret it? It is by it alone that I
have learnt our race is not even feared at times by many and that by all it is disliked.
In this patriotic struggle, the Indians sacrificed even their deep religious prejudices.
They had revolted on the question of the greased cartridges but now to expel the
hated foreigner they freely used the same cartridges in their battles!
The role of Hindu-Muslim unity in the Revolt was indirectly acknowledged later by Aitchison, a senior British
official, when he bitterly complained:
“In this instance we could not play off the Mohammedans against the Hindus.” In fact, the events of 1857 clearly
bring out that the people and politics of India were basically not communal in medieval times and before 1858.

31. 1. What impression has the Revolt of 1857 left in your mind after going through the accounts and videos of the
freedom fighters? Express in your own words.
2.What are the innate qualities that we can imbibe after reading about our freedom fighters of 1857?
3.What made the Indians ultimately lose the battles against the Britishers?
4.Describe the immediate cause of the Revolt of 1857.
5.Why did Bahadur Shah Zafar remain a symbolic leader of the REVOLT? Who ably supported him in the battle at
Delhi?
6.Why and where was the last Mughal Emperor sent?
7. What is Imperialism?
8. On a political outline Map of India, locate and label any six centres of the First War of Indian Independence.

32. In memory of the revolutionaries of 1857
HISTORIC POINT
JHANSI, U.P.
COMMEMORATIVE COIN
MANGAL PANDEY PARK,
BARRACKPUR, W.B.
HAZRAT MAHAL PARK, LUCKNOW
TOMB OF BAHADUR
SHAH ZAFAR,
YANGON, MYANMAR
STAMPS BY GOVT.
OF INDIA