“What was the Most Important Factor Leading to the Indian Mutiny of 1857?”
Shariq Khan
Word Count:
Plan of Investigation:
This investigation is to determine what caused the Indian Mutiny of 1857. In order to determine the origin, the investigation will evaluate the various factors which have been proposed as to why the Indians mutinied. The factors which will be assessed include the British East India Company’s expansionist economic policies, cultural and religious clashes including British evangelism, and comparatively poor treatment of Indian Sepoys within the British army. Interviews and modern analysis from British and South Asian sources on the subject will be assessed. An interview with Dr. Hassan and “Raj: the Making and Unmaking of British India” a book by James Lawrence will be evaluated for their limitations and values with respect to their origins and purposes. Finally, an analysis will be done to assess the most important cause of the rebellion. This investigation will not assess forces outside of India (such as in Britain) for their relevance and importance to the mutiny.
Summary of Evidence:
There had been a history of smaller mutinies of Indian soldiers against the British army. There were at least 4 in the previous half century. Two of these rebellions were caused by Sepoys being asked to perform tasks which they considered to be for lower castes. Evangelism was practiced by the British East India Company in all of their colonies, including India. Indians believed that the British were trying to convert them to Christianity. The British outlawed child marriage and other religious practices#. Beginning in 1856, many officers started to force Sepoys# to listen to Christian sermons.
In 1857, the Sepoys we...
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...lic Broadcasting Service. Web. 26 Feb. 2011. .
Inglis, Julia Selina. "The Siege of Lucknow: a Diary." Digital Library Server at Penn Libraries. University of Pennsylvania, 1892. Web. 11 Jan. 2011. .
James, Lawrence. "The Mutiny: 1857-59." Raj: the Making and Unmaking of British India. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 1997. 233-98. Print.
Khan, Iqtidar Alam. "The Gwalior Contingent in 1857-58: A Study of the Organisation and Ideology of the Sepoy Rebel." Social Scientist 26.1/4 (1998): 53-75. JSTOR. Web. 11 Jan. 2011. .
"Lucknow - Indian Mutiny (1857-1858)." 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards Regimental Comrades Association. 08 Feb. 2003. Web. 11 Jan. 2011. .
Much like chapter two, chapter four provides an overview of the East India Company's Bengali sepoy regiments. Chapter five addresses the major causes of the Sepoy Rebellion, and summarizes its events and participants. Chapter six provides a short historiographical review of three Indian texts on the Sepoy Rebellion, exposing the reader to Indian interpretations of the events. Finally, part three consists of chapter seven, which is a comparison of the major similarities and differences of Batavian Revolt and Sepoy Rebellion, and serves to highlight key aspects of both.
Evaluate the relative importance of three of the following as factors prompting Americans to rebel in 1776.
Not only did the inequality and separation of the Indian society frustrate the citizens of India, but the imperialism Britain had upon them as well. In the early 20th century, Indian nationalists wanted to take a stand against the British rule and make India independent. The British created unfair laws that created a nationalist movement in India to regain their freedom. He believed that there should not be a Caste System because of one’s birth.
Khan, Syed Ahmed. "The Causes of the Indian Revolt." In Meridians: Sources in World History., edited by Mark Kishlansky, New York: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2010.
The “Sepoy Rebellion”/the first Indian war of independence did not start from one crucial event that may have triggered it all. This rebellion/war was a product of many small and big situations adding up. When the British East India Company first took over, they started with restricting the Indian ocean trade, which was a heavily relied on, as a source of income and goods in India. This restriction largely impacted and made a new economic structure. With the Indian trade restricted, the British benefited. The British Production system was able to flourish because they were able to use the Indian trade routes to export their goods. Most people living in India, at
The mutiny lasted thirteen months: from the rising of Meerut on 10 May 1857 to the fall of Gwalior on 20 June 1858.The sepoys were quickly joined by large numbers of civilians supporting the reinstatement of both a Moghul and a Maratha emperor and by landlords, particularly those of Oudh, penalised by the new administration and its policy of exporting raw materials for manufacture in Britain. Historians agree that the mutiny was characterised by violent reprisals on either side but, at least in British historical tradition, the most significant events are the massacres at Meerut, Cawnpore and Lucknow; post-mutiny literature dwelling on the fate of women and children especially.
In the 1600's the English took advantage of the crumbling Mughals. In 1757, Robert Clive led an unquestionable victory against the Indian Forces at the Battle of Plassey. After that battle, the East India Company was the leading force in India. Eventually, the company governed directly or indirectly areas that included modern day Bangladesh, most of southern India and almost all of the land along the Ganges River in the north. Until the 19th century, the East India Company ruled with little to no interference from Britain. The company had even established their own army. The company staffed its army with British and Indian Soldiers, or Sepoy, with the Sepoys eventually out numbering the British soldiers ten to one. Mountstuart Elphinstone, the governor of Bombay referred to the Sepoy army as “a delicate and dangerous machine, which a little mismanagement may easily turn against us.” (British Imperialism in India.)
As a direct result of the Sepoy Mutiny, the Indian presence in the British army was reduced to almost a half of what it had been. Also whereas before Indian regiments had been allowed to exist separately, they were now incorporated to be part of larger British regiments. High caste Hindus and Brahmins were stereotyped as dishonest, because of their role as provokers and their nationalist sympathies. The opposite can be said of such groups as the Sikhs, who were portrayed as model citizens and soldiers.
... Thus, in August 1947, under the supervision of Earl Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India, two new countries Pakistan and India were born. Till today, Pakistan and India celebrated their independence days on 14 August and 15 August respectively as a reminder of their citizen’s struggle for independence. Thus, it is seen that nationalism, racial factors and cultural divisions played a key role both in the colonization and in the independence of the Indian subcontinent. The British wanted to colonize the Indian subcontinent for wealth and for spreading Western culture, and indeed their presence had a great influence on the Indian’s perspective on culture and social structure.
1 Moore, Robin J., "Imperial India, 1858-1914", in Porter, Andrew, Oxford History of the British Empire: The Nineteenth Century, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2001a, p.422-446,
Ikram, S. M. Modern Muslim India and the Birth of Pakistan, 1858-1951. Lahore: Sh. M. Ashraf, 1965. Print.
There is a distinct difference between popular Indian nationalism, that is the nation believing in a state independent of Britain, and Indian nationalist movements, for example the Muslim League or the Hindu revivalist movement. These movements fought for independence but were far more religiously orientated and were fighting in their own interests. Although Indian nationalism initially found expression in the Mutiny of 1857, its deve...
After its “raj” for three centuries (1757-1947), in 1947, the British power was “transferred” to the two dominions, India and Pakistan. The former land was as the successor state of British India and Pakistan a second successor state. The price of the independence was the partition of continental India on the idea of communal majority principle of the “two-nation” theory theorized by the Muslim League. The partition of British India was a turning point because it left many questions unanswered and many conflicts unresolved. One question left elusive was, “Why did indepen...
Khan, Yasmin. The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press, 2007.
Indian independence was a long struggle after a number of brokered deals had previously failed. Lead by Gandhi and his non-violence approach to change, brokered a deal with the British to leave India in exchange for India’s support for Britain in World ...