Important Leader Associated With Revolts

The Revolt of 1857 was initially carried over by the people, who have grievances against the British East India Company. Various leaders of the revolt of 1857 headed the people and started their march from Meerut on 10^th May 1857 as a mutiny of sepoys. 

This revolution spread over the major part of Northern and Central India. Many participants of the revolt of 1857 turned against the British occupation in the part of the subcontinent. The revolt spread over Patna to the border of Rajasthan, Kanpur, Jhansi, Lucknow, Bareilly, Gwalior, and Arrah in Bihar turned as the major spot for the revolt in 1857. Later, it emerged as the revolt of sepoys against the British East India Company’s army.  Meanwhile, an army of the British East India Company managed to control the mass population. 

This was the first war of independence leaders.  Later the revolt was named in many names. The British historians named the revolt the Sepoy Mutiny. Indian historians named the revolts, the Indian Mutiny, and the Great Rebellion. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, a popular politician in India named the revolt in terms of the Indian Insurrection, and the First War of Independence. This article will provide the centers of the revolt of 1857 and their leaders. 

(Image will be Updated Soon)

The below table shows the list of important leaders associated with the revolt of 1857. Also, the table gives the place from where they started the revolt. Bahadur Shah Zafar, who was declared the leader of the 1857 revolt. 

Leaders of the Revolt of 1857

What is the Reason For the Revolt of 1857? 

Initially, the British East India Company introduced the ‘Enfield’ rifle in India and forced the Indian people in the British army to use the Enfield rifle. As the Enfield rifles because the cartridge is made up of pig fat and cow fat. Muslims in India considered pigs as ugly animals and Hindus in India considered cows as gods. So, they refused to use the Enfield rifle, which requires the cartridge as grease. Later this became a flashpoint for the Indian soldiers to turn against the British East India Company. 

Cause of Revolt 1857 

The revolt of 1857 turned into a key point for spreading racism between Indians and Europeans. Indians started maintaining distance from Europeans. Meanwhile, whites started treating black people as inferior to them in religion, culture and started torturing them. 

The British government started unfair rule in India and made Nawabs and Zamindars lose their powers. They introduced many trade and commerce rules in an unfair manner to Indians. They also introduced policies like the policy of direct subordination in the name of a subsidiary alliance, the policy of indirect subordination in the name of the doctrine of lapse, the policy of war and annexation, and the policy of misgovernance. All the above-mentioned policies affected native Indians and became victims of British expansionism. 

As a result, rulers from various parts of the country lost their power in their native land and stood against British rule, and made a great contribution to the revolt. To expand their territory throughout India, the British government introduced and imposed various administrative policies. 

The British government also limited itself to interfering in the religious and cultural affairs of Indians. Because this interference will make the Indians too widespread against the revolt. So, newly established rules of the British government were easily uprooted among  Indians. 

The British government started to run schools and conducted testimonies. This created anger for Indians because they replaced Mathematics with religious instructions that too against the Indian religion. Education of the British government also created moral damage for child education. 

The British government has not interfered with the social and religious affairs of Indians till the 1800s. From the beginning of the 19^th century, they introduced a bid of social reforms by the methods of legislation. This created many doubts among Indians regarding the objective of the British government. For example, the British government strongly supported spreading Christianity among Indians. So, they started reacting to it. 

The British government lost its privilege in some parts of central India like Indore and Sagar. But the princes from that place remained loyal to the company. 

At the same time, Lord William Bentinck passed some of the social legislation in 1829 like the abolition of Sati, prohibition of child marriage, widow remarriage..etc. Indians also thought that all this social legislation was a bid to impose Christianity over them.

During the first half of the 19^th century, the British government introduced their social reforms in legislation, and later they directly imposed on Indians to spread Christianity in India. 

List of Major Policies Introduced in the Revolt of 1857 

Ryotwari settlement in southern India, Permanent Settlement in Bengal, and Mahalwari settlement in Central India are the three major settlements that were highly exploitative among Indians. Particularly, the permanent settlement in Bengal created a destructive impact for the British government. So, Indian people working in the British government gently supported the Indians to throw out the British government, particularly during the revolt of 1857. 

As a result, Indian soldiers faced a lot of problems from the British officials like pensions, promotions, and salaries. But no British soldiers faced any problems. So, many heroes of the revolt of 1857 got support from Indian soldiers. 

Before the revolt of 1857, the Vellore Mutiny took over on 10^th July 1806, but it lasted for only one day. This Vellore was currently in Tamil Nadu. This Vellore mutiny was so terrific and this was the first major mutiny organized by Indian sepoys against the British East India Company. 

Result of Revolt of 1857 

The main leaders of the revolt of 1857 were not successful in sending back British people to their country because of many reasons. Mainly because sepoys of India do not have a proper single leader. Important leaders of the revolt of 1857 arose from various parts of the country and stood separately against the British government. So, Indian sepoys do have a clear idea about how foreigners are routed in India. Later, the British government evacuated the leaders of the revolt of 1857 from the country. The revolt of 1857 majorly affected the rulers in northern India. But, the presidencies of Bombay, Bengal, and Madras remain unaffected.  

The British East India Company found a shake at the end of the revolt of 1857. So, they disclosed their inefficiency in handling the Indian administration. The introduction of the Government of India act abolished the rule of the British East India Company. Under the British Raj, they transferred all the Indian rulers directly under the British government and started ruling the whole of India under a single government.