The revolt of 1857 was an armed effort to throw the British out of India. The Indian army was seven fold in number as compared to the British army and it get the support of common people also. Ever after this, the British were successful in crushing the revolt and Indians had to face defeat. 

The factors responsible for the revolt being crushed were as following:

(i) Lack of skilled and capable leadership – The leader of this revolt, Bahadur Shah Zafar was an old and weak ruler. There was lack of mutual coordination among different leaders due to which the revolt could not be led properly and the British becames successful in crushing it.

(ii) The revolt taking place before its fixed time – 31st May 1857 was fixed as the day to start the revolt in a single instance across the country as per-plan, but the revolt started before the fixed time became on 10th May 1857. Thus the revolt started in different times and places so the British became successful in crushing the revolt.

(iii) Non – cooperation of the Indian rulers – Most of the kings of the estates supported the British in crushing this revolt due to their self interests. Rulers of Rajputana, Maratha, Mysore, Punjab, Eastern Bengal etc, remained neutral.

Indifference of the landlords, merchants and educacted class – The big landlords, moneylenders and merchants supported the British. The revolutionaries also could not gain support of the educated class.

Limited resources – The British possessed a full fledged and disciplined army consisting of trained soldiers and modern European weapons and they also gained benefit of · their control upon the seas. On the other hand, there was lack of discipline, unity and capable leadership in the Indian soldiers and along with this, they were also forced to face the lack of money and weapons.

Lack of fixed objectives and ideals – There was no ideal or plan with the revolutionaries regarding the future form of administration after the British had gone away from India. V. D. Savarkar has written, “If there was a clear ideal in front of the people which could interest them by heart, then the end of the revolt would also be as glorious as its beginning was.”

Favourable conditions of the British – The year of 1857 proved to be beneficial for the British. After winning the Crimean and Chinese wars, the British soldiers reached India. In the sphere of transport and communication, the railway and post and telegraph system of Dalhousie also remained favourable for them.

Diplomacy of Canning and the British – The British remained successful in getting the support of Punjab, the Pathans of north western boundary province, the Afghans, Sindhiya and Nizam through their diplomacy. The liberal policy of Canning also proved to be beneficial in pacifying the revolutionaries. In brief, we can say that lack of the feeling of nationalism, of mutual coordination and of capable leadership were the main causes behind this revolt being crushed by the British.