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In the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh as a political power, Sikh Kingdom had · emerged. The Sikh chieftains had divided entire Punjab into 12 misls. Ranjit Singh united these misls and formed an independent state. Now he wanted to submerge the regions situated in the east of river sutlej, over which the British also wished to establish their dominance. For this issue, the treaty of Amritsar was signed between the British and Ranjit Singh in April 1809.

According to this treaty, dominance of the British was established upto Sutlej, and they became free from the terror of the Sikhs in the north. This made a negative impact on the stability of Sikh Kingdom. According to the tripartite agreement (Ranjit Singh, the British and Shahshuja) performed in 1838, Ranjit Singh accepted the mediation of the British in the issue of Sindh.

After the death of Ranjit Singh in 1839 and controversial atmosphere among the Sikh chieftains, the imperialistic ambitions of the British get strengthened. From 1845 to 1846, the first Anglo-Sikh war was fought and the result remained in favour of the British. Interference in politics and diplomatic nature of the British created anger among Sikhs, which resulted in the form of Second Anglo-Sikh war in 1848-49 CE. Sikhs were defeated in this war also.

Dalhousie made a declaration on 29th March 1849 and merged Punjab in the British Empire. Maharaja Dilip Singh was given pension. Kohinoor diamond and the state of Punjab were handed over to the British by Maharaja Dilip Singh and his security council.

Bahadur Shah Zafar II was the last Mughal ruler of Delhi. He accepted to lead the revolt of 1857. Although he had become old, he took leadership of the revolt. Bahadur Shah Zafar formed this revolt as a war which was started by soldiers. On his name, letters were written to Indian rulers to participate in the revolt. But at last he was defeated and was imprisoned. He was interned and sent to Rangoon where he died in 1862.

On 12th May, the revolutionaries occupied Delhi. Mughal emperor of Delhi, Bahadur Shah Zafar II accepted to lead the revolutionaries and he was declared the emperor of India. At that time, lieutenant Willoghby opposed the revolutionaries to some extent but he was defeated and fled away.

In the form of symbol of power, the occupancy of Delhi is regared as the start of the revolt of 1857. Shortly after, the revolt spread in northern and central India. Letters were written to Indian rulers to participate in the revolt. The revolt took place in Lucknow, Allahabad, Kanpur, Barielly, Benaras, some regions of Bihar, Jhansi and several other regions.

The causes of political dissatisfaction during the revolt of 1857 were as following: 

(i) Misbehaviour of Britishers towards Mughal Emperor – The Indian Muslims were annoyed with the British because the British used to behave offensively with Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar.

After the death of Bahadur Shah, declaration made by Lord Canning to end the post of the emperor, discontinuation from presenting grants to the emperor and removing his name from the coins and Lord Dalhousie making the Red fort vacant etc. increased and frustration of the Muslims even further against the British.

(ii) The Doctrine of Lapse of Lord Dalhousie Under the Doctrine of Lapse of Lord Dalhousie, Jhansi, Nagpur, Udaipur, Satara, Baghar, Nizam, Mysore, Maratha etc. were annexed in the British empire and after that, under pretext of maladministration, the merger of Awadh, which had always remained loyal towards the British, largely infuriated the soldiers of Awadh.

(iii) Discrimination with Indians in Public facilities – In the Charter Act of 1833, it was clearly mentioned that in all the military and non – military recruitments, appointments would be done without any discrimination on grounds of religion, caste, colour, creed etc. But the British did not follow this policy. Higher posts were reserved only for the British.

(a) Lord Dalhousie

In 1856, Indian government decided to use the new enfield rifles which had to be torn off using the mouth. In January 1857, the news spread that the fat of cow and pig had been used in the cartidges of the new rifles. Due to this incident, the soldiers got infuriated with the feeling of the destruction of their religious and refused to uses them and it infused a spark for the revolt.

General Service Enlistment Act was passed in 1856. According to this, Indian soldiers were forced to go across the seas outside India. Indian soldiers considered it a sin. Post Office Act was passed to provide facility of free postal service to Indian soldiers, but later on it was withdrawn. All these things created a feeling of revolt in the minds of Indian soldiers.

Lord Wellesley came to India Governor General in 1798 C.E.

The religious causes of the revolt of 1857 were as following:

1. The British formed a new law in the context of paternal property. Now if a person converted christianity, he was not deprived from his paternal property. 

2. Under the Act of 1813, Christian priests were allowed to propagate thier religion in India. 

3. Christian literature was distributed in cantonments and schools. 

4. Britishers started to impose tax on mosques and temples. 

5. The Christian missionaries conducted planned campaign of conversion through financial incitement and various other methods.

French Governor General Dupleix came to India in 1742 CE.

(d) Lord Wellesley

Doctrine of Lapse was implemented by Governor General Lord Dalhousie.

(a) Lord Dalhousie

(d) Vasco – de – gama

The main purpose of Lord Wellesley was the expansion of British Empire.

Vensitart treaty was the secret treaty which was signed for appointing Mir Qasim as the Nawab of Bengal.

The European companies which came to India for the trading purpose were Portuguese, Dutch, Denmark, British and French.

Sir Tomas Roe was a British ambassdor who was sent in Jahangir’s court by British Emperor James I. Here he get the trading facilities for British company.

(b) Ranga Bapuji Gupte

Revolt of 1857 was a result of a pre – determined plan which was led by different leaders in different regions. According to the plan, the revolt was to start in the entire country on 31st May, 1857 in a single instance. But due to the incident of fat plated cartridges, the revolt started before the fixed time on 10 May. In Merrut Cantt the soldiers revolted and freed all their companion soldiers and proceeded towards Delhi.

Expansion of Revolt in North India: Delhi – Mughal Emperor of Delhi, Bahadur Shah Zafar – II accepted to lead the revolutionaries and he was declared the emperor of India. Letters were written to Indian rulers to participate in the revolt.

Awadh – Revolt started in Lucknow on 4th June. Begum Hazrat Mahal declared her adolescent son as the Nawab and started the struggle against the British. The landlords, farmers and soldiers extended their support and set the British Residency on fire in which Henry Lawrence was killed.

Kanpur – With the assistance of his capable companions, Tanya Tope and Azimullah, Nana Sahib freed Kanpur from the clutches of the British on 5th June 1857.

Jhansi – In the beginning of June 1857, the soldiers revolted in Jhansi also. From here, Rani Laxmi Bai led the revolt. She bravely received martyrdom while confronting the Britishers.

Bihar – 80 years old Kunwar Singh, the landlord from Jagdishpur of Bihar led the revolt. He get the nearby regions of Arab’ freed from the clutches of the British.

Rajasthan – In Rajasthan, Thakur Kushal Singh of Auwa blew the trumpet of revolt in British military contonments of Nasirabad, Neemuch and Erinpura.

Rohilkhand – Ahmadulla led the revolt from Rohilkhand and Sadaruddin, a farmer became the leader of revolt in Mewat. Other centrs of revolt wereJalandhar, Ambala, Rohtak and Panipat.

Expansion of Revolt in South India:

1. The effect of revolt was spread in Goa, Pondicherry in South India along with the distant south. 

2. In Maharashtra, Ranga Bapu formed a public army against the British and led it at places including Belgaon, Satara, Kolhapur and various other places. 

3. The revolt began in Satara and Pandharpur and later revolutionary incidents were witnessed in Nasik, Ratnagiri and Bijapur. 

4. Chintabhupati revolted in Golkunda. 

5. In Banglore, gth horsed army and 20th foot army revolted. 

6. In Northern Arcot, Tanjore and Vellore the landlords revolted agaisnt the British. Besides these, Madurai, Malabar, Calicut, Kochin etc. were major centres of revolt.

Correct Answer is: (b) 1453 CE

Correct Answer is: (d) India

(c) England and France

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.

The historians have different views on the form of the revolt. The struggle which started from military dissatisfaction took the form of a national revolt and freedom struggle due to public support. This was the first joint blow against the British. It can be called to be the first freedom struggle.

Major Views on the Revolt: This was a sepoy mutiny – Robert John Lawrence, Ceile, Charles Rakes, Durgadas Bandyopadhyay, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan considered this revolt as sepoy mutiny. Undoubtedly, this revolt started in the form of a sepoy mutiny but as every section of the society participated in it, this cannot be regarded to be fully correct.

It was a Muslim reaction – According to Sir James Outram, W. Taylor, Mollison and Copeland, this revolt was a form of Muslim conspiracy in pretext of Hindu concerns. This was an effort of reestablishment of Muslim rule. But as the Hindus participated in this revolt in large number, this view also can not be regarded to be fully correct.

It was a public revolt – According to Sir J. Kaye, this revolt was a struggle of the black people against the white people. But there were many Indians in the British army, therefore saying so is also not correct, and the rapid pace with which this revolt spread made this clear that the revolt received massive support from the people.

Canning wrote that the revolt which had taken place against our rule in Awadh was extremely terrific. John Bruce Norton has called it as public revolt. Mollison has regarded it to be a joint effort to throw the British out of India.

It was peasant revolt – As the farmers played an important role in this revolt, some scholars have also addressed it as a peasant revolt. Along with the company government, farmers also revolted against the big talluqdars, but this cannot be considered as fully correct.

It was a national revolt – Benjamin Disraeli, Ashok Mehta, Veer Savarkar etc. called it as ‘national revolt. But the western historians consider the definition of nationalism in context of the nationalism of 20th century in Europe, therefore they do not regard it as a national revolt.

Dr Satya Rai has written that we should not implement European definitions in Indian context. Due to nationalistic feeling, people from all sections of the society ignored their mutual conflicts and without any discrimination, they made joint efforts to throw the British out India, which comes under the category of national struggle.

This revolt was the war of Indian Independence – Many scholars have regarded it as the first freedom struggle of India. Dr S. N. Sen, V. D. Savarkar, Pt Nehru, Dr Tarachand. Dr Vishveshwar Prasad S. B. Chaudhary considered that whatever be the actual form of this revolt, shortly, this revolt became a challenge to British rule in India and it received the credit of being the national freedom struggle against the British. So it was the freedom struggle of India.

1. The British were inspired by the feeling of racism and they looked down upon the Indians as inferior to them. 

2. Western education policy destroyed the Indian education system. The objective of their education policy was to obtain clerks and prepare black Britishers for the sake of administration.

The major objective of the British rule in India was economic exploitation of India. The qualities of independent rural economy in India were destroyed by the exploitative policies of the British. Farmers were frustated due to excessive land revenue and assistance of the army was taken for its collection.

Cloth industry began to decline due to high export duty on manufactured goods in India and low import duty on goods which were brought from England.

As a result of industrilisation, use of machines had declined the cottage industries in India. So the continuous drainage of wealth from India filled dissatisfaction in the hearts of Indians. This dissatisfaction was exposed in the form of revolt of 1857.

In contemporary Calcutta in a small closet which was 18 feet long and 14 feet 10 inch wide, Siraj-Ud-Daulah imprisoned 146 British prisoners at the night of 20th June, and on the next day, only 23 people were found alive.

123 peple died due to suffocation. J. Z. Holwell who was one among the survivors, is considered to be the composer of this story which appears to be fictitious because is such a small closet, it was not possible to imprison 146 persons in one instance. It is said that the story of the black hall was composed only to induce the anger of the British in India. This incident is known as Black hall accident also.

Correct Answer is: (a) British

After the decline of Mughal empire, the situation of instability crose in the politics of India. In this situation, various regional powers declared themselves independent and the European powers get a chance to get established here. In 18th century, the following regional powers emerged in India.

Mughals – After the death of Aurangzeb, the Mughal Empire go weakened and eventually ended. After the invasion of Nader Shah in 1739 and the invasion of Ahmad Shah Abdali in 1761, the Mughal Empire almost ended. Till 1857, Bahadur Shah Zafar was the emperor just for name.

Marathas – During 18th century, the Marathas extended their power under the leadership of Peshwas in North India. But this empire came to decline after the defeat in the third Battle of Panipat in 1761. Lack of unity was also a reason behind its decline.

Awadh – In 1728 CE, Saadat Khan established an independent rule in Awadh. But after the defeat in the battle of Buxar in 1764, Awadh became a dependent state of the British through the treaty of Allahabad.

Bengal – In 1740, Murshid Kuli Khan established an independent rule in Bengal but after the battle of Plassey in 1757, the British rule was established in Bengal.

Mysore – In 1761 CE, Hyder Ali became the ruler of Mysore. Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan fought a long struggle against British. In 1799, Mysore was annexed in British empire through subsidiary alliance.

Jat – Jats established their rule in Agra, Etah, Dholpur, Chambal, Mathura, Aligarh, Lakshmangarh, Punjab and Haryana. The Jat kingdom was at its height during the reign of Maharaja Surajmal.

Punjab – In Punjab, Ranjit Singh united 12 Misls and formed an independent state. In 1849 CE, Punjab was annexed in British empire.

Rajput Kingdom – When the centralized power weakned during the Mughal period, the Rajput kings of Malwa, Amer etc. made efforts to become independent.

Rohilkhand – In Rohilkhand, Ali Muhammad Khan established his independent power and made Andla (Bareilly) as his capital. Thus in 18th century, these new regional powers divided India into small sections and they always engaged in fighting with one another. As a result, one by one they became part of the British Empire.

Correct Answer is: (a) Fat cartridges

The treaty of Seringapatnam was signed in 1792 CE between Tipu Sultan and the British. This treaty was offensive for Tipu because according to the provisions of this treaty, half of Tipu’s kingdom was annexed and provided to the British and their supporters. Tipu also accepted to grant 3 lakh rupees and handed over his two sons in the form of prisoners to the British.

Badan Singh was the first ruler of Bharatpur.

In the eighteenth century, Maratha power had established itself in the form of a major power in India but the third battle of Panipat fought on 14 January, 1761 gave a serve set back to their power as the Marathas stood defeated in the battle against Ahmad Shah Abdali and British get a chance to challenge them. Three Anglo – Maratha wars were fought between 1775-1818. As a result of these wars, Marathas were finally destroyed. The main circumstances of these was were

1. The mutual fractions between Maratha chieftains provided the opportunity to the British to attack the Marathas.

2. The ambition of Raghunath Rao to become the Peshwa and the treaty of Surat signed by the British with him made the struggle inevitable. 

3. The deprived peshwa Baji Rao second signed the treaty of Bassein on 31st December 1802 and this ended the Maratha independence. 

4. First Anglo-Maratha (1775-1782 CE) war started because Raghunath Rao wanted the post of Peshwa and British accepted the treaty of Surat and decided to support Raghoba. 

5. However the British were defeated on January 1773 in Wadgaon but they continued the war till the treaty of Salbai (May 1782 CE) with Marathas. 

6. In 1798 CE, Lord Wellesley came to India after becoming the Governor General with the major objective of expansion of the British Empire in India. 

7. According to the treaty signed on 13th June 1817, the Peshwa renounced the post of chairman of the Maratha Union. 

8. In the third Anglo-Maratha war, Holkar and Bhonsle favoured the Peshwa while Sindhiya and Gayakwad remained separate from the war. 

9. In February 1818 CE, the Peshwa was defeated for the last time in the battle of Asti. He was sent to Bithoor (Kanpur) along with a pension of one lakh rupees. The British defeated Bhonsle in the battle of Sitabuldi and Holkar in the battle of Mahidpur. Alongwith the treaty of Mandsaur between the British and Holkar, British dominance was established in India.

The British joined the Marathas and Nizam and formed a ternary union against Hyder Ali in the first Anglo Mysore war.

Tipu wished to buy the Dutch fort situated in Cochin for the protection of Malabar, but the king of Travancore who had the support of the British bought it and angered Tipu. This was the immediate reason of the third Anglo mysore war. Cornwallis invaded Mysore along with a massive army. Tipu could not sustain in the fight for long and signed the treaty of Seringapatnam in 1792.

In 1798, imperialistic Lord Wellesly became the Governor General and came to India. In 1800 CE, after the death of Nana Fadnavis, differences emerged between Sindhiya and Holkar in Maratha court on the issue of establishment of dominance. At this time Sindhiya remained successful in establishing his control over Peshwa Bajirao II.

In October 1802, Holkar defeated the joint army of Peshwa and Sindhiya and Vinayak Rao was made the Peshwa. In order to regain the post of Peshwa, Bajirao went in the haven of the British, due to which the British again get on opportinity to interfere in the politics of the Marathas.

Reasons of War: 

(1) Peshwa had remained unable in solving the disputes of his own Maratha chieftains. When a struggle took place between Holkar and Sindhiya, Bajirao II went in the haven of the British.

(2) There was competition between Holkar and Sindhiya on the issue of establishing · dominacne in the politics of Marathas and the British get advantage of this dispute.

(3) In 1800 CE after the death of Nana Fadanavis, there was no leader who would unite the Marathas. As a result, dispute between the Maratha chieftains continuously increased which resulted in war.

(4) In 1798, Lord Wellesley came to India after becoming the Governor General with the major objective of expansion of the British empire in India. With the objective of invading the Marathas, the British signed the treaty of Bassein with the deprived Peshwa. The above given reasons created the condition of war between the Britsh and the Maratha by which Maratha Empire continuously became weak.

In the reign of Maharaja Surajmal, Jat empire reached its peak.

De Almeda, the first Viceroy of regions of India occupied by the Portuguese increased his naval power which is known as Blue Water Policy.

Subedar Saadat Khan founded the independent rule in Awadh in 1728.

The British won the Battle of Buxar.

Jat ruler king Surajmal is known as the Plato of Jat community.

The First Anglo – Maratha war was ended through the treaty of Salbai in 1782.

The third Battle of Panipat was fought on 14 January 1761 CE between Marathas and Ahmad Shah. Abdali.

This statement was given by K. K. Dutta.

The Third Battle of Panipat was fought on 14 January 1761 CE between Ahmedshah Abdali and Marathas.

Ahmad Shah Abdali, the ruler of Afganistan regarded the Indian regions occupied by Nadir Shah in the east to be under his dominion. Various Rohila and Afghan Pathans were also inspiring Abdali to invade upon India. On the other hand, Maratha power had expanded in Northern India.

In the end of 1759, Abdali ousted the Maratha representative from Punjab and reached near Delhi. The Peshwa sent a massive army under the leadership of his cousin Sadashivrao Bahu and his son Vishwas Rao against Abdali which occupied Delhi and reached the battlefield of Panipat where on 14th January 1761, the third Battle of Panipat was fought and Marathas were defeated in the end.

Causes of Marathas’ Defeat in the war:

1. The defective military organization and lack of discipline in Marathas. 

2. Lack of unity between the Indian kings and chieftains. 

3. The Marathas were deprived of assistance from Jats, Rajputs and other Indian powers as they lacked in unity. 

4. Several traitors supported Abdali, so the Marathas were forced to fight alone.

In order to establish British sovereignity in India, Lord Dalhousie adopted other methods of annexing the states in the name of maladministration and by supplanting the long established right of an Indian soveregin without an heir to choose a successor which is known as Doctrine of Lapse. According to this policy, the states of Satara, Sambhalpur, Jhansi, Nagpur, Jaitpur, Udaipur, Baghar, Tanjore and Awadh were annexed in British Empire.

In the Charter Act of 1833 it was mentioned that in all the military and nonmilitary recruitments, appointments would be done without any discrimination on grounds of religion, caste, colour, creed etc. But the British did not follow this policy. Higher posts were reserved only for the British.