Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.

Loading…
Transcript

The Indian Rebellion of 1857

Causes of Revolt

  • British Christian missionaries trying to convert Hindus and Muslims
  • The Doctrine of Lapse
  • Brahman caste discontent
  • Increasing Westernization
  • Belief the British were going to eliminate the caste system
  • Greased Enfield rifle cartridges

Causes

How?

  • The causes of the revolt built over time until the rifle cartridges sparked the rebellion

Religious Conversion

  • British missionaries were attempting to convert Hindus and Muslims to Christianity
  • Hindus and Muslims saw this as a threat to their faith
  • This had been going on for years before the rebellion
  • The pressure to convert put strain on the native people, but the rebellion was not yet sparked

Religious Conversion

The Doctrine of Lapse

  • The Doctrine of Lapse was a document that dealt with Hindu succession
  • Hindu law stated those without a heir could adopt one
  • The Doctrine allowed the British to reject last-minute adoptions
  • When the ruler then died or abdicated the throne, the British legally annexed the land and replace the ruler with a British official
  • The Hindu people in the annexed areas deeply resented the Doctrine
  • Surrounding areas became alarmed when they heard about the annexations
  • This added more pressure to the Indian people

Doctrine of Lapse

Brahman Discontent

  • The Brahmans are the highest-ranking caste of Indian social classes
  • Their primary occupation was as priests and advisers to rulers
  • British officials took revenue and power away from Brahmans
  • Many Brahmans also lost their positions
  • This led to the Brahmans also being upset with the British
  • More revolutionary pressure was added because of the discontent

Brahman Discontent

Increasing Westernization

  • Indian society was being affected by rapid British Westernization
  • Religious traditions such as sati (widow burning) were made illegal
  • Widows were instead allowed to remarry
  • Western forms of education were also being instituted
  • People also disliked railways and telegraphs the British were erecting across the countryside
  • Westernization was happening at too rapid a pace for the Indian people, and became another concern adding pressure to revolt

Increasing Westernization

Caste Elimination?

  • A rumor spread among the Indian people that the British were going to eliminate the caste system
  • People felt threatened by this because the caste system had been around for centuries and it was the Indian social hierarchy
  • They found it to be a form of Westernization
  • The British did not have plans to abolish the caste system
  • However, the rumor of that possibility was even more pressure to revolt

Caste Elimination

New Enfield Cartridges

  • In the Bengal army, Britain introduced a new Enfield rifle that required a certain lubricated cartridge
  • The sepoys in the army believed the cartridges were coated in cow and pig lard, which was offensive to Hindus and Muslims
  • This caused the sepoys to become angry
  • One sepoy, Mangal Pandey, attacked two British officers over the cartridges
  • His attack sparked the beginning of the revolt where the sepoys began to fight the British
  • The cartridges were the final straw that caused all the pressure of revolution to be acted upon

Enfield Cartridges

Enlightenment Ideas

Enlightenment Ideas

The Indian Mutiny of 1857 was caused by Voltaire's idea of religious freedom. British missionaries in India were trying to force Christian beliefs on the Hindus and Muslims. In addition to the forced beliefs, the new Enfield rifle cartridges with grease on them were believed to go against religion because of the taboo on cows and pigs. Together, this led the Indians to revolt to keep their religions, and gave them moral ground for their attacks. The sepoys were also questioning the government of the British, similar to how European people were questioning their governments during the Enlightenment.

Key Leaders

Lakshmi Bai

Tantia Tope

Mangal Pandey

Key Leaders

Nana Sahib

Bakht Khan

Begum Hazrat Mahal

Lakshmi Bai

Lakshmi Bai was the rani (queen) of Jhansi. The British tried to annex Jansi when her husband died without an heir, but she refused to let them. She then took charge of Bundelkhand rebels and organized her own troops to fight in the uprising. When the British invaded Jhansi, she did not surrender, even when her troops were overpowered. Lakshmi escaped, and later seized Gwalior with Tantia Tope.

Lakshmi Bai

Mangal Pandey

Mangal Pandey was a soldier (sepoy) in the British Army. When a new Enfield rifle with a cartridge that required a greased end to be bitten off was put into use, Pandey's beliefs were compromised. Sepoys believed cow or pig lard was used as the grease purposefully by the British to go against Hindu and Muslim beliefs. Pandey called for attack against the officers and attacked two of them himself. He was executed for his actions, but incited later revolts against the Enfield cartridges. Many believe he sparked the entire mutiny.

Mangal Pandey

Tantia Tope

Tantia Tope was the best of the rebel generals. In 1857 he took command of Gwalior's rebels and drove the invading British back to Kanpur. He went to Jhansi to assist Lakshmi Bai, but was defeated. Tope joined Lakshmi after she fled, and together they launched a successful assault on Gwalior, taking the treasury and the arsenal. Tope's forces were later broken apart, but he kept resisting the British as a guerrilla fighter in the jungle.

Tantia Tope

Nana Sahib

Nana Sahib was a prominent Hindu nobleman who joined the Kanpur rebel sepoys in rebellion. He broke his decree of safe conduct given to the British, resulting in British women and children being massacred at his palace. He could not command the rebels because he lacked military knowledge. He was later declared peshwa (ruler) of Gwalior after it was captured by Lakshmi Bai and Tantia Tope.

Nana Sahib

Begum Hazrat Mahal

Begum Hazrat Mahal was the wife of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, ruler of Awadh. After her husband was deposed, the people of Awadh began attacking the British, but needed a central rallying point. Mahal took over administration, and led her armies from the front. She united the Muslims and Hindus, and also encouraged women to join the war. Under her leadership, the city of Lucknow was taken and beseiged. Her regularly issued proclamations encouraged the resistance, but when Nepal allied with the British she retreated from India.

Begum Hazrat Mahal

Bakht Khan

Bakht Khan served in the British East India Company army. After the rebellion began, he went to Delhi with his troops, switching sides to support the rebels. The Mughal emperor in Delhi appointed him Commander in Chief, and Khan instituted democratic reforms. Later, he gave up his position and went to Awadh. In Awadh, he fought the British with his forces and the forces of Begum Hazrat Mahal. Khan died in battle during one of the last days of mutiny.

Bakht Khan

Turning Point Events

  • The Indian Rebellion took place from 1857-1858
  • The Siege and Fall of Lucknow
  • May- November 1857
  • The Siege of Delhi
  • June- September 1857
  • The Kanpur Massacre
  • June- December 1857
  • The Siege of Jhansi
  • March- April 1858
  • The Gwalior Assault
  • June 1858

Turning Point Events

Siege and Fall of Lucknow

May- November 1857

Kanpur Massacre

June- December 1857

Gwalior Assault

June 1858

Siege of Delhi

June- September 1857

Siege of Jhansi

March- April 1858

Siege/Fall of Lucknow

Lucknow

  • Lucknow was the capital of Awadh, which was annexed to the British because of the Doctrine of Lapse
  • This angered the city's inhabitants and they rose up against the soldiers in the city
  • Begum Hazrat Mahal led the movement along with Bakht Khan
  • The British soldiers and civilians retreated into the Residency (Lucknow's fortress), which the rebels then put under siege in June
  • A British relief force was sent to evacuate civilians in September, but was so decimated from fighting when it reached the Residency it was forced to wait for a second relief
  • A second relief force arrived in November and successfully evacuated the Residency, but the rebels still controlled Lucknow
  • The British returned in March and recaptured Lucknow, then looted the palace

Siege of Delhi

Delhi

  • The rebels took control of Delhi in May 1857
  • Bakht Khan and his troops fought for the rebels
  • Delhi had important strategic placement, so the British were determined to recapture it
  • However, their forces were too spread out
  • The British then occupied a ridge overlooking Delhi and the siege began
  • In August, reinforcements and weapons arrived from the Punjab in the south
  • The British began their assault on Delhi in mid- September and retook the city after one week of savage fighting
  • The recapture was the biggest factor in the revolt's suppression

The Kanpur Massacre

Kanpur

  • Sepoys in Kanpur rebelled against the British in late June 1857
  • Nana Sahib decided to join the rebels
  • He offered the British safe passage and then broke that decree
  • All British men, women, and children were murdered
  • British armies marched to Kanpur and took the city in July
  • Nana Sahib and Tantia Tope's armies recaptured the city in November
  • In December, the British took the city from the rebels
  • That was the last time the city changed hands

Siege of Jhansi

  • The British attempted to annex Jhansi because of the Doctrine of Lapse
  • Jhansi's rani, Lakshmi Bai, refused to let them
  • In March 1858, the British surrounded Jhansi
  • Tantia Tope came to assist Lakshmi, but was defeated
  • Lakshmi refused to surrender when the British stormed Jhansi
  • She later escaped the city
  • The British successfully took the city and looted it

Jhansi

The Gwalior Assault

  • After Lakshmi Bai escaped from Jhansi, she met up with Tantia Tope and his forces
  • They decided to launch an attack on Gwalior
  • In June 1858 Indian troops defected to the rebels
  • With these forces, Lakshmi and Tope assaulted Gwalior successfully, taking the treasury and arsenal
  • Nana Sahib was then declared ruler of Gwalior
  • The British launched a counterattack that Lakshmi was killed in and retook the city after two days

Gwalior

How the Events Connect

  • The turning points of the rebellion connect because they all show how the British constantly overwhelmed the rebels
  • Anytime the rebels took one of the cities, the British would reconquer the city eventually
  • This occurred because the British had better technology and more kinds of motivation than the rebels

Connected

Effects of Revolt

  • Army reorganization
  • East India Company abolished
  • Policy of consulting with Indian citizens
  • Societal changes
  • Nationalism

Effects

Army Reorganization

  • Because the revolt sparked in the army, the British implemented a series of reforms
  • More British soldiers were added, and the army hierarchy was organized where British were needed to function
  • Indian soldiers were given weapons inferior to the weapons of British soldiers
  • Soldiers were recruited from more areas
  • This made the army more diverse and less likely to rebel

Army

East India Company Abolished

  • The East India Company and its government were abolished
  • Direct rule by the British government was enacted
  • Indian rulers and high caste members were employed in government
  • The British stopped using the Doctrine of Lapse to annex lands
  • Queen Victoria became Empress of India

East India Company

Policy of Consultation

  • Many believed the lack of communication between the British and Indian citizens contributed to the rebellion
  • India's previous Legislative Council included only Europeans
  • The new council had an Indian element that allowed the citizens to communicate with the rulers
  • This led to British social changes that impacted religion being abolished

Consulting

Societal Changes

  • Traditional Indian society had risen against the British and failed
  • This led to the caste system breaking down and being replaced with Westernized classes
  • Westernization began to occur rapidly
  • Railways and canals were constructed
  • Universities opened to educate citizens
  • These citizens were able to speak English as well as their own languages
  • They would also adopt things they liked about British culture
  • This created semi- Europeanized subjects

Society

Nationalism

Nationalism

  • The societal changes of education led to a heightened sense of nationalism
  • Indians who adopted Western ideas adopted the idea of nationalism
  • This nationalism was present mostly in the middle class
  • Eventually, these Westernized nationalists wondered why they didn't have the same rights as Europeans
  • This led to movements for independence
  • Because traditional Indian leaders weren't the biggest part of the 1857 revolt, people turned to middle class leaders during these movements
  • These were leaders such as Mohandas K. Gandhi

Crane Brinton's Theory

Crane Brinton

  • The Indian Rebellion of 1857 does not support Crane Brinton's Theory
  • In the Preliminary Stage of Revolution, the government is usually going bankrupt and taxing
  • This did not occur in the Indian Rebellion
  • In the First Stage of Revolution, dual sovereignty occurs and there are two governments
  • This did not occur in the Indian Rebellion
  • In the Crisis Stage of Revolution, there is a passion for renaming things to match revolutionary spirit
  • This did not occur in the Indian Rebellion
  • In the Recovery Stage of Revolution, a strong man emerges and assumes great power
  • This did not occur in the Indian Rebellion
Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi