What historical values did the revolt of 1857 teach us? Write in detail with examples . Kindly answer the question as soon as possible.

1. Need for national unity: The revolt of 1857 failed because India was not united in resisting the British. Instead, the revolt was largely confined to Delhi and the United Provinces. Large parts of India like the Southern and Western parts and Punjab did not participate in the revolt. Hence, the British were able to crush the revolt.

2. Need for progressive political and social ideology: The revolt failed because it failed to inspire many people in India. The reason it failed to inspire was that the revolt failed to provide any new political and social ideology. Instead, it wanted to reinstate the Mughal empire which had already been severely weakened for over a century.


3. Need for a better military and political leadership: The revolt failed because the Indian rebels had very poor political and military leadership. Hence, they could not match the fighting power of the British army.

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. Economic Causes:

The economic policy of the British adversely affected every section of the Indian society. The British exploited the economic resources of India to their advantage and drained her wealth by crippling the Indian trade and industry. Under the British, India turned into a colonial economy to serve the British capitalist interests.

Indian resources were unabashedly exported to London to promote British industries. Consequently, the country was reduced to poverty as traditional handicrafts and industries were ruined. Many people were rendered jobless and there was overcrowding in the agrarian sector.

Further the high revenue demand crippled the agrarian sector. Both the peasants and the zamindars were pushed by the British to produce more to appropriate the maximum revenue. The various revenue settlements were designed to benefit the government and displayed total disregard for the cultivators.

In case of failure to pay the stipulated amount the lands of the zamindar were taken away by the government. A large number of zamindars were thus dispossessed of their lands and estates as part of this policy. These grievances left the Indian people dissatisfied of the British eventually turned out to be bitter enemies of the British.
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Causes of the Revolt: a. Political Causes:

Lord Dalhousie was the Governor-General of India till 1848-1856. Under him the British followed an expansionist policy in India.

Dalhousie through his policies had added considerable territories to the British Empire in India.

The policy of annexation reached its climax when he implemented the policy of Doctrine of Lapse and annexed the Indian states on charges of mis-governance and absence of an heir. In the course of eight years Dalhousie annexed Satara (1848), Sambhalpur (1850), Jhansi (1853), Nagpur (1853), Jaipur (1849) and Bhagat (1850).

 

 

This policy enraged the Indian rulers against the British government. As part of the Doctrine of Lapse policy, the titles and pensions of some Indian princes were confiscated. The pension of Baji Rao ll’s son Nana Sahib was discontinued after his father’s death and Rani of Jhansi had been deprived of her right to rule in violation of the recognized Hindu law. Dalhousie further proposed to abolish the title of the Mughal emperor after the death of Bahadur Shah II.

b. Economic Causes:

The economic policy of the British adversely affected every section of the Indian society. The British exploited the economic resources of India to their advantage and drained her wealth by crippling the Indian trade and industry. Under the British, India turned into a colonial economy to serve the British capitalist interests.

Indian resources were unabashedly exported to London to promote British industries. Consequently, the country was reduced to poverty as traditional handicrafts and industries were ruined. Many people were rendered jobless and there was overcrowding in the agrarian sector.

Further the high revenue demand crippled the agrarian sector. Both the peasants and the zamindars were pushed by the British to produce more to appropriate the maximum revenue. The various revenue settlements were designed to benefit the government and displayed total disregard for the cultivators.

In case of failure to pay the stipulated amount the lands of the zamindar were taken away by the government. A large number of zamindars were thus dispossessed of their lands and estates as part of this policy. These grievances left the Indian people dissatisfied of the British eventually turned out to be bitter enemies of the British.

  Nature of the Revolt:

  sepoy mutiny since the initial thrust of the revolt in the form of the cartridge episode was given by the soldiers. These scholars also contend that the revolt was not related to the general people so much as the sepoys and they formed the bulk of the rebels.

Nationalists as V.D. Savarkar opine that the revolt was the first war of independence. They feel that the revolt sparked off the discontent of the Indians towards the foreign rule and they fought bitterly to drive away the foreigners from their homeland. According to them, the Hindus and Muslims participated equally in the revolt and displayed a new bond of unity against the British.

The Marxists view the revolt as a soldier-peasant struggle against feudal bondage. They contend that the Indian soldier was a peasant in uniform and wanted to throw away the feudal domination infused by the British.

On the whole one may look at the revolt as a product of the accumulated discontent of the people against the foreign government.

Impact of the Revolt: (a) Policy Change:

The Queen’s Proclamation of November 1858 announced the policy of the British government to be followed from now on in India. It announced that the policy of territorial extension was to be abandoned. The native rulers were assured of the safety of their territory, rights and honour if they cooperated with British.

The right of a ruler to adopt a child in the absence of a natural heir was accepted. The government regarded the native rulers as the bulwark against the masses and henceforth followed a policy of protecting this reactionary segment of the Indian society.

A policy of divide and rule was actively pursued to keep the Hindus and Muslims divided.

(b) Administrative Changes:

On January 1st 1877 Queen Victoria was proclaimed as the Queen Empress of India and the administration of India was transferred the East India Company to the British Crown. India was to be administered by the Secretary of State and his fifteen-member council through the Viceroy. The Governor-general became the viceroy and the representative of the Crown in India.

(c) Reorganization of the Army:

The army was re-organized to strengthen British control over the country and avert any further rebellions in future. The number of British soldiers was increased and all the higher posts and key positions were filled up by the British.

 
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I donot want the reasons, but the historical values. Please read the question before answering it.
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