Causes of the Revolt (1857) Essay Example

Causes of the Revolt (1857) Essay Example Causes of the Revolt (1857) Essay Causes of the Revolt (1857) Essay CAUSES OF THE REVOLT The Religious Cause 1. Almost from the beginning of the British rule, the Christian missionaries tried to preach Christianity among the people. 2. They established schools at many places, through preaching and education began to draw the Indian towards to Christianity as best as they could. 3. Those Hindus who embraced Christianity was not allowed to inherit their paternal property. 4. The enemies of the English spread rumors that in order to destroy religion of the Hindus the British mixed the powder of the animal bones in the salt. . It was also circulated that the flesh of pigs and cows was thrown into wells. The religious sentiments of Muslims and Hindus were greatly hurt by such stories. POLITICAL CAUSES 1. Lord Dalhousie caused widespread resentment among the Indian rulers and their subjects by aggressively expanding his state and annexing native Indian states 2. He annexed states of satara nagpur and jhansi by applying the doctrine of lapse 3. NANA SAHEB w as denied a pension after his fathers death. He was the son of Peshwa Baji rao II 4. Bahadur Shahs successor was denied the right to live at the red fort 5. He annexed Awadh, accusing the government of maladministration and shocking the nawab who was a faithful ally and the people of India 6. The British did not obey the treaties sometimes and they were broken according to the need of the British and the nawabs at that time could not trust any treaty at all. ECONOMIC CAUSES The policy of economic exploitation by the British and widespread destruction of the traditional economic structure caused widespread resentment among Indian society. . The zamindari(land lord) system was introduced by the British and the peasants were exploited by them. They were often tortured or jailed when the peasants failed to pay the taxes 2. The landlords also were insecured and jagirs(lands) were confiscated when the taxes did not match the assigned goals. 3. The interests of India were not the first priority of the government. They came in India for economic profit, which was the main pr iority. The traditional industries collapsed under the pressure of industrialized fields. No measures were taken to improve the conditions of the peasants and the artisans. 4. The annexation of Indian states was followed by large scale unemployment and economic distress as a large number of court officials and other lost their means of earning. All the poets, artisans etc working under these rulers lost their jobs. SOCIAL CAUSES 1. Social reforms by the Britishers were hated by the Indians who took it as a mark of British interference in the political affairs of India. 2. The efforts of missionaries t convert people to Christianity also angered the Indians. . The introduction of western education undermined the position of the traditional teachers and teaching methods in India. 4. The introduction of railways, telegraphs and posts, though good for he society, gave birth to doubts and fear among the poorer and illiterate section of the society. 5. The British judicial system introduced the principal of equality which undermined the presence of caste system in India. 6. The British looked down upon Indians and followed a policy of racial discrimination and separated themselves as superiors from the Indian society. Lord Wellesley described Indians as vulgar, ignorant, rude, familiar and stupid. Military causes 1. The Sepoys had helped the British to establish their empire in India but were not awarded or promoted at all. On the contrary, they were treated with contempt. 2. There was a discrimination between the Indian and the British soldiers. 3. An Indian soldier got much less salary as compared to a Western soldier. 4. The senior British officers did not pay any respect to the Indian soldiers at all. 5. The act passed in 1856 that made it compulsory for all troops to serve overseas hurted the feelings of the soldiers as hindus believed that overseas travel would lead to a loss of caste. 6. After Awadhs annexation, the army was disbanded and a lot of soldiers lost their livelihood which led to general anger against the British 7. The Indian soldiers were much more in number as compared to the British soldiers. In 1856 the number of Indian troops was up to 5 times as compared to the British troops. This also encouraged the Sepoys to rise against the British.