Revolt of 1857

• The rebellion is also known as

– India's First War of Independence,
– the Great Rebellion,
– the Indian Mutiny,
– the Rebellion of 1857,
– the Uprising of 1857,
– the Sepoy Rebellion and
– the Sepoy Mutiny.
• The Mutiny was a result of various grievance
 THE BRITISH EAST INDIA COMPANY
• In 1857, the British East India Company controlled
more than 1.6 million square miles of territory
• This vast area was controlled and protected by an
equally vast military force, composed of three
distinct armies centered around the presidencies of
Madras, Bombay, and Bengal.
• In 1856 its combined native troops alone numbered
280,000 men, making it the largest army in the
world and a powerful strategic tool for British world
dominance.
 TRANSITION TO A TERRITORIAL EMPIRE

• Although the East India Company had begun as a

trading company in the seventeenth century, its
transition to a territorial empire in the eighteenth
century required that it place military concerns at
the heart of its policy
• Each of the three centers of Company control at
Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta maintained separate
military establishments, commanders-in-chief, and
military staffs as well as civil governments
 Lord Wellesley

British
Governor-
General in
India from
1798 to 1805
 Subsidiary Alliance
• The doctrine of subsidiary alliance was introduced by
Lord Wellesley, British Governor-General in India from
1798 to 1805.
• Early in his governorship Wellesley adopted a POLICY OF
NON-INTERVENTION in the princely states, but he later
adopted the policy of forming subsidiary alliances.
• This policy was to play a major role in British expansion
in India.
• According to the term of this alliance, Indian rulers were
not allowed to have their independent armed force .
 Subsidiary Alliance
• They were to be protected by the company,
but had to pay for the 'subsidiary forces' that
the company was supposed to maintain for
the purpose of this protection.
• If the Indian rulers failed to make the
payment, then part of their territory was
taken away as penalty.
 Subsidiary Alliance
• By the late 18th century, the power of the
Maratha Empire had weakened in the Indian
subcontinent, and India was left with a great
number of states, most small and weak.
• Many rulers accepted the offer of protection
by Lord Wellesley, as it gave them security
against attack by their neighbors
 Subsidiary Alliance
The main principles of a subsidiary alliance
were:
• An Indian ruler entering into a subsidiary
alliance with the British had to accept British
FORCES WITHIN HIS TERRITORY AND ALSO
AGREED TO PAY FOR THEIR MAINTENANCE.
• The ruler would accept a BRITISH RESIDENT
in his state.
 Subsidiary Alliance
The main principles of a subsidiary alliance were:
• An Indian ruler who entered into a subsidiary alliance
WOULD NOT ENTER INTO ANY FURTHER ALLIANCE WITH
ANY OTHER POWER, NOR WOULD HE DECLARE WAR
against any power without the permission of the British.
• THE RULER WOULD NOT EMPLOY ANY EUROPEANS other
than the British, and if he were already doing so, he would
dismiss them.
• In case of a conflict with any other state, HE WOULD
AGREE THE RESOLUTION DECIDED UPON BY THE BRITISH
 Subsidiary Alliance
• The main principles of a subsidiary alliance were:
• The ruler would acknowledge the East India
Company as the paramount power in India.
• In return for the ruler accepting its conditions, the
Company undertook to protect the state from
external dangers and internal disorders.
• If the Indian rulers failed to make the payments
required by the alliance, then part of their
territory was to be taken away as a penalty.
 Lord Dalhousie
Lord Dalhousie, the
Governor-General
of India from 1848
to 1856, who
devised the
Doctrine of Lapse.
 Doctrine of Lapse
• The Doctrine of Lapse was AN ANNEXATION POLICY
PURPORTEDLY DEVISED BY LORD DALHOUSIE, who
was the Governor General for the East India Company
in India between 1848 and 1856.
• According to the Doctrine, any princely state or
territory under the direct influence (paramount) of
the British East India Company as a vassal state under
the British Subsidiary System, would automatically be
annexed if the ruler was either "manifestly
incompetent or died without a direct heir"
 Lord Dalhousie
A Scottish
statesman, and a
colonial
administrator in
British India.
He served as
Governor-General
of India from 1848
to 1856.
 Doctrine of Lapse
• The latter supplanted the long-established
right of an Indian sovereign without an heir
to choose a successor.
• In addition, the British decided whether
potential rulers were competent enough.
• The doctrine and its application were widely
regarded by many Indians as illegitimate.
 Rani of Jhansi
Lakshmibai, The Rani of
Maratha-ruled Jhansi, one
of the principal leaders of
the rebellion who earlier
had lost her kingdom as a
result of the
Doctrine of Lapse.
“Meri Jhansi Nahi Dungi”-
“I shall not surrender my
Jhansi.” – was the call of
Rani Laxmi Bai
 Doctrine of Lapse
• The Company had absolute, imperial administrative jurisdiction
over many regions spread over the subcontinent.
• The company took over the princely states of
– Satara (1848),
– Sambalpur (1849),
– Nagpur and Jhansi (1854),
– Tanjore (1855),
– Udaipur and Awadh (Oudh, 1856),
• with the reason that the ruler was not ruling properly using this
doctrine.
• The Company added about four million pounds to its annual
revenue by use of this doctrine
 Causes of the Revolt: Political
• Policy of annexation
• Doctrine of Lapse
• Removal of the descendants of the Great
Mughal (from the ancestral home and
palace to the Qutub near Delhi)
• The annexation of Oudh
• Destroying the Mughal power
 Bahadur Shah Zafar
The last Mughal
Emperor, crowned
Emperor of India,
by the Indian
troops, he was
deposed by the
British, and died in
exile in Burma
 Causes of the Revolt: Economic
• The removal of the landlords by the British
• Increased the revenue and tax
• Confiscated some 20000 estates in the Deccan
• The kings allowances was not granted
• The role of railways and telegraphs
 Causes of the Revolt: Social
• The extension of western education
• The abolition of practices like Sati,
female infanticide and child
marriage
• The Religious Disabilities Act 1856
• The Widow Remarriage Act of 1856
The Caste Disabilities Removal Act, 1850,

• The Caste Disabilities Removal Act, 1850, also Act XXI of

1850, was a legislation passed in British India under East
India Company rule, that abolished all laws affecting the
rights of persons converting to another religion or caste.
• Under ancient Hindu law a person converting from
Hinduism to another religion became ineligible for
inheriting property from other family members.
• The new Act allowed Indians who converted from one
religion to another religion equal rights under no law,
especially in the case of inheritance
 ACT No. XXI Of 1850 [11 April 1850.] An Act for extending the principle of section 9, Regulation VII, 1832, of the Bengal Code throughout the
Territories subject to the Government of the East India Company.

Preamble.
•WHEREAS it is enacted by section 9, Regulation VII, 1832, of the Bengal Code, that
"whenever in any civil suit the parties to such suit may be of different persuasions, when
one party shall be of the Hindu and the other of the Muhammadan persuasion, or where
one or more of the parties to the suit shall not be either of the Muhammadan or Hindu
persuasions, the laws of those religions shall not be permitted to operate to deprive such
party or parties of any property to which, but for the operation of such laws, they would
have been entitled; and whereas it will be beneficial to extend the principle of that
enactment throughout the territories subject to the government of the East India
Company ; It is enacted as follows :—
•1. So much of any law or usage now in force within the territories subject to the
government of the East India Company as inflicts on any person forfeiture of rights or
property, or may be held in any way to impair or affect any right of inheritance, by reason
of his or her renouncing, or having been excluded from the communion of, any religion, or
being deprived of caste, shall ease to be enforced as law in the Courts of the East India
Company, and in the Courts established by Royal Charter within the said territories.
The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856, also
Act XV, 1856, enacted on 25 July 1856,
• legalized the remarriage of Hindu widows in
all jurisdictions of India under East India
Company rule.
• In order to protect both what it considered
family honour and family property, upper-
caste Hindu society had long disallowed the
remarriage of widows
 Causes of the Revolt
• In 1856 the King of Awadh was summarily
deposed, an action many in the province
perceived as a
• The Company placed a British chief
commissioner who introduced new laws
concerning the ownership of land, which
dispossessed many of the influential
zamindars and taluqdars
 Wajid Ali Shah

• Wajid Ali Shah was the tenth and last Nawab of

Awadh, holding the position for 9 years, from 13
February 1847 to 11 February 1856.
• Nawab Wajid Ali Shah's first wife was Begum
Hazrat Mahal, a woman who has gone down in
history for her valour and courage in standing up
to the might of the British forces during India's
first struggle of freedom against British in 1857
 Causes of the Revolt
• Several other factors specific to the decades
just prior to the Rebellion added fuel to the
fire of the Bengal sepoys’ discontent.
• First, there was the rapid expansion of British
power in the subcontinent, signaled by the
annexation of the Punjab in 1848 and the
annexation of Awadh in 1856.
 Causes of the Revolt
CONVERT THE POPULATION OF INDIA TO CHRISTIANITY

• Sepoys in the Bengal army increasingly feared

that the British meant to convert the
population of India to Christianity.
 Causes of the Revolt
CONVERT THE POPULATION OF INDIA TO CHRISTIANITY

• Christian missionary activity had in fact

increased dramatically in the 1840s and 1850s
following an 1834 Act that rescinded the East
India Company's right to keep British subjects
(and missionaries in particular) out of India.
 Causes of the Revolt
• Both Hindus and Muslims often felt deep
horror at British Christian.
• Rumors of British intent to resort to forced
conversions circulated widely, and seemed all
the more believable in light of changes in
landholding, law, and customary rights so
recently imposed.
 NATIVE VOLUNTEERS
• Native volunteers were recruited in large
numbers partly because of the vast span of
British territory that needed protecting, partly
because of the large resources of manpower
various Indian populations offered, and partly
because native soldiers were less expensive,
better disciplined, and healthier than their
European counterparts.
Subadar of the 21st Bengal Native Infantry
(1819)
 NATIVE TROOPS OF DIVERSE AREAS
• native troops of diverse areas were relatively easy to recruit
into the Indian army.
• This was true for several reasons.
• First, the British tended to recruit from populations, like the
Rajputs of northern India, who came from long traditions of
pre-colonial military service, and who perceived military service
as both a respectable and honorable means of employment.
• This focus on areas of traditional military service meant that
only seldom did the British have to resort to direct recruitment,
relying instead on family and village connections to supply fresh
recruits.
 NATIVE TROOPS OF DIVERSE AREAS
• Second, unlike the British regular army the salaries
offered by the Company were respectable and steady,
although by 1857 pay had not kept pace with the cost
of living and was increasingly less attractive.
• Third, military service in the Company offered added
benefits
– in the form of special pay or land grants—
– for those willing to serve in foreign stations,
– and for those with long service, good conduct, or
conspicuous acts of bravery in battle.
 The Bengal army
• The Bengal army was considered by many to be the
showpiece of the Indian army.
• Its officers made much of the character and physique of
Bengal army recruits, who were drawn increasingly from the
higher Brahmin and Rajput castes of north-central India, in
particular Awadh (Oudh) and Bihar.
• Promotion was based on seniority rather than merit
• Native officers were positioned within the regimental
structure in such a way that their rank carried almost no
authority with their British officers.
• The highest-ranking native officer could never outrank even
the lowest-ranking British officer.
 Charles Canning

Charles Canning,
the Governor-
General of India
during the
rebellion.
 Mangal Pandey
Mangal Pandey 19 July 1827 – 8
April 1857), was an Indian soldier
who played a key part in events
immediately preceding the outbreak
of the Indian rebellion of 1857.
• Pandey was a sepoy in the 34th
Bengal Native Infantry (BNI)
regiment of the British East India
Company.
• While contemporary British
opinion considered him a traitor
and mutineer, Pandey is widely
regarded as a freedom fighter in
modern India.
 The Rifle

The Rifle, which caused unrest in the Bengal Army in early 1857
 THE CARTRIDGE
• The musketry books also recommended that,
"Whenever the grease around the bullet
appears to be melted away, or otherwise
removed from the cartridge, the sides of the
bullet should be wetted in the mouth before
putting it into the barrel; the saliva will serve
the purpose of grease for the time being
 Cultural considerations and rumours
• SINCE COWS ARE SACRED TO HINDUS AND PIGS ARE STRICTLY
FORBIDDEN TO MUSLIMS, the Bengal sepoys could be expected
to have reservations about the cartridges.
• Thus when the rumour that animal fat was being used began to
circulate, it had a very damaging effect.
• Other unsettling accounts started spreading.
• For instance, it was thought that the British planned to make
their sepoys outcastes in order to force them to convert to
Christianity.
• Another rumour said the British had adulterated the wheat flour
distributed to the sepoys with ground bone-dust of bullocks
An engraving titled Sepoy Indian troops dividing the spoils after their mutiny against British rule,
which include a number of muskets
 CONSEQUENCES
• A united India did not exist at that time in
political, cultural, or ethnic terms
• The rebellion was put down with the help of
other Indian soldiers drawn from the Madras
Army, the Bombay Army and the Sikh
regiments, 80% of the East India Company
forces were Indian;
 CONSEQUENCES
• Many of the local rulers fought amongst
themselves rather than uniting against the
British.
• Many rebel Sepoy regiments disbanded and
went home rather than fight.
• Not all of the rebels accepted the return of the
Mughals.
 CONSEQUENCES
• The King of Delhi had no real control over the mutineers.
• The revolt was largely limited to north and central India.
• Whilst risings occurred elsewhere they had little impact
due to their limited nature.
• A number of revolts occurred in areas not under British
rule, and against native rulers, often as a result of local
internal politics.
• The revolt was fractured along religious, ethnic and
regional lines.
 Outbreak
• On March 29, 1857, a soldier named Mangal
Pandey attacked and fired at his senior at
Barrackpur in Bengal (in 19th and 34th Native
infantry).
• On May 10, there was a mutiny of sepoys’ at
Meerut (3rd native cavalry).
• Mutiny spread throughout UP along with
some other parts of the country.
 Outbreak
• ‘March to Delhi’ became the battle cry of the rebels.
• At Delhi, the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah II was
proclaimed the Emperor of India.
• Where the rulers were loyal to the British, the soldiers
revolted as in Gwalior and Indore. In some places, the
people revolted before the sepoys did.
• In the beginning, the rebels were successful.
• Europeans were killed, law courts and police stations
were attacked and revenue records were destroyed.
• But reverses soon began to occur.
 Causes of Failure of the Revolt
• Lack of planning, organization and leadership.
• a) Lack of unity and cohesion:
• Many state rulers e.g. the Scindias, Holkars, Nizam of
Hyderabad, Nawab of Bhopal, Rajas of Patiala, Nabha, Jind
Jodhpur etc., big Zamindars and traders actively supported
the British.
• The Sikh, Rajput and Gorkha Battalions REMAINED LOYAL to
the British to suppress the Revolt.
• b) The rising was not widespread:
• The Revolt was limited to U.P., Delhi and West Bengal.
• IT DID NOT ASSUME A NATIONAL CHARACTER.
 Causes of Failure of the Revolt
• c) No common aims and ideals:
The Hindus and the Muslims wanted to establish their
separate empires. There was no unified programme.
• d) Lack of discipline, resources and organization:
The revolutionaries lacked resources (men and money),
discipline and organization.
They were brave and patriotic but lacked leadership qualities.
An unplanned early start: An unplanned early start (Much
before the scheduled date i.e. May) alerted the British rulers.
• THE REVOLT WAS CRUSHED AND FAILED MISERABLY.
 Causes of Failure of the Revolt
• The Gurkhas of Nepal rendered undisturbed.
• Rani of Jhansi was a capable woman but she was
not head of all the forces nor an experienced
General
• They were short of modern weapons and
material of war
• The fought with swords and spikes
• They sometimes behaved more like a riotous
mob
 Causes of Failure of the Revolt
• There was no centralized leadership
• There was no co-ordination among them in
various parts of the country
• The rebels joined together with a common
feeling of hatred against the British power
• They were suspicious of one another and often
resulted in quarrels
• Selfishness of the leaders sapped the strength of
the revolt and prevented its consolidation
 Causes of Failure of the Revolt
• The revenue record and the account books of
the moneylenders were destroyed and they
became passive.
• The money lenders were the targets of the
attacks by the villagers
• The merchants also gradually became
unfriendly towards the rebels
 Causes of Failure of the Revolt
• The merchants concealed their wealth and
goods and refused to give free supply to the
rebels
• The Zamindars of Bengal remained loyal to the
British
• The big merchants of Bombay, Calcutta and
Madras supported the British because their
main profits came from foreign trade and
economic connection with the British
merchants
 Causes of Failure of the Revolt
• The educated Indians also did not support the
revolt
• The felt that the British were bring in a new
era of the progress in the country
• Sir John Lawrence, Haveloc, Nicholson,
Edwardes, Neil etc., controlled the situation
from the very beginning to the end and the
Indian were no match for them
 Causes of Failure of the Revolt
• The British succeeded in crushing the leaders
of the revolt one by one
• The rebels had no forward-looking programme
to be implemented after the capture of power.
 Causes of Failure of the Revolt
• The modern intelligent Indians
also didn’t support the cause.
• The military equipment of the
rebels was inferior.
 EFFECTS OF THE REVOLT
• The Revolt of 1857 did not leave India
unaffected.
• It showed to the world that the English had
done splendor services
• The Direct result of the Revolt of 1857, the
ENGLISH EAST INDIA COMPANY WAS ENDED
AND THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA WAS
TAKEN OVER BY THE CROWN
 EFFECTS OF THE REVOLT
• The Court of Directors of the Company was
abolished and the their place was taken by the
Secretary of State for India and the Indian
Council
• There was a change in the policy of the
Government of India towards the Indian
princes.
• The loyalty of the princely state of Rajput,
Nizam and the Sikh Chief had been of great
value in preventing the spread of the revolt.
 Queen Victoria's Proclamation concerning
India
• The purpose of Queen
Victoria's Proclamation
concerning India, issued
in 1858, was to
announce that England
was assuming control of
its Indian colonies,
removing them from
the administration of
the British East India
Company
 EFFECTS OF THE REVOLT

• Queen Victoria declared in her Proclamation

of 1858 that the British Government in future
would not annex the Indian States
• The Indian princes were assured the right of
adoption and succession
• They were given certificates of recognition of
their status
• The Government of India began to rely more
and more on the Indian princes
 EFFECTS OF THE REVOLT
• There was a change in the land policy of the
Government
• There was a change in the policy of the
Government of India to westernize the Indians
• The British view that all good things came
from the west, they received a rude shock
• The upper classes were conservative and all
interference was given up
 EFFECTS OF THE REVOLT
• There was an extensive reorganization of the
army of India
• The Bengal Army virtually ceased to exist
• The separation of armies was maintained
because each group had its own tradition and
their distinctness had prevented the spread of
the Mutiny virus from the Bengal Army to the
other armies.
• The Bengal army was completely recast.
 EFFECTS OF THE REVOLT
• The Brahmin element from Uttar Pradesh was
heavily reduced and its place was taken by
Gurkhas, Sikhs, Jats and Rajputs.
• The Revolt of 1857 created a lot of bitterness
between the Indians and the British
• The revolt resulted in the tightening of the
control of India
• The centre of interest in India shifted from
external policy to the internal development.
 EFFECTS OF THE REVOLT
• When the rebellion started, both the Hindus
and Muslim took part in large numbers
• The Muslims were more violent and the British
feared the Muslims more than the Hindus
• The result was that the hand of repression fell
more heavily on the Muslims than on the
Hindus
• Many of the Muslims were hanged or exiled
Bahadur Shah Zafar
 Political Factors
• Due to the British expansionist policies, most of the Raja’s,
Nawab’s and the zamindar’s, were either dispossessed
from their state or became subsidiary to the British.
• The East India Company (EIC) had a planned way of
expansionism and many Indian states easily fell prey to the
policies of the East India Company.
• The policy of Trade and Commerce subjugated the state,
the policy of indirect subordination (subsidiary alliance),
policy of war and annexation, policy of direct subordination
(doctrine of lapse), policy of misgovernance (in which
Awadh was annexed).
 Political Factors
• These policies greatly hampered the interests of
the rulers of the native states, and they one by
one became victims of British expansionism.
• Therefore, those rulers, who lost their states to
the British, were naturally against the British
and took sides against them during the revolt.
• However, some of the rulers were in active
connivance and collaborated with the British in
suppressing the revolt.
 Political Factors
• The period of Dalhousie (1848-1856) is marked as a major
factor in the revolt of 1857.
• A famous policy under his period was ‘Doctrine of Lapse’.
• Under this, many states, like Satara, Jaitpur, Sambhalpur,
Jhansi, were captured by the British who expanded
recklessly.
• Thus the political factors, i.e. expansionary policy of the
British greatly contributed towards the revolt of 1857.
• The other factor was that Indian judges were not allowed to
try the criminal cases of Europeans- thus discrimination was
at all levels.
 Revolt of 1857 Causes: Economic
• Economic Factors (Economic Causes of Revolt of 1857):
• This was a vital factor as it affected a large section of
Indian society. Ever since the grant of Diwani was made
to the British in 1765, land revenue became an issue of
much burden.
• British Government had imposed ‘pocket area
transformation’, that means, introduction of Permanent
Settlement in Bengal, Mahalwari settlement in Central
India, and Ryotwari settlement in southern India.
 Revolt of 1857 Causes: Economic
• These three settlements were highly exploitative,
and in particular, the Permanent settlement had
created a devastating impact.
• But the high rates of land revenue, ruined the
prospects of Indian peasantry.
• Thus the peasants were greatly encouraged to
overthrow the British Government from India.
• The ‘Drain of Wealth’ impoverished peasants and
they thus participated actively in the revolt of 1857.
 Revolt of 1857: Military Factors
• The Indian military was not a professional
military- they were just peasants in uniform.
• Thus every impact on peasantry had large
repercussions in the form of military
discontentment.
• Also, the policies followed by Lord Dalhousie
and Lord Canning greatly hurt the sentiments
of the Indian military.
 Revolt of 1857: Military Factors
• The Indian military was already largely
discriminated against in terms of salaries,
pensions, promotions.
• Indians were subjugated in the military while
their European counterparts faced no such
discrimination.
• During the time of Lord Canning, two important
laws were passed: Both these acts were passed
in 1856, i.e. on the eve of revolt.
Revolt of 1857: Military Factors
– General Service Enlistment Act:
– This act meant that if Indian military personnel
were posted abroad, they wouldn’t be entitled to
get extra allowances.
– Thus this act was a jolt to the prospects to the
Indian military personnel serving under the East
India Company.
Revolt of 1857: Military Factors
– Religious Disabilities Act: 
– For Indian soldiers, the belief was that if they crossed the
ocean, they would lose their religion. They would thus be
socially ostracized.
– Thus, Hindu soldiers skipped appointments that involved
serving in a foreign land.
– But, after the passing of the “Religious Disabilities Act”,
they would have to compulsorily take the appointment,
otherwise, they would lose their job.
– At the same time, the use of religious symbols in the
military were also restricted.
 Revolt of 1857: Military Factors
• Thus, there was a high degree of
discontentment among the Indians with the
passing of these acts.
 Immediate Factor:
• The immediate factor was the introduction of
the ‘Enfield’ rifle. It was said that the cartridge
of this rifle was wrapped in the fat of cow and
pig.
• The cartridge had to be bitten off before
loading it into the gun.
• Thus the Hindu and Muslim soldiers were
reluctant to use the ‘Enfield’ rifle.
 Immediate Factor:
• At Barrackpore (Bengal), the soldiers of the 34th Native
Infantry, refused to obey the commander Lt. Baugh.
• MangalPandey who led the uprising, wanted to kill Lt.
Baugh and finally MangalPandey was overpowered
and he was hanged.
• He was the first rebel who was hanged in the revolt of
1857.
• This sparked a collective uprising in the form of the
revolt of 1857
 Immediate Factor:
• After the event of Barrackpore, on 10th May, 1857 General
Bakht Khan who was posted in Meerut, along with the
contingent of troops from Meerut and Bareily, marched to
Delhi, and then the context of the revolt was set, when he
declared Bahadur Shah Zafar as the leader of the revolt.
• So, 10th May, 1857, was regarded as the beginning of the revolt.
• After initial reluctance, Bahadur Shah Zafar, agreed to become
the leader of the revolt. General Bakht Khan raised Bahadur
Shah Zafar as the leader of the revolt as the people of India still
accepted Mughal suzerainty over India, and it was symbolic for
him to lead this revolt.
 Immediate Factor:
• After 10th May, 1857, the revolt spread to different parts of India
from Delhi, i.e. Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareily, Awadh, Assam,
Bihar, etc. Thus various parts of Northern India were under the
grip of the revolt.
• Thus from 1857-1858, the British were on a war-footing to
suppress the revolt. The revolt was suppressed by 1858.
• According to Indian Historians, like V.D. Savarkar, and Ashok
Mehta, this revolt was the ‘first war of Indian Independence’.
• V.D. Savarkar, wrote a book with the same title, i.e. ‘First war of
Indian Independence’. 
• He summarized the revolt to be arising out of contradictions
between the foreigners and the natives