War of Independance

2. NAME : HARIS ASGHAR
CLASS : SENIOR 1
SUBJECT : PAK STUDIES(HISTORY)
TEACHER NAME : ASIF NAZIR
SCHOOL : THE LAHORE LYCEUM (SHALIMAR CAMPUS)

4. INTRODUCTION
• In 1857, the British face a serious challenge to their control of India. In that year , there
were a serious of uprisings which are known by British historians as `The Indian
Mutiny` and by Indian historians as `The War of Independence`. These differing names
for the same event show how history can be a matter of interpretation.
• For the British, the events of 1857 were a revolt against their authority which had to be
crushed in order to maintain control. To the Indians, it was a war to throw off the
shackles of foreign domination.
• The reasons for the outbreak of the war in 1857 can be divided into four areas, though
different sections of the population were motivated by different factors. What they all
had common, however, was resentment of British rule.

5. CAUSES OF WAR
The main causes of the war are
• Political
• Religious & Social
• Economic
• Military

6. POLITICAL
• As the British extended their control the local leaders saw
authority decline. Lord Dalhousie`s use of `Doctrine of
Lapse` was particularly unpopular. The seizure of Oudh
in1856, convinced many Indian leaders that the British were
simply greedy land grabbers.
• The mistreatment of The Mughal Emperor was another
cause of unrest. By 1857 the Emperor had little power left,
but was an important symbolic figure Dalhousie`s decision
to move the royal family from the Red Fort to the more
abscure Qutab Sahib was seen as sign of disrespect.
Red Fort ,Netaji Subhash Marg, Lal Qila, Chandni
Chowk, New Delhi, India

7. RELIGIOUS & SOCIAL
• As British political control grew, so did the spread of British
culture. The British considered it their duty to spread their
`superior` culture. In 1835, one English administrator talked
of how `a single shelf of a good European library was worth
the whole native literature of India and Arabia`.
• Many of the British were more thoughtful than this, but in
general the British treated the Indians as inferior race. Indians
and British did not generally mix as social equals and the
British societies regarded themselves as small oases of
culture in a largely uncivilized world. This arrogant attitude,
coupled with the introduction of a new way of life with its
railways, roads and telegraph, was unacceptable to many
Indians.
• Many Indians feared that Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism were
under threat from British rule. The British always denied this,
but they were not believed. It was true that Christian
missionaries came to India to convert the local population as
well as set up schools. In these schools, the missionaries
taught Christianity and expected locals who worked for them
to give up their religion and follow the Christian teachings.
Christian missionaries teaching Indian`s children's

8. ECONOMIC
• The British merchants made substantial profits from their
trading in goods such as textiles. The British also followed a
practice of imposing high taxation to ensure that they exploited
India`s wealth to the full Peasants and small landowners, in
particular found it difficult to pay the increasing taxes and
resentment grew. It was also true that some tax money for
themselves. At the same time as they were imposing high taxes
on India, the British were also keeping the salary of sepoys
(infantry) low, causing more resentment. British giving salary to peasants or sepoys

9. MILITARY
• There were more deep-seated reasons for discounted
amongst members of the armed forces. The sepoys and
sowars (calvalry) were almost exclusively Indian, but the
officer class was almost exclusively British.
• This caused great resentment. There were also regular
rumors that Muslims Hindu and Sikh soldiers would be
forced to convert to Christianity and that they might be
sent to fight abroad, which was unacceptable as Hindus
soldiers did not want to leave `Mother India` It was no
wonder that one Indian observer in 1857 said, `all the
native army is dissatisfied with the government.`
Indians killing British in Meerut

10. THE EVENTS OF 1857
● In January 1857 the British announced that they would introduce a new rifle
with a paper cartridge covered with grease to keep the powder dry and before the
cartridge would be loaded the end had to be bitten off. However a rumor spread
that the grease was made up of Cow and pigs fat. The Sepoys were so angry that
they refused to use the new rifle.
● In March a Sepoys named Mangal Pandey defied his British officer and was
executed.
● In May Sepoys of Meerut refused to touch the new cartridge so they were put
to prison but their fellow Sepoys freed them and killed all the British then the
soldiers marched to Delhi and captured it. The Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah
Zafar II wined the sup12port of Hindus and Muslims. The War spread and British
lost control of Mathura, Kanpur, Jhansi and Allahabad as well as Delhi and
Lucknow. This area is now known as Uttar pardesh. However British proved to be
too powerful and quickly regained the areas they had lost.
● In September Delhi was regained and Bahdur Shah was put into life time
prison. In august 1858 the war was officially over.
Bahadur Shah captured by British