Causes of the Great Revolt of 1857

The causes of the Great Revolt can be grouped into Political, Economic, Military, Social. They are discussed below:

Political causes

1. The people of all classes became angry with the British due to the latter’s despotic policy of aggression adapted from the battle of Plassey to the revolt of 1857 A.D. The aggression of Lord Dalhousie was greatly responsible for this revolt. The way in which Lord Dalhousie took over Oudh, Nagpur, Jhansi, Satara, Nagpur, Sambalpur, Surat, Carnatic and Tanjore displeased the rulers and the people of those states. Adopting sons was an old practice among Indian rulers. By rejecting this practice and by taking over some states on flimsy grounds Dalhousie aroused people’s anger. Lakshmi Bai and Nana Sahib revolted because they were very much displeased with Lord Dalhousie’s policies.
2. Apart from the princely states, the Santhals, Bhils, Khasis, Jaths and the Faraizis revolted against the British.
3. The Indian sepoys of Bhopal were angry with the British since 1806 A.D. Because, they were deprived of the right to wear tikas on the forehead or turbans on the head.
4. Clive introduced a double rule in the name of good government and brought famine in India.
5. Wellesley’s Subsidiary alliance by which he grabbed different provinces increased political resentment.
6. When the East India Company became sovereign and while Bahadur Shah II disowned his title as the ‘Mughal Emperor’, the Muslims became united against the British. The first Sepoy Mutiny took place in Vellore (1806), then it spread out in Bengal (1824), Sind and Rawalpindi (1844).

Economic causes

The most important cause was the economic distress caused by British in our country.

1. P.J. Marshall has commented in his ‘East India Fortune’s’ that after the battle of Plassey, poverty in this country increased as the Government drained the wealth of India by taking away diamonds, gold, silver and other precious articles by indirect reforms in Danish trade and by Bill of Exchange.
2. The revenues earned from our country went to England.
3. The Charter Act of 1833 A.D. gave the facilities to many other European companies like trading in India. In this way pressures on Indian economy went on increasing.
4. The British used to take raw materials at a cheaper rate from India and sold the costly ready-made goods here.
5. Indian markets were full of Manchester clothes which ultimately destroyed India’s handicraft industry.
6. Besides the high rate of tariff and the ‘Drainage of wealth’ led to famines and epidemics in India.
7. After the attainment of Diwani the cost of land revenue was also increased to a great extent.
8. At the same time, the salaries of the Indians were much lower than that of the Europeans. This economic discrimination was one of the main reasons of the great revolt.

India’s small industries were destroyed; the Indian artisans, craftsmen and peasants became poorer and poorer. Over and above these, there were unbearable burden of taxes. These were enough to make every class of people dissatisfied and angry.

Social causes

It is known from the text ‘Siyar-ul-Mutakherin’ that social discrimination took a bad shape on the eve of the revolt.

It is known from the works of Lieutenant Darn that the British officials had never mixed freely with the Indians. Indian entry was prohibited in restaurants, parks and clubs reserved for the British. Indian officers and general people had to suffer from racial and social discrimination in their courts and offices.

Further, religion also played an important part. The British thought that their religion was a superior one. This attitude gave rise to great misgivings.

Military causes

Another cause of the revolt of 1857 A.D. was the growing resentment of the Indian army. There were many reasons behind such resentment –

1. Low salary as compared with the British soldiers.
2. Poor quality of food,
3. Ill manners of the British battalion.
4. The sepoys had little prospect of promotion.
5. Indian sepoys were forced to serve overseas. British officers and Indian sepoys of the same grade were not treated equally. They were transferred to far-off places away from their homes and families.
6. These were enough to enrage and arouse a people against their government. When the people were teeming with discontent an incident gave the spark. At about, this time the “Enfield rifle” was brought into use in the army. This incident was the immediate cause of the revolt of 1857.

R.C. Majumder has said in his book “British Paramountcy and Indian renaissance” that the salary of the Indian soldiers was Rs. 9.00 per month. The Hindu soldiers were also angry for crossing the seas or Kalapani. Their religious feelings were hurt by it. Bipin Chandra commented that while the Indian soldiers consisted of 2,75,000 men, the Europeans were only 45,000 in numbers so numerically speaking the resentment of the sepoys led to an imminent revolt. On 29 March 1857 A.D. Mangal Pandey first revolted out of this anger and became a martyr (hanged on 8^th April, 1857).