STRUGGLE IS A NEVER ENDING PROCESS. FREEDOM IS NEVER REALLY WON, YOU EARN IT AND WIN IT IN EVERY GENERATION. THE ONLY REAL PRISON IS FEAR, AND THE ONLY REAL FREEDOM IS FREEDOM FROM FEAR.
- CORETTA SCOT KING & AUNG SAN SUUKYI
Indian freedom struggle has the one of the most prolonged struggle for independence. The ultimate aim of Indian Independence was to end British ruling in India. It was a series of activities starting from Sepoy mutiny also known as First Independence War to final partitioning of India. The East India Company was the reason for the emergence of such struggle in India.
East India company entered India in the year 1600 as a trading body. Initially the company didn't have any idea of starting rule rather it just came for trading purpose. But soon after its victory over couple of wars namely Battle of Plassey and Battle of Buxar, the company marked the beginning of its firm foothold in Eastern India and also defeated India's one of the greatest empires - Mughal Empire.
The company gradually increased its power and suppressed Indians from exercising rights and freedom. Reaching to this point of supremacy of the company, Indian sepoys, Peasants, Artisans, Pundits, Zamindars, Princes, Kings and Emperor took a stand against the Britishers resulting the First war for Independence in 1857.
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major turning point in the history of modern India. The war spanned from 1857 to 1858.
STORY BEHIND THE REVOLT
The East India Company established itself as political power in India in 1772. Their main motive was to increase their power over all the territories of India rather than improving the lives of Indians. In order fulfill their intention to become a political power, British introduced many expansionist and unjust policies. The increasing of exploitation and administration innovations over the years adversely affected the positions of all.
The East India Company made policies that directly destroyed the tradition economy, culture and religious beliefs of the society. This made the rulers, peasants, Zamindars and sepoys dissatisfied with the British rule and policies and were waiting for an opportunity to drive them out of the country. The sepoys were angered due to the seizure of Awadh (oudh) , this made them plot against the government. The rebel was reticent until 29th March 1857 when it became expansive. On this day, Mangal Pandey, a young Sepoy of the Bengal native Infantry attacked the British officers. His attack was the first step for the birth of the rebel. He attacked the officers because they were made to use greased cartridges.
The Britishers introduced "Enfield rifle" in which the cartridge had to be bitten off before loading it into the gun. It was rumored among Indians that the cartridge was greased with either pig fat or cow fat. This was against the Hindu and Muslim sentiments and religious ideologies. Indian sepoys refused to use the rifle and this became the immediate factor for the revolt of 1857. The attack on officers by Mangal Pandey angered Britishers and hanged him to death.. After his death, many other sepoys refused to join the British army drill and protested against the use of cartridges. As result of the protest, the British dismissed these sepoys and jailed them. However , soon after that other sepoys released the imprisoned sepoys and attacked the British officers and captured their ammunition and fired their buildings and property. The sepoy persuaded Bhahadur Shah Zafar to support and fight against the Britishers. Initially Bahadur Shah disagreed however later he agreed. He sent letters to different rulers all over the country to render support and fight against the officers. Many rulers across the country joined and evicted the Britishers from Delhi. Nana Saheb , Tantia Tope, Begam Hazrat Mahal, Rani Laxmi Bai, Ahmadullah Shah, khan Bhahadur Khan Rohilla, Kunwar Singh , these were the rulers and chieftains who accompanied the Bahadur Shah Jafar and seopys to resist the Britishers from capturing India. The British had a tough time combating these rebel forces and lost many battles.
On 20th September 1857, The British captured Delhi and attacked sepoy and shot dead many royal princes and rulers. Bahadur Shah was taken as a prisoner and was put behind bars and one by one all the great leaders of the revolt were attacked and was brutally suppressed . By the end of 1859 , the British authority over India was fully reestablished. The revolt ultimately came to an end with resulting into an unsuccessful war of Indians yet developing a nationalistic spirit and generated a feeling of oneness among the people of the country. Thus, the Revolt of 1857 inspired thousands of Indian in subsequent stages of freedom struggle.
CAUSES
The Revolt of 1857 was not a single event but rather occurred as a result of a aggregation of factors over time. The main causes for the Revolt was the domination of British official over Indian. Following are the major causes :
SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS CAUSE : The British officials exploited Indians and tried to dominate them in the working place. They considered Indian inferior to them and kept them away from mixing with Europeans. They also started intruding in their religious affairs and degraded them before others, and even treated the upper class Indian with Contempt. The condition of service in the company's army increasingly came into conflict with the religious belief of the sepoys. The Indian sepoys were also unhappy about their emolument compared to their British counterparts. An Indian Sepoy was made to feel a subordinate at every step and was racially discriminated in matters of promotions and privileges.
ECONOMIC CAUSES : The British government had imposed heavy taxation and and brought changes in revenue system which affected the peasants. They also introduced many policies to expand their boundaries.
POLITICAL CAUSES: The major political causes was the loss of power of nawabs and Zamindars due to the introduction of various policies for the reason to expand their territories. Policies such as policy of Trade and Commerce, policy of indirect subordination, the policy of war and annexation , policy of direct subordination (doctrine of lapse), policy of misgovernance disturbed the interest of the rulers of native states , and eventually became victims of British.
IMPACTS OF THE REVOLT
The Impacts of the revolt marked a major change in the governance of India. This revolt brought the direct rule of British crown in India. It proved the inefficiency of British East India Company in handling the Indian administration. The introduction of Government of India act abolished East India Company's rule over India and it marked the beginning of British Raj directly through officials.
CONCLUSION
Even though the revolt resulted in sad failure, this event marked the foundation and beginning of freedom struggle. This revolt triggered the patriotic feeling and nation spirit of many Indians and also fixed an open door for many individuals against dominating power and discrimination of colonization power.
No comments:
Post a Comment