Preview

Assess the causes of the Indian Rebellion in 1857

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1354 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Assess the causes of the Indian Rebellion in 1857
Assess the causes of the Indian Rebellion in 1857

Society in India was heavily contrived by the British (i.e. the East India Trade Company) and through the rebellion; society became socially, politically and economically impoverished. Although there are many leading causes In the May of 1857, the sepoys of the East India Trade Company’s army began a mutiny against the East Indian Trade Company. Initially starting of as a small revolt in the small northwest town of Meerut, the mutiny eventually escalated into a nationwide rebellion against the EIC, especially in the northern regions of India, including the upper Gangetic Plain and central India. Within these regions, present-day Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, northern Madhya Pradesh, and the Delhi were the major zones where the rebellion took place. Throughout the rebellion, millions of soldiers and civilians were killed as a result of the many bloodbaths, which took place. The rebellion led to the partition of the East India Company. As soon as the rebellion came to a halt, the British Government took control over the British Raj and gave it in possession of the British Crown. There were many leading causes for the rebellion, which took place in India in 1857. These causes can be divided into three main categories: political, social and economic.

The British drastically reformed the social spectrum of society, where they made several reforms that were overlooked with doubt and ambiguity by many conservative Indians present in society. Additionally, many of these reforms targeted the social structure of Indian society as well as the religious prevalence and divisions present in India. As an extremely dominant part of the East India Trade Company Army, Indian soldiers primarily comprised of two major religions, these being Islam and Hinduism. One of the more direct causes of the entire revolt was the introduction of Enfield rifled muskets throughout the EIC army. After using these muskets for several months, it was

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    To begin with, British imperialism helped to revise the legal system in India. Several things needed to be changed therefore many reforms began to occur. The legal system changed to promote justice towards all Indians no matter their classes. They worked to put an end to the caste system and slavery once and for all. Much of the population was Hindu and followed the Hindu customs and traditions even those that were hurtful or not beneficial to society or the country of India. For example one of the Hindu customs referred to as “Sati” is a belief that a widow must join her husband in death therefore she is required to throw herself unto his funeral…

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The company gained permission from the Mughal Empire to build forts on the coastlines for the trading agents to store commodities and transport back to Europe. As the Mughal Empire weakened; The East India Company took advantage of this weakness the merchants began campaigns to conquest India. They won official rule of Mughal officials and local authority then they enforced their rule with a small British army and a large number of Indian troops known as sepoys. A very violent revolt against British rule by the sepoys would begin. The sepoys would receive rifles that fired bullets from cartridges. The cartridges would be wrapped in a wax made from animal fat and the British officials would advise them to ripe the wax with their teeth. The sepys would refuse out of fear that the wax was made from cows that were held sacred and the Muslim sepoys refused because it could be made from pigs which where held foul. The sepoys would then have a mutiny in 1857 where they killed their British officers and tried to restore Mughal authority. The revolt was very violent and many were killed but in 1858, British government had restored their direct rule in India. Even though the revolt was violent, under the British administration, officials began to encourage the cultivation of crops and built railroads and telegraph networks that then would link India to the global economy. They also…

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imagine living in India when the British took full control, and then being forced to change your day to day life. The british had an economic interest in India which started during the 1600’s. During the Industrial Revolution, India was considered a prized possession by the British because they supplied raw materials to the factories for production. Eventually, the British took full control of India, and made some major changes that significantly impacted India. Although the British had a negative economic impact on India, they had a positive impact on both the political and social aspects of India. The British were able to set a foundation for India, and create a justice system while containing violence, even though they had to take away some Indian rights to do so.…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the years 1786 and 1787 a series of protests erupted from american farmers against the Government named Shays Rebellion. The farmers were angry at state and local taxes where they developed debts. This event, although not a big threat, raised concern over the Articles of Confederation, and later be brought up with the establishment of the constitution. Despite the ease of stopping Daniel Shay and his followers, the rebellion questioned both the state and national government power. This issue would remain a prominent issue when the framers were crafting the constitution. The Founding Fathers feared that giving states too much power would cause them to disregard the federal government; and if the feds had too much power, it would be seen as tyranny. The last thing they wanted was to be like Great Britain, ruled under an oppressive king. Therefore, the framers…

    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    These people were getting very upset with the British rule. Soon the economy was completely controlled by the East Indian Company, and they did nothing to improve the conditions for the people. The British then started taking peoples land from them, this enraged them. When they were taken over by the British the men in the army lost their jobs as well, this caused about 60,000 families to loose everything. Last but not least, all of the people who held any political job lost their job as well. The Indian people were loosing everything they…

    • 955 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The British East India company held India in its grasp until the Sepoy Rebellion in 1857 happened. Because of the rebellion England decided to take more control over the colony by having the actual government take root and complete control in 1857. With Britain having taken over India they turned it into a very efficient colony and maximizing its potential, while also putting controlling and racist laws to Indians and restricting them in most ways, by forcing them to farm non food crops, destroying whole industries and unneeded deaths from famines, to a massacre of peaceful protesters.…

    • 1058 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    the tax. Resistance came to a climax in July 1794, when a U.S. marshal arrived in western…

    • 995 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    British India Dbq

    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages

    However, the British government intentionally created conflict between the two religious groups that made up India, causing Hindus and Muslims both to be concerned about their governmental role in the new India. In the Gandhi movie, we learn that from this tension, at least one million people died in conflict, including Gandhi himself. One million people dying in a fight that was caused by the British is anything but peaceful. Overall, these two political effects of British rule on India were negative, not positive. Indians were not represented in government, leading in civil rights oppressions (such as the right to free speech), and because the British were able to manipulate two large religions, they caused one million to die in the transition of…

    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Bibliography: Chattopadhyaya, Haraprasad. The Sepoy mutiny, 1857: a social study and analysis. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan, 1957.…

    • 1245 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    British Takeover of India

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Although there was an improvement in the economy and industrialization of India through the British occupation, the negative consequences felt by the Indian population outweigh any good that they may have done. While the British resided in India, they established a social ranking complex called a caste system. The caste system divided Indian society into different sections, Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors and rulers), Vaisyas (traders, merchants, and minor officials), Sudras (unskilled workers), and the Harijans or “untouchables”, deciding power and wealth depending on which level a person belonged to (British Impact). While the people of the upper caste lived very comfortably, with money and power, the lower castes lived very tough lives in the ruts of poverty. People were not allowed to transfer or move up or down through the castes, which left the people barely scraping by without any way to improve on their lives. This had an extremely detrimental effect on society because it left generations of people stuck in poverty without any way of moving up, not to mention a whole class of people who were completely isolated. Overall, the British occupying India was completely wrong and negative, because not only did they ruin the lives of people living at that time, but for many to come as things like the caste system are still in place today. This cannot be overlooked despite anything positive…

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Sepoy Rebellion

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Sepoy Rebellion was caused by the English Government interfering with some of the princes of states that were scattered over India, dethroning them, taking over, and making the prince's land their land. “The English Government in India had interfered with some of these, and had…

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dbq Sepoy Rebellion Essay

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In Conclusion the reason why this rebellion started was because by the year 1857 the British established complete political control of India. The mutiny of the Sepoy began on May 10, 1857, when Indian soldiers revolted against the British. The British interfered with their religion, had seized direct control of Oudh and gave them no respect or say in their government. The Sepoys couldn’t take it anymore and they fought back against…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Imperialism Notes

    • 771 Words
    • 4 Pages

    * The revolt of Indian soldiers in 1857 against certain practices that violated religious customs, also known as the Sepoy mutiny…

    • 771 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    SPICE Chart on Imperialism

    • 1668 Words
    • 6 Pages

    4. British held most of the political and economic power and they used this to restrict Indian-owned industries including cotton textiles. This led to a loss of self-sufficiency for many locals and, in the late 1800s, India experienced a severe famine.…

    • 1668 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The rebellion was caused by people rebelling against the government. There is lots of theories on what caused this from grease on gun shells to the government in general. Most of the reasons include the mix of religions and rumors. Many things contributed to this it was not just one.…

    • 265 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays