Question

What were the causes of the failure of 1857 revolt?

Answer 1

Hint: The revolt of 1857 is also known as India’s first war for independence. The revolt is also known as sepoy mutiny of 1857. Leaders who were prominent – Begum Hazrat Mahal, Rani Laxmibai, Bahadur Shah II, Nana Sahib, Rao Sahib, Tantia Tope, Kunwar Singh, Mangal Pandey etc.

Complete answer:
The different factors or causes for the revolt of 1857 were –
-The introduction of the ‘Enfield rifle’ and the cartridge used for it, it was rumoured that the cartridge was greased via pig fat and cow fat.
-The exploitation of the Indians and the racial discrimination faced by people in all phases of life – be it in judicial system, administration or in the military.
-The policy of annexation, the policy of doctrine of lapse, unjust law and rule were the political factors that lead to the revolt of 1857.
-The revenue and taxation reforms that affected the peasants and the Indian population, the effect was very severe for them.
-The Indian soldiers faced a lot of discrimination from the British officials with respect to their salaries, pensions, promotions.
-Indians were subjugated in the military while their European counterparts faced no such discrimination. -This led to discontent and was a major military factor that resulted in the revolt of 1857.

Now, the causes of its failure were as follows –
-Weak leadership between the members or groups that had participated in the revolt.
-Lack of planning and organized front of the rebels.
-Lack of unity and lack of a common purpose between the rebels was another reason for the failure of the revolt.
-The revolt was confined to the Northern and central part of India and did not get a chance to spread all over India due to lack of communication and problems in communication between states due to the distance.
-Rulers of Kashmir, Gwalior and Hyderabad helped the British against the revolting rebels of India.
-The lack of resources was another reason for the failure of the revolt.
-The sepoys lacked one clear leader; there were several. They also did not have a coherent plan by which the foreigners would be routed.
-Indian rulers who aided the revolt did not envision any plan for the country after the British were defeated.

Note:
i) The revolt of 1857 shook the foundation of British East India Company and disclosed their inefficiency in handling the Indian administration.
ii) The revolt led to the introduction of the Government of India act, this abolished the rule of British East India Company and marked the beginning of British raj, i.e. rule of the crown or the British government.
iii) The Vellore Mutiny took place around 50 years before the revolt of 1857. It started on $10^{th}$ July 1806 in Vellore, present-day Tamil Nadu, and lasted only for a day, but it was brutal and it was the first major mutiny by the Indian sepoys against the East India Company.