1857 WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

Context

 It was on 1st August 1857, the day of Eid Al-Adha, which gave Fredric cooper, the then deputy commissioner of Amritsar to send his Muslim men away.

1. Background

• The year 1857 witnessed the first war of independence, which is perhaps one of the defining moments of the Indian freedom struggle.
• Scholars and historians ascribe many causes and among these causes, one that triggered the chain of incidents was the reaction of the Indian soldiers of the East India Company's army, to the grease of the new kind of cartridge they were compelled to use.
• Perhaps the more important causes were people's discontentment with the land taxes taken by the British government, the seizure of many kingdoms and princely states by the British, and above all, people's desire for freedom from foreign rule.
• One of the early incidents of protest by soldiers took place in Barrackpur near Kolkata.
• Soon after in May 1857, Indian soldiers of the East India Company, called by the British "Native sepoys", revolted. On March 10 they marched to Delhi and declared the Moghul King Bahadurshah II, the Emperor.
• The fire soon spread to Kanpur, Lucknow, Jhansi, Bareilly and many other parts of the Gangetic heartland, and the storm centres were spearheaded by Nana Saheb, Diwan Azimullah, Tantia Tope, Kunwar Singh and Rani Laxmi Bai.
• The big battles between the British and the rebels took place mainly in the region between the Narmada and the Ganga.
• But reverberations were felt in distant parts such as South Maratha country, some parts of South India, parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan and even in North East India in Khasi-Jaintia hills and Kuchar.
• The significance of 1857 is that unlike many a battle against the British earlier, for the first time.
• Simultaneously there were rebellions in many regions, imparting an all-India character to the uprising.
• 1857 was remarkable not only due to its unprecedented scale, covering almost half of India but also due to its impact on the popular mind everywhere.
• It was a source of inspiration for the freedom struggle that followed.
• Moreover, the unity that was displayed between the different communities during the uprising was quite remarkable.
• Another significant aspect of 1857 was the unity under the Mughal Emperor.
• The allegiance to the emperor was accepted by almost every leader in the rebellion and thus it can be said that this loyalty brought about a measure of political unity among those who were in the struggle against foreign rule.

2. Prominent leaders and their contribution to the 1857 WAR

2.1 NANA SAHEB

• Nana Sahib, the adopted son of Baji Rao II, the last Peshwa, was refused a pension by the British.
• This created indignation in the Maratha community.
• During the earlier phases of the First War of Independence in 1857, Nana Sahib pronounced his devotion to the British.
• In June 1857, Nana Saheb attacked the British entrenchment at Kanpur and captured it.
• In July 1857, the British successfully recaptured Kanpur by defeating Nana Saheb’s forces.
• It is said that Nana Saheb escaped to Nepal after this.

2.2 RANI LAXMIBAI

• Rani Laxmibai also became the fierce enemy of the British after her kingdom of Jhansi was annexed by the British on the principle of the Doctrine of Lapse.

2.4 KUNWAR SINGH

• Kunwar Singh was a leader during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
• He belonged to a family of the Ujjainiya clan of the Parmar Rajputs of Jagdispur, currently a part of Bhojpur district, Bihar, India.
• At the age of 80, he led a selected band of armed soldiers against the troops under the command of the British East India Company.
• He was the chief organiser of the fight against the British in Bihar.
• He is popularly known as Veer Kunwar Singh.
• Singh led the Indian Rebellion of 1857 in Bihar. He was nearly eighty and in failing health when he was called upon to take up arms.
• He was assisted by both his brother, Babu Amar Singh and his commander-in-chief, Hare Krishna Singh.
• Some argue that the latter was the real reason behind Kunwar Singh's initial military success.
• He gave a good fight and harried British forces for nearly a year and remained invincible until the end.
• He was an expert in the art of guerilla warfare. His tactics left the British puzzled.

2.3 BEGUM HAZRAT MAHAL

• In Jhansi, the revolt was laid by Rani Laxmibai, whose state was annexed by Lord Dalhousie based on the Doctrine of Lapse.
• She rose against the British and joined the revolt. By June 1857, the English had lost control over many parts of Jhansi.
• When the English forces under Hugh Rose laid a siege to the fort of Jhansi, Laxmibai valiantly fought against the English troops.
• When it became impossible for her to hold the fort any longer, she escaped to Kalpi with lightning speed. 
• At Kalpi she was joined by another remarkable Indian leader Tanya Tope, the commander of the forces of Nana Sahib.
• Both marched to Gwalior.  Rani Laxmibai fell to a large number of British troops and was killed while fighting.
• Tanya Tope managed to escape, but he was later captured and killed by the British troops.

2.1 BAKHT KHAN

• Bakht Khan, (born c. 1797—died 1859), commander in chief of rebel forces in the early stages of the anti-British Indian Mutiny (1857–58).
• Related on his mother’s side to the ruling house of Oudh, which was deposed by the British in 1856, Bakht Khan served for several years as a field battery commander in the army of the British East India Company.
• When the rebellion broke out in May 1857, he led his troops to Delhi, where he emerged as the dominant figure in the independent Indian government proclaimed by the rebels.
• To control the figurehead Mughal emperor, he established a court of administration, the members of which were elected by the army and the government departments.
• Forced out of Delhi by the British in September, he is said to have been killed in battle during the last days of the mutiny.

2.2 TANTIA TOPE

• Tantia Tope, also spelt Tatya Tope or Tantia Topi, original name Ramchandra Panduranga, (born 1813–19, Pune, India—died April 18, 1859, Shivpuri), a leader of the Indian Mutiny of 1857–58.
• Although he had no formal military training, he was probably the best and most effective of the rebels’ generals.
• Tantia Tope served the former Peshwa (ruler) of the Maratha confederacy, Baji Rao, and of his adopted son Nana Sahib, who was also prominent in the mutiny.
• He was present at Nana Sahib’s massacre of the British colony in Kanpur; in early November 1857, he had taken command of the rebel forces of the state of Gwalior and driven Gen.
• C.A. Windham into his entrenchments at Kanpur on November 27–28.
• Tantia Tope was defeated by Sir Colin Campbell (later Baron Clyde) on December 6 but remained at Kalpi, the scene of his defeat.
• In March 1858 he moved to the relief of Jhansi, whose rani (queen) Lakshmi Bai was besieged by British forces.
• Again defeated, he welcomed the escaping rani at Kalpi and then made a successful dash to Gwalior on June 1.
• His forces were broken up on June 19, but he continued resistance as a guerrilla fighter in the jungle until he was betrayed the following April.
• He was tried and executed at Shivpuri.