Describe the First Freedom Struggle of 1857.

The Battle of Plassey (1757) marked the beginning of the conquest of India by the British Raj and it was a complete endeavor by the end of Dalhousie's tenure in 1856. This was not a smooth transition period as many local revolts occurred during this time against the supremacist attitude of the British rulers. One such local revolt which began among the military soldiers of Meerut soon turned into a nationwide protest which challenged the fledgling British rule. This revolt came to be known as the Mutiny of 1857 and is often regarded as the First War of Indian Independence.

The Mutiny of 1857 occurred as the result of an accumulation of factors over time, rather than any single event. Several political, economic, social and military causes contributed to the discontent and disenchantment of the Indian people against the British rule. This burst out in a revolt by the 'sepoys' at Meerut whose religious sentiments were offended when they were given new cartridges greased with cow and pig fat, whose covering had to be stripped out by biting with the mouth before using them in rifles.

Beginning of the Revolt - In March 1857, Mangal Pandey, a sepoy in Barrackpore, who refused to use the cartridge and attacked his senior officers, was hanged to death on 8th April. On 9th May, 85 soldiers in Meerut refused to use the new rifle and were sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment. This caused a rebellion in the Meerut Cantonment. The Meerut Mutiny (May 9, 1857) marked the beginning of the Revolt of 1857. The Indian sepoys in Meerut murdered their British officers and broke open the jail, marching on to Delhi on May 10^th, 1857.

Importance of Delhi in the revolt – The sepoys in Delhi joined the rebellion and on May 11^th, the sepoys proclaimed the aging Bahadur Shah Zafar the Emperor of Hindustan. Soon, the revolt spread to a wider area and there was an uprising in almost all parts of the country. In September, after six days of intense fighting, the British reoccupied Delhi. Thousands of innocent people were massacred and hundreds were hanged. The old king was captured and later deported to Rangoon where he died in 1862. His sons were shot dead, thereby ending the imperial dynasty of the Mughals.

Other Important Centers - Besides Delhi, Awadh, Rohilkhand, Bundelkhand, Allahabad, Agra, Meerut and western Bihar were the other centres where the fighting was most intense. The rebellious forces under the commands of Kanwar Singh in Bihar and Bakht Khan in Delhi were able to defeat the British. Nana Sahib, Tantya Tope and Rani Lakshmibai were the prominent leaders who led the revolting armies against the British.

Result of the revolt - The Revolt of 1857 lasted for more than a year and was suppressed by the middle of 1858 with the defeat of the Indian revolting armies. On July 8, 1858, fourteen months after the outbreak at Meerut, peace was finally proclaimed by Canning.

Causes of Failure - Although the revolt was fairly widespread, a large part of the country remained unaffected by it. The rebels lacked resources in terms of men and money. It was not an all India phenomenon and this made it easy for the Britishers to subdue the Indians.

But the great uprising of 1857 was an important landmark in the history of modern India. The revolt marked the end of the East India Company’s rule in India who now came under the direct rule of the British Crown.