India under the British Raj

Why did 1857 happen?

Tap each cause. Which ones had been building for years, and which one lit the fuse?

How the rebellion unfolded

Step through it in order. Notice where it widens, where it turns, and how it ends.

1. 1Sepoys rebelIn 1857 around 100,000 sepoys in the Company's Bengal Army rebelled against Company rule.+
2. 2It spreadsThe rebellion quickly spread to other groups, such as poor peasants and Indian rulers who had been removed from power by the Company.+
3. 3Rebel successesOutside Bengal, rebels attacked the British in Awadh and gained control over Delhi. Indian rebels were at first successful against forces loyal to the Company.+
4. 4The tide turnsThe British government sent thousands of troops from Britain to India, and groups such as Sikhs from the Punjab stayed loyal to the British. Rebel successes began to be reversed.+
5. 5Defeat, with extreme violenceThe rebellion was defeated by the end of 1858. British forces used extreme violence and destroyed entire villages accused of supporting the rebels.+

What you need to know

• Before 1857 most of India was under British control, but the East India Company ruled it, not the British government.
• The Doctrine of Lapse, around the 1840s, let the Company take direct control of a local ruler's lands if he died without an heir.
• Awadh was different: in 1856 the Company exaggerated problems there to justify removing its leader.
• Railways, ports and canals were paid for by ordinary Indians through taxes, and some taxes rose by 28%.
• Have a goYour mate says: 'A 28% tax rise? So it doubled, basically.' Imagine a tax of 100 coins a year (made-up number). What would it be after a 28% rise?

  128 coins a year, not 200.

  A 28% rise adds 28 for every 100, so it is well short of doubling. Remember too that only some taxes rose by 28%.

• Christians could promote their religion after 1813 and Sati was banned in 1829, which fed fears the Company wanted to change people's religion.
• In 1857 sepoys of the Bengal Army rebelled, after a rumour that new cartridges were greased with pig and cow fat.
• Have a goTwo of these were building up for years. One lit the fuse in 1857. Which is the fuse: taxes paying for railways, the ban on Sati, or the greased cartridges rumour?

  The greased cartridges rumour.

  Taxes and the Sati ban were grievances that had built up over time. The rumour was what set the rebellion off.

• It spread far beyond the sepoys, to peasants and removed rulers, and affected an area twice the size of the UK.
• The rebellion was defeated by the end of 1858 with extreme violence. At least 100,000 Indians died, by some estimates far more.
• Have a goA newspaper headline says 'Exactly 100,000 Indians died.' You're the fact-checker. What do you change?

  Say 'at least 100,000', and that it is an estimate.

  The figure is an estimate and some historians think it was far higher, so a single exact number claims too much.

• In 1858 the British government took over: India was governed directly, through a new India Office and a viceroy.
• Queen Victoria's proclamation respected Indian princes and promised no forced Christianity, but high taxes stayed and poverty was little tackled.

The big picture

Until 1858, a trading company, not the British government, ruled most of British-controlled India. Anger at its policies exploded in the 1857 rebellion. After it was crushed, the British government took over directly and made promises about princes and religion. But the high taxes and poverty behind much of the anger were hardly touched.

⚠ Watch out

Treating 1858 as a total fresh start, and the rebellion as 'just a mutiny'. The government and its religious promises changed, but taxes and poverty did not, and the rebellion spread far beyond the soldiers.

Memory hook

New boss, new promises, same bill.

Check yourself

Without looking back: name one thing that changed after 1858 and one thing that stayed the same, then say which of the reasons for anger behind the 1857 rebellion each one connects to.