The History of Modern India: The Revolt of 1857 and Raising Nationalism

India is one of the world fastest growing economies. It has the world’s second largest population. It has the potential to become world’s superpower. India has transformed a lot in past few decades but all these achievements are possible due to that one fateful day. 15th August 1957 A historic day for India. On this day India got the independence from the British Raj. This day is the product of the collective efforts taken by many Indians. Numerous people have lost their lives and plenty got scar which they will not able to forget to rest of their lives. These Britisher’s have exploited not only Indian Economy but also the Indian people. This exploitation was continued for 200 years but after all these exploitation Indians started to stand against them. People started uniting all across the country. In those days British rulers are not use to face such a huge protest and by every passing day these protest are raising and on that historic day Britisher’s forced to leave India and it created the base for the modern India. In this unit we are going to understand the history of modern India and how people of India fought against Britishers to make India independent.

The revolt is considered as the first war of Indian independence. It started to unite the Indians to fight against the British rule. To understand how the revolt started in India? We first have to understand how all these started. Indians have never accepted the British rule Indians have been fighting with them from as early as eighteen hundreds but these protest are very weak thus mighty British forces are easily able to counter it. Usually these protests are very small and only consist of one village or two and these people do not have much equipment or training which British forces have. It all started with the formal establishment of the British Raj in India after the battle of Plassey was won by the British forces in 1757 in Bengal. Now the East India Company can easily counter the domestic competition. Basically the primary aim for the East India Company was to create a monopoly market in India. After defeating the French as well as the Portuguese, East India Company is able to succeed in this plan. Now due to monopoly East India Company started exploiting the farmers by reducing the rate given to them. As this was not the only thing the main source of income to the East India Company was land revenue which they collect from all farmers in the country. To earn more profit the East India Company have made new land settlement, those are ‘Permanent’, ‘Ryotwari’ and ‘Mahalwari’.

In this system the Zamindars along with the land revenue collectors which have been loyal to the East India Company have given the rights of that property. Due to this the farmers who cultivate the land will no longer be the owner and have to pay the certain amount to the Zamindars and these Zamindars will give 10 or 11 percent of the total rent to the East India Company and if they failed to do so then the East India Company will give right to other person. Thus these Zamindars forcefully collect the land revenue from people and due to many farmers don’t know the exact amount of the tax Zamindars exploit farmers by charging extra amount. This same happed in all there cases.

In same time of 1857 Mangal Pandy and other solders have to sacrifice their life because they protest against the use of beef and pork used in the cartage of new guns. Due to this many Indian who were working in the army of the East India Company started first revolt in May 1857 at Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. This revolt is now started marching towards Delhi after attacking the jail and releasing the prisoners who basically are sepoy captured by the British. They also proclaimed Bahadur Saha II as the king of India. Now common people also start joining this revolt these people was the farmers who are been exploit by the new tax system made by the East India Company. This revolt is gaining its most of the momentum in northern cities like Laknow, Delhi and Kanpur. In this movement people from every religion, cast are coming together in the revolt. Soon Meerut regime in Bengal army also starts revolt. The magnitude of the revolt is so huge that it shaken the Britishers but they are able to crush the revolt as most of the people in it are common people with sticks, axe in hands and there was no centralised command which can lead this movement to success. The British retaliate with public executions and burnt of the protestors and Bahadur Saha II was again captured and put in exile at Rangoon. Due to all this the British was able to crush the revolt successfully but it laid the strong base for the future movements in the country. Now people are coming together to fight against the British. In this movement there are few important leaders also who took part in this movement those are Bahadur Khan, Tantia Tope, Rani Lakshmibai, Nana Saheb, Begum of Awadh etc.

The formal establishment of the British Raj in India after the battle of Plassey was won by the British forces in 1757 in Bengal. Now the East India Company can easily counter the domestic competition. Basically the primary aim for the East India Company was to create a monopoly market in India. After defeating the French as well as the Portuguese, East India Company is able to succeed in this plan. Now due to monopoly East India Company started exploiting the farmers by reducing the rate given to them. As this was not the only thing the main source of income to the East India Company was land revenue which they collect from all farmers in the country. To earn more profit the East India Company have made new land settlement, those are ‘Permanent’, ‘Ryotwari’ and ‘Mahalwari’.

In this system the Zamindars along with the land revenue collectors which have been loyal to the East India Company have given the rights of that property. Due to this the farmers who cultivate the land will no longer be the owner and have to pay the certain amount to the Zamindars and these Zamindars will give 10 or 11 percent of the total rent to the East India Company and if they failed to do so then the East India Company will give right to other person. Thus these Zamindars forcefully collect the land revenue from people and due to many farmers don’t know the exact amount of the tax Zamindars exploit farmers by charging extra amount. This same happed in all there cases.

With the formal establishment of the British Raj in India after the battle of Plassey was won by the British forces in 1757 in Bengal. Now the East India Company can easily counter the domestic competition. Basically the primary aim for the East India Company was to create a monopoly market in India. After defeating the French as well as the Portuguese, East India Company is able to succeed in this plan. Now due to monopoly East India Company started exploiting the farmers by reducing the rate given to them. As this was not the only thing the main source of income to the East India Company was land revenue which they collect from all farmers in the country. To earn more profit the East India Company have made new land settlement, those are ‘Permanent’, ‘Ryotwari’ and ‘Mahalwari’.

In this system the Zamindars along with the land revenue collectors which have been loyal to the East India Company have given the rights of that property. Due to this the farmers who cultivate the land will no longer be the owner and have to pay the certain amount to the Zamindars and these Zamindars will give 10 or 11 percent of the total rent to the East India Company and if they failed to do so then the East India Company will give right to other person. Thus these Zamindars forcefully collect the land revenue from people and due to many farmers don’t know the exact amount of the tax Zamindars exploit farmers by charging extra amount. This same happed in all there cases.

In same time of 1857 Mangal Pandy and other solders have to sacrifice their life because they protest against the use of beef and pork used in the cartage of new guns. Due to this many Indian who were working in the army of the East India Company started first revolt in May 1857 at Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. This revolt is now started marching towards Delhi after attacking the jail and releasing the prisoners who basically are sepoy captured by the British. They also proclaimed Bahadur Saha II as the king of India. Now common people also start joining this revolt these people was the farmers who are been exploit by the new tax system made by the East India Company. This revolt is gaining its most of the momentum in northern cities like Laknow, Delhi and Kanpur. In this movement people from every religion, cast are coming together in the revolt. Soon Meerut regime in Bengal army also starts revolt. The magnitude of the revolt is so huge that it shaken the Britishers but they are able to crush the revolt as most of the people in it are common people with sticks, axe in hands and there was no centralised command which can lead this movement to success. The British retaliate with public executions and burnt of the protestors and Bahadur Saha II was again captured and put in exile at Rangoon. Due to all this the British was able to crush the revolt successfully but it laid the strong base for the future movements in the country. Now people are coming together to fight against the British. In this movement there are few important leaders also who took part in this movement those are Bahadur Khan, Tantia Tope, Rani Lakshmibai, Nana Saheb, Begum of Awadh etc.

The revolt in India has hit the British very badly; despite they are able to crush the movement the British parliament had passed a new bill on the 1858 to make the Queen Victoria the sovereign of British India. This will lead to the end of the rule of the East India Company on India now the British govt. is the rulers of India. Despite this change exploitation of the Indians are not slowing down. The taxes imposed on people are not dropping and the system created by the East India Company is still running. This start to develop the nationalism moment to fight against the British Raj. It lead to the revolt in different parts in the country after the movement of 1857. As a result now even more people are connecting with this revolt. This is creating nationalism in Indians.

Due to this many associations were formed Indian National Congress is one of them in 1876. British India Association was formed in India in 1851 is considered as the first major voluntary organisation. The roots of this organisation were from Calcutta. The Place from the Revolt started in 1857. Due to forming of these associations the revolt now got the centralised command which was missing in 1857. Now these associations are mobilising the public against the British. Now people are uniting and starts raising their voices against British. The people leading the associations are also educated persons. They can effectively present the current situation in India. How British are exploiting with the huge tax amount, limited job creation, racial discrimination, lowering the maximum age to work in Indian Civil service etc. Many great Indian writers had come together and formed Indian National Congress in Bombay at 1885 their primary aim was to spread their writing all across India to tell Indians about the great past history and to motivate more people to join the movement against British and they were successful in doing it. Due to the support of Indians Indian National Congress are now directly debating with the British over many topics. This Indian National Congress was going to have a huge impact on India’s straggle for independence.

Due to this many associations were formed Indian National Congress is one of them in 1876. British India Association was formed in India in 1851 is considered as the first major voluntary organisation. The roots of this organisation were from Calcutta. The Place from the Revolt started in 1857. Due to forming of these associations the revolt now got the centralised command which was missing in 1857. Now these associations are mobilising the public against the British. Now people are uniting and starts raising their voices against British. The people leading the associations are also educated persons. They can effectively present the current situation in India. How British are exploiting with the huge tax amount, limited job creation, racial discrimination, lowering the maximum age to work in Indian Civil service etc. Many great Indian writers had come together and formed Indian National Congress in Bombay at 1885 their primary aim was to spread their writing all across India to tell Indians about the great past history and to motivate more people to join the movement against British and they were successful in doing it. Due to the support of Indians Indian National Congress are now directly debating with the British over many topics.

The revolt in India has hit the British very badly; despite they are able to crush the movement the British parliament had passed a new bill on the 1858 to make the Queen Victoria the sovereign of British India. This will lead to the end of the rule of the East India Company on India now the British govt. is the rulers of India. Despite this change exploitation of the Indians are not slowing down. The taxes imposed on people are not dropping and the system created by the East India Company is still running. This start to develop the nationalism moment to fight against the British Raj. It lead to the revolt in different parts in the country after the movement of 1857. As a result now even more people are connecting with this revolt.

Due to this many associations were formed Indian National Congress is one of them in 1876. British India Association was formed in India in 1851 is considered as the first major voluntary organisation. The roots of this organisation were from Calcutta. The Place from the Revolt started in 1857. Due to forming of these associations the revolt now got the centralised command which was missing in 1857. Now these associations are mobilising the public against the British. Now people are uniting and starts raising their voices against British.

The people leading the associations are also educated persons. They can effectively present the current situation in India. How British are exploiting with the huge tax amount, limited job creation, racial discrimination, lowering the maximum age to work in Indian Civil service etc. Many great Indian writers had come together and formed Indian National Congress in Bombay at 1885 their primary aim was to spread their writing all across India to tell Indians about the great past history and to motivate more people to join the movement against British.