Class 9 History Chapter 5 The Revolt Of 1857, Elective History class 9 SEBA Notes and Question Answer In English Medium answer to each chapter is provided in the list so that you can easily browse throughout different chapters SEBA Class 9 History Chapter 5 The Revolt Of 1857 and select need one.
Class 9 History Chapter 5 The Revolt Of 1857
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The Revolt Of 1857
Lesson – 5
HISTORY
1. Short Type Question Answer:
(a) From which year was the rule of the East India Company started in India and to which year was it continued?
Ans: Company rule in India effectively began in 1757 after the Battle of Plassey and lasted until 1858.
(b) Name the port where Vasco-da-Gama landed first time of India.
Ans: Calicut.
(c) Who was the Nawab of Bengal during the battle of Plassey?
Ans: Siraj-ud-daula.
(d) From whom did the East India Company get the charter to trade with India?
Ans: Queen Elizabeth I
(e) Who was the Government-General of India in 1857?
Ans: Charles John Canning, Earl Canning
(f) Who was declared as the Emperor Hindustan by the rebels in 1857?
Ans: Bahadur Shah Zafar.
(g) Who was the first martyr of the revolt of 1857?
Ans: Mangal Pandey.
(h) Who was the first Viceroy of India?
Ans: Lord Canning.
Alternate Question:
(i) Name the place where Bahadur Shah died.
Ans: Yangon, Myanmar (Burma).
(j) Who described the revolt of 1857 as the first war of Indian independence?
Ans: V.D Savarkar.
(k) Who was the leader of the revolt of 1857 in Assam?
Ans: Maniram Dewan.
(l) Name the person who was hanged together with Maniram Dewan at Jorhat.
Ans: Piyali Barua.
(m) Who was decided to be installed as the king of Assam in 1857?
Ans: Purandar Singha.
2. Write Short Notes:
(a) Battle of Buxar.
Ans: In 1757, Robert Clive, a former employee of the East India Company, defeated the famous Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daula, at the Battle of Plassey and established the British Empire in India within a very short period.
Afterward, the British became an unrivaled force in India. Following the Battle of Plassey, Nawab Mir Qasim of Bengal, Nawab Suja-ud-Daula of Oudh, and Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II united forces against the British in October 1764 at Buxar, on the border of Bihar. They failed in this battle. The East India Company solidified its rule by receiving the diwani rights of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa from the Mughal Emperor.
(b) Dalhousie’s policy of expansion.
Ans: Lord Dalhousie served as the Governor-General of India. Under his rule, the British Empire expanded significantly. He introduced a new interpretation of the policy of abolishing rights, expanding the empire by implementing it extensively. Lord Dalhousie first applied this policy to the state of Satara. Satara was annexed by the British government after the death of King Shahaji of that kingdom. Rejecting his son’s claim, they annexed the kingdom to the British Empire. They then conquered the states of Nagpur, Sambalpur, Jhansi, Jaitpur, Bhagalpur, Udaipur, and Karauli with the help of the abolitionist policy. This policy was also applied to royal status and pensions. Dalhousie’s aggressive policy stirred strong dissent throughout India. Upon his return to the country, the Great Rebellion broke out in India.
(c) Enfield Rifle.
Ans: One of the most significant causes of the sepoy mutiny in India was the Enfield rifle and its cartridges. The rifle was first used by British soldiers in the Crimean War in Europe. It was introduced in India in the late 1850s. Before being loaded into rifles, the bullets had to be bitten open with soldiers’ teeth, and parts were removed and inserted into the gun barrel. At that time, there were rumors that the bullets were greased with cow and pig fat. This news spread and caused great agitation among the soldiers. Cows are sacred to Hindus, and pigs are considered impure by Muslims. Consequently, the soldiers believed that the British were deliberately insulting their religious beliefs. Some British officers, aware of the sepoys’ dissatisfaction, allowed the bullets to be greased in other ways, but they made no effort to address the question of whether cow and pig fat were used in the bullets.
(d) Rani Laxmibai.
Ans: Rani Laxmibai was the primary leader of the rebellion in Central India. She was the widowed wife of King Gangadhar Rao of Jhansi. After her husband’s death, Lord Dalhousie denied the rights of her adopted son and annexed the kingdom of Jhansi to the British Empire. Rani Laxmibai was dissatisfied with this and declared rebellion. In March 1858, British General Sir Hugh Rose laid siege to the fort of Jhansi. The queen was unable to defend the fort and fled to Kalpi with some companions.
In Kalpi, various Indian forces had already gathered to oppose the British. The Indian army was defeated in this battle. They then joined an army led by Scindia and fought against the British. The Queen was wounded in a battle with Hugh Rose, and her body was discovered in a ditch in Phulbagh the following day. Her death demoralized the rebels. This valiant warrior’s name will be forever engraved in the annals of history. General Hugh Rose, the British commander, paid tribute to the Queen, describing her as the greatest and bravest leader of the rebel forces.
(e) Konwar Singh.
Ans: Kunwar Singh led Bihar during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. He was a former zamindar of Jagdishpur. The sepoys of Danapur in Bihar declared a mutiny under his leadership. Despite having little military experience, he displayed his military prowess in the war against the British. He led numerous subjects of Bihar who also joined the rebellion. A British army under Captain Janbar was sent against Kunwar Singh. They were defeated by the prince’s army and later vanquished by Vincent Eyre at the Battle of Ara and driven out of Bihar. He again fought against the British and died in battle.
(f) Preparation of the revolt of 1857 in Assam.
Ans: The Sepoy Mutiny erupted in Assam, the eastern part of India, although its impact on the entire country was limited.
Before the British arrived in Assam, the Ahoms were in power. The British occupied Assam following the Treaty of Yandaboo, thereby ending Ahom rule. Within three years of the treaty, open rebellion against the British broke out in Assam. The Assamese people were discontented with British rule. The nobility was dissatisfied with the introduction of the patta system.
In 1826, an Ahom prince named Gomdhar declared war on the British and proclaimed his independence. The British brutally suppressed the rebellion and sentenced Gomdhar to seven years in prison. Two subsequent rebellions occurred in 1829 and 1830, but they were also unsuccessful. To placate the people, the British government recognized a dynasty named Purandar Singh as the king of South Assam, with the condition that he pay an annual tribute of Rs. 50,000. However, in the third year of his reign, he was deposed, and the territory was annexed to the British Empire.
3. Essay Type Questions:
(a) Give your opinion whether the revolt of 1857 can be termed as the first war of India’s independence.
Ans: The 1857 mutiny is a famous event in the history of Indian resistance against British rule. The Indian people, frustrated with British oppression, took up arms to challenge their dominance. Therefore, this rebellion can be considered the beginning of the War of Independence.
After the discovery of a direct waterway from the West to India, English merchants from the East India Company arrived in India for trade. Exploiting the lack of alliances among Indian kings, these merchants decided to establish colonial empires in the region. In 1757, they fought the Battle of Plassey against the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daula. Siraj-ud-Daula was defeated in the battle, leading to the establishment of the British Empire in India. Gradually, the British Empire expanded across India. Initially, their activities went largely unnoticed, but from the second decade of the nineteenth century, they actively sought to establish authority over Indian governance. The first British Governor General to assert the same status as the Mughal Emperor was Lord Hastings. Although this demand was not accepted, the British exploited the weakness of local kings to strengthen their control.
In 1835, the name of the Mughal Emperor was removed from the Company’s coins, and English was introduced in India, replacing Persian as the official language. The situation in India became more complex during Lord Dalhousie’s time. People became increasingly aware that the British were the true rulers of India, leading to widespread revolts across the country in 1857. Therefore, the rebellion of 1857 marked the beginning of the Indian War of Independence.
(b) Discuss the cause of the revolt of 1857.
Ans: In 1857, the Sepoy Mutiny began. The causes of this rebellion can be divided into four categories: political, economic, social, religious, and military.
(1) Political causes: The abolitionist policy followed by Lord Dalhousie was the main political cause of this rebellion. He annexed the states of Chhattisgarh, Jhansi, Nagpur, Bundelkhand, and Chambalpur to the British Empire. Dalhousie’s policy displeased the kings who had lost their kingdoms, leading to a conspiracy against British rule.
(2) Economic reasons: These kings and zamindars faced economic crisis when the states under their control were annexed to the British Empire. Five years before the outbreak of the rebellion, the commission appointed by Dalhousie confiscated about forty thousand zamindaris in the south. This led to dissatisfaction among them.
(3) Social causes: The introduction of English education, railways, and telegraphs, the abolition of sati and infanticide, the introduction of widow marriage, and the activities of missionaries aiming to stop child widowhood created the impression among some devout people that the British were trying to destroy their culture and convert all Indians to Christianity. As a result, these actions caused adverse reactions in society.
(4) Religious and military reasons: (a) Sepoys were frequently deployed by the government in foreign wars, which dissatisfied the soldiers.
(b) There was a gradual loss of discipline among the sepoys in Bengal. People in their 70s were also assigned to the army regardless of their age, which displeased the soldiers.
(c) During the reign of Lord Canning, an Act was passed to compel war everywhere except within the State. This law increased discontent among the soldiers.
(d) The introduction of the Enfield rifle became the immediate cause of the sepoy mutiny.
There were some notable changes resulting from the sepoy mutiny:
(1) Firstly, this rebellion ended the rule of the Company in India, and India came under the control of the British Government.
(2) From that time onwards, the British Government ceased their expansionist policy.
(3) This led to decentralization in governance instead of the centralizing policy that existed during the company days.
(4) The sepoy mutiny sowed seeds of suspicion between Indians and the British, causing both to regard each other with fear.
(5) This rebellion led to the introduction of extremist ideology in Indian politics.”
(c) Discuss the role played by Begum Hajrat Mahal and Rani Laxmibai in the revolt of 1857.
Ans: Begum Hazrat Mahal and Rani Laxmibai played significant roles in the 1857 rebellion. Begum Hazrat Mahal was the wife of Nawab Wajid Ali of Ayodhya. Hazrat Mahal appointed her youngest son, Birjis Qadir, as Nawab and began to rule on his behalf. Lucknow, the capital of Ayodhya, had already become the base of the rebellion. After Lucknow, unrest broke out in a large area of Ayodhya. Europeans had already taken refuge in the Lucknow Residency for safety. Begum Hazrat Mahal tried to recapture the residency from the British but failed. Maulvi Ahmad Ullah Shah of Faizabad helped Begum in this regard.
After the fall of Lucknow, Begum Hazrat Mahal and the cleric fought against the British and were defeated. In June 1858, the cleric died, and Begum Hazrat Mahal was left alone. Finally, Hazrat Mahal was forced to seek refuge in Nepal. Another rebel leader in Central India was Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi.
She was the widowed wife of King Gangadhar Rao of Jhansi. After her husband’s death, Lord Delhousie denied the rights of her adopted son and annexed the kingdom to the British Empire. The queen was dissatisfied with this and started a rebellion. In March 1858, the British general Sir Hugh Rose besieged the fort of Jhansi after learning of the Queen’s rebellious attitude. She fled to Kalpi with some companions when she realized it was impossible to defend the fort They set out. Kalpi, Tatiya Tope, collaborated with Rao Saheb and Bandar Nawab and declared war on the British. The Indian forces involved in the battle were defeated. They then captured an army of Scindia and fought against the British. The Queen was wounded in a battle with Hugh Rose, and her body was found in a sewer in Phulbagh the next day. Her death demoralized the rebels. The rebellion failed, but the name of Queen Lakshmibai will remain immortal in the pages of history.
(d) Give a description of Maniram Dewan’s role in the revolt of 1857 in Assam.
Ans: Maniram Dewan was the main leader who played a significant role in spreading the 1857 mutiny to Assam. Maniram Dewan lived in Charing, Shivsagar. His father, Ramdatta, held the post of Dola Kasaria Barua during the reign of the Ahom kings. During the early days of British rule in Assam, Maniram Dewan was appointed as the Chirstadar of Jorhat. In 1833, when the East India Company made Purandar Singh the king of southern Assam, Maniram became the Minister of Finance. He served as an advisor to the royal family of Purandara Singh.
Maniram Dewan was a wise Assamese man and can be considered one of the pioneers of the Indian independence movement. He sacrificed his life for the country. In 1853, Mr. Moffat, Judge of the Sadar Civil Court, Calcutta, and Mr. Mills came to Assam. Maniram Dewan described the consequences of British rule in Assam and appealed for the return of Assam’s rule to an Ahom prince in a petition. He expressed his own grievances and sought sympathy on behalf of Yuvraj Kandarpeswar Singh. However, Mr. Mills paid no heed to Maniram Dewan’s petition. Undeterred, Maniram Dewan went to Calcutta to meet the authorities of the East India Company, but his attempt also failed.
In 1857, the Sepoy Mutiny broke out in India. Upon learning that the rebels had recognized Bahadur Shah II of the Mughal dynasty as the Emperor of India, Maniram Dewan decided to rebel. His objective was to expel the British and make Kandarpeshwar Singh the king of Assam. He left Calcutta secretly, contacted Kandarpeshwar Singh, and enlisted the support of several others in Jorhat. There was a sense of rebellion among the soldiers in southern Assam at that time.
Some men talked to the soldiers and planned to rebel together, aiming to make Kandapeshwar the king. Piyli Barua, Morangi Khawa Gohain, Mayaram Nazir, Durtiram Barua, Bahadur Gaonbura, Se Famud Ali, and Madhu Mallik, sent from Calcutta by Maniram Dewan, held secret discussions at the house of Kandapeshwar Singh.
Maniram was supposed to join them in due course and implement the scheme; however, when news of the conspiracy became known, Captain Holroyd, the governor of Shivsagar district, arrested Kandarpeswar and others involved in the rebellion. Several rebel soldiers were captured. Maniram was arrested and imprisoned in Alipur Jail in Calcutta. Kandapeshwar was arrested and kept in jail. Maniram was then brought from Calcutta to Jorhat for trial. Maniram and Piylik were tried by a special court presided over by Mr. Holroyd and were sentenced to death, while the other rebels were ordered to be deported. Maniram and Piylik were hanged on 26 February 1858 in Jorhat.
(e) Discuss briefly the causes of the failure of the revolt of 1857.
Ans: There are several reasons for the failure of the sepoy mutiny, including the following:
(1) The rebels lacked a collective purpose; as a result, they could not unite against the British.
(2) The sepoys paid little attention to modern science; however, the British took advantage of postal services. With these departments under their control, they were able to study the situation in different places and take necessary actions, making it easier to defeat the soldiers.
(3) The British had the support of some feudal leaders, so they did not face significant difficulties.
(4) The sepoy mutiny did not occur throughout India, allowing the British to focus their attention on the areas of rebellion.
(5) The rebels did not receive support from the entire Indian population; in fact, many people even supported the British.
(6) There were no leaders at that time who could properly guide the rebels. Except for Queen Lakshmibai of Jhansi, all the leaders were not qualified to fight against the British.
(7) Due to Canning’s persuasive policy, many soldiers remained loyal to the British. These factors contributed to the failure of the sepoy mutiny.
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