Revolt Against

the Raj
HISTORY

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Revolt Against the Raj

Revolts against the British raj were considered as a starting point of political struggle. These revolts
channelized similar interests of people together which later formed strong political associations.

Contents
 Phase I: 1765 to 1856

 Bengal Region

 Sanyasis and Fakirs revolts (1763-1800):

 Faraizis movement

 Tribal revolts:(1817-1831)

 Paika rebellion (1817)

 Barrackpore Mutiny (1824)

 Santhal Uprising (1856)

 South India region

 Vellore Mutiny (1806)

 Diwan Velu Tampi Revolt (1805)

 West India region:

 Waghera rising (1818-19)

 Surat salt agitation (1844)

 Kolhapur and Savantvadi revolt (1844)

 Tribal Revolt

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 Phase-II 1857 revolt

 Reasons

 Economic

 Administrative

 Social

 Political

 Religious

 Military

 Immediate

 Phase-III: 1857 onwards

 Bengal Region

 Sanyasis and Fakirs revolts

 Wahabi Movement

 Indigo revolt (1880-85)

 Munda revolt (1890)

 South India region

 Rampa rebellion (1879):

 East India region:

 Kuki revolt.

 West India region:

 Vasudev Balwant Phadke armed revolt (1879)

 North India region:

 Kuka movement (1872)

 Failure of revolts:

 Causes

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British political and economic policies in the 18th & 19th centuries antagonized the people of India. There were
a lot of revolts that emerged from each and every section and from the different parts of the regions of India.
These revolts are primarily divided into 3 phases: the 1765 to 1856,1857 revolt and 1857 onwards.

Phase I : 1765 to 1856

Bengal Region
 Sanyasis and Fakirs revolts (1763-1800): an army of peasants upset because of famines. Hindu and
Muslims fought together. British force required 30 years to suppress them.

 Faraizis movement: Religious reform movement by Haria Shariatulla against British and zamindars by
peasants because of oppression.

 Tribal revolts:(1817-1831):

Tribes Regions

Kols Bengal, Bihar, Odisha

Gonds and Khonds Odisha

Santhals Bihar, Bengal

Khasis Meghalaya by Triot Singh

Frontier movements Northeast: Manipur and Nagaland.

 Paika rebellion (1817): Odisha led by Bakshi Jagatbandhu Bidyadhar against zamindars for getting rights
of the forest.

 Barrackpore Mutiny (1824): Sepoy mutiny; Alarmed the British government, But suppressed.
Santhal Uprising(1856): Resented oppression by police officials, money tenders, landlords, etc. in general
outsiders called ‘Diku’.Leaders: Sido & Kanhu

South India Region

 The rebellion was led by Zamindars or poligars. Leaders- Marudu, Pandyan, KattamBumman and Pyche
Raja. Localized revolts- suppressed

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 Vellore Mutiny (1806): Sepoy mutiny. Sons of Tipu Sultan- inspiration for sepoys. But suppressed at Arcot.

 Diwan Velu Tampi Revolt (1805)- against Wellesley’s subsidiary alliance policy in Travancore. Diwan- Velu
Tampi rose against the company assisted by the Noir Battalion against the harsh conditions. (Kundara
proclamation)

West India Region

 Waghera rising(1818-19): Resentment against alien rule. It was an armed revolt.
 Surat salt agitation (1844): The reason being Salt duty increased from 50 paise to 1 rupee. Attacked by
locals on Europeans. The government was forced to withdraw it.
 Kolhapur and Savantvad revolt(1844): Leader: Krishna Daji pandit. Gadkari was a hereditary military class
in Maratha forts. Later disbanded led to revolt. Captured Sanabdgarh and Bhudargarh forts by locals.
 Tribal Revolt:

Tribes Regions

Kolis Maharashtra

Mers Rajasthan

Bhils Madya Pradesh, Maharashtra

Phase-II 1857 Revolt

Places of revolts Leaders

Delhi Bahadur Shah Zafar & General Bakht Khan.

Lucknow Begum Hazrat Mahal & Birjis Quadir

Kanpur Nana saheb & Tatiya Tope

Bareilly Khan Bahadur Khan

Faizabad Maulavi Ahamadulla

Jhansi Laxmi Bai

Arra Kunwar Singh

Baghpat Shah mahal

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Scene: 1857 Revolt

Reasons
1. Economic: Destruction of traditional economic structure.
Revenue policies were exploited.
Villages lost self-sufficiency.

2. Administrative: Corruption by police officials, judiciary led to the loss of faith in the system.
Expulsion of Indians from superior posts.
Artists, musicians, dancers lost the patronage of Indian rulers.

3. Social: Racial segregation

British administration was arrogant towards Indians.
Looked towards Indians with contempt.

4. Political: Subsidiary alliance, Direct annexation, Doctrine of lapse, etc policies affected all the sections of
society. There was a total loss of morality.

5. Religious: Religious Disability Act,1850: Conversion to Christianity is important to inherit the property,
Abolition of sati Act,1829, Widow remarriage Act,1856, Promotion of education among girls hurt the
sentiment of Indians as interference in personal business.

6. Military: Uniformity in the army; Curtailed the initial privileges of freedom of caste, religion, symbols,
practices, etc; General service establishment Act,1856: mandatory for sepoys to serve anywhere.

7. Immediate: Enfield rifles were replaced by Brown Bess which consisted of Pig fat and beef, which
triggered the revolt by Mangal Pandey at Meerut.

Bahadur Shah emerged as a symbol of unity.

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Phase-III: 1857 Onwards

Bengal Region
 Wahabi Movement: by Syed Ahmad Barelvi. Religious reform movement against the British.

 Indigo revolt(1880-85)

 Munda revolt(1890): Leader: Birsa Munda in Chota Nagpur region against jagirdars,thakurdars, etc.

South India
 Rampa rebellion(1879): Under the leadership of Alluri Sitaram Raju. Peasant revolted against landlords
and moneylenders.

East India
 Manipur: Leader: Tikenjit. It was an anti-British uprising. Called the Kuki revolt.

West India
 Vasudev Balwant Phadke armed revolt(1879): against money lenders.

North India
 Kuka Movement (1872): by Guru Ram Singh against English education and discrimination.

Failure of Revolts
 The impacts of revolts were limited because:

Causes:
1. Small scale and localized phenomenon.

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2. Limited participation by only certain agitating(sepoys, Princes, etc) class while the Middle Class
educated Indians did not participate.

3. Financial constraint.

4. Lack of planning and most importantly easily get suppressed due to the superior and well-trained
army of British.

 A strong political association was needed to unite these people at that time which was done by Indian
National Congress resulting in large-scale national movements that helped to get independence.

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