Outbreak Of the Revolt Of 1857
Barrackpur, India, the 34th Native Infantrymen refused to use the greased cartridges on March 29, and a sepoy called Mangal Pandey breached the lines and shot at Lieutenant Baugh. Mangal Pandey was apprehended and put to death. Behrampur was also dissolved after disobeying the authorities. Meerut saw the first significant outburst that eventually led to the 1857 Revolt. On May 10, 1857, eighty-five sepoys of the Cavalry Regiment were court-martialed for refusing to use greased cartridges. The sepoys erupted in open rebellion, shooting their superiors and releasing their fellow sepoys, and marching towards Delhi. On May 12, the sepoys stormed Delhi and took the palace, establishing Bahadur Shah II as India’s ruler.
The insurrection quickly expanded to Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Jhansi, Central India, Bihar, Orissa, and several other cities. The Indian rulers, on the other hand, remained loyal to the British and were instrumental in putting down the rebellion. During the early stages of the insurrection, the British were on the defensive. To begin with, they made a concerted effort to retake Delhi from the sepoys. The British reclaimed Delhi in September 1857. Emperor Bahadur Shah II was detained and banished to Mandalay, Burma, where he died after a few years. Two of his sons and a grandchild were killed in the shooting. As a result, the British put an end to the Mughal monarchy in India.
The sepoys stormed the Residency in Lucknow. While defending the Residency, Sir Henry Lawrence and a few loyal sepoys were killed. With the support of the Gurkha Regiments, British soldiers took Lucknow in March 1858. At Kanpur, Nana Saheb, the adopted son of ex-Peshwa Baji Rao II, lead the sepoys. Tantia Tope accompanied Nana Saheb. Tantia Tope attended Rani Lakshmi Bai, the widow of Raja Gangadhar Rao, fighting the British when General Campbell recaptured Lucknow on December 6, 1857. Sir Hugh Rose led the British to Jhansi. Tantia and Rani Lakshmi Bai went to Gwalior, where they were joined by Indian troops. In June 1858, the British took Gwalior, and the Rani of Jhansi died bravely in battle.
Tatya Tope was apprehended and executed a year later. Nana Saheb escaped to Nepal, where he eventually died. The insurrection in Rohilkhand began in May 1857 at Bareilly. Muhammad Hasan Khan commanded an army of roughly 10,000 men. Gajadhar Singh of Gorakhpur led an army of 51,000 men, while Rana Beni Madho Singh of Saharanpur had a personal following of approximately 15,000 men. They all assaulted British positions in their separate territories and gathered around the Begum, Hazrat Mahal.
The Revolt Of 1857 (Part -I)
The East India Company had conquered large sections of India by the first half of the nineteenth century, but it still had two goals: maintaining its conquests and profit from commerce. There was no limit to the company’s treachery to achieve these goals. The mutiny of 1857 officially began the quest for independence from British colonial rule. On May 10, 1857, the revolt started as a sepoy mutiny at Meerut. During this war for freedom, the British East India Company lost power. The British government-controlled India directly through officials known as Governors-General. Lord Canning was the governor-general in 1857.