Very Short Answer Type Questions
1: What was the plea of Nana Saheb, the adopted son of Peshwa Baji Rao-II?
Answer: Nana Saheb pleaded that he be given his father’s pension when the latter died.
2: What was the first step taken by the Company towards ending the Mughal dynasty?
Answer: The name of the Mughal king was removed from the coins minted by the Company.
3: Why were the Indian sepoys unhappy with the British rule? Give any one reason.
Answer: The Indian sepoys were underpaid.
4: What rumour spread among the sepoys of the Meerut regiment about the new cartridges?
Answer: The rumour spread that the new cartridges were coated with the fat of cows and pigs.
5: What did the ageing Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar do after he was declared the leader of the rebels?
Answer: He wrote letters to all the chiefs and rulers of the country to come forward and organise a confederacy of Indian states to fight the British.
6: Name any two smaller rulers who acknowledged the suzerainty of Bahadur Shah Zafar.
Answer: Nana Saheb and Biijis Qadr.
7: Who was Tantia Tope?
Answer: He was the General of Nana Saheb.
8: Who was Ahmadullah Shah? What was his prophesy?
Answer: Ahmadullah Shah was a maulvi from Faizabad. His prophesy was that the rule of the British would soon come to an end.
9: Who was Bakht Khan?
Answer: Bakht Khan was a soldier from Bareilly. He took charge of a large force of fighters who came to Delhi.
10: When did the British recapture Delhi?
Answer: The British recaptured Delhi in September 1857.
11: Why were the powers of the East India Company transferred to the British Crown?
Answer: The powers of the East India Company were transferred to the British Crown in order to ensure a more responsible management of Indian affairs.
12: Under what condition the ruling chiefs could pass on their kingdoms to their heirs?
Answer: They could do so only when they were ready to acknowledge the British Queen as their Sovereign Paramount.
13: Why did the British treat Muslims with suspicion and hostility?
Answer: The British believed that Muslims were responsible for the rebellion in a big way.
Short Answer Type Questions
1: Under what pretext did the Company take over Awadh?
Answer: In 1801, a subsidiary alliance was imposed on Awadh, and in 1856, it was taken over. Governor-General Dalhousie declared that the territory was being misgoverned and British rule was needed to ensure proper administration.
2: How did the Company plan to bring an end to the Mughal dynasty?
Answer: (a) First of all the name of the Mughal king was removed from the coins minted by the Company.
(b) In 1849, Governor-General Dalhousie announced that after the death of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the family of the king would be shifted out of the Red Fort and given another place in Delhi to live in.
(c) In 1856, Governor-General “Canning decided that Bahadur Shah Zafar would be the last Mughal king and after his death his descendants would be known as princes.
3: Why were the Indian sepoys in the employ of the Company discontented? Give sufficient reasons.
Answer: Reasons for their discontentment:
(a) The Indian sepoys were given poor salaries and allowances.
(b) The conditions of service also made them unhappy.
(c) Some of the new rules even violated their religious sentiments and beliefs.
(d) Those were the days when many people in the country believed that if they crossed the sea they would lose their religion and caste. So when in 1824 the sepoys were told to go to Burma by the sea route to fight for the Company, they refused to follow this order. As a result they were given severe punishment. What is more, in 1856, the Company passed a new law which stated that every new person who took up employment in the Company’s army had to agree to serve overseas if required.
4: What reforms did the British introduce in the Indian society? How did the people of India respond to them?
Answer: The British introduced several reforms:
(a) They passed laws to stop the practice of sati and to encourage the remarriage of widows.
(b) They promoted English language education.
(c) In 1850, the Company passed a new law that made the conversion to Christianity easier.
Many Indians began to feel that the British were destroying their religion, their social customs and their traditional way of life. But at the same time there were other Indians who readily accepted the reforms introduced by the British. In fact, they wanted to change existing social practices.
5: Why did the chiefs and rulers support the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar in the revolt?
Answer: The Mughal dynasty had ruled over a large part of the country. Most smaller rulers and chieftains controlled different territories on behalf of the Mughal ruler. Threatened by the expansion of British rule, many of them felt that if the Mughal emperor could rule again, they too would be able to rule their own territories once more, under the Mughal authority.
6: How did the British try to win back the loyalty of the people after they recaptured Delhi?
Answer: (a) The British announced rewards for loyal landholders by allowing them to continue to enjoy traditional rights over their lands.
(b) Those who had rebelled were told that if they submitted to the British and if they had not killed any white people, they would remain safe and their rights and claims to land would not be denied.
Long Answer Type Questions
1: How did other Indian soldiers in Meerut participate in the Revolt of 1857? How did the regiments stationed in Delhi respond when they came to know about the arrival of the Meerut sepoys in the city?
Answer: The other Indian soldiers in Meerut participated in the uprising wholeheartedly. On 10 May, 1857 they marched to the jail in Meerut and released the sepoys who were sentenced to ten years’ jail for disobeying their officers. They attacked and killed British officers. They captured guns and ammunition and set fire to the buildings and properties of the British and declared war on the firangis. The soldiers were determined to bring an end to the British rule in the country.
The sepoys of Meerut rushed to Delhi in the early hours on 11 May. As news of their arrival spread, the regiments stationed in Delhi also rose up in rebellion.
Again British officers were killed, arms and ammunition were seized, buildings were set on fire. Triumphant soldiers gathered around the walls of the Red Fort where the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar lived, demanding to meet him. The emperor was not willing to challenge the mighty British power but the soldiers persisted. They forced their way into the palace and proclaimed Bahadur Shah Zafar as their leaders. The emperor finally accepted this demand. After getting the leader, the soldiers began to plan for further action.
2: How did the rebellion spread to other regions of the country?
Answer: The position of the British became very weak in Delhi and they were almost defeated by the rebel force. Therefore, there was no uprising for almost a week. Afterwards a spurt of mutinies began in several parts of India. Regiment after regiment mutinied and took to join other troops at nodal points like Delhi, Kanpur and Lucknow. After them, the people of the towns and villages also” rose up in rebellion. They rallied around local leaders, zamindars and chiefs who were prepared to establish their authority and fight the British.
Nana Saheb, the adopted son of the late Peshwa Baji Rao who lived near Kanpur, gathered armed forces and expelled the British Garrison from the city. He proclaimed himself Peshwa. He declared that he was a Governor under emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. In Lucknow, Birjis Qadr, the son of the deposed Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, was proclaimed the new Nawab. He too acknowledged the suzerainty of Bahadur Shah Zafar.
In Jhansi, Rani Lakshmibai joined the rebel sepoys and fought the British along with Tantia Tope, the General of Nana Saheb.
A situation of widespread rebellion also developed in the region of Awadh. Many new leaders also came up and joined the revolt. Ahmadullah Shah, a maulvi from Faizabad, raised a large force of supporters. He came to Lucknow to fight the British.
In Delhi, a large number of religious warriors came together to wipe out the white people. Bakht Khan, a soldier from Bareilly, took charge of a large force of fighters who came to Delhi. In Bihar, an old zamindar, Kunwar Singh, joined the rebel sepoys and battled with the British for several months.
3: How did the Company suppress the revolt?
Answer: The Company did not get nervous to sea the strength of the rebel forces. Instead, it decided to suppress the revolt with all its might. It brought reinforcements from England, passed new laws so that the rebels could be convicted with ease, and then moved into the storm centres of the revolt. Delhi was recaptured from the rebel forces in September 1857. The last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar was tried in court and sentenced to life imprisonment. He and his wife were sent to prison in Rangoon in October 1858.
The recapture of Delhi did not mean that the rebellion died down completely. People continued to resist and battle the British. So, the British had to fight for two years to suppress the massive forces of popular rebellion.
The British took Lucknow in 1858. Rani Lakshmibai was defeated and killed in June 1858. Tantia Tope, who fought a guerrilla war, was finally captured, tried and killed in April 1859.
