REVOLT OF 1857: ANALYSING THE CAUSES OF REVOLT: FOR UPSC, BPSC MAINS EXAM.

The Brithish rule now started to show interest in governing india, instead of ruling india, was the most important achievement of 1857 revolt.

The revolt of 1857, has been hailed as the watershed in the colonial history of British India. Battle of Plassey in 1757 marked the beginning of the political influence of the England east India company, an influence which ended in 1858 when the crown rule was established in British India. A decade short of a century later in 1947, India gained independence. It is also regarded as a historical landmark for its suppression was followed by some fundamental changes in the administration of India.

 The revolt of 1857 was fundamentally different from earlier rebellions by the soldiers, peasants, and tribals of the nineteenth century. Prior to this, the mutinies and rebellions has remained sporadic, or local affairs. however, unlike these, the scale and spread of the revolt of 1857 was larger, sepoys at many centres mutinied and this was accompanied by civil disturbances.
what differentiates the revolt of 1857 from earlier uprisings was that unlike the preceding mutinies and revolts which were limited to a relatively smaller area, within a town or at the most a few districts, the 1857 revolt escalated to an unprecedented degree and the participation was wider areas affected by the revolt of 1857. In Bengal, it was primarily the Bengal army which was recruited from North-West provinces and especially from Awadh, that rose up in mutiny. The sepoys were joined by the civilians from the North, Central and Western India.
Areas that did not participate in Revolt:  the Punjab, Bengal, most of the central provinces, the coast and south remained largely unaffected by it, while the Bombay and Madras regiments did not participate in the revolt, the Gorkha and Punjabi soldiers fought on the behalf of the English to put down the rebels.
CAUSES OF REVOLT:

1. ECONOMIC CAUSE: The colonial policies of the East India Company destroyed the traditional economic fabric of Indian society. The peasantry was never really to recover from disabilities imposed by the new and a highly unpopular revenue settlement. impoverished by heavy taxations, the Peasantry resorted to loans from moneylenders/traders at a usurious rate, the latter often evicting the former on nom-payments of debt dues.
2. the British rule also means misery to the artesian and handicraftsmen.
3. The annexation of Indian states by company cut-off their major sources of patronage. Added to this, The British policy of discouraging Indian handicrafts and prompted British goods. The highly skilled Indian craftsmen were forced to look for an alternative source of employment that hardly exists.
4. Karl marks remarked in 1853- It was British intruders who broke up the Indian handloom and destroyed the spinning wheel, England began with depriving the Indian cotton of the European Market.
5. Zamindars, the traditional landed aristocracy, often saw their land rights forfeited with frequent use of a quo warranto by the administration. This resulted in the loss of status for them in the village The ruination of Indian industry increased pressure on agriculture and land, the lopsided development in which resulted in pauperization of country in general.
6.  POLITICAL CAUSE: The East India Company's greedy policy of aggrandizement accompanied by broken pledges and oaths resulted in the loss of political prestige. on the other hand, and caused suspicion in the mind of almost all ruling princes in India, through such policies as "effective control" subsidiary alliance, the doctrine of lapse.
7. The annexation of Awadh in 1856 was blown to the prestige of the ruling classes, the local population and the Sepoy. Apart from Delhi, Awadh was 2nd most important centre of the revolt.
8. The annexation of Awadh in 1856 on the pretext of maladministration become an important cause for many of those who participated and led to disbanding Nawab's army and severely affected the economy of the region.
9. ADMINISTRATIVE CAUSE: Rampant corruption in the company's administration especially among, petty officials and lower law courts.
10. SOCIAL RELIGIOUS CAUSE: Racial overtones and superiority complex characterised the British administrative attitude towards the native Indian population. Attempts to religious reforms, such as Sati Pratha, support to widow remarriage and women's education were seen by a large section of the population as interference in the social and religious domains of Indian society by outsiders. Religious disability Act 1856 which modify Hindu customs, for instance declaring that a change of religion did not debar a don from inheriting the property of his heathen father.  
11. INFLUENCE OF OUTSIDE EVENTS: The revolt of 1857 coincided with certain outside events in which the British suffered serious losses- 1st Afghan was 1838-42, Punjab war 1845-49, Crimea war 1854-56, Santhal rebellion 1855-56.
12. Discontent among Sepoys: to the religious Hindu of that time, crossing the sea means loss of caste. In 1856 Lord Canning's government passed the  General Service Enlistment Act which decree that all further recruits to BenaglArmy would have to give the undertaking to serve anywhere their service might be required by the government. this caused resentment. Indian sepoys were equally unhappy with his emoluments compared to his British counterparts.
13.  REASON OF FAILURE: 
14. Weak leadership and was hardly organised with any coordination or central leadership.
15. Indian soldiers were poorly equipped materially, fighting generally with swords and spears and very few with a gun.
16. The revolt failed to extend to all parts of the country and a large section of the population did not support it.
17. a different group of rebels fought for different reasons and served their respective leaders.
18. Punjab did not rise in revolt, Gorkhas soldier sided with the British.