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SAKSHAM UPPSC 2024

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Modern History

Lecture – 23
Pre- Indian National Congress
Organisations List
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Pre- Indian National Congress Organisations List

Reasons for the failure of the Revolt of 1857

The following were the reasons for the failure of the Revolt of 1857-

Diffusion in a limited area:

❖ The rebellion was mainly confined to central India.

❖ The larger princely states of Hyderabad, Mysore, Travancore and Kashmir, as well as

the smaller princely states of Rajputana, did not join the rebellion.

❖ The southern provinces did not participate in it.

❖ Most of the Punjab remained aloof from the rebellion.

Lack of effective leadership:

❖ The rebels lacked an effective leader Although Nana Saheb, Tatya Tope and Rani

Lakshmibai were brave leaders, they could not provide effective leadership to the

movement as a whole. On the contrary, the company had capable generals like

Lawrence brothers, Nicholas Outum, Havelock, Edwards who played an important

role in crushing the rebellion.

❖ Regarding the rebellion, John Lawrence said that "if there had been even one able

leader among them (the rebels), we would have been lost forever."

Lack of support from the educated intelligentsia:

❖ Modern educated Indians also did not support the rebellion because in their view that

rebellion was backward thinking.

Lack of integrated programs and ideas:

❖ They had no future-oriented plan in mind.

❖ The rebels were not fully aware of the colonial control as well as the futuristic

agenda.
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Feudal nature of the rebellion:

❖ The nature of the rebellion was feudal, on one hand the feudatories of Awadh,

Rohilkhand and North India led the rebellion, while the kings of Patiala, Jind,

Gwalior, and Hyderabad helped the government in suppressing the rebellion.

Results of the Revolt of 1857

Change in the Form of Government:

The rule of India was taken from the East India Company and handed over to the British

Empire.

The direct rule of the queen was established.

The Indian territories were administered in the name of the Queen.

The responsibility of control and authority of the Indian administration was given to the

Secretary of State.

Lord Stanley became the first Secretary of State for India.

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Abolished Dual government:

❖ The dual control of 'the Board of Control' and 'the Board of Directors' was abolished.

Appointment of Viceroy in place of Governor General:

❖ Lord Canning appointed the first Viceroy of India.

❖ The designation of Governor General was changed to Viceroy.

Ended the doctrine of lapse:

❖ Abandoning the policy of conquest and merger towards the Indian princely states,

the government allowed the adoption of kings.

India converted into a direct colony of Britain:

❖ By the proclamation of November 1, 1858, ending the Company's rule in India, the

rule of India was made directly under the Crown, an India Minister or Secretary and

India Council with 15 members was established.

Reorganization of the Army:

❖ Army was reorganized on the report of Peel Commission.

❖ Compared to the Indian soldiers, the number of European soldiers was increased.

❖ Army regiments were divided on the basis of caste, community and religion.

❖ This encouraged the policy of 'divide and rule'.

Peel Commission:

When reorganizing the Indian Army after the Rebellion of 1857, the Jonathan Peel

Commission was tasked with identifying social groups and regions from which 'loyal'

soldiers could be recruited. The principle it emphasized was that the native army should

be made up of different nationalities and races and should be mixed through each

regiment. The recruitment of soldiers was viewed more in terms of the communities to

which they belonged, rather than as individuals.

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Adoption of favorable policy towards landlords, princely states:

❖ Titles like Star of India, Son of India, Rai Bahadur were given.

Following the policy of laissez faire:

❖ Restrictions on the expansion of the British Empire in India, non-interference in the

religious affairs of the people, providing equal legal protection to all, expressing

respect for the ancient rights and customs of the people, etc. were promised by the

Crown to the Indian people.

Revolt of 1857: Key Facts

Major books based on the revolution of 1857

Book Author

First war of independence Vinayak Damodar Savarkar

The great rebellion Ashok Mehta

Sepoy Mutiny and the Revolt of 1857 RC Mazumdar

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Eighty Fifty Seven SN Sen

Rebellion 1857 PC Joshi

History of Indian Mutiny of 1857 G. B. Malleson

The Causes of the Indian Revolt Sir Syed Ahmed Khan

History of Sepoy War John coe

Key Statements about the Revolt of 1857:

"There was a crusade against Christianity." - L.R. Rees

"There was a struggle between civilization and barbarism." - TR Holmes

"This rebellion was a planned war for national independence." - Veer Savarkar and

Ashok Mehta

"The Revolt of 1857 Not a War of Independence." - R.C. Mazumdar

"The so-called National War of Independence was neither the first nor the first national

nor the independent war." - R.C. Mazumdar

"The rebellion of Meerut came and ended suddenly like a summer storm." - R.C.

Mazumdar

"The Revolt of 1857 was a military mutiny whose immediate cause was greased

cartridges." - P. roberts

"This rebellion was a freedom struggle in the absence of nationalism." - Dr. S.N. Sen

"The national freedom struggle was" - Marx and Engels

"Come like a storm and went destroying everything." - Valentin Shirol

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Pre-Indian National Congress organizations

The establishment of the Indian National Congress in December, 1885 was not a sudden

event, but it was the culmination of political awakening. In fact, many political and

non-political organizations had been established even before the formation of the

Congress.

Banga Bhasha Publishers Association

❖ In 1836 AD, this organization established by Raja Rammohan Roy's follower

Gaurishankar and others used to review the matters related to the policies of the

government.

❖ It was the first political organization established in Bengal.

❖ The main task of the organization was to review the administrative activities and

send petitions to improve them and to make the countrymen aware of their political

rights.

Zamindari Association (Bengal Landholders' Society):

❖ It was formed in 1939 by Prasanna Kumar Tagore, Dwarkanath Tagore and

Radhakanta Dev.

❖ The main objective of this institution was to secure the interests of the landlords.

❖ They used constitutional methods of demonstration to get their demands.

❖ The Zamindari Association, also known as the Landholders' Society, was established

in 1838-39 to protect the interests of the Zamindars.

❖ Despite its limited objectives, the Landlord Society initiated organized political

activity and used the constitutional agitation methods for the redressal of grievances.

Bengal British India Society:

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❖ The Bengal British India Society was established in 1846 with the mission of

"collecting and disseminating information relating to the actual condition of the

people of British India".

British Indian Association:

❖ It was founded in 1851 by Raja Radhakanta Dev, and Devendra Nath Tagore, who

were its president and secretary respectively.

❖ It was formed by merging the Landholders' Society and the Bengal British India

Society.

❖ Demands :

➢ Establishment of a separate legislature of popular character.

➢ Separation of executive and judicial functions.

➢ Reduction in salaries of high officials.

➢ Abolition of salt duty, excise duty and stamp duty.

East India Association:

❖ East India Association was founded by Dadabhai Naoroji in London in 1866 which

established its branches in various Indian cities like Mumbai, Kolkata and Madras in

1869.

❖ Main aims:

➢ The main aim of the association was to raise awareness of the conditions in India

among the British people.

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➢ To generate popular support for Indian welfare.

Poona sarvajanik Sabha:

❖ Establishment: 2-April-1870

❖ It was founded by Mahadev Govind Ranade and others.

❖ It was a socio-political organization started with the objective

of working as a mediating body between the Government and

the Indian people.

❖ It used to work for the cause of peasants' legal rights, foster national pride and

'organized famine relief works' etc.

Madras Mahajan Sabha:

❖ It was founded in 1884 also in Madras by Subramaniam Iyer, A. Ananda Charlu and

M. Veerraghavachari.

❖ Initially, this institution takes a soft approach towards government policies.

❖ The first president of the Madras Mahajan Sabha was P. Rangaiah Naidu

Bombay Presidency Association:

❖ The Bombay Presidency Association was founded in 1885 by Ferozeshah Mehta,

Badruddin Tyabji, K.T. Telang.

Indian League:

❖ The Indian League was founded in 1875 by Sisir Kumar Ghosh.

❖ Its objective was to 'awaken the sense of nationalism' and 'generate political

consciousness' among the people.

Indian National Association (Bharat Sabha):

❖ It was formed in 1876 as a national organization by

Surendranath Banerjee and Ananda Mohan Bose.

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❖ It is also known as 'Indian Association of Calcutta'.

❖ the main purpose:

➢ Creation of a strong public opinion on political issues.

➢ To unite all Indians behind a common political agenda.

Although all the above institutions were playing an important role in conducting political

activities, most of them had a regional base and represented narrow interests. Most of

the institutions had an elitist outlook. Therefore, it was necessary that all these efforts

should be organized and an all India organization should be established.

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