REVOLT OF 1857 = FIRST WAR OF INDIAN INDEPENDENCE

    THE FIRST WAR OF INDIAN INDEPENDENCE 1857

The First War of Independence became the inspiration for the future Indians to bring back freedom in India.

From 1842-1856, Lord Dalhousie annexed many Indian states, like Satara, Jhansi, Nagpur and other states by refusing to recognize the right of inheritance of the adopted sons of those rulers. Pension of the heirs of some rulers were discontinued. They too developed a strong bitterness against the dictatorial British Rule.

 
The majority of the Indian soldiers in the East India Company’s army came from the peasant families. They were deeply hurt to see their family suffering under extreme poverty. Because of all these reasons, extreme discontentment prevailed in the minds of Indian soldiers. In 1856, the new long range Enfield Rifles with greased cartridges were introduced in India. To load the rifles the greased coverings of the cartridges had to be bitten off. The news that this grease was made from the fats of cows and pigs was against the religious sentiments of both the Hindu and Muslim soldiers. The first unrest took place on 29^th March, 1857 in the cantonment at Barrackpore. When the English officer of the battalion was forcing the soldiers to use the cartridges, a soldier name Mangal Pandey refused to use the new cartridges and fired at him, Mangal Pandey was arrested and hanged. This news spread like wildfire in the other military cantonments. On 10^th May 1857, Indian soldiers in Meerut shot their officers and this fire took over Meerut. They marched to Delhi and appealed the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar to lead the war of independence.