The many names given to the events in India which started in May 1857, offer a clue to their political complexities. Was it a mutiny, uprising, military rebellion or even a war of independence? ..well, that depends on who you ask.
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| A statue of Rani Lakshmibai, a popular leader of the Mutiny. |
The elements which rose in revolt are also important to note; these were Indian native units (under British command), mostly serving the Bengal Army (part of three armies serving in India). During the first days of the mutiny, these units travelled around their bases and towns, killing European inhabitants along side their British officers. Theses native military units were soon joined by political figures who had their own reasons to see the British go, eventually the rebellion was led by these figures, view today in Indian historiography as Indian heroes of the First war of Independence. Only a small number of local civilians had joined the mutiny, mostly coming from the areas controlled by the mutineers.
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| Native 'Madrass Sappers', serving in the East India Company, 1857. |
I don't intend on writing the course of the mutiny in details, there are plenty of available resources which offer in depth details of the mutiny, some of which I will link at the bottom of the page. I can offer here a general frame of the events, for the sake of general understanding. The Mutiny had started to simmer for some months prior to May 1857, but had eventually exploded on the 10th of May when the 11th and 20th Native Infantry regiments had revolted against the British command in Meerut, in response to what they felt to be an unjust trial and imprisonment of members of the 3rd Native Horse regiment (after they had refused fire practise).
The Indian Sepoys (native soldiers) went on a rampage against British targets around town, and from there they walked to Delhi and took the fort together with other rebelling units in Delhi. At this time, all around northern India similar revolts took place, most of them being contained by local loyal units, in other places massacres occurred and local British government was overthrown. In Delhi, the mutineers eventually mounted a force of some 42,000 soldiers and crowned the hire to the Moghal throne; the 76 year old Bahadur Shah II, so to be politically united.
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| The ruins of the residency house in Lucknow |
The British took a few days to recover from the shock of events, and to plan an attempt to regain their control over the north of the sub continent. On the 8th of June, some 600 cavalry and 2,300 British and loyal native soldiers arrived at the walls of Delhi under the command of major-general Henry Bernard (later replaced by Archdale Wilson), and commenced a siege of the city. Delhi eventually fell in mid September, only after sufficient reinforcements had arrived (bringing the total number of British and loyal Indian troops to some 12,000 soldiers).
At the time, in Cawnpore, some 800 British civilians and soldiers had been massacred by the 25th of June after holding off the mutineers for three weeks, and being promised safe travel outside of the city. This act of brutality and cruelty had created a deep anger within the British fighting the mutineers and the British public back home, bringing increased brutality against any person suspected of being a mutineer.
In Lucknow, the British had barricaded themselves in the residency building and managed to hold on against waves of attacks, only to be relieved after a number of failed attempts on the 23rd of November. By the end of 1857, all major areas of conflict were cleared, with large forces of mutineers defeated, while large armies of mutineers under command of a number of prominent figures (such as Tatia Tope and Nana Sahib) had moved further south taking Jahnsi and Gwalior. During the first months of 1858, a British force was assembled under the command of Hugh Rose, which swept around central India, fighting rebel forces and strongholds. By June 1858, the Mutiny was all but over with a few areas of trouble, and a number of mutineers crossing into Nepal, and eventually being handed back to the British authorities.
Now we are left with the question of how was this mutiny so dangerous to British rule in India and to the Empire in whole? How could such a dramatic even occur to such a strong Empire? Why did it take over a year to contain? And, how did the Mutiny effect British rule in India.
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Firstly, we must remember that India was ruled not directly by the British Government and Crown, but by the East India trading Company. The company (as with any economical entity) was concerned with trading and making money, not so much with the delicate process of ruling and governing. The military force that served the company consisted predominantly of local native units serving under British officers and command, along side these were a small number of British units serving a few months at a time in India (called the British Army in India). Not believing there to be any problems with this arrangement, military units were stationed almost randomly (it would seem..), some important cities with only 2 or 3 native battalions to guard them, others with no military presence.
Prior to the outbreak of the mutiny, the British army had not changed much since the Napoleonic Wars some 50 years before, the Crimean War which raged a couple of years before the mutiny had raised some serious issues with the army's structure and command. The British Army needed a modernising makeover, it was not ready for a campaign the size of the Indian Mutiny. Further more, the enemy was trained by the British, using British tactics and technology, and with the rebelling units there were of course less units to fight. The only immediate answer was to send for British units coming from all around the empire. This meant it would take some months before there was any real chance at bringing an end to the mutiny, and in the meanwhile, loyal native units along side British units in India would have to try as best they could to break the mutiny.
Now that we understand why the mutiny was so dangerous to British rule, why it erupted and why it caused a complex time consuming effort to break it, we are still left with the question of why was it so dramatic? Moreover why - in my opinion - loosing the fight against the mutiny and thus loosing a large part of India would have changed the course of the empire, and perhaps even bring to it's early demise.
More on that later...
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| British troops during the mutiny. |
Now that we understand why the mutiny was so dangerous to British rule, why it erupted and why it caused a complex time consuming effort to break it, we are still left with the question of why was it so dramatic? Moreover why - in my opinion - loosing the fight against the mutiny and thus loosing a large part of India would have changed the course of the empire, and perhaps even bring to it's early demise.
A short video explaining the Indian Mutiny.
More on that later...
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Further Reading
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Rebellion_of_1857
- http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armycampaigns/indiancampaigns/mutiny/mutiny.htm
