Comprehensive CBSE Question Bank in History XII (Term-II)

CBSE II Question Bank in History CLASS 12 Features Long Answer Type Questions Map Based Questions Strictly Based on the Latest CBSE Term-wise Syllabus Case Study Based MCQs Chapter Summary Very Short Answer Type Questions Short Answer Type Questions



Comprehensive CBSE Question Bank in History Term–II (FOR CLASS XII) (According to the Latest CBSE Examination Pattern) By SUDHA RASTOGI M.A. (History)   LAXMI PUBLICATIONS (P) LTD (An ISO 9001:2015 Company) BENGALURU • CHENNAI • GUWAHATI • HYDERABAD • JALANDHAR KOCHI • KOLKATA • LUCKNOW • MUMBAI • RANCHI NEW DELHI

Comprehensive CBSE QUESTION BANK IN HISTORY–XII (TERM-II) Copyright © by Laxmi Publications Pvt., Ltd. All rights reserved including those of translation into other languages. In accordance with the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated into any other language or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise. Any such act or scanning, uploading, and or electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitutes unlawful piracy and theft of the copyright holder’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained from the publishers. Printed and bound in India Typeset at : J.R. Enterprises, Delhi. New Edition ISBN : 978-93-93738-23-3 Limits of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representation or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties. The advice, strategies, and activities contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. In performing activities adult supervision must be sought. Likewise, common sense and care are essential to the conduct of any and all activities, whether described in this book or otherwise. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable or assumes any responsibility for any injuries or damages arising here from. The fact that an organization or Website if referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers must be aware that the Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. All trademarks, logos or any other mark such as Vibgyor, USP, Amanda, Golden Bells, Firewall Media, Mercury, Trinity, Laxmi appearing in this work are trademarks and intellectual property owned by or licensed to Laxmi Publications, its subsidiaries or affiliates. Notwithstanding this disclaimer, all other names and marks mentioned in this work are the trade names, trademarks or service marks of their respective owners. & Bengaluru 080-26 75 69 30 & Chennai 044-24 34 47 26 Branches & Guwahati 0361-254 36 69 & Hyderabad 040-27 55 53 83 & Jalandhar 0181-222 12 72 & Kochi 0484-405 13 03 & Kolkata 033-40 04 77 79 & Lucknow 0522-430 36 13 Published in India by & Ranchi 0651-224 24 64 Laxmi Publications (P) Ltd. C—00000/021/12 Printed at : Ajit Printing Press, Delhi. (An ISO 9001:2015 Company) 113, GOLDEN HOUSE, GURUDWARA ROAD, DARYAGANJ, NEW DELHI - 110002, INDIA Telephone : 91-11-4353 2500, 4353 2501 www.laxmipublications.com [email protected]

Contents PART A: Themes in Indian History—II 1. Kings and Chronicles 3 PART B: Themes in Indian History—III 2. Colonialism and the Countryside 35 3. Rebels and the Raj 57 4. Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist Movement: Civil Disobedience and Beyond 84 5. Framing the Constitution (The Beginning of a New Era) 121

Syllabus HISTORY CODE NO.-027 CLASS XII(2021-22) THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY (PART-I, II&III) Units EVALUATION SCHEME Marks I7 THEORY 10 II III Term-II 30 IV Theme 9 - Kings and Chronicles V Theme 10 - Colonialism and The Countryside (HALF)pg-257-274 40 Theme 11 - Rebels and the Raj Theme 13 - Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist Movement Theme 15 - Framing the Constitution Total

PART B THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY—III [NCERT Textbook Section C] 2. Colonialism and the Countryside 3. Rebels and the Raj 4. Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist Movement Civil Disobedience and Beyond 5. Framing the Constitution The Beginning of a New Era 33



2CHAPTER Colonialism and the Countryside [NCERT Textbook Chapter 10] SUMMARY • Bengal was the first province where the colonial rule was established. • East India Company tried to reorder rural society and establish a new regime of land rights and a new revenue system. • In 1797 there was an auction in Burdwan (present day Bardhaman) which was popularly known as Grand Public event. • The Permanent Settlement had come into operation in 1793. • The East India Company had fixed the revenue that each zamindar had to pay. The zamindar who failed to pay the revenue, their estates were to be auctioned to recover the revenue. • As the raja had accumulated huge arrears, his estates had been put up for auction. Many purchasers as servants and agents of the raja who had bought the lands on behalf of their master. The raja’s estates had been publicly sold, but he remained in control of his zamindari. • By the 1770s, the rural economy in Bengal was in crisis, with recurrent famines and declining agricultural output. • Officials felt that agriculture, trade and the revenue resources of the state could all be developed by encouraging investment in agriculture. Company thought that when revenue will be fixed , it will provide opportunity to individual to invest in agriculture as a means of making profit. Company will also be assured of regular flow of revenue. • The process, officials hoped, would lead to the emergence of a class of yeomen farmers and rich landowners who would have the capital and enterprise to improve agriculture. • After a prolonged debate amongst company officials, the permanent settlement was made with the rajas and taluqdars of Bengal. They were supposed to pay the revenue demand that was fixed or a long period of time. • The zamindar was a revenue Collector of the state. They had several (sometimes as many as 400) villages under them. Zamindar collected rent from the different villages, paid the revenue to the Company and retained the difference as his income. He was expected to pay the Company regularly, failing which his estate could be auctioned. 35

36 History—XII • Zamindars regularly failed to pay the revenue demand and unpaid balances accumulated. Various reasons for this failure were: ➢ First, Company kept the revenue demands very high. Therefore, the burden on zamindars would decline with expanded agriculture and price rise. ➢ Secondly, during the 1790s, the prices of agricultural produce were depressed which made the ryots difficult to pay their dues to the zamindar. ➢ Thirdly, the revenue was fixed, and it had to be paid punctually on time regardless of the harvest. According to the new law, Sunset Law, if payment did not come in by sunset of the specified date, the zamindari was liable to be auctioned. ➢ Fourthly, the power of the zamindar was initially limited to collect rent from the ryot and manage his zamindari. • The Company had recognised the zamindars as important, but it wanted to control and regulate them, subdue their authority and restrict their autonomy. • The zamindars’ troops were disbanded, customs duties abolished. Their “cutcheries” (courts) brought under the supervision of a Collector appointed by the Company. Zamindars lost their power to organise local justice and the local police. • Sometimes bad harvests and low prices made payment of dues difficult for the ryots. At other times ryots deliberately delayed payment. • Rich ryots and village headmen, jotedars and mandals were against the zamindars. • The judicial process was long drawn. In Burdwan alone there were over 30,000 pending suits for arrears of rent payment in 1798. • While many zamindars were facing a crisis, a group of rich peasants were popularly known as Joteders were consolidating their position in the villages at the end of the eighteenth century. • Francis Buchanan has a vivid description of jotedars in his survey of the Dinajpur district in North Bengal. • The jotedars were more powerful than the zamindars in village. Various factors were responsible for it. ➢ Jotedars were located in the villages which helped them to have direct control over poor villagers. ➢ A large part of their land was cultivated through sharecroppers (adhiyars or bargadars) who brought their own ploughs, laboured in the field, and handed over half the produce to the jotedars after the harvest. ➢ They controlled local trade as well as moneylending, exercising immense power over the poorer cultivators of the region. ➢ Joedars fiercely resisted efforts by zamindars to increase the revenue demand of the village and prevented zamindari officials from executing their duties. They also mobilised ryots who were dependent on them, and deliberately delayed payments of revenue to the zamindar.

Colonialism and the Countryside 37 ➢ When the estates of the zamindars were auctioned for failure to make revenue payment, jotedars were often amongst the purchasers. • The jotedars were most powerful particularly in North Bengal. In Some places they were called haoladars, elsewhere they were known as gantidars or mandals. Their rise inevitably weakened zamindari authority. • Fictitious sale was one such strategy. The Raja of Burdwan, for instance, first transferred some of his zamindari to his mother, since the Company had decreed that the property of women would not be taken over. • A second move, his agents manipulated the auctions. When a part of the estate was auctioned, the zamindar’s men bought the property, outbidding other purchasers. Subsequently they refused to pay up the purchase money, so that the estate had to be resold. This process was repeated endlessly. • The zamindars never paid the full revenue demand and the Company rarely recovered the balance unpaid. Such transactions happened on a large scale between 1793 and 1801. • At times their agents would be attacked by lathyals of the former zamindar. Sometimes even the ryots resisted the entry of outsiders. The zamindars therefore were not easily displaced. • The changes occurred in the East India Company were documented in a report, was submitted to the British Parliament in 1813. • It was the fifth of a series of reports on the administration and activities of the East India Company in India, therefore it was referred to as the Fifth Report. • The Fifth report contained 1002 pages, of which over 800 pages were appendices. It reproduced petitions of: ➢ zamindars and ryots ➢ reports of collectors from different districts ➢ statistical tables on revenue returns ➢ notes on the revenue and judicial administration of Bengal and Madras written by officials • Many causes contributed to the presentation of the fifth report which are as follows: ➢ Many groups in Britain who were opposed to the monopoly. The East India Company had over trade with India and China. They wanted a revocation of the Royal Charter that gave the Company this monopoly. ➢ Many private traders wanted a share in the trade with India, and the industrialists of Britain were keen to access Indian markets for British manufactures. ➢ Many political groups argued that the conquest of Bengal was benefiting only the East India Company but not the British nation as a whole. ➢ The misrule and maladministration was hotly debated in Britain and incidents of the greed and corruption of Company officials were widely publicised in the press.

38 History—XII • The British Parliament passed a series of Acts in the late eighteenth century to regulate and control Company rule in India. • The term Hoe and the Plough implied the difference between Paharia and the Santhal mode of cultivation. The Hoe is symbolized subsistence farming and shifting agriculture as practiced by Paharias. The plough, the Santhals, who practised settled cultivation of commercial crops also. • People lived around the Rajmahal hills were known as Paharias. They lived on forest produce and practicing shifting cultivation. They cleared patches of forest by cutting bushes and burning the undergrowth. These patches enriched by the potash from the ash. They grew a variety of pulses and millets for consumption. • Paharias lived in hutments within tamarind groves. They collected mahua (a flower) for food, silk cocoons and resin for sale, and wood for charcoal production. • Paharias – as hunters, shifting cultivators, food gatherers, charcoal producers, silkworm rearers – was thus intimately connected to the forest. • The Paharias regularly raided the plains where settled agriculturists lived. These raids were necessary for survival, particularly in years of scarcity; they were a way of asserting power over settled communities; and they were a means of negotiating political relations with outsiders. • The zamindars on the plains had to often purchase peace by paying a regular tribute to the hill chiefs. Traders similarly gave a small amount to the hill folk for permission to use the passes controlled by them. Once the toll was paid, the Paharia chiefs protected the traders, ensuring that their goods were not plundered by anyone. • In the 1770s the British embarked on a brutal policy of extermination, hunting the Paharias down and killing them. • By the 1780s, Augustus Cleveland, the Collector of Bhagalpur, proposed a policy of pacification. • Paharia chiefs were given an annual allowance and made responsible for the proper conduct of their men. They were expected to maintain order in their localities and discipline their own people. • Many Paharia chiefs refused the allowances. Those who accepted, most often lost authority within the community. They came to be perceived as subordinate employees or stipendiary chiefs after getting paid by the British. • Santhals were pouring into the area, clearing forests, cutting down timber, ploughing lands and growing rice and cotton. As the lower hills were taken over by Santhal settlers, the Paharias receded deeper into the Rajmahal hills. In Paharia life was symbolized by the hoe, which they used for shifting cultivation, the settlers came to represent the power of the plough. The battle between the hoe and plough was a long one. • Santhals had begun to come into Bengal around the 1780s. Zamindar shired them to reclaim land and expand cultivation. British officials invited them to settle in the Jangal Mahals. As they failed to change the Paharias into settled agriculturists.

Colonialism and the Countryside 39 • The Britishers turned to Santhals. The Santhals, by contrast, appeared to be ideal settlers, clearing forests and ploughing the land with vigour. They settled down cultivating a range of commercial crops for the market persuaded to settle and started dealing with traders and moneylenders. • By 1832 a large area of land was provided to the Santhals in Rajmahal hills which came to known as Damin-i-Koh. They practised plough agriculture, and became settled peasants. • Santhals were asked to clear one-tenth of the area and cultivated within the first ten years. The area was surveyed and mapped. It was separated from both the world of the settled agriculturists and the Paharias. • After the demarcation of Damin-i-Koh, Santhal settlements expanded rapidly. From 40 Santhal villages in the area in 1838, as many as 1,473 villages had come up by 1851. Over the same period, the Santhal population increased from a mere 3,000 to over 82,000. As cultivation expanded, an increased volume of revenue flowed into the Company’s coffers. • The Santhals, however, soon realized that the land they had brought under cultivation was slipping away from their hands. The state was levying heavy taxes on the land that the Santhals had cleared, moneylenders (dikus) were charging them high rates of interest and taking over the land when debts remained unpaid, and zamindars were asserting control over the Damin area. • By the 1850s, the Santhals decided to revolt against zamindars, moneylenders and the colonial state. After the Santhal Revolt (1855-56) that the Santhal Pargana was created, carving out 5,500 square miles from the districts of Bhagalpur and Birbhum. • Bachanan was an employee of the British East India Company. He marched everywhere with a large army of people – draughtsmen, surveyors, palanquin bearers, coolies. • As the Company consolidated its power and expanded its commerce, it looked for natural resources it could control and exploit. It surveyed landscapes and revenue sources, organised voyages of discovery, and sent its geologists and geographers, its botanists and medical men to collect information. • Buchanan was an extraordinary observer. He observed the stones and rocks. He searched for minerals iron ore and mica, granite and salt petre. Buchanan describes landscape and how to increase productivity. • His assessment was shaped by commercial concerns of the Company. He was inevitably critical of the lifestyles of the forest dwellers and felt that forest had to be turned into agricultural lands. • Accotding to Buchanan, The Santhals were very clever in clearing new lands. Their huts have no fence, and the walls are made of small sticks placed upright, close together and plastered milium with clay. They are small, untidy and too flat-rooted with very little arch.

40 History—XII I.  VERY SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS (1 MARK) 1. Where was Colonial rule first established? Ans. The colonial rule was first established in Bengal after the East India Company won war of Plassey in 1757. 2. Which land revenue settlement was introduced by the British in Bengal? Ans. Permanent Settlement was introduced by the British in Bengal. 3. When did it become operational? Ans. It became operational in 1793. 4. Who were classified as zamindars in Bengal? Ans. Rajas and Taluqdars in Bengal 5. Who introduced the Sun Law? Ans. Britishers introduced the Sun Law. 6. What was meant by the Sunset law? Ans. The Sunset law was related to the land revenue. According to it, if the payment did not come in by sunset of the specified date, the zamindari was liable to be auctioned. 7. Give any one merit of the Permanent Settlement. Ans. Permanent Settlement created a class of wealthy privileged zamindars who became most loyal supporters to the British. 8. What were the rich peasants of Dinajpur district known as? Ans. They are known as Jotedars. 9. Who were the jotedars? Ans. Jotedars were a class of rich peasants who were most powerful in North Bengal. 10. What were the various names they were known by? Ans. They were known in different areas as haoladars, gantidars and mandals. 11. Describe any three ways in which jotedars resisted the authority of the zamindars. Ans. The jotedars resisted the authority of the zamindars by: (i) Indirectly controlling the ryots by advancing money. (ii) Withholding payment of revenue payable to zamindars. (iii) Keeping benami lands. 12. Define the term ‘Ryot’. Ans. The term Ryot (Raiyat) is used to designate peasants. Not all ryots in Bengal cultivated the land directly. Some leased it out under-ryots. 13. Name the person who wields the Lathi or stick. Ans. Lathyal 14. What is meant by Benami? Ans. The term Benami is used in Hindi and several other Indian languages for transactions

Colonialism and the Countryside 41 made in the name of relatively insignificant person, whereas the real beneficiary remains unnamed. 15. Who made benami purchases during 1793-1801? Ans. Four big zamindaris of Bengal including Burdwan made benami purchases of about Rs.30 lakh during 1973-1801. 16. What is meant by the Fifth Report? Ans. The report was the fifth of a series of reports on administration and activities of the East India Company in India. Hence, it was referred to as the Fifth Report. 17. Why is the Fifth Report significant? Ans. It is significant because it became a basis of intense parliamentary debates, in Britain, on the nature of East India Company’s rule in India. 18. Who was amlah? Ans. Amlah was an officer of the zamindar. He came to village at the time of rent collection to keep an eye on the process. 19. What were Buchanan’s views about Rajmahal Hills? Ans. According to Buchanan, the hills appeared dense and a zone where few travellers ventured. It was an area that signified danger. 20. Who were the Paharias? Ans. The people living around the hills were known as Paharias. 21. How did Paharias live? Ans. They lived on forest produce and practised shifting cultivation. 22. What were the occupation of the Paharias? Ans. They were hunters, shifting cultivators, food gatherers, charcoal producers and silkworm rearers. 23. What were the duties of a Paharia chief ? Ans. The Paharia chief settled disputes and led their tribes into battle. They also helped maintain tribal unity. 24. Who proposed the policy of pacification? Ans. Augustus Cleveland, the Collector of Bhagalpur, proposed the policy of pacification. 25. When did the policy of pacification proposed? Ans. It was proposed in 1780. 26. Give one important result of the pacification campaigns. Ans. The one prominent result of the pacification campaigns was viewed all white men with suspicion and distrust. 27. Define what was implied by the term Hoe and the Plough. Ans. The term Hoe and the Plough implied the difference between Paharia and the Santhal mode of cultivation. The Hoe symbolized subsistence farming and shifting agriculture

42 History—XII as practised by Paharias. The Plough, the Santhals, who practised settled cultivation of commercial crops also. 28. How did the British try to tame the trivals/hill folks? Ans. The British tried to tame the trivals/hill folks by: (i) Persuading them to give up life of constant mobility and take to settled agriculture. (ii) By embarking on a brutal policy of extermination, hunting down and killing Paharias. 29. When did the Santhals begin to come into Bengal? Ans. Santhals began to come into Bengal around 1780. 30. Who hired them? Ans. Zamindars and British officials hired them. 31. What is Damin-i-Koh? Ans. Damin-i-Koh relates to a large area of land, declared land of the Santhals. II.  SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS–I (2 MARKS) 1. What was the general impact of state laws in the countryside? Ans. Laws introduced by the state have consequences for people: — they determine to an extent who grows richer and who poorer, — who acquires new land and who loses the land, and — where peasants go when they need money. People were not only subject to the working of laws, — they also resisted the law by acting according to what they believed to be just, and — in doing so people defined the way in which laws operated. 2. Where and how was the colonial rule first established? Ans. Colonial rule was first established in Bengal after the East India Company won war of Plassey in 1757. It was established by reordering of rural society: (i) By establishing a new regime of land rights and (ii) A new revenue settlement, the Permanent Settlement. 3. Give characteristic features of the auction in Burdwan. Ans. The auction in Burdwan was a big public event. A number of mahals (estates) held by the Raja of Burdwan were being sold. Features: (i) Numerous purchasers came to the auction and the estates were sold to the highest bidder. (ii) Many of the purchasers turned out to be servants and agents of the raja. (iii) Over 95% of sale at the auction was fictitious. (iv) The raja’s estates had been publicly sold but he remained in control of his zamindari.

Colonialism and the Countryside 43 4. What were the problems in the introduction of Permanent Settlement? How was it resolved? Ans. The problem lay in identifying individuals who could both improve agriculture and contract to pay the fixed revenue to the state.  After a prolonged debate amongst Company officials, the Permanent Settlement was made with the rajas and taluqdars of Bengal. They were now classified as zamindars, and they had to pay the revenue demand that was fixed for a long time. In terms of this definition, the zamindar was not a landowner in the village, but a revenue collector of the state.  Some zamindars had upto 400 villages under them. 5. Why were many zamindaris auctioned after the Permanent Settlement in Bengal? Give two reasons. Ans. Reasons why zamindars defaulted in the payment of revenue under the British government were: (i) The initial demands, fixed by the officials, were very high. The company wanted to minimise anticipated loss; in case of increased income from land, if prices rose and cultivation increased. (ii) High demand was imposed at a time in the 1790s when prices of agricultural produce were depressed. Thus, when ryots failed to pay their dues to zamindars, zamindars could not collect rent. 6. State any two merits of the Permanent Settlement. Ans. (i) Permanent Settlement created a class of wealthy privileged zamindars who became most loyal supporters of the British. (ii) It enabled the company to maximise its income. Land revenue was fixed higher than it had been in the past. 7. Give some reasons why state opted for Permanent Settlement of land revenue. Ans. State opted for Permanent Settlement of land revenue: (i) To resolve the problem of instability of land revenue and guarantee stability of income. (ii) It enabled the company to maximise its income as land revenue was now fixed. It was higher than the old revenue rate. (iii) It was hoped that it would lead to emergence of a class of enterprising farmers and rich landowners; and would invest surplus in improvement of agriculture. (iv) By recognising zamindars, the British hoped to create a class of loyal supporters, who would act as a buffer between them and the people of India. 8. Describe the ways in which jotedars resisted the authority of the zamindars. Ans. The jotedars resisted the authority of the zamindars by: (i) Indirectly controlling the ryots by advancing money. (ii) Withholding payment of revenue payable to zamindars.

44 History—XII (iii) Keeping benami lands. (iv) Mobilising petty ryots under them not to pay their revenue dues on time. (v) When the zamindars reminded them for default, they (jotedars) summoned them to the ‘cutcherry’ (court) by registering counter complaints against them with the police station. (vi) They took advantage of the long drawn judicial process. For example in Burdwan alone there were 30,000 pending suits for arrears of rent payment. 9. What is meant by the term Fifth Report? Why is it significant? Ans. As per acts, enacted by British Parliament in the late 18th century, committees were appointed to enquire into the affairs and administration of the company. The Fifth Report was the fifth of a series of such reports.  It is significant because it became a basis of intense parliamentary debates in Britain, on the nature of East India Company’s rule in India. 10. Give any two shortcomings of the Fifth Report. Ans. (i) The Fifth Report exaggerated the collapse of traditional zamindari power and the rate at which zamindars were losing their lands. But even when zamindaris were auctioned, zamindars were not always displaced. Through various methods they used to retain their lands. (ii) The report was biased as it sought to highlight the maladministration of the East India Company. 11. Give reasons why groups in Britain opposed the monopoly of the East India Company. Ans. Groups in Britain wanted the revocation of Royal Charter, which gave the company monopoly in India because: (i) An increasing number of private traders wanted a share in the lucrative India trade. (ii) With Britain having undergone industrial revolution, industrialists were keen to open up Indian market for British manufactures. (iii) Due to reports of Company misrule, corruption and greed of Company officials. 12. Why did the Paharias regularly raid the plains? Ans. (i) Raids were necessary for Paharia survival. Raids forced the zamindars to pay regular tribute; and traders to pay toll tax in exchange for protection. These tributes and taxes were to save them from plunder and for safe passage of goods through passes controlled by Paharias. (ii) They were a means of negotiating political relations with outsiders. 13. Give two important results of the pacification campaigns. Ans. The two prominent results of the pacification campaigns were: (i) Paharias withdrew deep into the mountains, insulating themselves from hostile forces and carrying on war with the outsiders.

Colonialism and the Countryside 45 (ii) Viewed all white men with suspicion and distrust. 14. What was the policy of pacification? Give two points. Ans. Under the policy of pacification, Paharia chiefs were given an annual allowance. They were made responsible for the proper conduct of their men. (i) The chiefs were expected to maintain order in their localities; and to discipline their own people. (ii) Many Pahariya chiefs refused the allowance. Those who accepted, lost authority within the community. They came to be perceived as stipendary chiefs or subordinate employees. 15. How did the Santhals begin to come into Bengal around the 1780’s? Give two reasons. Ans. Santhals began to come into Bengal around the 1780s because: (i) Zamindars hired them to reclaim land and expand cultivation. (ii) British officials encouraged Santhal settlements to settle in ‘Jangal Mahals’ to counter and subdue the Paharia resistance; and subsequently clear forests and expand cultivation. 16. What is meant by Damin-i-Koh? Ans. Damin-i-Koh relates to: (i) A large area of land, declared land of the Santhals. The Santhals were to live within it, practise plough agriculture and become settled peasants. (ii) This territory was separated from both the world of settled agriculturists of the plains and Paharias of the hills by enclosed boundary pillars. 17. How did Paharias react to Santhal settlements on the peripheries of the Rajmahal hills? Ans. The reaction of Paharias to Santhal settlements on the peripheries of the Rajmahal hills was: (i) The Paharias resisted; but were forced to withdraw deeper into the hills. (ii) They got confined to the dry interiors, which in the long-term severely affected their lives. They became poor and poor. (iii) With most fertile soils not being accessible to them, they could not sustain their mode of cultivation (shifting). 18. Give some important consequences of the ryotwari settlement. Ans. The important consequences of the ryotwari settlement were: (i) The ryotwari settlement did not bring into existence a system of peasant ownership. (ii) The ryot soon discovered that the large number of zamindars had been replaced by one giant zamindar of the state. (iii) The ryots were mere government tenants whose land was sold if they failed to punctually pay land revenue.

46 History—XII (iv) The utmost severity with which payments were levied led to increased indebtedness of the ryot. 19. The ryots’ rights of ownership were negated under the ryotwari settlement. Explain giving some points in support of the statement. Ans. The ryots’ rights of ownership were negated under the ryotwari settlement for the fact that: (i) In most areas the land revenue fixed was very high. The ryot was hardly left with bare maintenance even in the best of seasons. For example in Bombay, the claim was as high as 50% of the gross production. (ii) The Government retained the right to enhance land revenue at will. (iii) The ryot had to pay revenue even when his produce was partially or wholly destroyed by floods or drought. 20. Why did credit to cotton grower in Deccan stop? Ans. By 1865 the Civil War ended. Cotton production in America revived and Indian cotton exports to Britain steadily declined. Export merchants and sahukars in Maharashtra were no longer keen on giving more loans. They could see the demand for Indian cotton fall and cotton prices slide downwards. So they decided to restrict their advances to peasants. 21. Explain briefly the importance of the Deccan Riots Commission Report of 1878. Ans. (i) The Deccan Riots Report helps us to understand the cause of the riots. (ii) It is an important source of information for historians as the Commission compiled statistical data on revenue rates and interest rates in different regions. It also recorded statements of ryots, sahukars, and eyewitnesses. 22. Critically examine the experience of injustice felt by the ryots on the refusal of moneylenders to extend loans to them after 1865. Ans. (i) Consequent to the outbreak of the American Civil War, the supply of raw cotton from America to Britain, drastically dropped. In a bid to increase cotton exports to Britain, export merchants gave advances to urban ‘sahukars’, who in turn extended credit to rural moneylenders to acquire cotton. (ii) When the Civil War ended, export of Indian cotton declined and cotton prices dropped. III.  SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS–II (3 MARKS) 1. Why was the jotedar a powerful figure in many areas of rural Bengal? Ans. Rich peasants were known as jotedars in North Bengal. In other places they were known as haoladars, or gantidars or mandals. They were a powerful figure in many areas of rural Bengal because:

Colonialism and the Countryside 47 (i) Zamindars often lived in urban areas, and were absentee landlords. Jotedars were located in villages and had direct control over considerable section of poor villagers. (ii) A large part of their land, of which a large portion was ‘benami’, was cultivated by share-croppers (adhiyars or bargadars). (iii) Jotedars controlled vast areas of land. They exercised immense control over poor villagers through local trade and money lending. (iv) Often jotedars were purchasers, when estates of zamindars were auctioned. (v) With the help of ryots, dependent on them, they undermined the power of the zamindars. They fiercely resisted the efforts of zamindars to increase ‘jama’ of villages. They also, deliberately, delayed payments of revenue to the zamindars, e.g. jotedars of Dinajpur. 2. How did zamindars manage to retain control over their zamindaris? Ans. Faced with fear of auction of their estates, zamindars devised strategies to retain control over their zamindaris. Among the ways were: (i) Fictitious sale, for example Raja of Burdwan transferred some of his zamindaris to his mother, since the company had decreed that property of women would not be taken over. 15% of the purchase of the four auctioned big zamindaris were fictitious. (ii) The agents of the zamindars manipulated the auctions. When the estate was auctioned, the zamindar’s men purchased the property outbidding other purchasers. (iii) When people from outside the zamindari, bought an estate, they were attacked by ‘lathiyals’ of the former zamindar. This prevented new people from taking possession. (iv) At other times, ryots bound to their zamindar by sense of loyalty, and viewing themselves as his ‘proja’, resisted entry of outsiders. (v) The zamindars, who managed to survive the troubles in prices of 1790’s, managed to retain control. Overtime, with the relaxation of rules of revenue payment, the zamindars consolidated their power, and in some cases their power was strengthened. (vi) It was only during the Great Depression of the 1930’s that they finally collapsed and the jotedars consolidated their power in the countryside. 3. How did the Paharias respond to the coming of outsiders? Ans. Paharias were hill folk, who lived around Rajmahal (Area in Jharkh and near Bhagalpur (Bihar) hills, subsisting on forest produce and practising shifting agriculture. Paharias were apprehensive of officials and unwilling to talk to them. With their base in the hills, they undertook raids on settled communities.

48 History—XII — The zamindars on the plains had often to purchase peace by paying regular tribute to the chiefs. — Traders, likewise, had to pay small amounts to ensure safe passage of their goods through passes and routes controlled by them.  With extension of frontiers of settled agriculture, British encouragement to Santhal settlements and policy of ‘brutal extermination’ in the 1770’s caused the sharpening of the conflict between the Paharias and outsiders. They regarded all outsiders with suspicion. For them, every white man was destroying their way of life, means of survival and control over their lands and forests. Paharias went deep into the mountains insulating themselves from hostile forces; and carrying on war with the outsiders. 4. Why did the Santhals rebel against British rule? Ans. The Santhals rebelled against the British rule in the 1850’s. (i) Santhal myths and songs represent the Santhal past, as one of continuous mobility, which came to an end in Damin-i-Koh. Thus when the Santhals found the land, they had brought under cultivation, was slipping away from their hands, they revolted. (ii) The state levied heavy taxes on the land cleared and cultivated. (iii) The moneylenders (dikus) charged them high rates of interest and took over the land, when debts remained unpaid. (iv) The zamindars too often asserted control over their areas. (v) The Santhals felt, without the pressure of zamindars, moneylenders and colonial rule, they would create an ideal world for themselves, where they would rule. 5. Enlist the reasons for the introduction of Permanent Settlement. Ans. In introducing the Permanent Settlement, British officials hoped to resolve the problems they had been facing since the conquest of Bengal. • By the 1770s, the rural economy in Bengal was in crisis, with recurrent famines and declining agricultural output. • Officials felt that agriculture, trade and the revenue resources of the state could all be developed by encouraging investment in agriculture. • This could be done by securing rights of property and permanently fixing the rates of revenue demand. If the revenue demand of the state was permanently fixed, then the Company could look forward to a regular flow of revenue. Entrepreneurs could also feel sure of earning a profit from their investment. • The process, officials hoped, would lead to the emergence of a class of yeomen (a farmer having own land), farmers and rich landowners who would have the capital to improve agriculture. Nurtured by the British, this class would also be loyal to the Company. 6. Why did the zamindars default on the payment of revenues under the British government? Give two reasons. or

Colonialism and the Countryside 49 Why were many zamindaris auctioned after the Permanent Settlement in Bengal? Give two reasons. Ans. Reasons why zamindars defaulted in the payment of revenue under the British government were: (i) The initial demands, fixed by the officials, were very high. The company wanted to minimise anticipated loss; in case of increased income from land, if prices rose and cultivation increased. (ii) High demand was imposed at a time in the 1790s when prices of agricultural produce were depressed. Thus, when ryots failed to pay their dues to zamindars, zamindars could not collect rent. (iii) In Permanent Settlement areas the revenue was fixed regardless of harvest, it had to be paid punctually. As per the “Sunset law” failure meant the zamindari was liable to be auctioned. 7. Explain the policies of the British to control Paharias. Ans. The policies of the British to control Paharias were: (i) In the 1770s, the British used a brutal policy of extermination, hunting and killing the Paharias. (ii) Then, by the 1780s, Augustus Cleveland, the Collector of Bhagalpur, proposed a policy of pacification. Paharia chiefs were given an annual allowance and made responsible for the proper conduct of their men. They were expected to discipline their own people. (iii) Many Paharia chiefs refused the allowances. Those who accepted, most often, lost authority within the community. They came to be perceived as British employees. (iv) As the pacification campaigns continued, the Paharias withdrew deep into the mountains and carrying on a war with outsiders. (v) So when Buchanan travelled through the region in the winter of 1810-11, the Paharias viewed him with suspicion and distrust. Every white man appeared, they saw, to destroy their way of life and means of survival. 8. How did the Santhals reach the Rajmahal hills? Ans. (i) The Santhals had begun to come into Bengal around the 1780s. Zamindars hired them to reclaim land and expand cultivation. (ii) British officials invited them to settle in the Jangal Mahals. (iii) Having failed to subdue the Paharias, the British turned to the Santhals. (iv) The Paharias refused to cut forests, resisted touching the plough, and continued to be turbulent. (v) The Santhals, by contrast, appeared to be ideal settlers, clearing forests and ploughing the land with vigour. (vi) The Santhals were given land and persuaded to settle in the foothills of Rajmahal. (vii) By 1832 a large area of land was demarcated as Damin-i-Koh. This was declared to be the land of the Santhals.

50 History—XII (viii) They were to live within it, practise plough agriculture, and become settled peasants. 9. Explain the real intentions of Buchanan’s journey to India. Ans. (i) Francis Buchanan’s journeys in India, described in the diary, were not inspired by a love of landscape or the desire to discover the unknown. His interest was in commercial concerns of the Company. (ii) As an employee of the British East India Company he undertook detailed surveys of areas under the jurisdiction of the Company. He looked for natural resources which could be exploited. (iii) Wherever he went, he carefully studied the stones, rocks, and the different layers of the soil. He searched for minerals and stones that were commercially viable. (iv) He carefully observed local practices of salt-making and iron-mining. (v) When he wrote about the landscape, priority was to find out, how it could be much more productive. He tried to find out which crops could be cultivated; which trees could be cut and which could be grown in their place. 10. Give two reasons why Permanent Settlement was not extended to any region beyond Bengal. Ans. Reasons why Permanent Settlement was not extended to any region beyond Bengal were: (i) One reason was that, after 1810 agricultural prices were increasing and enlarging the Bengal zamindars’ income. (ii) The British realised, as under the Permanent Settlement the revenue demand was fixed, the Company was a financial loser, as they could not claim a share of the growing income. (iii) It was a part of the British strategy to expand financial resources by maximising its land revenue. (iv) The thinking of the policymakers was shaped by the economic theories of David Ricardo. According to Ricardo, the landowner should be given only the ‘average rent’ prevailing at a given time. If the land yielded more than the average rent, the landowner had a surplus, which needed to be taxed. (v) If tax was not levied, then cultivators turned into rentiers. Contrary to British hopes, the zamindars instead of investing surplus in development of land, they turned rentiers. IV.  LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS ( 5 MARKS) 1. Why were many zamindaris auctioned after the Permanent Settlement? Ans. The British colonial rule was first established in Bengal and in 1793. The Permanent Settlement came into operation. By the end of the 18th century, over 75% of the zamindaris changed hands after the Permanent Settlement.

Colonialism and the Countryside 51 Among the reasons why zamindaris came up for auction in areas of the Permanent Settlement were: (i) In areas of Permanent Settlement the revenue demand was fixed forever, the initial demand was very high. The company wanted to minimize loss in case of increased income from land. Therefore in the early years the zamindars regularly failed to pay the revenue demand. So unpaid balances increased. (ii) Moreover this high demand was imposed in the 1790s. This was a time when prices of agricultural produce were depressed. This made it difficult for ryots to pay their dues to the zamindars. So the zamindar could not collect rent, and could not pay further to the Company. (iii) In Permanent Settlement areas the revenue was invariable, regardless of harvest. It had to be paid punctually. As per the “Sunset law” failure meant, the zamindari could be auctioned. (iv) The Settlement limited the power of the zamindars. It subdued their authority and restricted their autonomy by disbanding their troops, by abolishing custom duties and bringing their courts under the supervision of a collector appointed by the Company.  The authority of collectorate, emerged as an alternate centre of authority. All this adversely restricted the zamindar to assert authority. In case of defaults and deliberate delays by rich ryots like “jotedars” and “mandals”, who were happy to see the zamindars in trouble, zamindars had no authority to take action against them. (v) The jotedars too played a role in making matters worse for the zamindars. Unlike zamindars, they were located in the villages. They controlled local trade as well as money lending. 2. In what way was the livelihood of the Paharias different from that of the Santhals? Ans. Among the ways in which the livelihood of the Paharias was different from that of the Santhals was: Paharias: (i) The Paharias were original forest dwellers/tribals of the Rajmahal hills. Their life was of constant mobility. (ii) Their livelihood was symbolised by the hoe and intimately connected to the forest. They earned their livelihood as hunters, shifting cultivators, food gatherers, charcoal producers, resin collectors, silk worm and cattle rearers. (iii) They lived in hutments within tamarind groves and rested in the shade of mango trees. They considered the entire region as their land. (iv) The Paharias regularly raided the plains where settled agriculturalists lived. They negotiated with them political relations. (v) Their chiefs regularly received tribute from zamindars in exchange for peace. Traders also gave small amounts to ensure safe passage of their goods through passes controlled by them.

52 History—XII (vi) They resisted any attempts by the British, to persuade them, to give up hunting, encourage settled agriculture, tame and civilise them. (vii) They were averse to the idea of settled agriculture and use of plough. They refused to cut forests. They insulated themselves from outsiders and carrying on war with them. Santhals: (i) Compared to the Paharias, the Santhals’ livelihood was symbolised by the plough. They gave up their earlier life of mobility and settled down. They were ideal settlers, cleared forests and ploughed land with vigour. (ii) The Santhals were encouraged by the British officers to counter Paharia resistance. They were also encouraged by zamindars to reclaim land and undertake settled cultivation. After demarcation of the Damin-i-Koh, they undertook cultivation of commercial crops for the market, e.g. tobacco and mustard. (iii) Unlike the Paharias, who were suspicious of outsiders, Santhals dealt with traders and moneylenders. (iv) Not only did Santhal settlement expand rapidly, over time their population also increased. As cultivation expanded, an increased volume of revenue flowed into the Company coffers. (v) The Santhals resisted attempts by the British, the moneylenders and zamindars to dislodge them from ideal world Damin-i-Koh, by armed rebellion in the 1850’s. To appease the Santhals the British carved the Santhal pargna from districts of Bhagalpur and Birbhum. 3. Critically examine ‘The Fifth Report of Late Eighteenth Century’. or Describe the Fifth Report produced by the Select Committee of English East India Company in 1813 in the British Parliament. Ans. (i) The Fifth Report was the fifth of a series of reports on the administration and actions of the East India Company (E.I.C) in India. It was a voluminous affair. It ran into 1002 pages. Out of this, 800 pages were appendices that reproduced petitions of zamindars, ryots, reports of collectors from different districts. It also included notes on the revenue and judicial administration of Bengal and Madras. (ii) The activities of the E.I.C. were closely debated and watched in England. Many groups in Britain opposed the monopoly of Company which had monopoly rights of trade with India and China. They wanted the revocation of the charter that gave the company this monopoly. Many private traders wanted to trade with India. British industrialists also wanted to do trade with India. Political groups argued that Bengal conquest had benefitted only the Company; and not the nation as a whole. (iii) Information about the Company’s misrule, mal-administration incidents of greed and corruption of Company officials were hotly debated and publicised.

Colonialism and the Countryside 53 (iv) The Fifth Report was one such report. It became the basis of intense Parliamentary debates on the nature of Company’s rule in India. — For over a century and a half, the Fifth Report has shaped our conception of what happened in rural Bengal. — But the report cannot be accepted uncritically. We need to know who wrote the report and why. — Recent research indicates the intent on criticising the mal-administration of the Company. — The Fifth Report exaggerated the collapse of traditional zamindari power and the rate at which zamindars were losing their lands. But even when zamindaris were auctioned, zamindars were not always displaced. Zamindars used various methods to retain their lands. 4. “After introducing the Permanent Settlement in Bengal, the zamindars regularly failed to pay revenue demand.” Examine the reasons and consequences of it. Ans. Even after Surety of revenue, zamindars regularly failed to pay the revenue demand and unpaid balances accumulated. Various reasons for this failure were: First, Company kept the revenue demands very high. They believed that with low initial price they would never be able to set high income from land when price rose and cultivation expanded. Hence the burden on zamindars would decline with expanded agriculture and price rise. Secondly, during the 1790s, the prices of agricultural produce were depressed which made the ryots difficult to pay their dues to the zamindar. Thirdly, the revenue was fixed, and it had to be paid punctually on time regardless of the harvest. According to the new law, Sunset Law, if payment did not come in by sunset of the specified date, the zamindari was liable to be auctioned. Fourthly, The power of the zamindar was initially limited to collect rent from the ryot and manage his zamindari. The duty of collecting of revenue was under zamindars, but they were brought under some circumstances. These were: • The zamindars’ troops were disbanded, customs duties abolished. Their cutcheries (courts) were brought under the supervision of a collector appointed by the Company. • Zamindars lost their power to organise local justice and the local police. The collectorate emerged as an alternative centre of authority. An officer of the zamindars, the amlah, came to the village at the time of rent collection to keep an eye on process. • Bad harvests and low prices made the ryots difficult to pay dues to the zamindars.

54 History—XII • Sometimes ryots deliberately delayed the revenue payment. • Rich ryots and village headmen, jotedars and Mandals, were against the zamindars. • The judicial process was long drawn to prosecute defaulters. In Burdwan alone there were over 30,000 pending suits for arrears of rent payment in 1798. V.  MAP BASED QUESTIONS 1. On the outline map of the sub-continent, find out the area where the Permanent Settlement was prevalent and plot this on the map as well. Ans. Rajmahal Hills Bengal VI.  CASE STUDIES BASED MCQs Case Study—1 Read the following excerpt carefully and answer questions: As you know, colonial rule was first established in Bengal. It is here that the earliest attempts were made to reorder rural society and establish a new regime of land rights and a new revenue system. Let us see what happened in Bengal in the early years of Company (E.I.C.) rule.

Colonialism and the Countryside 55 An auction in Burdwan In 1797 There was an auction in Burdwan (presentday Bardhaman). It was a big public event. A number of mahals (estates) held by the Raja of Burdwan were being sold. The Permanent Settlement had come into operation in 1793. The East India Company had fixed the revenue that each zamindar had to pay. The estates of those who failed to pay were to be auctioned to recover the revenue. Since the raja had accumulated huge arrears, his estates had been put up for auction. Numerous purchasers came to the auction and the estates were sold to the highest bidder. But the Collector soon discovered a strange twist to the tale. Many of the purchasers turned out to be servants and agents of the raja who had bought the lands on behalf of their master. Over 95 per cent of the sale at the auction was fictitious. The raja’s estates had been publicly sold, but he remained in control of his zamindari. (a) First state which came under colonial rule of the British. (i) Mysore (ii) Punjab (iii) Bengal (iv) Uttar Pradesh (b) When did permanent settlement came into operation? (i) 1891 (ii) 1793 (iii) 1792 (iv) 1893 (c) How did the British establish colonial rule in Bengal? (i) By auctioning estates (ii) By encouraging investments (iii) By entering into alliances with the rulers of Bengal (iv) By introducing a new revenue system (d) Who was the Governor-General of Bengal when the permanent settlement was introduced? (i) Lord Irvin (ii) Lord Buchanan (iii) Lord Cornwallis (iv) Lord William Case Study—2 Read the following excerpt carefully and answer questions: The Company had recognised the zamindars as important, but it wanted to control and regulate them, subdue their authority and restrict their autonomy. The zamindars’ troops were disbanded, customs duties abolished, and their “cutcheries” (courts) brought under the supervision of a Collector appointed by the Company. Zamindars lost their power to organise local justice and the local police. Over time the collectorate emerged as an alternative centre of authority, severely restricting what the zamindar could do. In one case, when a raja failed to pay the revenue, a Company official was speedily dispatched to his zamindari with explicit instructions “to take charge of the District and to use the most effectual means to destroy all the influence and the authority of the raja and his officers”. At the time of rent collection, an officer of the zamindar, usually the amlah, came around to the village. But rent collection was a

56 History—XII perennial problem. Sometimes bad harvests and low prices made payment of dues difficult for the ryots. At other times ryots deliberately delayed payment. Rich ryots and village headmen – jotedars and mandals – were only too happy to see the zamindar in trouble. The zamindar could therefore not easily assert his power over them. Zamindars could prosecute defaulters, but the judicial process was long drawn. In Burdwan alone there were over 30,000 pending suits for arrears of rent payment in 1798. (a) How did the company limit the power of the zamindars? (i) The zamindars’ troops were abolished. (ii) Custom duties were abolished. (iii) Their ‘cutcheries’ (courts) were brought under the supervision of a collector appointed by the Company (iv) All the above. (b) Why was rent collection a perennial problem for Zamindars? (i) Bad harvest and low prices. (ii) Contrary role of rich ryots (jotedars) and ‘mandals’. (iii) Zamindars did not want to persecute defaulters. (iv) Compliance of the company official. (c) What were rich ryots clled? (i) Mandals (ii) Jotedars (iii) Zamindars (iv) All of these (d) How many pending suits were in Burdwan alone in 1798 for arears of rent payment? (i) 75,000 (ii) over 30,000 (iii) 95,000 (iv) over 40,000 Answers Case Study – 1 : (a) (iii) (b) (ii) (c) (iv) (d) (iii) Case Study – 2 : (a) (iv) (b) (i) (c) (ii) (d) (ii)

3CHAPTER Rebels and the Raj [NCERT Textbook Chapter 11] SUMMARY • The revolt of 1857 was started on 10th May 1857, in the cantonment of Meerut, by the sepoys of the Native Infantry. • The sepoys were determined to bring an end to the Company’s rule. From Meerut they rushed to Delhi. • The sepoys arrived at the gates of Red Fort early in the morning on 11 May. They met the Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar and proclaimed him as their leader. The Mughal Emperor got support from the rulers and chiefs of the country and together they rose against the British power. • Sepoys started revolt by capturing the arms from stores and plundering the treasury, afterward they attacked and ransack all government offices like jail, treasury, telegraph office, record room, bungalows, etc. • Proclamations in Hindi, Urdu and Persian were put up calling local to join them and exterminate the foreign rule. When ordinary people joined sepoys, mutiny changed to revolt, the targets of attack widened. • As the news of mutiny in one town travelled to the next, the sepoys there took up arms. The sequence of events in every cantonment followed in a similar pattern. • During the revolt in towns like Lucknow, Kanpur and Bareilly, the rich people and moneylenders were also attacked and property were looted, as they were seen as allies of British and they also oppressed the peasants in the recent past. • Everything and everybody connected with the white man became a target. • Mutiny—a collective disobedience of rules and regulations within armed forces, Revolt—a rebellion of people against established authority and power. • There have been evidences of communication among the sepoys of different regiments before and during the revolt. Their emissaries moved from one station to other. • Sepoys or Historians have said, panchayats were there and these were composed of native officers drawn from each regiments. Some of the decisions were taken collectively by these panchayats. Sepoys shared a common lifestyle and many of them came from the same caste, so they sat together and made their own rebellion. • To fight the British, leadership and organisation were required, and for these, the 57

58 History—XII rebels turned towards the Mughal ruler Bahadur Shah who agreed to be the nominal leader of the rebellion. • In Kanpur, the sepoys and the people of the town agreed to support Nana Sahib. • In Jhansi, the Rani was forced to assume the leadership of the uprising. • Kunwar Singh, a local Zamindar in Arrah in Bihar, too took the leadership. • The local leaders emerged, urging peasants, zamindars, and tribals to revolt e.g. Shah Mal mobilized the villagers of pargana Barout in Uttar Pradesh; Gonooa, a tribal cultivator of Singhbhum in Chotanagpur, became a rebel leader of the Kol tribals of the region. • There was the rumour that the British government had hatched a gigantic conspiracy to destroy the caste and religion of the Hindus and Muslim. • The rumour said that the British had mixed the bone dust of cows and pigs into the flour that was sold in the market. The sepoys and the common people refused to touch the atta. • There was a fear and suspicion that the British wanted to convert Indians to Christianity. • The sepoy had the fear about bullets coated with the fats of cows and pigs, and biting those bullets would corrupt their caste and religion. The British adopted policies aimed at reforming Indian society by introducing Western education, Western ideas, and Western institutions, schools, colleges and universities. • British formed new laws banning the Sati system and to allow widow remarriage. In 1850s, British annexed states like Avvadh, Jhansi and Satara by refusing adoption and on the basis of misgovernment. New land laws and revenue settlements were made. • These all above factors made Indians believe that British is changing the way of their life, custom, rules and replacing them with alien customs and rule. • Suspicion was further aggravated with rapid spread of Christian missionaries and their activities. In 1851, Governor-General Lord Dalhousie described the kingdom of Awadh as “a cherry that will drop into our mouth one day”. • Lord Wellesley introduced subsidiary alliance in Awadh in 1801. • The British were looking at role of Awadh as producer of cotton and indigo and also as principal market of upper India. • By the 1850’s, British conquered all major areas of India like the Maratha lands, the Doab, the Carnatic, the Punjab and Bengal. • The annexation of Awadh in 1856 completed the territorial annexation which started a century earlier with the annexation of Bengal. • Dalhousie displaced Nawab Wazid Ali Shah and exiled to Calcutta on plea that Awadh is being misgoverned. • British government wrongly assume that Nawab Wazid Ali was an unpopular ruler. On the contrary, he was widely loved and people bemoaned for the loss of Nawab. • The removal of Nawab led to dissolution of courts and decline of culture. Musicians, dancers, poets, cooks, retainers and administrative officials, all lost their livelihood.

Rebels and the Raj 59 • Before the coming of the British, taluqdars had controlled land and power on countryside. The annexation of Awadh displaced not just the Nawab but also the taluqdars. • The British were unwilling to tolerate the power of taluqdars. After the annexation the taluqdars were disarmed and their forts destroyed. They lost status in villages, power and land, which they had enjoyed for generations. • With a new revenue system named Summary Settlement of 1856, taluqdars lost their very large share revenue from land. • The dispossession of the taluqdars meant break down of an entire social order. • Many taluqdars were loyal to Nawab of Awadh and joined Begum Hazrat Mahal in Lucknow to fight the British even after the defeat. • During the revolt, only few rebels propagate their ideas through ishtahars (notifications), folk tales, etc. • So it is very difficult to reconstruct what happened in 1857 and what were the demands of rebels. • Proclamation issued by rebel leader appealed to all sections of the population irrespective of cast and creed. • The rebellion was seen as a war in which both Hindus and muslims had equally to lose and gain. The rebels completely rejected everything associated with British rule or firangi raj. • The proclamations expressed the widespread fear that the British were bent on destroying the caste and religions of Hindus and Muslims and converting them to Christianity. • People were urged to come together and fight to save their livelihood, their faith, their honour, their identity. • Rebels tried to establish as per 18th century system during the revolt. • They tried to set up whole administrative machinery on one hand to carry out day to day activities during the war and on the other hand they tried to plan with British. • To reconquer North India, British put North India under marital. They gave officers and even ordinary British to try and punish suspects of rebellion. • They did two military attacks on Delhi: one from Calcutta and other from Punjab.They recovered Delhi in September 1857, after having losses on both sides. • The British broke the united resistance of big landholders and peasants by promising to give back big landholders their estates. Rebels landlords were dispossessed and loyals were rewarded. • Official accounts of colonial administration and military men left their version in diaries, letters, autobiographies and official histories and reports. • The stories of the revolt that were published in British Newspapers and megazines narrated in detail. • Pictorial images: paintings, pencil drawings, etchings, posters cartoons, bazaar prints, etc. which serve as record of the mutiny.

60 History—XII • Many pictures were drawn by the British painters to offer variety of images for different events during the revolt. These images provoked a range of different emotions and reactions. • ‘Relief of Lucknow’ was painted by Thomas Jones Barker in 1859 which depicts the efforts of British officials in rescuing the besieged British garrison in Lucknow. • The British government was asked to protect the honour of innocent women and ensure the safety of helpless children. • Artists expressed as well as shaped these sentiments through their visual representations of trauma and suffering. • As waves of anger and shock spread in Britain, demands for revenge grew louder. • Threatened by the rebellion, the British felt that they had to demonstrate their invincibility. There were many pictures and cartoons in British press that sanctioned brutal repression. • Rebels were execuited publicly, blown from guns or hung from the gallows. • When Governor-General Canning declared that a gesture of leniency and a show of mercy would help in winning back the loyalty of the sepoys, he was mocked in the British press. • Revolt was celebrated as first war of 1857 Independence. • National movement in 20th century drew its inspiration from the events of 1857. • Art, history, literature, stories, paintings, films have helped in keeping the memory of 1857 revolt alive. • The leaders of the revolt were presented as heroic figure leading country into battle, rousing the people to righteous indignation against oppressive imperial rule. • Nationalist imageries of the revolt had helped to shape the nationalist imagination. I.  VERY SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS (1 MARK) 1. When and where was the revolt of 1857 started? Ans. The revolt of 1857 was started on 10th May 1857, in the cantonment of Meerut. 2. By whom was the revolt of 1857 started? Ans. It was started by the sepoys of the Native Infantry. 3. What was the immediate cause or spark, which provoked the revolt of 1857? Ans. The issue of greased cartridges, provided the immediate cause/spark, to the culmination of popular discontent with British policies and imperialist exploitation. 4. What were the British policies adopted to reform Indian society? Ans. The British adopted policies aimed at ‘reforming’ Indian society by introducing Western Education, Western ideas and Western institutions. 5. When the Sati law was introduced? Ans. Sati law was introduced in 1829.

Rebels and the Raj 61 6. Under whom the Sati law was introduced? Ans. Sati law was introduced under the Governor-General Lord William Bentinc. 7. What were the complaints of the sepoys? Ans. Sepoys were complaining about low levels of pay and the difficulty of getting have. 8. Why Awadh was known as the ‘nursery of the Bengal Army’? Ans. Because the large majority of sepoys of the Bengal Army were recruit from the villages of Awadh and Eastern Uttar Pradesh. 9. Who was Kunwar Singh? Ans. Kunwar Singh was a local zamindar of Arrah in Bihar. 10. Who became the leader of Awadh during revolt? Ans. Birjis Qadr, the young son of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah became the leader of the revolt in Awadh. 11. Name any five centres of revolt of 1857. Ans. Five centres of the revolt of 1857 were Delhi, Meerut, Lucknow, Jhansi and Kanpur. 12. What was the pattern of the rebellion? Ans. As the news of the mutiny in one town travelled to the next, the sepoys there took up arms. The sequence of events in every cantonment followed a similar pattern. 13. Explain the terms ‘mutiny’ and ‘revolt’. Ans. Mutiny means a collective disobedience of rules and regulations within the armed forces, Revolt –a rebellion of people against established authority and power. 14. What role did Nana Sahib play in the revolt? Ans. 1. Nana Sahib led the revolt against the British at Kanpur. 2. He expelled the British from Kanpur and proclaimed himself Peshwa. 15. Name the two people who led the revolt of 1857 at Kanpur. Ans. 1. Tatya Tope, 2. Nana Sahib 16. Who was Shah Mal? Ans. Shah Mal, locally known as the Raja, was Jat cultivator of pargana, Barout in western Uttar Pradesh. 17. Who was Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah? Ans. Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah was one of the many maulvis who played an important part in the revolt of 1857. 18. How did the British show the revolution? Ans. The British showed: – Their own heroism – Rebels, as ungrateful and barbaric

62 History—XII 19. How did rebels record their events? Ans. Revels had opportunities of recording their vision of events, because – most of them were sepoys, and – ordinary people were not illiterate. 20. How did rebels propagate their ideas? Ans. – Through ishtahars (notification) – Through folk tales; etc. 21. Give reason why recovery of Delhi by the British was achieved after heavy fighting and looses on both sides. Ans. Rebels from all over North India had come to Delhi to defend the capital. 22. Give one example to show that the British attempted to create division among Hindus and Muslims. Ans. The British spent ` 50,000 to encourage the Hindu population against the Muslims in Bareilly in Western Uttar Pradesh in December 1857 but the attempt failed. 23. Who was Charles Ball? Ans. Charles Ball was one of the earliest historians who wrote the histories on the revolt of 1857. 24. In the Gangetic plain the British forces had to reconquer the area village. Give reasons. Ans. 1. The British realized that they were not dealing with a mere mutiny, but an uprising that had huge popular support. 2. The people in the countryside were entirely hostile. 25. What are different types of pictorial images which serve as record of the mutiny? Ans. Pictorial images: paintings, pencil drawings, etchings, posters, cartoons, bazaar prints. 26. What do the rumours reflect? Ans. Rumours reflect the mind of the people. They indicate the fears and apprehension, faiths and convictions of the common people. 27. To whom was given protection by Awadh Military Police? Ans. Captain Hearsey 28. What was the signal of an upheaval? Ans. Distribution of chapattis in villages were perceived as signal of an upheaval. 29. Why Awadh was regarded an important market? Ans. The British found the soil of Awadh good for Indigo and cotton. Thus, the region was regarded to be developed into the principal market of upper India. 30. How is Rani Lakshmi Bai usually portrayed? Ans. Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi is usually portrayed as one of the bravest women of early phase of modern India.

Rebels and the Raj 63 II.  SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS–I (2 MARKS) 1. How did participation of the ordinary people change the face of the revolt of 1857? Give two points. Ans. (i) When ordinary people began joining the revolt, targets of attack widened, for example in major towns like Lucknow, Kanpur and Bareilly moneylenders and the rich also became objects of rebel wrath. (ii) There was a general defiance of all kinds of authority and hierarchy. 2. Why did moneylenders and rich people become objects of rebel wrath during the revolt of 1857? Give reasons. Ans. Moneylenders and rich people along with the white became objects of rebel wrath during the revolt of 1857 because: (i) Peasants saw them along with the white as oppressors and source of injustice. (ii) They were seen as allies of the British. Thus everything and everybody connected with the white became rebel target. (iii) This reflected an attempt to overturn traditional hierarchies. 3. Explain the terms ‘mutiny’ and ‘revolt’ with respect to the revolt of 1857. Ans. Mutiny – a collective disobedience of rules and regulations within the armed forces, Revolt – a rebellion of people against established authority and power. In the context of the revolt of 1857 the term revolt refers primarily to the uprising of the civilian population (peasants, zamindars, rajas, jagirdars) while the mutiny was of the sepoys. 4. Give an example that decisions were taken collectively during the revolution. Ans. Sepoys of Awadh Military Police had given protection to their officer Captain Hearsey during the mutiny. The 41st native infantry, situated in the same place, insisted that, as they had killed all their white officers, so Military Police should also do the same. But later refused to do so. It was decided that matter would be settled by a Panchayat, composed of native officers, one from each regiment. Panchayats were a mighty occurrence in the Kanpur sepoy lines. It seems, some decisions were taken collectively. 5. What factors contributed to the authority of Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah in the revolt of 1857? Ans. (i) Popularity among the Muslims (ii) Muslims believed he had magical powers and began seeing him as an inspired prophet. (iii) Conviction that he was invincible and could not be killed by the British. (iv) His courage and power, e.g. in the famous battle of Chinhat he defeated the British forces led by Henry Lawrence.

64 History—XII 6. Name some important leaders who played a significant role in the upheaval of 1857. Ans. (i) Bahadur Shah II (Delhi) (ii) Rani of Jhansi (Jhansi) (iii) Nana Sahib (Kanpur) (iv) Begum Hazrat Mahal (Awadh) (v) Azimullah Khan (Faizabad) (vi) Tatya Tope (M.P.) (vii) Kunwar Singh (Jagdishpur, Arrah, Bihar) 7. List some of the important centres of revolt. Ans. The most prominent centres were: (i) Delhi (ii) Bareilly (iii) Kanpur (iv) Lucknow (v) Azamgarh (vi) Jhansi Some other important centres were: (i) Meerut (ii) Allahabad (iii) Banaras (iv) Barrackpore (v) Satara (vi) Jabalpur (vii) Saharanpur (viii) Calcutta 8. ‘Rumours and prophecies played an important role in moving people to action in 1857.’ Support the statement by giving two such examples. Ans. The rumours and prophecies which moved people to action were: (i) New cartridges were greased with the fat of cows and pigs. (ii) ‘atta’ (wheat flour) was mixed with the bone dust of cows and pigs to corrupt the caste and religion of Hindus and Muslims. (iii) The prophecy that British rule would come to an end on the centenary of the Battle of Plassey on June 23rd, 1857. 9. Trace the steps by which Awadh was annexed. Ans. Steps: (i) In 1801, the ruler of Awadh entered into a Subsidiary Alliance with the British. The army was disbanded and British army and Resident were stationed in Awadh. The Nawab had to act as per the wishes of the British Resident. (ii) Disbandment of the army made the Nawab dependent on the British to maintain law and order. He could no longer control rebellious chiefs. (iii) In 1856, the resident of Lucknow, Colonel Sleeman, sent a report blaming the Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of misgovernment. Nawab was ordered to leave the throne and Awadh was annexed. — Thus the annexation of Awadh happened in stages. 10. Give two reasons which prompted British annexation of Awadh. On what pretext was Awadh annexed? Ans. The conquest of Awadh happened, besides other areas, in stages; but the reasons which prompted annexation of Awadh were:

Rebels and the Raj 65 (i) It was seen as a source of not just additional revenue, but its soil as ideally fertile and suitable for production of indigo and cotton. (ii) The region was ideally located as a potential market for upper India. (iii) Awadh was annexed on the grounds of/pretext of misgovernment. 11. Who were the planners of the rebellion of 1857? Give reasons in support. Ans. The sepoys were the makers of their own rebellion because: (i) The bulk of the sepoys were upper caste Hindus from Awadh and Bihar. (ii) They shared a common lifestyle and formed a common group within the army. (iii) Moreover, nearly 1/3rd of the sepoys came from Awadh. (iv) Over the years the upper caste sepoys had found their religious beliefs in conflict with their service conditions, e.g. — crossing of the sea which amounted to loss of caste, — replacement of the turban by a leather cockade. 12. Describe the alternative power structure that the rebels tried to establish during the revolt of 1857. Ans. (i) After the collapse of the British; example in Delhi, Kanpur, and Lucknow; the rebels tried to establish some kind of structure of administration. (ii) For this purpose they went back to the culture of the court. (iii) Appointments were made to various posts. (iv) Orders were issued to stop loot and plunder. (v) Chain of command was laid down in the army as per the 18th century system. (vi) In Awadh, resistance lasted long, upto early part of 1858. Plans of counter attack were drawn up by the Lucknow court. 13. Describe how the British celebrated those who they believed saved the English and repressed the rebels during the revolt of 1857. Ans. The pictorial images relating to the uprising of 1857 form an important record of the revolt. (i) They provoke a range of different emotions and reactions. (ii) They were produced nearly 2 years after the uprising was successfully put down by the British by use of big military force. (iii) “Relief of Lucknow” was painted by Thomas Jones Barker in 1859. It depicts the efforts of British officials in rescuing the besieged British garrison in Lucknow. (iv) The English are represented as winning figures on horses with the dead and injured rebels in the foreground. (v) Yet another example is sketch/painting, depicting Miss Wheeler defending herself, single-handedly killing the rebels.

66 History—XII 14. Why were images of executions widely circulated through popular journals? Ans. One scene of execution appears to be a stage where a drama is being performed: — Mounted soldiers and sepoys in uniform dominate the scene. — They have to watch the execution of their fellow sepoys, and experience the consequences of rebellion. — In another scene of execution, 12 rebels hang in a row, with cannons all around them. This is to instil fear among people. Punishment could be given in enclosed spaces. But it was performed in the open. 15. Give two reasons to prove that the 1857 revolt was no sudden occurrence. Ans. (i) It was the culmination of popular discontent with British policies. (ii) There had been many instances of popular resistance against the British rule in many parts of India between 1763–1856, e.g. santhals. However, many of them were local and isolated from each other. The revolt was a culmination of these popular revolts against oppressive alien rule. 16. Mention two economic causes of the revolt. Ans. Among the economic causes were: (i) Exploitation of the peasants by the zamindars, moneylenders and the state. They were subjected to heavy taxation, high interest rates and rigid mode of collection. (ii) The artisans lost their livelihood due to the operation of the “one way free trade policy” and were greatly impoverished. 17. The revolt was significant for Hindu-Muslim unity. Justify the statement. Ans. There was complete cooperation among Hindus and Muslims during the revolt of 1857. (i) All rebels recognised Bahadur Shah, as their emperor. (ii) The first thought of Hindu sepoys at Meerut was to march straight to Delhi and proclaim the Mughal emperor as their emperor. (iii) Hindus and Muslims respected each other’s sentiments; example wherever the revolt was successful, order were immediately issued banning cow slaughter out of respect for Hindu sentiments. (iv) Both communities were equally represented at all levels of the leadership. 18. Why did Delhi become the focal point of the revolt of 1857? Ans. Delhi became the focal point of the revolt of 1857 because: (i) The long rule of the Mughals made it the traditional symbol of India’s political unity. (ii) By making Delhi the focal point, the sepoys turned their mutiny into a revolutionary war. (iii) By proclaiming Bahadur Shah as emperor of Delhi the rebels sought legitimacy. (iv) Bahadur Shah under pressure of the sepoys and after mutual vacillation, wrote to all the rulers urging them to unite and oust the British from India.

72 History—XII 12. Examine the relationship of the Indian sepoys with their superior white officers, in the years preceding the uprising of 1857. Ans. In the years preceding the uprising of 1857, the relationship of the sepoys with their superior white officers, underwent a major change. (i) In the 1820’s white officers made it a point to maintain friendly relations with the sepoys. They would participate in their leisure activities, wrestle and fence with them and even go out with them. The role of the officers was both disciplinarian and as father figure. (ii) Preceding the uprising there was a change in the attitude of the white officers towards the sepoys. A wide gulf grew between the British officers and Indian soldiers. The officers started treating the sepoys as racial inferiors—abuse and physical violence became common. (iii) A distance began to grow between the sepoys and officers. Trust was replaced by suspicion. Example: Episode of greased cartridges (iv) There was racial discrimination in matters of promotion, pension and terms of service. (v) The ‘Sepoy’ was paid much less than his British counterpart—an infantry sepoy got only seven rupees per month, and a cavalry sepoy twenty-seven rupees. 13. Describe the aspect which was threatened by the rebels. Ans. 1. The rebels completely rejected everything associated with British rule or firangi raj as they called it. People were not happy with how British land revenue settlements had dispossessed landholders, both big and small. Foreign commerce had driven artisans and weavers to ruin. Every aspect of British rule was attacked and the ‘firangi’ accused of destroying a way of Indian life. 2. People were urged to come together and fight to save their livelihood, their faith, their honour, their identity. 3. In many places the rebellion, against the British, widened into an attack on all allies of the British or local oppressors. 4. Often the rebels deliberately sought to humiliate the elites of a city. 5. In the villages they burnt account books and ransacked moneylenders’ houses. This reflected an attempt to overturn traditional hierarchies, rebel against all oppressors. 14. How did visuals create waves of shock and anger? Ans. As waves of anger and shock spread in Britain, demands for revenge grew louder. (i) Visual representations and news about the revolt created in Britain that violent repression were seen as both necessary and just. (ii) Threatened by the rebellion, the British felt that they had to demonstrate their invincibility.

Rebels and the Raj 73 (iii) In one such image, we see a female figure with a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. Her posture is aggressive; her face expresses rage and the desire for revenge. She is trampling sepoys under her feet. A mass of Indian women with children cower with fear. (iv) There were many pictures and cartoons in the British press that sanctioned brutal repression. 15. Why and how was Governor-General Canning mocked at in the British press? Ans. Why: Governor-General Canning was mocked at in the British press because: (i) After the suppression of the revolt of 1857 he declared, contrary to the General Clamour for vengeance, a gesture of leniency and a show of mercy would help in winning back the loyalty of the sepoys. How: (ii) In a British journal of comic satire, Punch, Canning was shown as a looming father figure with his protective hand over the head of a sepoy. (iii) The sepoy is depicted as holding an unsheathed sword in one hand and a dagger in the other, both dripping with blood. (iv) There was an imagery that recurred in a number of British pictures of the time. (v) The cartoon was titled “The Clemency of Canning”. The caption at the bottom of the cartoon was: “Governor-General”: Well then they should blow him from nasty guns; but he must promise to be a good sepoy.” 16. “Visual images and literature as much as the writing of history have helped in keeping alive the memory of the revolt of 1857.” Assess the statement. Or Describe how art and literature helped in keeping alive the memory of 1857. Ans. (i) Art, literature and writing of history has helped keep alive memories of 1857. Revolution of 1857 was shown as a fight for the freedom of the motherland. (ii) Films, posters, poems have helped create the image, for example of Rani Lakshmi Bai as a masculine warrior. She was shown with a sword in one hand, and reins of her horse in the other, giving a chase to the British soldiers. Children of many parts of India grow up reading poem of Subhadra Kumari Chauhan: “Khoob ladi mardani woh to Jhansi wali rani thi.” (iii) The literature inspired the nationalists to struggle in the 20th century. The revolution was celebrated as the Ist War of Independence. Even today the event is a source of great inspiration. 17. What do visual representations tell us about the revolt of 1857? How do historians analyse these representations? Ans. Among the visual representations are paintings, pencil drawings, etchings, posters, cartoons and bazaar prints.

74 History—XII These visual representations of the revolt tell us about: (i) fears and anxieties of officials and (ii) their perception of the rebels. Historians analyse these representations as (a) the images were sought to provoke emotions and reactions in British, so as to justify revenge. (b) The pictures were meant to convey to the British audience and the world the picture of violent brutal Indians attacking honourable English women, e.g. in the painting In Memoriam. (iii) In the painting Seige of Lucknow, the British emphasise and try to reassure the trouble was past; and the British were the victors. (iv) By representing the rebels as brutish, violent, demon like “In Memoriam” the artists tried to shape sentiments. In the painting on Miss Wheeler, English women are represented in a different light—as heroic, courageous, to save their honour and that of Christianity. 18. Was the revolt of 1857 spontaneous and unplanned or was it the result of careful and secret organisation and planning? Ans. (i) One group of historians and writers has asserted that the revolt was the result of a widespread and well organised conspiracy. In support of the assertion they point: — the similarity in the pattern of revolt in different places, panchayats which were a nightly occurrence in Kanpur sepoy lines, and — to the circulation of chapattis, — propaganda of wandering sanyasis, fakirs and mandarins, etc. (ii) Other writers deny that any careful planning went into the making of the revolt. In support they point out: — not a scrap of paper was discovered before and after the revolt indicating any organised conspiracy, and — not a single witness came forward to make such a claim. (iii) The answer probably lies somewhere in between. Evidence, like burnt chapattis circulating from village to village shows that some sort of conspiracy was on foot. But before it could materialise the revolt broke out catching the rebels unaware. IV.  LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS ( 5 MARKS) 1. Discuss the evidence that indicates planning and coordination on the part of the rebels. Ans. Despite wide differences among historians, there is evidence of a certain element of coordination, planning and communication among mutinous regiments in their action, though the coordinators themselves remained anonymous. (i) The chronology of the mutinies/revolts conceals within them a pattern. The

Rebels and the Raj 75 mutiny travelled down the Ganga from Meerut to Delhi with the time gap between various stations required for news to travel from one place to another. (ii) The pattern was the same everywhere, for example the sepoys began their action with a signal of firing of the gun or sounding of the bugle. Bell of arms was seized; scores were settled with tax collectors, court officials, policemen and banias. Treasuries were looted, prisoners set free and bungalows set on fire. (iii) In several places, people collected, conferred and planned attack. People of neighbouring villages connected with caste and kinship ties got together. Example: Captain Hearsey’s evidence on Awadh’s experience and Charles Ball’s writings reflect panchayats, where decisions were taken collectively were a nightly occurrence in Kanpur sepoy lines. Given the fact that sepoys were “peasants in uniform” it is not difficult to imagine them coordinating and planning. (iv) Chapattis were passed from village to village during the winter of 1856-57. Though the meaning and purpose of the chapattis is not clear even today there is no doubt that people perceived it as an omen of an upheaval/holocaust. (v) The propaganda of wandering fakirs, sanyasis and mandarins, e.g. Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah. Reports from Meerut, that a fakir appeared on an elephant, are quoted in evidence of coordination. 2. Why was the revolt particularly widespread in Awadh? What prompted the peasants, taluqdars and zamindars to join the revolt? Ans. (a) The revolt was particularly widespread in Awadh because: (i) Contrary to promises and despite Wajid Ali Shah’s refusal, Awadh was annexed by Lord Dalhousie in 1856 on grounds of misgovernment. (ii) The British government wrongly assumed that the emperor was unpopular. His deportation to Calcutta created a widespread sense of loss and grief. (iii) The annexation led to wholesale disarming of the taluqdars, demolition of their forts. This directly exposed the peasant to the British over assessment of revenue. (iv) With the disruption of the court, whole range of people lost their livelihood and became unemployed—musicians, dancers, poets, cooks, administrative officers, retainers, and the army, and the artisans. The emotional upheaval was aggravated by immediate material losses. (v) The British army constituted 1/3 sepoys recruited from Awadh. The annexation influenced their feelings, their kinship. Also they belonged to the same social milieu as the peasants of Awadh. This link between the sepoys and the rural world had important implications. The grievances, hopes and desires of the peasants were carried to the sepoy lines and vice versa. This is the reason why the revolt of 1857 was particularly widespread in Awadh.

76 History—XII (b) The revolt of 1857 was much more than a mere product of sepoy discontent. What reasons promoted the peasants, taluqdars and zamindars of Awadh to join the revolt were: (i) The annexation of Awadh displaced not just the Nawab but also the peasants, taluqdars and zamindars. (ii) The Summary Settlement of 1856 led to large scale displacement of the taluqdars or zamindars. (iii) In areas where taluqdars/zamindars remained beneficiaries, because of heavy assessment, they were on the brink of bankruptcy and at the mercy of creditors. (iv) Moreover, after the annexation the taluqdars/zamindars were disarmed and their forts destroyed. They lost status in villages, power and land. (v) The new land revenue settlement directly exposed the peasant to the British policies of over assessment and inflexible methods of collection. (vi) In times of famines, drought, failure of crops and social needs; peasants took loans from taluqdars/zamindars. Now in new system British rulers denied this. Moreover, the sepoys, which numbered 1/3 from Awadh in the British army were peasants in uniforms. The grievances of the sepoys were reflected in peasant household, and vice versa. Thus commonality of interest, and common enemy in the British prompted the peasants, taluqdars and zamindars to join the revolt of 1857. 3. What did the rebels want? To what extent did the visions of different social roups differ? Ans. (a) It need be noted that attempts to know what the rebels wanted is dependent on what the British recorded. Other than few proclamations and ‘ishtahars’ issued by rebels to propagate their ideas, the main source is the Azamgarh Proclamation of August 25,1857. (i) It is clear from the Azamgarh Proclamation that the rebels wanted to root out the English in India. (ii) They wanted to restore the Mughal world—a way of life that was familiar and cherished and a symbol of all that they had lost. (iii) In many places, the rebellion against the British widened into an attack on all those who were seen as allies of the British or local oppressors, e.g. moneylenders, etc. (b) The one thing common in all the rebel leaders was hatred of, and desire to overthrow, the British. However, apart from the enmity against the British, different social groups joined with different motives, interests and with their different visions.

Rebels and the Raj 77 — The Rajas, e.g. Rani of Jhansi, Nana Saheb, Begum Hazrat Mahal wanted restoration of their principalities, removal of Doctrine of Lapse; and security from annexation. — The zamindars/taluqdars wanted restoration of their old zamindari rights, dignity and honour. — As for the merchants they wanted control over all trade including fine and valuable merchandise. — The public servants were driven by the vision of enjoying privileges, respect, influence, posts of dignity. — The artisans hoped, restoration of kings and rajas would ensure their employment and prosperity. — The orthodox elements among the Hindus and Muslims wanted no interference in the social and religious traditions. — The sepoys hoped for better pay, promotions based on merit, freedom from social discrimination. — The peasants wanted a life of dignity, free from impoverishment oppression and extortions. 4. Examine any two sources presented in the chapter, choosing one visual and one text, and discuss how these represent the point of view of the victor and the vanquished. Ans. The pictorial images relating to the uprising of 1857, by the victors and the vanquished (defeated), i.e. the British and the Indians respectively were produced nearly two years after the uprising was successfully, but brutally, put down by the British, by use of gigantic military force, and cruel methods. (a) Example of Victor: ‘In Memoriam’ represents English women and children huddled in a circle, looking helpless, and innocent, waiting fearfully for—vandalism of the mutineers. (b) In Memoriam does not show violence. It represents the viewpoint of the victor, i.e. the British by representing rebels not as fighting against the oppressive British rule but (i) representing as brutish, violent, demon like, for attacking the helpless, innocent, honourable English women and children. (ii) It shapes the sensibilities of the British public, created public sympathy and sanction for most brutal forms of repression of the rebels by the British. (iii) It sought to present British acts of terror as justifiable—to save the honour and chastity of English women and the nation. (iv) The English acts of revenge were represented as if—to protect the honour of the British nation. (c) Example of the Vanquished: As compared to the British imageries of the uprising those of the vanquished, i.e. Indians present the leaders of the revolt in art,

78 History—XII literature, films and posters as heroic figures. For example many heroic poems, articles, stories are written about the valour of Rani of Jhansi. She is represented as a masculine figure, dressed in fighting armour, with a sword in one hand, and the reins of her horse in the other, giving a valiant chase to the British soldiers, mercilessly slaying them and fighting till her last breath. (d) Indian imageries represent how the ‘natives’ viewed the event: (i) As a battle against exploitative, oppressive imperial rule. (ii) A determination to resist injustice and alien rule. (iii) As a fight for the freedom of the motherland. (iv) It was celebrated as the First War of Independence in which all sections of the people came together to fight against imperial rule. (v) Leaders were not inspired by high ideals of patriotism and nationalism, as we understand today. 5. Who provided leadership to the revolt of 1857? What were their initial reaction to the revolt? Ans. To fight the British, leadership and organisation were required. For these the rebels turned to those who had been leaders before the British conquest. 1. Sepoys of Meerut, rushed to Delhi and appealed to the old Mughal emperor to accept the leadership of the revolt. Bahadur Shah’s first reaction was one of horror and rejection. When some sepoys moved into the Mughal court, he agreed to be the nominal leader of the rebellion. 2. In Kanpur, Nana Sahib, the successor to Peshwa Baji Rao II, joined the revolt as their leader. 3. In Jhansi, the rani was forced by the popular pressure around her to assume the leadership of the uprising. 4. Kunwar Singh, a local zamindar in Arrah in Bihar, also joined as a leader. 5. In Awadh, people in Lucknow, celebrated the fall of British rule. They declared Birjis Qadr, the young son of the Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, as their leader. 6. Not everywhere were the leaders people of the court – ranis, rajas, nawabs and taluqdars. Often the message of rebellion was carried by ordinary men and women and religious men too. From Meerut, there were reports that a fakir had appeared riding on an elephant and that the sepoys were visiting him frequently. 7. In Lucknow, there were many religious leaders and self-styled prophets who preached the destruction of British rule. 8. Elsewhere, local leaders emerged, urging peasants, zamindars and tribals to revolt. — Shah Mal mobilised the villagers of pargana Barout (near Delhi) in Uttar Pradesh.

Rebels and the Raj 79 — Gonno, a tribal cultivator of Singhbhum (Jamshedpur) in Chotanagpur, became a rebel leader of the Kol tribals of the region. 6. Why did people believe in the rumours? Give reasons. Ans. People believed in the rumours because they had suspicions: (i) Before the revolt of 1857 there was anger and a growing suspicion among orthodox Hindus and Muslims that the British were trying to destroy their religion and culture through social legislations. Examples of this were — abolition of sati, — the legislation of widow remarriage. — indian sentiments were also hurt by the Christian missionaries and were fearful of being converted to Christianity. (ii) (a) In 1850, the government passed the Hindu property law enabling a convert to Christianity to inherit ancestral property. (b) The people’s resentment was fuelled by the Maulvis and Brahmins. (c) Religious sentiments were also hurt by the official policy of taxing lands belonging to temples and mosques. — These were formerly exempt from taxation. (iii) Lord Dalhousie’s policy to extend direct British rule in order to expand market for British goods also fuelled the rumours. Example: British annexation of Awadh on the plea, like misgovernment. (iv) By the Doctrine of Lapse if any ruler of a protected state died without a natural heir, his state was liable to be annexed by the British. — Many principalities like Satara (1848), Nagpur and Jhansi (1854) were annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse. Once these territories were annexed the British introduced their own system of administration. 7. Examine the participation of the taluqdars of Awadh in the revolt of 1857. Ans. (i) For generations, taluqdars had controlled land and power in the countryside. Before the coming of the British, taluqdars maintained armed retainers, built forts and enjoyed a degree of autonomy as long as they accepted the rule of the Nawab and paid revenue of their ‘taluqs’. The annexation of Awadh displaced not just the Nawab but also the taluqdars. (ii) The British were unwilling to tolerate the power of the taluqdars. — After the annexation the taluqdars were disarmed, — and their forts destroyed. — They lost status in villages, power and land, which they had enjoyed for generations. (iii) After annexation, the first British revenue settlement was known as the Summary Settlement of 1856. This was based on the assumption that taluqdars were

80 History—XII interlopers with no permanent stakes in land. They had established their hold over land through force and fraud. The Summary Settlement led to large scale displacement of the taluqdars. Figures show in pre-British times, taluqdars had held 67% of total number of villages in Awadh. By the settlement the percentage had come down to 38%. — In southern Awadh this displacement was more marked. — They are said to have lost more than 50% of the villages previously held. (iv) The dispossession of the taluqdar meant break down of an entire social order. In times of difficulty such as: in times of famines, drought, failure of crops and social needs, many were generous father figures, and not were oppressors. (v) Many taluqdars were loyal to the Nawab of Awadh and joined Begum Hazrat Mahal in Lucknow to fight the British even after the defeat. 8. Explain the reasons for sepoy grievances. (Awadh) Ans. The revolt of 1857 began with the mutiny of the Meerut sepoys on 10 May 1857. The factors contributing to the revolt of the sepoys can be grouped into religious and professional. Professional: For decades the sepoys had complained of: (i) Low levels of pay (ii) Difficulty in getting leave (iii) Preceding the uprising in the 1840’s, there was a change in the attitude of British officers towards the Indian sepoys—they were treated as racial inferiors and subject to abuse, and physical violence. (iv) There was racial discrimination in matters of promotion, pension and terms of service. (v) There was fear of being edged out by new recruits from Punjab. (vi) In July 1856, great uneasiness was caused by Canning’s new law (General Service Enlistment Act) under which all the recruits had to march when they were ever ordered. Religious: The bulk of the sepoys were upper caste Hindus from north western provinces and Awadh. Over the years the upper caste sepoys had found their religious beliefs in conflict with their service conditions. (i) Rules required them to shave off their beard, exchange old turban for new ones, abstain from putting sectarian marks on their foreheads. (ii) Were required to cross the seas, soldiers refused because crossing of the seas would mean loss of caste. (iii) Closer to the revolt there had been reports of bone dust of cows and pigs in atta (wheat flour). (iv) The final draw was the introduction of the new cartridges of the Enfield rifles which had to be bitten off. — These were reportedly greased with pork and beef fat.

Rebels and the Raj 81 V.  MAP BASED QUESTIONS On the given political map of India mark and label the following centres of revolt of 1857. Lucknow, Azamgarh, Jabalpur, Agra, Delhi. Ans. 60° 64° 68° 72° 76° 80° 84° 88° 92° 96° 36° INDIA 36° THE REVOLT OF 1857 A.D. AFGHANISTAN RAWALPINDI CHINA 32° 32° SHAHJAHANPUR ALIGARH SITAPUR MEERUT ETAR LUCKNOW BAIREILLY TIBET 28° PAKISTAN DELHI 28° 24° MATHURA NEPAL BHUTAN 24° 20° BANGLADESH BOMBAY BHARATPUR 2 GORAKHPUR CHITTAGO2N0G° FAIZABAD MYANMAR GWALIOR 1 (BURMA) AZAMGARH KALPI KANPUR JHANSI ARRAH KOTA SANDA ALLAHABAD HAZARIBAGH INDORE JABALPUR RANCHI BARRACKPUR SAMBALPUR CALCUTTA 16° ARABIAN SEA SATARA 16° KOLHAPUR BAY OF BENGAL REFERENCES ANDAMAN 12° LAKSHADWEEP SEA CENTRES OF REVOLT 12° LAKSH(INADDIWA)EEP OF 1857 A.D. 8° 8° 1. ETAWA MADRAS MODERN NAME NEPAL ANDAMAN 2. MANIPURI TANJAVUR PRESENT INTERNATIONAL AND SEA 4° BOUNDARIES NICOBAR 4° SRI ISLANDS LANKA (INDIA) 68° 72° 76° 80° 84° 88° 92° 96°