The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising against the rule of the British East India Company. With reference to this, answer the following questions:
(i) The British used many policies of expansion. Mention any three such policies.
(ii) Analyse the impact of the failure of the Revolt of 1857 on the Mughals and the Peshwas.
(iii) The Indian army was reorganised after 1858, to prevent the reoccurrence of another uprising. Justify this statement by stating any four changes made in the army after the Revolt.
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(i) The British tried to expand their political power in India by many ways, such as:
- By outright wars
- By the system of Subsidiary Alliance
- By adopting the Doctrine of Lapse.
(ii) The uprising of 1857 ended the Mughal and Peshwa rule in India. The Mughal dynasty came to an end with the death of Bahadur Shah II and Nana Saheb, the last Peshwa, fled to Nepal after the failure of the uprising.
(iii) The India army was reorganised after 1858, to prevent the reoccurrence of another uprising, in the following manner:
- The strength of European troops in India was increased. The ratio of European to Indian troops was fixed at 1:2 (Bengal army) and 2:5 (Madras and Bombay armies). Practically the same ratio was maintained till the First World War. The general principle adopted was that the number of Indian sepoys should not exceed twice that of the European troops.
- European troops were kept in key geographical and military positions.
- To desist the Indian soldiers from rising again against the British rule, the sophisticated weapons and ammunition were never placed under the charge of Indians. All Indian artillery units, with the exceptions of a few mountain units, were disbanded.
- Newspapers, journals and nationalist publications were prevented from reaching the soldiers to keep the Indian army separated from the life of the rest of the population.