Revolt of 1857: Course, Centres and Leaders
The Revolt began with the Meerut sepoys on 10 May 1857, spread over north and central India, and was suppressed by 1859 after the fall of Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Jhansi and Gwalior.
The first signs
- February 1857: the 19th Native Infantry at Berhampore refused the cartridges and was disbanded.
- 29 March 1857: Mangal Pandey of the 34th Native Infantry at Barrackpore attacked British officers. He was hanged on 8 April 1857.
- 10 May 1857: At Meerut the troops of the 3rd Light Cavalry, jailed on 9 May for refusing the cartridges, were freed by their comrades. They killed British officers and marched to Delhi.
- 11 May 1857: They reached Delhi and declared the old Mughal ruler Bahadur Shah Zafar the Emperor of Hindustan.
Main centres and leaders
| Centre | Indian leader(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Delhi | Bahadur Shah II; General Bakht Khan | The symbolic centre. Bakht Khan led the sepoys. Recaptured by the British on 20 September 1857. John Nicholson died of wounds. William Hodson captured Zafar at Humayun's Tomb and shot his sons and grandson. |
| Kanpur | Nana Sahib (adopted son of the last Peshwa); Tatya Tope; Azimullah Khan | Nana Sahib was declared Peshwa. General Wheeler surrendered; massacres at Satichaura Ghat and Bibighar. Retaken by Havelock (July) and by Colin Campbell (December 1857). |
| Lucknow | Begum Hazrat Mahal | Declared her son Birjis Qadr Nawab. Henry Lawrence died in the siege of the Residency (July 1857). Retaken in March 1858 (Campbell). |
| Jhansi | Rani Lakshmibai | Fought Sir Hugh Rose (March to April 1858). Escaped, joined Tatya Tope, captured Gwalior (June 1858), and died fighting near Gwalior on 17 to 18 June 1858. |
| Bihar (Arrah) | Kunwar Singh (about 80 years old), of Jagdishpur | Great guerrilla leader. Died in April 1858. |
| Faizabad | Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah | Great organiser. Killed in June 1858. |
| Bareilly | Khan Bahadur Khan | Declared himself ruler. |
| Allahabad and Banaras | Liaquat Ali | Allahabad rebellion; British reprisals under Neill were brutal. |
| Assam | Maniram Dewan | Hanged in 1858. |
| Odisha | Surendra Sai | Sambalpur. |
The British response
- Governor-General Canning, Commander-in-Chief Colin Campbell, with Havelock, Outram, Nicholson, Hodson, Neill and Hugh Rose as generals.
- Troops came from Punjab, Gurkhas, Dogras and Sikhs, and ships brought British reinforcements.
- The telegraph and the rail helped the British greatly. The British used extreme violence.
- Last stand: Tatya Tope was betrayed and hanged in April 1859. Peace was proclaimed on 8 July 1859.
- Bahadur Shah was tried (1858), exiled to Rangoon, and died there in 1862.
Areas not affected
The revolt largely did not touch Bengal, Punjab, Sindh, Rajputana, Hyderabad and the south. The rulers of Gwalior (Scindia), Indore (Holkar), Hyderabad (the Nizam), J&K (the Dogra Maharaja) and Nepal remained loyal or helped the British.
Keep practising
Notes are only half the work. Test yourself with questions and discuss doubts with other aspirants.
Prepared for exam revision from standard sources such as NCERT, Bipan Chandra, Spectrum and official records. Historians differ on some dates, figures and interpretations, so check your exam syllabus and a standard textbook. Found a mistake? Tell us.