The Difficult Life of a Sepoy Soldier

“Englishmen.. have given the people of India the greatest human blessing - peace.” (Dutt). Merely coming to India in the 1600s to trade, the British East India Company established trading outposts. After ridding of French influence in India during the Seven Years’ War and having Indians mutiny against British rule, Britain gained full control of India. India has been under the imperialist control of the British until their independence in 1947. British imperialism caused some negative effects on India through poverty and persecution, but retained more of a positive impact due to its massive improvements in the modernization of India and the overall improvement of Indian civilization.

The general cause of the Indian Independence Movement was India’s desire for independence from British, French and Portuguese Rule. The aim of the movement was “Swaraj, a self-governing India” (Sharma, 2005, p. 22). One, more specific, cause of the Indian Independence Movement took place in 1905 when the province of Bengal was divided into two provinces,

(Document 5) This shows that even though Britain gave education to Indians they only gave it to who could afford it and hardly anyone could. Lalvani claims that over the 200 year span of British imperialism, India’s religions felt safer and less discriminated against. ( According to Dr.Lalvani) Although the British thought this was true it actually was not. Christians were mocking and discriminating against Muslims and Hindus. (Gandhi) Similarly Hinduism believes in nonviolence so when the protest at Amritsar took place the Indians were brutally slaughtered while being unarmed. (Gandhi) Because of their non-violence beliefs the Hindus had no defense and were killed by what they thought was their

Throughout the years many historians have compilated and examined why Indian people were so desperate to gain back their independence from the British Empire during their rule over India, from 1612 to 1947. The reasoning can most definitely be found as the British discriminated against Indian people as they believe that they were inferior; it is no surprise that Indian people fought so hard for their independence. Throughout the British Raj, they placed and put forward unbelievably racist acts and laws which discriminated against Indian people. Which of course led to Indians to rebel against the British rule and which the British reacted with causing massacres. Explaining the nationalistic many India’s felt during the British Raj.

Another huge downfall of the British’s imperialistic reign in India was the Sepoy uprising. The Sepoy soldiers were originally people of India who supported the British imperialism and rulers. They rebelled after a rising spread of Indian nationalism spread throughout the country and after the spread of rumors that the grease for their guns was animal fat. The Sepoy’s rebellion is sometimes referred to as the first war of independence for India. The British call it a mutiny against pre-existing conditions. This revolt of 1857 led to a re-organization of the Indian army. The results of the Sepoy 1857 revolt may be subdivided as constitutional changes, changes in the army, religious, judicial and diplomatic effects, and social effects. There was a major transfer of power from the British East India trading company to a sovereign power of Britain. The military was originally split into two sections: the king’s forces and company’s troops. Because of this revolt, the two forces were then united and called king’s forces and one-third of it would consist of Europeans. The animosity between the Europeans and Indians rose and the hatred between the two also rose (Rana). The effects on India after the British imperialistic period were great, but there were other major effects left on China after the British imperialistic rule on them through

Scholar Prince J. Stern said that it turned India into “a company state.” Gradually, as the 19th century came in, we saw the “ceiling” of the British colony times. During this time, India was thought about as a primary aspect of the British Empire. The British Empire at this point was known for “the sun never setting” because it expanded on both hemispheres. The British colonization of India had major effects on their culture, political, and economic aspects.

India became one of Britain’s most prized colonies. Britain depended vigorously on India due to its vast quantities of resources and materials such as cotton and tea. Starting in 1757, the East India Company, which was directed by the British government, ruled over India. After, one hundred years later, the Sepoy Rebellion happened. The British officers might have observed this sepoy rebellion as an excuse to attack against the might of Britons. They treated the sepoys as their little brown brothers, entrusting them with the protection of the military. This

When the Mughal Dynasty began to collapse, the British East India Company took control of India after winning a “decisive victory” over Indian forces during a battle. But when the sepoys, Indian soldiers working for the British, decided to rebel, the British government took over India. India was highly treasured by the British because it had abundant raw materials, such as indigo and cotton, which were highly sought after by the British during the Industrial Revolution. India was considered the most valuable out of Britain’s colonies. Britain’s imperial rule over India was systematic, allowing them to establish the framework for India’s government and modernize the country while improving the lives of the preeminent Indians. Despite this, the

The first war of Indian independence, also known as the 1857 Indian Rebellion, was not the first challenge to British authority, but it was the first to feature widespread coordination with increased levels of intensity. It began with discontent within the sepoy army. Initially, the soldiers were well-paid to keep their loyalty, but the EIC failed to increase pay to match the inflation rate. Moreover, they received the impression that the Company was attempting to change Indian religions, due to the criticism of missionaries in India, previous violations of Hindu religious conventions, and the introduction of new cartridges that were greased in pig fat and beef tallow, the previous

There were many reasons for the War of Independence of 1857. They can be isolated into political, religious, military, monetary and social causes. The East India Company was intending to attach every one of the conditions of India like Avadh, Tanjore, Jhansi, Satara, and so forth. That is the reason they presented frameworks like Doctrine of Lapse by which Indian states could be assumed control by the Company on the off chance that there was no male beneficiary to the position of authority of the state. This incited the rulers like Nana Sahib, the received child of Peshwa and Lakshmi Bai, the Rani of Jhansi. The Company likewise announced that after the demise of the then Mughal head, Bahadur Shah Zafar, his family needed to move out of the Red Fort and his successors were additionally prohibited to utilize the title of ruler. Every one of these endeavors distanced both Hindu and Muslim Indians who understood that the White men were aiming to eat up their properties.

Hello I am Saanvi and my husband Hiran is an Indian sepoy. We live in India, the most valuable colony in the most powerful empire- the british. The east India company grew and conquered much of Asia. The east india company had merchants and members of the nobility that could pool their money and send ships to Asia in search of valuable cargoes of spices, silk, tea, and other goods. This company was led by Robert Clive. Clive and other members of this company took all of our money. Eventually this company raised an army that eliminated the French in the subcontinent. They used the Mughal Empire to establish administrators throughout, the relied on people like my husband- sepoys to do their work. My husband and I knew we were about to witness

They mostly describe the rebellion as harsh and cruel violence done by local population towards more developed and enlightened Western civilization. For instance, Christopher Hibbert (1978) is criticized for showing “fundamental lack of understanding of Indian revolt”, while his work is wholly lacking analysis or “anything even approaching an analytical framework” (Brodkin 1980: p.629). This author deals almost entirely with the British, who were enlighteners that brought civilization, technology, and modernization to backward people of India. Whilst ordinary Indians are described as the masters of plunder, who were “howling and dancing” and “hissing curses” with “demonical gestures” during the rebellion (Hibbert 1978). Moreover, Indian aristocracy, with whom English used to have official dinners as well as trading businesses, betrayed the confidence of the British by supporting the

However. If there would be some unity between the different classes, it can be assumed that the British could possibly be defence During the War of Independence 1857, there was a complete lack of unity among the fighting groups though all were fighting against a common enemy, the British soldiers. There was no coordination between different regions of unrest and no attempts were made to bring their strengths together. Some local leaders even helped the British in the war e.g. the ruler of Kashmir sent 2000 troops on the British side. However, there were also some other reasons for the failure of the war.

The Indian soldiers were called the Sepoys. They constituted the majority of the British army in India. In fact, the sword of the British power rested on the loyalty and strength of these Indian Sepoys. But they were treated with contempt and made to feel inferior by the British. They were paid less than their British counterparts. The Indian sepoys had no chance of promotion in the army. They were prohibited from their traditional religious practices like wearing a saffron mark on their forehead, growing beard and wearing turbans.

In 1857, British ruled two thirds of India through East India Company. The remaining part of the country was under the control of Princes with whom the British had an alliance. The year 1857 was an