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What Are The Causes Of The Revolt Of 1857

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The Great Rebellion of the Indian people of 1857 became the topic of debates among historians. Indian people began the uprising because they were cruelly exploited by the British colonialists. Interests of the peasantry, craftsmen and some of the Indian feudal lords were infringed. While the peasants were deprived of their communal land rights and craftsmen went bankrupt due to the appearance of British goods in India, some feudal lords also suffered from laws specifically issued by the colonial authorities in order to deprive them of their inheritance rights. In addition to these sections of the Indian population, the English mercenary soldiers the local army, which were called "Sepoys" were not satisfied with their position in the army, they were often discriminated and humiliated, and they …show more content…

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

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