War of Independence 1857

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War of Independence 1857 By: Jasir Shahbaz The war of independence 1857 was the most poignant protest registered against the growing power of British. The anti – British movement started within the lower ranks of locally employed British army. The march into Afghanistan and the conquest of Sindh has created problems because the Hindus did not want to leave what they thought as ‘Mother India’. The Muslim soldiers were also reluctant towards it on basis of religious affiliation with Muslim Brethren. The sepoys were afraid of the forthcoming oppression of Muslims and Hindus at hands of British, and there was little or no effort by them to appease these sepoys. The replacement of both Sanskrit and Persian by English as official language in 1834 had further worsened the relationship between the ruling party and inhabitants of sub continent. Moreover, the locals contained strong resentment towards the social reforms of British. In 1852, the British had introduced the ‘Doctrine of Lapse’, which entailed that any local kingdom not having a direct male heir was to be taken over by the Government. In 1857 there had been some major annexations, which infuriated the both major religious communities. The immediate reason of the revolt, however, was the introduction of a new rifle cartridge, which was coated in both cow and pig fat in early January 1857. The cow is considered a sacred religious symbol by Hindus, and pig is HARAM in Islam. The British did withdraw the offending cartridges but it was too late to mend. Individual protests became prominent in Bengal, but it was actually the protest by the troops at Meerut that augmented the crisis. It moved British to realize that it was not an easy game. By June 1857, the British had lost control over Kanpur, Jhansi and Allahabad. They were surrounded at Lucknow and were precariously balanced. The British sent troops to
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