Page 100 - SST Class 05

Rani Lakshmi Bai fought in Jhansi.
Begum Hazrat Mahal fought in Lucknow.
Khan Bahadur Khan led the revolt in
Bareilly. Kunwar Singh fought bravely at
Arrah in Bihar. The other important
centres of the revolt were in Rohilkhand, Mangal Pandey Bahadur Shah Zafar Tantya Tope
central India, Benaras and Bihar. Some
parts of the Punjab and Bengal too were

affected. Small scale revolts took place in
parts of Assam, Orissa (Odisha),
Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

Suppression of the Uprising Begum Hazrat Mahal Rani Lakshmi Bai
The Indian people rose at several places and fought with the British, but they were not
strong. They did not have weapons to fight with. At many places, they fought with

simple things like sticks and knives. They did not have supplies of food and weapons,
they did not have the facilities of communication and transport.

The British, on the other hand, were very strong. They had guns, cannons and a
trained army. They had means of transport and communication with them. The initial
uprising was like a surprise for them, so they were shocked; but soon, they attacked
back with a vengeance. The Indians were no match with their power. Finally, the
Indians were crushed. This struggle continued for about two years.

The British were able to suppress the uprising mainly because of the following causes :
u The revolt did not take place in the whole of India. It was mainly limited to North

India.
u The British had better weapons, better supplies and a well-trained army. The
Indians lacked these things.

u All sections of people did not participate in the revolt.
Rather, some people helped the British.

The British brutally killed and executed thousands of
Indians. They put to sword a great many of them. Many were
blown by the cannon. Many were hanged to death. A large
number of innocent people were thrown in fire. They did not
spare even children and women. Tantya Tope, Kanwar Singh

and Rani Lakshmi Bai were killed. Bahadur Shah Zafar was
arrested and deported to Rangoon. His two sons and a
The British blowing off
grandson were beheaded. Other freedom fighters too were people on the cannon
put to death. This filled the Indians with bitterness against the British.

100 Contemporary Social Science-5