Page 101 - SST Class 05

Know It!

v In Oudh (Awadh) alone, about 1,50,000 Indians were killed. The figures for the
entire uprising are not available, but you can imagine the extent because the
British burnt down and massacred villages after villages.

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
Savarkar
To undermine the 1857 uprising, the British termed it as sepoy revolt; that is, only
sepoys revolted and people did not participate in it. In 1906, Savarkar went to study in
England. There, he studied the 1857 uprising and wrote a book on it, titled The First

War of Independence . It was with this book that people came to know the role of people
in the 1857 uprising.

Outcome of the Revolt
When the British Crown saw the atrocities of the British East India

Company, she should have in fact freed India. But she was greedy
enough. She did not want such a large territory to go out of her
possession, so she imposed her own rule.

The extent of the uprising was so massive that it came to be called the
First War of Independence. The Indians became aware of the need for
Queen Elizabeth
freedom; they were awakened to the spirit of nationalism. They needed
to give many more sacrifices before freedom could be achieved.

British crown : the British king or queen.
factory : a place where the European traders lived and stored their goods.
Nawab : a Muslim ruler.
uprising : the act of fighting with those in power.
sepoy : an Indian soldier was called by this name in 1857.
cartridge : a bullet.
Peshwa : a Maratha ruler.

Facts

• The invaders were attracted to India because of its prosperity in the ancient times.
• The Muslims started to attack India about 1,000 years ago, and established their rule about 800
years ago.
• The British merchants formed the British East India Company in 1600.
• The Battle of Plassey established the British rule in India.
• The uprising in 1857 started when a new rifle was introduced by the British.
• The British put down the revolt most heartlessly, but it gave birth to Indian nationalism.
• The rule of the East India Company was replaced with that of the British crown.

The First War of Independence 101