Page 44 - SST Class 08
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and took control of the artillery and important         revolutionary war. The general pattern of the
            buildings. They also set free the imprisoned            revolt was the killing of British officers and
            sepoys. The uprising spread to other places too.        people, which sometimes included women and
                                                                    children too; but most of the times, the women
                 Info Bits
                 Info Bits                                          and children were spared their lives. The symbols
                                                                    of British authority were destroyed. Treasury was
            The Revolt of 1857 was suppressed by the British        plundered at many places.
            successfully, but it was not the last of the revolts.   You have read the revolt at Meerut and Delhi.
            Revolts continued to occur, such as by the Wahabis      Now learn about it at other places.
            in Uttar Pradesh, Guru Ram Singh in Punjab,
            Tekenjrajit in Manipur, Vasudev Balwant Phadke in       Kanpur
            Maharashtra and many more.                              Nana Sahib was the adopted son of Peshwa Baji
            Since the revolt was unplanned, it was needed           Rao II. He led the revolt at Kanpur. He captured
            that they should organise themselves, so that they      the fort and declared himself the Peshwa. He
            could be able to confront the British army later.       together with Tantya Tope   and Azimullah resisted
            The sepoys made General Bakht Khan          as their    the British tooth and nail.
            leader and marched to Delhi the next day. The           Awadh
            sepoys stationed at Delhi joined them too. They
                                                                    At Lucknow, the rebels were led by Begum Hazrat
            proclaimed the restoration of the Mughal rule and
                                                                    Mahal and her commander Ahmadullah       .
            made the 82-year old Bahadur Shah Zafar         the
            Emperor of India. They kept attacking the British       Central India
            officers and taking control of important buildings.
                                                                    Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi led the revolt in
            The revolt occurred so suddenly that the British        Central India. She fought like a tigress. She was
            were taken by surprise. At the first event, they        joined by Tantya Tope in her war.
            never knew what to do, nor did they know what
                                                                    Other Places
            they should do.
                                                                    The revolt at Bareilly was led by Khan Bahadur
                    Just Think!                                     Khan. At Arrah and other places in Bihar, Kunwar
                                                                    Singh was the leader of the rebels.

            Who inspires you the most among the leaders of
            the 1857 Revolt, why?

                          SPREAD OF THE REVOLT

            The dissatisfaction against the British among the
            Indians found a ready spark, and it burst out. The
                                                                      Mangal Pandey      Nana Sahib       Tantya Tope
            news of the capture of Delhi resulted in the revolt
            at many other places, such as Awadh, Kanpur,
            Banaras, Jhansi, Arrah, Rohilkhand, Central India,
            some parts of Bihar, Bengal and Punjab. Minor
            revolts took place in some parts of Orissa, Assam,
            Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Where no revolt took
            place, the people were restless. The civilian           Begum Hazrat Mahal  Rani Lakshmi Bai  Kunwar Singh
            population, including landlords, peasants and
            traders, assisted the sepoys with supplies and          Activity
            news.                                                    On an outline map of India, mark important places
            Soon, the sepoy revolt transformed itself into a         of the Revolt of 1857.
                     Contemporary Social Science-8
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