Consider the following statements about the revolt of 1857:

1. For the first time in history, a pan-India participation was present against the Britishers.

2. All classes and educated Indians supported this revolt to ensure freedom from Britishers.

3. Most Indian rulers refused to join this revolt and often gave support to the British.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Solution

● Statement 1 is incorrect: All India participation was absent, there was no all-India veneer about the revolt. The eastern, western and southern parts of India remained more or less unaffected. This was perhaps because the starting phase uprisings in those regions had been brutally suppressed by the company. ● Statement 2 is incorrect: All classes did not join the revolt and in fact worked against the revolt. Indians who are educated in English viewed this revolt as backward looking, supportive of the feudal order and as a reaction of traditional conservative forces to modernity. Big zamindars acted as the breakwaters to storm. ● Statement 3 is correct: Most Indian rulers like Scindia of Gwalior, the Holkar of Indore, the rulers of Patiala, Sindh etc refused to join the revolt and often gave active support to Britishers in suppressing the revolt. By estimate, not more than one-fourth of the total area and not more than one-tenth of the total population was affected.