Suppression and the Failure of the the Revolt Of 1857. {PART-03 Of Revolt Of 1857}.

 

A Painting By Vasily Vereshchagin Depicting Several Sepoys Being Executed By Being "Blown From A Gun. 

Suppression Of The Rebellion Of 1857

By mid- 1857 it appeared that the rule of the Company was over, at least in North India. The British, however, soon re-organized and fought back. One by one, they started recapturing the areas they had lost to the rebel sepoys. British commanders such as Colin Campbell and Henry Havelock were particularly successful. In September 1857, the British forces re-captured Delhi. This was a big blow to the rebels. Bahadur Shah Zafar was taken prisoner and deported to Rangoon (now Yangon) in Burma (now Myanmar). With this, the rule of the Mughals ended officially.

Despite losing Delhi, the rebels soldiers continued to fight. But the British now had the upper hand. Bhakt Khan, Rani Lakshmi Bai, Khan Bahadur Khan and Kunwar Singh died fighting the British. Nan Sahib and Begum Hazrat Mahal escaped to Nepal and continued the struggle. Tatya Tope was arrested and hanged. So within a year and a half, the British had completely suppressed the uprising.

The British used terror to prevent another such revolt, The rebels were tied to mouth of cannons and blown off. Innocent civilians were mercilessly killed on a large scale. Even small children were subjected to inhuman cruelties. Sometimes, entire villages were burnt down and depopulated.

A Rare Picture Of A Sword Used In The Massacre Of The Revolt.

(Sword Of Nana Sahib)

WHY DID THE UPRISING FAIL?

    

The Revolt of 1857 was the first big challenge to British rule. It failed due to many reasons:

• The revolt did not spread to all parts of the country. Many Indian rulers and Nawabs refused to help the rebels. Some were openly hostile to them and helped the British to suppress the revolt.
• The revolt was not organized properly. The rebels had no proper ideology or programme.
• The leadership of the movement was weak. Most of the leaders fought to liberate their own territories only. No national leader emerged to coordinate the movement and give it a purpose and direction.
• The rebels were short of weapons and finances. The Company's army had access to modern weaponry and unlimited funds.